Leaky 1/2” NPT valve with strange notches. Could they be the issue? I have tried 3 wraps of tape and six. Still leaking. Could the problem be these notches? What are they for? They are to perfect looking to be a flaw, right?

Since this is a German made valve perhaps it was designed for sealing with the hemp fiber and paste sealant system used in Europe.
In this video the technique is to cut notches, perhaps to engage the hemp. The pipe in this video is parallel, not tapered. Is the valve threaded tapered or parallel?
EDIT
See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Standard_Pipe
Two types of threads are distinguished:

Parallel (straight) threads:
British Standard Pipe Parallel thread
(BSPP; originally also known as British Standard Pipe Fitting
thread/BSPF and British Standard Pipe Mechanical thread/BSPM), which
have a constant diameter; denoted by the letter G.
Taper threads:
British Standard Pipe Taper thread (BSPT), whose diameter increases or
decreases along the length of the thread; denoted by the letter R.

Your valve has the designation "GD1". Could this be straight threads (non-tapered)? Presumably the hose threads on the output are parallel threads so if the "G" designation does indicate parallel threads, then it may be referring to the hose threads only.


Does it make sense to replace gx24q-3 CFLs with e26 LEDs? My new house comes with gx24q-3 bases and CFL bulbs everywhere. I read that LEDs are better in every way. I've found some br30 e26 LEDs for only $1.25 each at Costco. Does it make sense for me financially to replace my gx24q-3 base with e26 to use these cheap LEDs?

Most of the return on investment (ROI) evaluations I have completed have shown a positive ROI within 2 years 2 months for very expensive fixtures. When only changing the lamp the return is much quicker just a few months in some cases. But this is when relamping is needed. To go in and swap good functional lamps still has a positive ROI due to reduced maintenance and lower power consumption but wholesale swap of CFL to LED is not "green" due to the good material that is being disgarded. If new to you,,, not brand new it could be worth it as CFL life curves show less lumens as they age. If you are going to be in your home for at least 2 years it makes financial sence to make the change and after 2 years not having to replace the lamps, instant on at full brightness are additional reasons to change.


Attaching a grounding pigtail to a junction without a tapped hole? I'm trying to ground an outlet in my home to the metal of the junction box. I'm using a grounding pigtail of 14AWG wire with a 10/32 terminal attached to one end. Unfortunately it seems the metal enclosure doesn't have a tapped hole that could fit. There simply only seems to be conduit knock outs and mounting holes that are way larger to the screw in question, I'd estimate a bit less than a 1/4".

What other options do I have for connecting this grounding wire to the enclosure?

If you are certain that the box is properly grounded, you can use grounding clips

The wire is attached to the clip and the clip to the front edge of the box.

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


How would I feed a subpanel from this service pedestal? I would like to power a shed at a total run of 80 feet from this 200 amp service. We mostly need lighting and outlets for tools. Two 20A circuits would be fine, but the ideal scenario would be a local 30 amp RV outlet and 60 amp subpanel in the shed.

How would I go about connecting the feed cable, and can I also supply the existing outlet?

As usual, conduit will make your life easier in the long run

I would run a fat (2") schedule 80 PVC conduit from the pedestal to the shed, with a reducer and possibly-offset nipple to fit the conduit to the pedestal and the shed's disconnect box and pre-fab wide sweeps to connect to the stub-ups.  This means that all the hard work (trenching, laying conduit) only needs to be done once, even if you want to pull the fat wire over for 200A to the shed sometime down the road.

Once you've done that, there are three approaches one can take

Once you have the conduit in the ground, you have three basic possibilities open to you:

Run a feeder (either full size or tapped) off the 200A breaker to a subpanel at the shed
Run a 20A hybrid branch/feeder to the shed that is tapped to feed the existing 20A receptacles using a 20A, 2-pole, common-trip breaker
Slap a non-CTL, common trip quadruplex breaker in there and feed a 30A RV receptacle and up to 50A of shed feeder that way at the cost of the existing receptacle or a 30A shed feeder shared with the RV receptacle if you wish to keep the existing receptacle.

(A fourth option would involve mounting an extra subpanel to the pedestal, but that would be tricky to do as most pedestals aren't designed to accommodate such hijinks.)

Feeder taps are fun

The first approach lands the feeder wires to the shed on the 200A main breaker's load lugs.  How can we do this without running 4/0 Al to the shed? The answer lies in NEC 240.21(B)(5)'s criteria for outdoor feeder tap conductors:

  (5) Outside Taps of Unlimited Length. Where the conductors are located outside of a building or structure, except
  at the point of load termination, and comply with all of the
  following conditions:

  (1) The tap conductors are protected from physical damage
  in an approved manner.

  (2) The tap conductors terminate at a single circuit breaker
  or a single set of fuses that limits the load to the ampacity of the tap conductors. This single overcurrent
  device shall be permitted to supply any number of additional overcurrent devices on its load side.

  (3) The overcurrent device for the tap conductors is an
  integral part of a disconnecting means or shall be located immediately adjacent thereto.

  (4) The disconnecting means for the tap conductors is installed at a readily accessible location complying with
  one of the following:

  a. Outside of a building or structure

  b. Inside, nearest the point of entrance of the tap conductors

  c. Where installed in accordance with 230.6, nearest
  the point of entrance of the tap conductors

Installing the feeder in Schedule 80 PVC throughout should be good enough for the AHJ as far as physical damage protection goes, and since you want a subpanel anyway, using a main breaker subpanel suffices for criteria 2 and 3, while it needs to be located in a spot that complies with point 4 anyway, due to NEC 225.32.

This has the advantages that it would allow you to run a full 60A feeder  to the shed (or more at a later date), and also frees up the pedestal's breaker space to supply the existing receptacle and a RV receptacle -- either a NEMA TT-30R using a single pole, 30A breaker (BR130, Q130, or THQL1130) in the open slot, or a NEMA 14-30R by replacing the existing breaker with a non-CTL common trip quadplex breaker, the BRDC220230, with one of the 20A poles feeding the existing 20A receptacle and the 30A poles feeding the NEMA 14-30R RV receptacle.

It does have the downside that it requires a full main breaker subpanel at the shed, though, but that's not much of a downside, really, given the advantages that having a subpanel there provides.

Mixing the (electrical) streams

The second approach uses a 2-pole, 20A, common trip breaker (BR220, Q220, or THQL2120 -- the Durham meter-mains aren't at all picky) to feed both the receptacle and the shed, tapping one leg of the feeder with a wirenut and pigtail to provide a hot for the receptacle.  It has the downside that we wind up running out of breaker slots at the pedestal before we can consider providing for the RV, though.

Cramming it in

The third and final approach is similar to the second, but uses a non-CTL, common trip quadruplex breaker (the same BRDC220230 I mentioned above) to provide room for the shed feeder and a separate pole for the existing receptacle.  This limits you to 30A for the shed, and would require you to tap the shed feeder with wirenuts and pigtails (since it's a full size tap, the feeder tap rules don't apply here) to provide a NEMA 14-30R or TT-30R for the RV, but does have the advantage that it provides the shed with a bit more power (30A vs. the second approach's 20A), and also provides all three loads you wish (the existing receptacle, the RV receptacle, and the shed) without tapping the main feeder and thus invoking the tap conductor rules.

At the shed...

While a main breaker subpanel can be fitted at the shed in all three approaches, the subpanel selection equation varies slightly between them.  For the first and third approaches, going with a 24 or 30 space, 100/125A panel, fitted with separate ground bars of course, is a good minimum to go with, although you will need to use a backfed main breaker in this case if the panel is not already designed for such, as 30A and 60A breakers don't come in main breaker frame sizes.  The use of a subpanel also means that the shed will need its own grounding electrode system (if that is not already in the cards).

For the second approach, though, if you're willing to accept having to replace it should future needs come up, an inexpensive non-fusible AC disconnect box can be used instead of a subpanel, as all it needs to provide is a disconnecting means for the incoming branch circuit.  Because the feed to the shed is a (multi-wire) branch circuit and not a feeder at this point, as well, it means that a grounding electrode system for the shed is not needed (but still permissible) under this approach, as per the Exception to NEC 250.32(A).

Finally, if you're going with the first option, it may be best to bump the shed up to a 42-space, 200A panel -- this provides ample capacity for whatever size feeder you, future-you, or somebody else wishes to put in.

Don't be a loose lugnut

Last but not least, make sure to torque all breaker and busbar lugs to spec using an inch-pound torque wrench -- this will ensure reliable connections in the long run, and also is required by 2017 NEC 110.14(D).

As to those follow-ups....

80' is not a particularly long feeder, fortunately -- 6AWG copper will do the trick at the 60A mark, and for a 125A feeder instead, you can use 1/0 aluminum, with more of the same copper you used for the GEC for the feeder ground.  You will not need to replace the jumpers from the primary lugs to the secondary busbar, by the way -- they look to be at least 8AWG if not thicker, but you will need a 30A breaker to protect the RV receptacle and the wire from the breaker to the receptacle.

And to fix one more divot

There is one final issue you'll need to fix with this setup, and that's the lack of a grounding electrode (ground rods) at the pedestal.  I would drive two ground rods 8' apart and use a #4 bare copper GEC, buried 18" to a 1/2" Schedule 80 PVC stub-up to the pedestal (that way, the GEC is unlikely to sustain physical damage), where it goes in the left-side bay and connects to the smaller lug on the N/G bar there.


Floor Makes Metal Clang When Walked On - One Room We have a 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom house. The whole house has hard-wood flooring. One bedroom on the corner of the house has a floor that sounds hollow... When walked on it makes a loud clanging sound... As if noise is vibrating through a duct or pipe. This sound travels to the living room which is across the house, and seems to come from the walls there.

Our heating/AC is heat pump and the ducts are run in the ceiling. The floor seems level. No other floor in the house has this problem. What is causing this noise and how do I fix it?

Also, this house is in Florida and off-grade with a crawlspace.

This was due to was old HVAC duct-work that was strapped to the floor joists and rattling. Had a contractor crawl under there are cut it all down + haul off and problem has been gone ever since!


Electrical receptacle inside kitchen cupboard? (California code) Is an electrical receptacle allowed inside a kitchen cupboard by the California Electrical Code? (i.e. installed so that the receptacle face plate is on the inside back panel of the the cupboard, so that an electrical device inside the cupboard may be powered). Please cite applicable section of code.

In the case the cupboard is made of wood, it seem the box face would have to be flush with the inside of the cupboard face:

  In walls and ceilings constructed of wood or other combustible surface material, boxes, plaster rings, extension rings, or listed extenders shall be flush with the finished surface or project therefrom.

2010 Electrical Code, see section 314.20

thanks

tom

You should be able install a receptacle inside the cabinet, I'm not aware of any code that says otherwise, and the code you quoted describes the minimum requirements. It's often done for garbage disposals, dishwashers, and over the range microwaves. Using an extender ring is probably the easiest way, so you don't need to predict exactly how far the outlet box needs to be installed from the wall. With some cabinet installs, it may be so far out you wouldn't have a proper nailing surface for the outlet to the stud.


Deteriorations in rear of gas dryer I opened up the rear of my Kenmore 80 Series gas dryer and discovered the following aspects of deterioration:

Corrosion near the bottom of the heater box. See photos 1 and 2.
Crumbling of the foam around the edges of the two large holes in the lint assembly. See photos 3 - 6.

With respect to each of these:

How concerned should I be?
Should I do anything to correct the symptom?
Should I do anything to prevent this from happening?

1: Heater box corrosion

2: Heater box corrosion, detail

3: Lint assembly top hole

4: Lint assembly bottom hole

5: Vent where the lint assembly top hole goes

6: Fan where the lint assembly bottom hole goes

Given the burn through we can see on the air duct, it is time to retire this baby. I would say that this baby has dried all the clothes it should be required to dry.


WHirlpool Super capacity 465 I hear gas at burners but will not ignite even with a match. I hear no gas in oven area I recently went to restart the Whirlpool Super Capacity 465 gas oven.  I can hear the gas and feel the gas at the burners.  No clicking and it will not light with a match.  I tried the oven, turned on the heat and hear no gas there at all.  Any ideas?

WARNING  WARNING*****THIS IS NOT A JOB FOR AN AMATEUR****WARNING  WARNING
I'm going to make a guess here; hopefully it can help.  I wager that somehow a large bubble of air or very low concentrate gas has gotten into the line and is giving you trouble.  If this is true here is the fix.  First ventilate the area very well; open all windows and doors to allow lots of fresh air to the immediate area.  Keep them open.  Now find a point on the gas supply line to the appliance that is accessible and has a union type fitting.  Find the appliance gas shut-off valve. It should be in the area.  Turn it off.  On the down-stream side of the service valve, break this fitting; unscrew this fitting completely. This will allow you to dump a large amount of gas in a short period of time to clear the line effectively under very controlled conditions. Now open the gas valve all the way.  Allow this gas line to vent for 15 to 20-seconds.  The gas should smell like rotten eggs and the smell should get worse as the gas concentrates.  Close the service valve.  Now leave the gas valve in the off position turn and leave the area for a good 4-minutes.  Do not turn on or off any lights in the area.  Basically don't do anything but leave the area.  After the allotted time return and reconnect the gas line tightly.  Reopen the gas service valve.  Now again try to light the appliance.  Hopefully, the results will be different.

WARNING WARNING****THIS IN NOT A JOB FOR AN AMATEUR****WARNING   WARNING

Servicing of the gas lines and gas supply is constantly going on upstream to your gas service.  It is the nature of life.  In the process of doing this, air is a times unintentionally allowed into the system. You may be experiencing one of these times. Good Luck and happy cooking. P.


Using 6 gallon hot water tank as recirculation device If I pump water continuously through a small 6 gallon hot  water tank recirculating from a 60-70 gallon water tank will this work to heat the water over 36-48 hours?

I'm not concerned about if it's the most efficient method, it's just a portable solution but I'm not sure if the water will heat if pumped through continuously.

Let's say we're dealing with 70 gallons of water, and we're adding heat just by running a circulation pump to stir the water around. And, let's say the pump is a standard hydronic circulation pump of 100 watts (they actually seem to be a bit less). And, let's say that all of that 100W goes into moving the water about, which then decays into 100W of heat through friction.

100W is the same as 340 BTU/hour, where one BTU heats a pound of water by 1 degree F (love them Imperial units!). 70 gallons is 580 pounds of water, so we'll be raising the temperature of our water by 1.7°F per hour. If we start with 60°F water, and want 120°F water, then we'll want to end up with 60°F of temperature rise, which will take about 36 hours. But, we guessed high a few times in our calculations, so I'll estimate it would take closer to 100 hours to get up to temperature.

But, that's with no heat loss whatsoever. To avoid losing significant amounts of your precious heat, you'll have to insulate it all so that when the water is at 120°F the temperature falls less than a degree per hour. That isn't easy for a single tank; add in pipes and it becomes really hard.

After all that, here is my answer to your question: no.


What kind of screws/bolts do I need to mount a heavy TV mount? I have wooden studs, and this (pretty heavy) metal tv mount. The slits it has for attaching to the wall are 5/16" or maybe 6/16" tall.

I bought 1/4" and 5/16" bolts and some washers to go with them, but when I tried to screw them in, I wasn't able to get them to screw in to the holes I had drilled (started at 3/16", then 4/16", then I did 5/16" and the bolts did not seem securely in). I was either unable to ratchet them in or they went in and were feeling loose.

There appears to be about a full inch of drywall (or some material) before the stud, too.

I've seen self-drilling screws, but I feel a screw would not be adequate.

Are bolts the right thing to use here? And if yes, how do I find the right size for the bolts and for the holes?

You can use structural screws, which, while more expensive then lag bolts, are much easier to install - most do not require you to drill a pilot hole and take only seconds to install.


Any advice or words of wisdom for toilet leaking through floor/ceiling? Does anyone have any advice or words of wisdom for the following project? Specifically, my questions are as follows:

Is this most likely just a matter of replacing the entire upstairs commode / toilet assembly?
Is that something that is easily done DIY? Or is it more complicated than it first appears? (It seems I can just purchase a commode assembly from Home Depot and remove the bolts in the old assembly and replace? (There might also be some sealing involved too to keep everything watertight I'm assuming.)
Should I call a plumber to be on the safe side? If so, how much might they charge?
Or, do I need a contractor because there is water damage in the floor boards? Do I need to replace the floorboards or can I just patch the ceiling drywall?

Description

When the upstairs toilet is flushed, water apparently leaks thru the floorboard onto the ceiling in the room downstairs. The water damage in the floorboard suggests there is a plumbing leak above the floor.

The upstairs toilet shows evidence of leaking.

Fig. 1. Close up view of hole in downstairs ceiling caused by leak in upstairs toilet. Notice water damage to upstairs floor suggests leak begins above the visible piping.

Fig. 2. Medium angle view of Fig. 1

Fig. 3. Wide angle view of Fig. 1 showing room context for perspective.

Fig. 4. Toilet in upstairs bathroom. Blue stain on floor comes from toilet bowl water coloring tablets suggesting leak at base of the toilet.

It sounds and looks like the wax seal has failed. The good news is this repair is not hard. The bad news it is a "dirty job" .

Step 1 get a new wax seal at a plumbing or big box store just a couple of bucks. I like the ones with a urathane center they are a bit more expensive but 5 bucks is not a big deal. Also pick up some disposable gloves and a narrow putty knife (makes removing the old wax easier)

Step 2 turn the water to the toilet off and flush you want to empty the tank. If you have a wet vacuum suck the small amount left in the tank out and also drain the bowl, if no wet vacuum a small towel can be used to soak up the water and squeeze out down another drain.

Step 3 remove the supply line to the toilet.
Step 4 remove the 2 bolts at the floor, 1 on each side.

Step 5 lift the entire unit by the base not the tankand lay on its side.
Step 6 clean the old wax seal off the bottom of The stool and the top of the toilet flange (the plumbing at floor level). Make sure to remove the rubber cone.

Step 7 take new seal and mold it to the bottom of the stool.

Step 8 this is the toughest part, pick up the stool by the base and position it over the bolts and lower it then press down, once the bolts are through I usually sit on it to help squash the seal a bit.
Step 9 install the washers and nuts tighten both sides a few turns each until snug, sit on the stool and see if it is loose if it is tighten a little more and check again (a stool that wobbles will shorten the seal life).
Step 10 replace the water line and turn on.
Once the tank fills flush and verify everything is working with no leaks.
Now just to clean up and dispose of the old wax ring & gloves and realize you just saved a bunch of $.


Natural AC, Stream Powered heat exchange I will keep this short and clear as I can.

My home has a creek that runs through it about 20' from the side of the house. It is shaded and quite cool even in the summer heat.  If I got say an automotive AC evaporator and plumbed lines to and from the creek, and just cycled cold water through the system and stuck a fan in front of it...

I understand of course that would be much less efficient than actual refrigerant, but colder is colder.
It would work wouldn't it? The fins would cool down, and air flowing over it should exchange heat into the water headed outside.

I know that seems like a cheap easy hack.  However it's not going to work very well, and to get it to work at all you'll have to pour some fairly serious capital into it.

Given that, you would be better off using real heat pumping with freon.  But yes, use that creek water: it is an excellent heat-sink and will greatly increase the efficiency of the unit.  Heat pumps work best when they are pumping heat "downhill", i.e. the ultimate heat sink is colder than the space they are cooling.

There are several sources for water-sourced heat pump equipment, but the most obvious is a marine air conditioner/heat pump.  They use seawater as their ultimate heat sink.   Seawater is very corrosive; your creek water can't be nearly as bad.

Going with a proper heat pump instead of merely an air conditioner means you can set it for reverse mode, and get heat out of it also.  However that will stop working when ambient temp gets too cold.


can I use 1/4" J Channel to mount 3/16" thick mirror? I have a pair of ~ 60"W x 42"H x 3/16" thick bathroom mirrors that I would like to mount using chrome-looking J Channels on top and bottom. The closest thing I could find so far is this polished aluminum J Channel - albeit at 1/4" thick. I don't want the 3/16" thick mirror to wobble - what's a good way to compensate for the 1/16" difference in thickness? Perhaps some sort of plastic insert to go between the rear of the mirror and the J Channel?

A mirror that big will have some flexibility if there is some room behind it. Especially when you press on the mirror such as when cleaning it.

I would recommend using a padding technique on the back of the mirror to give it a firm seating against the wall whilst at the same time causing it to flush out against the front inside edge of your J channels.

The technique I would use would be to get some 1" wide foam type tape that has glue on just one side. Stick short strips of this to the back side of the mirror near the edges and at various points in the middle area. If one layer of the tape is not thick enough then simply place additional strips directly on top of the first set to increase thickness.

The 1" wide foam tape should be available at most hardware and home supply outlets. Do select carefully as foam tape with glue on both sides is also common.


Connecting the motor to 12/2 wire and a 6 position dial in an evaporative swamp cooler I'm connecting a new evaporation cooler to an existing 6 position wall dial using the existing wiring. The idiot owner who wired the original cooler put in 12/2 Romex, intead of 12/3 for the motor (the pump also has 12/2 Romex, and that is wired and working).

Coming out of the motor is a Red(Lo), Black(hi), White(Com) and Green(Ground).

Coming out of the switch is a black(hi), White(com) and green(Ground). The Red(lo) isn't connected.

I'm ok-ish with having the cooler only work on one setting (hi), so I wired the black to black, white to white, and ground to ground, and capped the Red.

Tried the switch, and the motor isn't turning on at any of the settings.

Do I have to run a new 12/3 Romex and connect the red, or, in theory, should this work? I'm not excited about fishing wires down from the roof if I can avoid it.

The other idea I had, is to combine the red (lo) and Black(hi) into one connector, and connect that to the black house wire, but I'm worried that tI'm going to overload the motor.

It's possible there is something else going on (it's an old house and old wiring). I just want to make sure this is likely not the problem before I start looking at other things, or pay to get an electrician in.

First u can run a second 12/2 wire to get lo (red)
Black is hi
White neutral an green ground
Wire accordingly

Ck utube video. Guy does a good job show n tell on hookup

Also ck switch with power off using an ohm metrr an see if u get the proper reads


Why does my washing machine leak only during the spin cycle? For the second time in a month, I found that my washing machine had flooded the kitchen floor (and part of the basement via the hole for the water line to the fridge).

The first time, I only noticed it at the end of the wash.  This time, I know it happened during the spin cycle because I had just been in the kitchen a few minutes earlier and hadn't seen anything out of the ordinary.

The washer is a Maytag LAT9706AAE and is at least eight years old (I bought it with the house) but has been reliable until this.  The load size was set between medium and large (it's on a continuous slider); Extra Rinse (which uses more water in the rinse cycle) was turned off and Extra Spin (which causes it to spin for longer) was turned on.

Why would it leak only during the spin cycle?  Is this something I could repair easily, or is it time for a new washer?

You have a crack somewhere in the drainage system. The most likely reason that it's leaking on the spin cycle is the vibration caused by the spin cycle is opening the crack to let the leaking occur.


Cut rebar in concrete I opened up a hole in my concrete wall to pass a threaded PVC 2 inch male adapter. On the other side there is an aluminum metal sheet. The problem is that I hit rebar and can not change the position of the hole. I just need about a quarter or a bit less of an inch on each side of the remaining rebar to fit the adapter.

I tried drilling into the rebar with increasing bits but started going nowhere. A grinding wheel does not fit in the hole, since all I have is a 4 and a half inch disc. I don't want to cut the aluminum sheet on the other side anymore than I have already. I even tried using a hacksaw blade and tried cutting, but it's very uncomfortable and didn't do much. Even tried filling, but it's too thick.

The adapter fits in the hole, but the wider side catches on the rebar, so it over extends on the wall. I'm tempted to just grind the excess PVC.

Hole

Hole with threaded 2 inch PVC male adapter in place

Other side with lock nut

Any recommendations that don't involve a heat torch to cut a piece.

Edit:
Bought a Dremel 3000 and was able to cut the rebar. Took a while but worked out great. The Dremel cost me about $61 on sale at Wal-Mart and bought some discs that were also on sale. Always wanted to get a Dremel. No time like the present I guess.
Here are some pics.

Thanks to all!

A Dremel Tool with a cut off wheel is going to be your tool of choice here. Here is a picture of what that looks like:

When approaching a job like this I make sure I have plenty of the cutoff wheels. I also have a half dozen of the mandrels so that I can have all of them with cutoff wheels premounted so it is quick change in the tool when one wears down or breaks.

The cutoff wheels come in thin normal thickness and thicker heavy duty style as shown above. The heavy duty ones have to grind away more to perform a cutoff bit are less prone to breakage.

You will have to cut the re-bar at an angle as shown on the below picture. It may even be necessary to break a small amount of the concrete on either side to permit the tool to have a better angle of attack on the re-bar.


What would cause the mortar to crack across a number of bricks? Over the winter a large crack appeared, running across the mortar between a number of external bricks. The crack runs on a diagonal and includes a crack along a windowsill.

It appears that this mortar has been repaired previously.

We had an extremely cold winter, the worst in 20 years.

The house is 100+ years old.

Any thoughts on what would cause a crack of this nature? Any advice on how to fix the underlying issue?

I worked on a home that had this happen much more severely. The home was built on fill dirt and over the years one corner of this Washington DC townhome built in the 1920's sunk 5". To remedy it took the same thing that most likely will take to fix your issue.

In your case, if it is from the freezing of the ground, the dirt is expanding under the foundation, in essence lifting it up, then thawing out, and coming back down. The movement may be minute, but masonry does not get along with movement at all. Without a larger view of the home and other cracks elsewhere, this does not look like what is happening. What is seen in the picture to me looks like the wall under the window is dropping, not just cracking and separating. Checking the level of the floor inside that part of the house will confirm this, AND this depends on the direction that the floor joists run matters too. If they run parallel with the wall the window is in, you may not detect any drop in the floor.

The reason the wall would sink under the window is the foundation may be failing. Whether the freezing ground is lifting, or the window dropping, underpinning is the remedy. It is costly, and a company that does this type of work needs to be brought in to do it.

If this has been going on for the life of the home and has only dropped 1" or less, I would not jump into this type of repair just yet. If it opens up another 1/8" in the next 10 years, then the settling is consistent for the time the home has been standing, more or less.


How do I remove vinyl glue off of tile flooring? I had a flood in my bathroom and there were two layers of vinyl tile that i ripped up because of water getting underneath. Lo and behold I have a tile floor and the glue from the vinyl is very sticky and I am not sure the best way to remove it.  i have tried Goo Gone and that did not work. I have tried a wire brush attachment to a drill and that did not work either.

MEK or methyl Ethel ketone with good ventilation and chemical gloves will dissolve the adhesive, the biggest problem is some residue in the grout. Once the tile is clean a muratic acid solution and water will etch the grout reducing any left over residue.  Use a rag that is damp with MEK if you pour it on the adhesive will dissolve and really get into the grout. After etching and cleanup the grout will need to be resealed.


How would I go about building a movable-arm keyboard & mouse tray? Strain injuries are the blight of the programmer.

I've just ordered an ergonomic desk chair.  However, if I am sitting back with my keyboard/mouse on my desk, I think this is going to still cause posture problems (pronation?), as my arms will be stretching forwards.

The ideal solution I guess would be to have some kind of movable arm with a keyboard/mouse tray on the end, so that I can adjust the height, position and tilt exactly.

However, it would need to lock so that I don't move it further by typing on the keyboard.

But I've never seen such a thing. How to go about constructing one?

These things do exist.

However, there is an interesting idea in the first review on this page.

The reviewer suggests using a Monitor arm, and attaching a custom surface to the VESA plate.

Benefits of this are that the monitor arm is sturdier, and that it is much cheaper. Good monitor arms can be found for < £30 as opposed to ~£200 for a custom keyboard tray arm.


How to fix side of bathroom vanity damaged by water My kids use the bath tub and water spills over almost everyday. I noticed that the bottom part of the side of the vanity is damaged with water. The water at times, goes beneath and I find the nearby wood affected mildly.

My question is .. how do I fix this ? And protect this from further damage ? Do I scrape and then paint ? Or cover with wood ?

Replacing the vanity is fine with me. But looks like it comes with a layer on top which extends all the way. I did not find similar stuff on sale. Overall the vanity is in decent condition and I would like to keep it, instead of buying a new one.

I really appreciate you reading this. Thank you once again.

This looks like birch faced plywood not cheap. You may be able to lightly sand the surface to remove much of the discoloration. I would paint it after cleaning it up and use a latex calking at the floor to seal it so water will not wick up the wood. don't get two aggressive with the sanding because this is a very thin veneer.


Noisy floating wall anchors In Colorado basement walls have to be floating. Basically they are suspended from the floor joists, with a vertically movable anchor into the base plate, in case the slab moves due to expansive soil. More info/diagram is at http://www.asktooltalk.com/questions/faq/framing/floating_walls/floating_walls.php

I've got my walls up and anchored with 60d nails into the base plate. The problem is that when you walk across the floor above the new walls, there's enough flex in the joists to move the walls, and the 60d nails squeak against the floating bottom plate.

I tried drilling some of the bottom plate holes larger and putting a 5/16" T-nut in, in hopes that a smaller area of metal-on-metal would be quieter than 1.5" of metal-on-wood, but no such luck.

Any suggestions to quiet these down? It needs to provide a fairly snug fit to the 60d nails to minimize side-to-side and back-and-forth movement, but still be quiet. My next thought is finding a nylon spacer that fits around the nail and putting it in the hole, and possibly wrapping the nail with slippery tape (e.g. http://www.leevalley.com/us/Wood/page.aspx?p=32182&cat=1,43455,53293&ap=1). I don't want the tape to work it's way off in a year though...

After a lot of time wandering the faster aisle at my local Ace, I ended up finding a rubber grommet that fit snugly around the 6d nails I am using. I then took the grommet and found a fender washer that fit the grommet inside it (ended up being a 1/2" washer).

Then I drilled a hole in the floating bottom plate large enough for the grommet to drop into (about 5/8"), so the washer would sit flush against the top of the 2x4. I set the washer/grommet in there and pre-drilled 2 holes through the washer. Finally I screwed the washer down with 2 pan head screws to hold it in place. Before I drywall over everything I'll spray the washers with some Armor-All just for grins.

I haven't had any problems with noise with this approach, and the wall doesn't seem to move any more than it did when it was spiked the normal way. I also stiffened up the entire wall assembly by toe-screwing every stud into the top and bottom plate with some heavy-duty SPAX screws, so that the nails didn't work their way loose.

In regards to Michael Karas' suggestions, stiffening the floor seemed like overkill. I've never felt movement in the floor from above, and even having a 175-lb. person jumping on the floor upstairs I couldn't see movement in the floating walls.


Do I need to worry about air bubbles in the first coats of drywall mud? With new drywall, can I just wait until the third coat to sand any pock marks/fish eyes that may appear? Should I do it after the second coat instead since I am switching to a final coat? (Won't they just fill with succeeding coats?)
Also, is there a bonding purpose to sanding in between coats? I'm unclear whether it is necessary in general to sand after every coat. I'm using a 20k lumen light but its 5000k daylight and it misses things a good old fashioned halogen yellow doesn't.

The purpose of sanding (or scraping) between coats is to knock off the high points. NOT bonding.
Mud (compound) fills the low points, but it shrinks, requiring multiple coats.
The goal is to have something close to a flat surface, which you get most easily by removing the high points and filling the low points.
If you don't remove the high points, you end up filling a larger area with more mud since the knife rides on the high points. More mud shrinks more, so there's more remaining low spot to fill with the next coat. If you knock off the high points, you are just filling the low points, and the amount you add each coat is less, so it shrinks less.


Why is our faucet under power? Sometimes, ~about once a week we get a "peck", a "pinch" from the water when we touch it. So there is something wrong. We live in a 10 story building.

I tried to measure what is happening: I got myself a multimeter. I put one of the wire from the multimeter to the water, the other wire in the phase of a connector (for just a second!). The multimeter told me 230V.. is this normal?

Question: How can I measure safely that there is any current somehow in the faucet? How can I detect what is causing the problem?

UPDATE: there is no grounding in the building (it was built at about ~1970..). Is it life-threatening? What does the water faucet have to do with the grounding in the connectors? Or there need to be a grounding for the water pipes?

UPDATE#2: There is no electrical boiler or heater in the building, as far as I know.

In some countries I've heard that it is not illegal to take a ground from the water system. This would allow ground-fault current to travel through the water pipes. This could be happening, and it is not safe.

Alternatively, you could just be arcing off static electricity especially if it's cold and dry and you're wearing fuzzy slippers and synthetic thermal pajamas.


How to calculate stair stringer when total RISE is small? I have a interior landing (a room entrance) sitting at 12 inches from the floor.  I'm having trouble running the numbers on the stringer calculation since dividing the total rise by 7 is 1.  That means 1 step (tread).

Technically I need 2 steps (treads) including the tread which is at the TOP of the stairs which should sit flush with the landing.

How can this calculation account for this top step?  Also, for this short height, I'm assuming I need wider treads -- any tips to calculate this would be excellent.

Yes, there is a ratio of height of riser to width of tread. Exterior stairs are not generally as steep as interior stairs. The ICC Code requires a minimum of 4” high riser and allows residential stairs to have a maximum of 8” high risers. All risers in a run must be within 3/8” difference of largest to smallest. (See R311.7.5.1.)

A commonly used formula for calculating the depth of tread to height of riser is established in “Graphic Standards”, commonly used by architects and engineers. On page 7 they give this formula for interior stairs:

Riser plus tread = 17.5”.

Thus 7 1/2” riser + 10” tread = 17.5”

Or

Riser times tread = 75

Thus 7.5” riser x 10” tread = 75

You have two steps 6” high...so I’d use 12 1/2” tread.


Curcuit breaker not accesible My dryer stopped working and I found out that the circuit breaker (fuse) had burnt out.
I measured the voltage in the socket and it's none. I live in an older house in USA and the cable is inside the pipe going around the house outside to the outside electric box that contains only two circuit breakers connected in series. Which means both are meant for the dryer plug only.

I measured the voltage before and it's 220V but coming out of the breaker is 0V which means it's bad.

The problem here is that this breaker is connected directly from the meter so I have no way to turn off the electricity and replace it. Any idea why it is done like this? The circuit breaker (fuse) for the oven is inside of inside electrical box and it has a way to turn it off if replacement needed.

I'm not sure on how I can replace the one for the dryer. It looks like I will need to call the electrician to disconnect the wiring by the pole.

Update: so I tried to replace the circuit breaker but I found out that this outside box actually holds the main 100Amp circuit breaker and 220V breaker for dryer + AC. With luck I removed the broken breaker which was next to the main one. I turned off the main breaker so 220v breaker wasn't powered. So I had to be careful because the main breaker had hot wires coming  in. Anyway, I took the bad breaker to Lowes to find replacement. I couldn't find any. When the Lowes worker saw the breaker He put his hands on his head and said. It is FPE breaker and they don't manufacture them anymore. They are highly dangerous and I need to replace the whole box. So I did some research and surely FPE failed many tests and was responsible for many house fires. Luckily the inside box is GE only this outside box with the main breaker is FPE. I will need to call the electricians to replace the whole box.

I can't believe there wasn't recall for these breaker boxes. Now I'm forced to spend money for somebody's else fault, otherwise I would just replace the breaker...

Sometimes the breaker boxes will have a large Main Disconnect switch separated from the others.  If so, it should disconnect all power, including to your secondary breaker box.

Even if you have a main disconnect, you can never be sure how it was wired.  So, if you do have one, use your meter to make sure that the feeds to the secondary breaker box are, in fact, unenergized, before you start working on it!

Good luck :)


How to join chain link and wooden fence? A tree fell and destroyed one corner of the chain link fence between my neighbor's yard and my yard. The neighbor replaced their portion of the fence with a wooden fence, but their new fence isn't aligned with my fence anymore (I assume they were worried about building it too close to the ditch running behind our houses). So now there's about a 5 foot gap between the end of my chain link fence and the outside corner of their wooden fence.

What are my options to fill that gap? Should I just put a metal post as close to that corner as I can? Or can I attach the chain link fence directly to the wooden post somehow (assuming the neighbor is ok with that)? How do I connect the tension bar to the wooden post?

I would use the metal post designed to work with the chain link fence, however, here is a youTube example of how to attach chain link to wood.  As you can see, it does not look particularly great.


How many outlets can 1/2" copper pipe support? My basement apartment's hot water pipe runs starting with 3/4" from the heater to the first outlet, the bathtub and the 2nd one, the washer.  From the washer, it goes to the bathroom sink (please don't question this design as I have structural reasons why it doesn't go from the bathtub directly and don't want to spend time explaining as it's not pertinent) and ends in the kitchen sink, which will also be supporting a dishwasher.

My question is, can I run only  1/2" pipe for hot water starting from the washer, will it be enough bandwidth or should I go with 3/4" ?  I know that some people have up to 3 outlets out of a 1/2" copper pipe but I'm not sure how to count the DW as it is a different appliance but using the same valve from the wall inside the counter.  I have run 3/4 to the tub and to the washer and now I'm about to continue on from the washer towards the bath and kitchen sinks and need to make a design decision.

According to Uniform Plumbing Code Table 6-5 (610.3), the Water Supply Fixture Units (wsfu) per fixture in a private residence are as follows:

Dishwasher = 1.5
Kitchen sink = 1.5
Washup sink = 0

So you're supplying 3 wsfu.

According to Table 6-6 (610.4), at 30-45 psi you can supply 3 wsfu with ½" pipe with a developed length of up to 100'.  46-60 psi you can have a developed length of up to 200', and greater that 60 psi can go up to 300'.

At 40' or less with 30 psi, ½" pipe can supply 6 wsfu.  So with a short run, you should have no problem using ½" pipe.


Is it okay to cut a notch into cross brace? I've only lived in Canada for 4 years and am not sure what their codes are.

I live in a duplex in Montreal-North and was surprised to see the cross brace.

I cut the hole to install an outlet behind my wall mounted TV.

If that is a fire block it may be very convenient to notch it to just the right depth. With the right kind of metal electrical box you could get a secure box attachment by screwing through the back of the box into the fire block.


How can I seal an old wood finish on a 60-year-old wall that is off-gassing? We just moved into a 60-year-old house and most of it was recently painted with low VOC paint, although one original wall is a medium-color wood finish which is putting out a strange smell.  One of us is feeling sick from the smell, although the other wants to keep the "wood" color instead of painting over it.

What could we do to easily coat over the old wood finish so that it will stop off-gassing?  This wall with old wood finish is NOT very shiny.  Is shellac the way to go?  Will we need to sand it?

If we paint over this old wood finish on the wall, what kind of low VOC paint would seal it the best, and would we need to sand it before painting it?

60 year-old wood should not be "off-gassing." I suspect there's moisture behind the wood and you're dealing with mold and wood-rot. Did the home inspection note anything about it?

I would hire a indoor environmental service to test the air near the wood to determine the problem. If it is moisture, you need to get the leak fixed, lose the wood, fix the structural damage, treat for termites and then finish up with drywall and wainscotting or paneling.


How can I frame this multi-level deck? I'm designing an addition onto my existing deck (the existing deck is not pictured below). The addition will be roughly 20' by 15', and I'm planning on making a portion of it a single step lower. While it will butt up against the house, the deck will be self-supporting (I will not be tying into the house for support). The overall profile I'm looking for is this:

My first thought was to frame both levels completely independent of each other, like this:

The obvious issue here being the large number of angled cuts in both deck bands and the complexity of getting beams (not pictured) in proper locations. My second thought was to build both decks as rectangular as possible (the cutout at the left side is for the bay window on my house, so it has to stay) and build a platform on top of the lower portion to create the angular top profile like this:

To make it clear what I did, here is the same design with the new platform moved to the side:

My question is, putting aside local building codes (which both appear to meet, and I'll definitely be getting a permit), is the second design reasonable? Is one better or worse than the other from a structural or safety point of view? Also, not to ask too many questions, but would toe nailing the additional platform to the joists/deck band of the lower platform be sufficient, or should I use brackets to join them together?

The second on is a better choice; in the first one, you have a lot of angles that will make it hard to carry the loads effectively. I would probably go with a 2x6 for the platform on the second deck to get your shape; that will get you 5.5" of difference in height. You could also go with a 2x8 for a 7.5" difference. 2x4 only gets you 2x4, and 3.5" is too short to meet code for a step.

It would be good to see the beams to comment on the overall structure.

Think about lighting for the edge so that you can safely see the step at night.


My new roof has a few sagging spots Not so visible in photos because of the way the sun hits the roof but very visible by naked eye. Enough for my neighbors to stop by to ask me what's wrong.  I had the new roof installed 2 weeks ago and the dipping effect was visible from first day.  I spoke to the company that installed the roof and after sending over one of their production managers the told me that the job was done correct but my plywood under the shingles has buckled.  I told them as we signed the contract that any damaged plywood can be replaced at my cost, but they say the plywood was not damaged only warped.  The house is 16 years old. I have labor warranty with company.  What should I do?

I had a similar issue on a house (built in 1973) that had 3/8" plywood for roof sheathing. Over the years it tended to bow downwards, leaving an odd look from the curb. To solve it, I cut multiple 2x4 stretchers that fit between the trusses and boosted the plywood even.

You didn't say if it was a truss roof or rafters, but the solution should work the same either way. You could install the 2x4 stretchers at the joint of the sheathing and it should level the roof out. I will say that unless you have good spacing in your attic, it will be a practice of straddling the trusses and getting in to tight spaces.


Can i use a 5v water pump as a vacuum pump to lift very light objects? I want to use a small water pump (3.7v or 5v - the aquarium ones - 12v at most) as a vacuum pump: i need it to lift an object that weights 5 grams at most. Can it be done or the pump will just overheat? I was planning to use a very small hose.

When you say a water pump, do you literally mean a pump designed to move water? If so, then no. Don't bother.

While technically it could have enough suction to do what you want, it is not designed for this application and using a water pump dry will absolutely burn it out (at different lengths of time, from minutes, to hours, to unknown). Depending on the cost of the unit, and the warranty or engineering the manufacturer put in to it (not to mention the parts itself), it could last quite a while. However, most manufacturers have become quite adept at materials manufacturing as their goal is to use as little material as possible, at the least amount of production cost while not producing something "cheap" (to the point people wont rely on it). So a water pump is almost certainly expecting a liquid for cooling. Not to mention the pump mechanism is shaped to move liquid.

This is a scenario where using the proper type of pump for the proper application would in the long run save you money and frustration.


Very low humidity levels in new construction home - over ventilation? I just purchased a new home in the suburbs of Boston with move in date of November 2017. The home has felt unusually drafty and cold and i've had to increase the heat about 4 degrees above what I usually use. Ordinarily i'm comfortable at 68 but in this house the heat needs to be at 72 for equivalent comfort. In addition to feeling a bit uncomfortable, it has been very dry inside the home for the past 2 weeks. I purchased 2 ThermPro Hygrometers and they have consistently read 10-13 RH for the past 2 weeks. Right now it is 5 degrees outside and the RH is measured at 11% both upstairs and downstairs.

We have 2 exhaust fans that appear to run 24/7. They are both located in bathrooms on each floor. I removed the vent cover and there is a switch that reads they are both operating at 110CFM. This means total venting is 220CFM? Curiously, in our home energy audit packet we received it says the mechanical ventilation rate is 145CFM. I wonder why the difference?

I tried turning both exhaust fans to 50CFM for a total of 100CFM and the home seems a little more comfortable but the very low humidity hasn't changed. These fans are running ALL the time. The wall switch will not turn them off.

I'm worried that even at 100CFM the house is being over ventilated causing cold air to be pulled into the house through the building envelope and exhausting warm moist air too quickly causing the house to dry out. I'm also worried about the opposite problem in the summer - too much humid air being pulled into the house.

Here are the specs on the home:

Basic stats of home:
 - 2700sq feet
 - unfinished attic + basement
 - spray foam in attic + basement
 - fiberglass batt in exterior walls
 - forced hot air heat. Dual zone w/ furnaces in Basement and Attic
 - 8 foot ceilings.

Info from energy audit
 - Infiltration rate: Htg 688 Clg: 688 CFM50
 - Method: blower door test

From 2016 IECC r-406 Confirmed Energy Index Report
 - R402.4 - Envelope air leakage maximum leakage rate: (3 ACH50 for
   CZ3-8) PASS

Are indoor RH levels of 10-15% in winter months unusual for a cold climate like Boston?

Could my home be over ventilated?

If you have an energy saving, very tight home, then why would you run an exhaust fan of any size 24/7?  Bathroom fans should only be run when the occupants are showering or doing the other thing that requires ventilation. I would allow the fans to run when the bathroom is occupied either by the use of a timer, or by a motion detector. If you need that much ventilation just open a window! There are energy recovery systems that move air in and out of the house and maintain a balanced pressure in the home. They have a type of heat exchange mechanism,  to transfer heat between the outgoing and incoming air to make the units "more green" or energy friendly. Oh, by the way, contrary to some peoples opinion, forced air heating systems or any heating systems do not "dry out" the humidity in any home. The humidity is relative to the temperature,  raising the air temperature lowers the relative humidity and visa/versa. For your house, you will have to add  1 or maybe 2 whole house humidifiers to the heating systems. Raising the homes humidity will yield a more comfortable feeling at a lower temperature.


Get rid of hornets: The nest has been removed, but the hornets keep rebuilding I have what I think is a hornets' nest on the soffit of my house (I'm not sure exactly what kind of bee or insect it is).

The nest has been removed since the photo was taken, however, the hornets keep rebuilding. They seem to build a new portion of nest about the size of a soda can each day. I remove the nest each day, but they are undeterred, and continue to rebuild.

Also, they have started to swarm the sewer vent pipe on the roof (not shown in photo). This is quite concerning; I don't want these things in my house. The pipe is about 2ft to the left of the nest, on the roof of the dormer.

Most people I've talked to recommend spraying the nest with hornet-specific insecticide. I can do this, but it's occurred to me that there isn't really much to spray.

How can I get rid of the hornets?

I have had luck by spraying the nest with pesticide in the evening, when most should be at the nest rather than foraging, to maximize kill count and reduce danger to me because they are less active.

Then remove the nest and spray the entire nest area with the ubiquitous spray lubricant that comes in a blue and yellow can with the number forty on it. I do not know why this seems to deter them from rebuilding in the same spot, but have been told that it neutralizes the pheromone scent that attracts them to build in the same spot again. Try it on the vent pipe too.


Is there a quick way to clean up walnuts from a yard? I'm renting a house and it has a walnut tree in the yard which has started dropping hundreds of walnuts all over the place.  Picking them up by hand seems like it'd be messy and very slow.  Is there a quick way to clean these things up?  A scoop shovel doesn't seem to work too well with the grass.

You need a Roller Nut Harvester!

Amazon also has the Nut Wizard, which has an infinitely better name, but it's $50 vs. $18.01 for the Roller Nut Harvester.  Plus you can still tell your friends it's called the Nut Wizard and they'll never know.


What is the proper concrete ingredient ratio for a patio? I am pouring a 10X20X6 patio pad.  It has been 15 years since I mixed a mass amount of concrete and the cement that I got is a little vague on the instructions. What is the ratio for cement:sand:aggregate? Is it 1:2:1 or 1:2:2? I know the water is a relative thing and I know what consistency I need, but the mix ratios have me confused. A bit rusty.  Thanks!

Concrete obtains its strength due to the cement-water ratio. This means water is not a "relative" thing, but critical, in fact.

The fine and coarse aggregate (sand and stone) are basically just fillers. The space in between the aggregate needs to be filled with cement paste (cement and water). The more paste, the more cement you need.

A concrete mix design is based on the principles mentioned above. Depending on the source of your aggregate, your cement paste requirements may vary.

The "rule of thumb" ratios are based on experience, but don't guarantee a particular strength concrete.

A nice source of standard mixes for various requirements can be found at the South African Concrete Institute website


Why did my freezer stop freezing after being unplugged for several days? We lost our electricity for about a week.  I unplugged the upright freezer so it wouldn't get a surge when power came back on.  Food removed, no ice build up.  When I plugged it back in it chilled nicely, but didn't freeze.  What kind of problem am I looking at?

Freezers are not really designed to freeze things (at least not an entire freezer full of unfrozen things), they're designed to keep things frozen.  They're also designed to work with stuff in them, and will likely not be as effective when empty.

From your question, it sounds like you're running an empty freezer, and waiting for it to get cold.  This will likely never happen.   Put some frozen stuff in there, and monitor it for a bit to insure it's keeping the stuff frozen.  If it is, put the rest of the stuff in. If not, you'll have to investigate further.


Craftsman 139.53973SRT drive gear issue I have replaced the drive gear on this door opener and tested it 15 to 20 times afterwards. For the next 3 days I used the door opener several times and it worked perfect. Then one morning I opened the door and the motor continued to run. By the time I was able to pull the electrical plug, the new drive gear was ruined. I can replace the drive gear but I need to understand why this happened or this will happen again. Any ideas?

I am not absolutely sure, but I think that model may use a mechanical limit switch that is mounted on the trolley rail. The upper and lower limit switches are mounted on  brackets that are adjustable on the rail to fine tune the travel of the door. It is not uncommon for these brackets to get loose and move. If this switch moves too far, then your door will strike the floor or top end of travel and stop, but the switch will not activate stopping the motor. Result is motor continues to run, but chain will not move, so there goes your gear drives. Check the location of these limit switches, test the switches themselves to assure they are working. (Turn off power, unplug and test switch with an OHM meter.)


What size wire to run from a main panel to workshop panel We are currently building a new house that will have an upgraded 400amp main panel in it.  The builder is going to put a disconnect switch on the outside of the garage where the main panel is located so all I have to do is hook into it.
I will also be building a 24'x24' workshop in the back yard. Reading online, it seems like a 100 amp panel in the workshop would suffice.  The workshop will need about 180-200' of wire ran.  I plan on putting down conduit for the wiring (probably 3" to be really safe).  Just have no clue on what size wiring I would need.

I am a DIYer at home and feel I have good electrical common sense, just never ran something this far out or for that large of a panel.

Any help would be great, thank you!

First, forget copper wire at this distance and size, unless you own a copper mine.  Aluminum is a better conductor (by weight and cost), and is a better match to the zinc plated aluminum lugs you'll be attaching to.  Use the dielectric paste.  Yes, there was an issue with aluminum in small branch circuits (1350 alloy on receptacles and switches rated for copper only), but this is feeder. The power company still uses 1350 alloy on service laterals, and if you let them install this feeder they will use it.  But you're supposed to use AA-8000 alloy.

Of course you know to use individual THWN-2 or XHHW wires instead of a balky cable.

Putting in 3" conduit is brilliant and will increase your ease of DIY.  Just keep in mind you won't be able to put data cables in there.  Only certain (non-conductive) fiber optic cables are allowed.   You can put other power wires in there, say for a switched load like a light or well pump, but if you do, you'll need to derate all the conductors including the big set.  Keep that in mind, this whole conversation is about derating.

Your minimum conductor size will be #1Al.  If you install that, you are legal because any segment of wire won't get hotter than is safe.  However you have many segments, and may have some voltage drop. You may want to upsize wire for the convenience of less voltage drop.

The first question about voltage drop is "do we care?" (Or to be more precise, how much do we care). People "chicken little" over a 3% number, but we just had a lost-neutral in our apartment complex where the balance tipped 20 volts (so 100/140V), and nobody noticed for days. The stock rule of 3% is concerned with this segment, with other unknown segments adding other unknown 3%'s cumulating... but in this case, this is the big segment - there isn't anywhere on either end to lose much more.  So the 3% rule aims for no more than a 6-8% drop globally, and that's a fair target, given that the in-main and in-barn wiring won't add up to more than a 1% drop.  Keep drop under 7%.

Lastly we must avoid the great bungle of most people doing voltage drop calcs.  Do the calc on your actual amp load, not the number on the breaker. The breaker is there to protect the wire.  If you voltage-drop-calc derate to 150A wire, you'd be perfectly allowed to up-breaker to 150A.  It won't change your actual load one bit.  Think it through.

Speaking of that, do not fit a 100A panel.  The main breaker in the barn panel is redundant, it's just there to be a shutoff switch.  A 200A breaker will work just as well as a shutoff switch, and give you a lot more breaker spaces too.  Around here, we are fanatics at recommending lots of spaces, so you never, ever come back asking how to squeeze more circuits into a full panel!  Spaces are cheap, regrets are expensive.


Is it safe to set my water heater tank to vacation during winter time? What else can I turn off to save heating bills during winter? Is it safe to turn set my water heater tank to vacation during winter because I am mostly away from my house?  I live in Canada.
What else can I turn off to save heating bills during winter when I am away at my house?

First of all you should turn off the water to the house and water heater . I've had a burst pipe at my vacation home because the power failed, it got really cold and froze pipes. When the power came back on and melted the frozen water in the pipes, there was a badly cracked pipe that did a ton of damage.   If you have pex plumbing that doesn't apply, but if it's copper or steel, you are at risk. Even if you did have a metal pipe freeze and burst, when you came back and turned on the water, it would probably be immediately obvious that you had a burst pipe that you could address immediately, mitigating further damage.
I would also set the heating system (not sure what you have, so take this with a grain of salt) to about 45 F. That's high enough to keep the humidity in check, but shouldn't be too costly.


Where do attach C wire on my boiler? I need to add a C wire to use my wifi thermostat. I have a 2 wire thermostat now. There is a third wire in the wall which runs to the basement where it is cut off. I can easily extend it to the boiler. There are 2 zones in the house. I am connecting the thermostat to the main zone so I can monitor the house temperature while we're traveling. It appears to me that I should connect the C wire to the "2" terminal of the zone valve as shown on the attached wiring diagram. This diagram was drawn by installer of the zone valves when the second zone was added.
The zone valves are White-Rodgers 1361's. The boiler is a Laars MiniTherm. I have traced the wire to a 24VAc transformer in the boiler.

The White-Rodgers 1361 zone valve has five terminals arranged Like this:

2    2/5    4

      1     3

2/5 and 4 run the the thermostat. 2 and 1 run to the transformer. The 2 terminal wire is marked "neutral" on the diagram. 3 runs to the boiler controls.

After glancing through the White-Rodgers 1361 zone valve Installation Instructions, I'd say the C wire should be attached to terminal 1. While R should attach to 5, and W should attach to 4.


If polyurethane is not food safe, why is it used on dining tables? Why do online sites say that polyurethane isn't food safe, and is there some way I can use it on my kitchen worktop and still be safe?

I don't prepare or store food directly on it or use it as a cutting board. I have it sealed with shellac now, but it's just not cutting it near the sink.

According to FDA regulations, the typical clear wood finishes that dry to a hard film, including polyurethane, are considered food safe.  Wait to use the surface until the finish is completely dried, and clean it before allowing food contact.

Polyurethane is a fine choice to use on a counter, as long as you don't use the counter as a cutting board.  If you do cut directly on the polyurethane surface it will be damaged.  Mineral oil would be a good finish for a wood counter that is to be used as a cutting board, but you have to renew the mineral oil fairly often.

As you've found, shellac is not an appropriate choice for an area that will get wet frequently.  However, you will not have any problem applying polyurethane over the shellac.


Low resource fix for loose wood planks I just moved into an apartment with a row of loose wood planks along a central walkway. I'm only going to be here a few months, but I'd like to secure them somehow. Unfortunately for me, this house is in Brazil. Typical hardware stores like Lowe's or Home Depot are nowhere to be found and I don't speak the language well enough to have a conversation with a local hardware guy. There are plenty of Mom & Pop shops around with screws and wood shims, but I only have a very basic set of tools with me (an advanced utility knife). What are some methods to secure the wood blocks but not damage my feet when I walk over them?

For a small job like that, I think construction adhesive would do the trick. Most local hardware stores should sell it. You'd need a caulking gun, about $5 bucks, to spread the adhesive. The adhesive comes in a cardboard tube similar to the one below. There are many different types.


Is heat bending of pvc conduit allowed? I am interested if bending of the pvc conduit is allowed using heat to 90 degrees in larger radius. Also, is there max number of 90 degree turns allowed in a circuit?

You need a junction box or other access every 360 degrees (or rather, no more than 360 degrees between junction boxes or access points.) It's to make it possible to actually pull the wire into the conduit, so embrace it.

Things like an LB count as an access point and are frequently used to make this practical, but where needed, simply inserting a junction box in the run is easy to do - no need to cut wires or make a junction in it, you just need the access.

As for bending, yes, large radius sweeps can be purchased pre-made (real electrical supply .vs. home cheapo, etc.) and yes, you can use heat to bend PVC conduit - I've done it with boiling water, or you can rent the heat blanket type benders. I would not suggest direct flame for bending heat. You do need to take care not to kink the conduit when bending it.


Selecting a sliding patio door I live in the Boulder Colorado area where we have hot intense sunny summer days, and below zero freezing winter nights. We are planning to install a sliding patio door in a south facing full sun area. I am also concerned about damage to the outdoor frame, as our current sliding door leaks during intense rain storms due to cracked seals and weathering.

What are some of the things I should look for when searching for the new sliding door?

Double-glazed (toughened safety glass) without question.
Possibly tented glass (would help a little on those intense summer days).
uPVC frame (and uPVC trim pieces). uPVC doesn't seem that popular here in the USA (at least here in the St Louis area), but in the UK it is extremely popular (mainly due to its almost zero maintenance requirements).
Built in anti-lift device/mechanism.
Good quality hardware & locks.


How do I fill drilled holes on a concrete floor and won't make it look fresh and blend it with existing floor? I want to try hiding a drilled hole as much as possible on a concrete floor. I will fill the holes, but it's obviously visible. I don't want it to look fresh. Is there anything I should do before hand that’ll help blend it in afterwards? Then afterwards when I’m done is there anything anyone recommends for making it blend in and not look like freshly poured concrete in the holes?

Someone would help me out on this but he doesn’t have any ideas for hiding it.

If you're using epoxy or a urethane based putty to fill the holes, scrape some of the nearby cement with sandpaper or a wire brush and brush that over the filler while it's still "tacky". It should help to hide it a little.


Need to Remove and Replace a Hook that is in Concrete I have a metal hook that has been put into hole in a brick wall using concrete.  I am wanting to remove it as a piece of the hook snapped off.  What is the easiest way to remove this hook and replace? Or am I better off contracting this project out? Who would you typically hire to do this kind of work? What would it run?  I do have access to a decent amount of power tools and have attached a picture for reference.

If it were really concrete, an expansion eye bolt is an obvious choice:  Where you drill a hole, clean it out (without breathing the dust), and tighten.

But you've got brick which is crumbly, and you want it secure against theft and pull out.  Thus you should consider drilling a slightly larger hole, cleaning out yet better, and setting a new bolt with epoxy.

Or get a bolt with plate, and multiple tapcon type brick anchor screws to spread the load out a bit in the brick:

The old bolt will likely pull out with a pry bar or screwdriver with a twist.  You may be shocked how easy it comes out of mortar.

If you need to hire, hire a "handyperson" or "handy".


How long a horizontal run will a condensate pump support? I have the model 21786 condensate pump described below. The specs say it can push the water up 16' using a 3/8" PVC pipe.
Does this mean it will do it in any possible direction (my case 8' to the ceiling and then the remaining in the ceiling horizontally?
I am considering buying a 20' one as that will be enough to get the water across the hallway in a bathroom where I have the ceiling open and I can control the slope of a drain that I could build there.
Preliminary testing with the 16' model is not conclusive and I am having difficulties with building a properly sloped drain in the ceiling. Along the joists there is insulation and I can't reach that area to make room for the PEX pipe I am using so I can slope it properly. I guess the only solution is to use such a 3/8" PVC pipe and a more powerful pump that will at least push the water to the area where I can control the slope of a drain that I could build.

The "lift" specification of a small pump is the height to which it will raise water above itself. It is another way of specifying the pressure that the pump produces at its output port. It is not a specification of the distance over which the pump will deliver water.
As your ceiling is eight feet high and the Mars-21786 can raise water up to 16 feet, it will satisfy your needs.
You do not need to build sloping drains or use larger tubing starting from 16 feet from the pump. You can run the 3/8" pvc tubing from the pump all the way to anywhere on your property where you can conveniently get rid of the water. A run of 150 feet is no problem, provided that no point in the tubing run is more than sixteen feet higher than the pump.
The effect of a long tubing run will be to slow down the rate of flow. But condensate pumps operate at a very low duty cycle, that is, the pump sits idle for minutes or even hours at a time, then runs for a minute or two to quickly empty its reservoir.
You need to be concerned more with the flow rate than with the output pressure. How much condensate does your equipment produce per hour?
I notice that the flow rate is not given for your model pump, but it certainly does not look like junk, so it will probably perform at least half as well as the more expensive Mars-21780, so 36 gph. Cut that in half for a really long drain tube, that's 18 gph.
The 21786 has a two quart reservoir. If it does what most do and starts when it's half full, it needs to pump about a quart before switching off again. At 18 gph this will take about 1 minute 12 seconds.
I suggest you do this: Run the 3/8" pvc tubing from the pump to whatever drain you find convenient, switch the pump on, pour water into the reservoir until the pump starts, and observe the flow at the drain. If anything more than a tiny dribble comes out, you're good to go.


Should my pool pump be hard-wired or plugged into an oulet? I have pool heat pump plugged to 30A outlet, with 10#
my questions :

following instructions on the plate, is it ok to leave this pump plugged to this 30A outlet (connected to 30A breaker) I mean is it safe or I must use 20A circuit, breaker 20A + 12# wire till the pump ( disctance 37' )
I don't have enoug space on my panel, so can I remove this 30A breaker and replace it with 20A ? (wiring as well )

I heard that if the heater is hard wired is better than outlet because of wattage loss, is it the only reason or is it safer also ?

Thanks

The max rating is 25a so replacing the 30 amp breaker with a 20 will probably work. Most jurisdictions don’t allow a plug for a disconnect it would be proper to have a standard 30 or 60 amp rated disconnect , if it Tripp’s the 20 amp on start up you can use a larger breaker but because the MFG states max 25 that’s the max. You can always use larger wire so that is fine.


New sub panel wire sizes I would like to install a small sub-panel in my basement. It will be approximately 55-60 feet from the main panel.

I will be running a fridge, some fluorescent lights, and occasionally some small appliances (meat grinder, deli slicer, etc.)

I was thinking a 30 Amp breaker off the main 200 Amp box and running four #8 wires in a 1" PVC conduit. (2 hot 1 neutral 1 ground.)  Am I OK with the #8 wires, or do I have to go to #6?

For a 30A breaker, honestly, you're fine at #10 wire.  At that distance you don't need a wire size bump even for 120V loads.

You said the word "cable" which means several individual wires in a sheath. That's not what you want, it's very difficult to pull through a conduit.  Get individual wires, of type THHN (typically dual-labeled THWN-2). They will easily fit in 1" conduit.


Well suddenly adding fine sand My well suddenly is adding sand to the water supply. Very fine just barely grit, so on the border between sand and silt.

I’ve just stopped irrigating, so demand is only household.

I can see the following possibilities

bore is collapsing and bore has sand to just below pump.
screen is failing and letting silt through.

What are my next steps?

I have seen this a bunch , heavy irrigation is part of the problem but don’t stop. My well guy a very old friend has always told me if it is dirty pump it hard, wait for a few hours and pump it hard again. When you pump hard yes you stress the well but if you never pump it hard it will silt up and be a bigger problem. A string filter is his preferred method to filter the sand. You may have to change these every month or so but the few dollars spent on filters will save your water heater and every valve in your house. Keep the sand out of the house and I put filters prior to the water tank in most cases, some require the filter after? A valve prior to the filter is all that is needed in most cases, a valve after can even be better, I can change my filter in less than 1 minute. I turn 2 valves 1 prior and after the filter then spin the housing off, dump the old filter and water then put a new filter in and spin it back on, open both valves and I am done from start to finish in 1 minute a month on a 12” string filter in a shallow well (less than 100’ total depth). In a river bed that has a lot of fine sand & silt.
Note I have had a jet pump in the past but switched to a submersible a short while back and don’t notice much of a difference in needed filter changes but it has been less than a year since I made the change but I started using the new pump 3x the old one as submersible pumps are much cheaper to run than jets.


Nest E Thermostat Power My thermostat is in the basement, connected to a Honeywell R845A to run a circulating pump for heat. I bought an Nest E for the main house and it works great. I want to replace the thermostat in the basement also with a Nest E.

Someone suggested to use a plug in transformer to power the thermostat, which requires 2 wires, but I called Nest and they told me you can only use 1 wire to the "C" terminal.

In the R845A I have the two wires connected to the old thermostat.

Is there any way I could connect the plug in transformer by making it into a single wire "C" or is there any connection I could make in the R845A?

The Honeywell device does not provide a C wire out.  There is fairly open access to it; perhaps you can pull a rabbit out of a hat.

Otherwise add a second transformer (2 wires from this new transformer).  Phase it correctly, I discuss how to do that here.


Can a brown, loamy wall be whitened with lime paint? We had a brown wall, consisting of some loam- or clay-like material. (When you touch it, it smells like in the pottery workshop.) We want to paint it white.

We cleaned the wall and brushed it thoroughly, and applied white lime paint to it. However, the paint started to mix with the brown underneath, leading to a... very unsatisfying result:

We're done for the day, and are planning to wait until the wall has thoroughly dried, and try again with more lime paint. We are prepared to apply as many layers of lime paint as possible, but we're not sure whether the result is ever going to be fully white.

We did think about using conventional wall paint from now on, but we fear it would not fare much better on the loamy surface, and break away.

Does anyone have an idea how to best proceed from here?

Also, what could the brown wall have consisted of? Are there common techniques that make a wall smell like clay?

I'm not sure about the clay smell. I think the paint soaked in due to the porosity of the wall. I can't guarantee it will work, but you might check into concrete epoxy, sealer or stain, or try using a primer paint first and do more layers like you said due to the porosity. Epoxy is expensive and might not like the paint.


How can I determine if my receptacles are grounded, and how can I fix it if they are not? My upstairs office has 3-prong outlets, but according to my surge suppressor, they are not grounded. I took one of the sockets off to inspect how it was wired, and it seems to have a ground wire connected to it.

My house was built in the late 1960s. Is it conceivable that all 3 sockets are "bad" with respect to their ground wires? Or is it more likely that the ground wires are not actually grounded? Would it be worth my time to replace one to see if the problem is fixed?

Short of running a copper wire from downstairs up through my window, I don't have a convenient path to ground from the office, if the copper in the wall isn't grounded. I'm running into occasional instability on my UPS because of the lack of ground.

It is extremely unlikely that all three receptacles all have bad grounds. Not impossible, but unlikely.

The most likely scenario is that your home was built before grounding became required by code (1962, plus however long it took for your state/municipality to adopt it), and then someone renovating after that time put in 14/2 Romex with a bare ground for the outlets, but then found that the supply wire from the panel didn't have a ground and didn't bother to replace that wire. So, the ground is either shorted to the neutral or left open.

The other likely scenario is that there is a discontinuity in the ground between these three outlets and the supply wire. The necessary wires exist, but whoever last messed with your home's electrical didn't connect them properly.

An outlet tester, and a more thorough inspection of the wiring, can tell you. Head to Home Depot, Lowe's, Ace, whatever, and pick up a 3-prong GFCI outlet tester:

Plug it into all of the outlets on each receptacle; ideally, you should see the two amber lamps light, but that's unlikely if the surge protector doesn't detect a proper ground path. What's more likely is that you'll see only the middle lamp light, indicating an "open ground".

Unfortunately, because the neutral and ground are supposed to be continuous (they both tie directly to the neutral bus strip in the service panel), there isn't a really good way to detect a neutral-to-ground short or swap without opening up all the outlet boxes; a 3-lamp tester will read "correct", and a multimeter will read continuity between neutral and ground no matter whether they're correct, swapped or shorted. However, this scenario is very unlikely in your case, as the surge protector should read "grounded" if the ground pin has continuity.

With the symptoms confirmed (hopefully), turn off the breaker (or pull the fuse) for this circuit, and open up all the outlet boxes. Verify that all of the wire bundles coming into each of the outlet boxes have a bare ground wire, which is twisted together with any other bare wires in the box, and is also connected to the outlet's grounding terminal (it is also acceptable, if the outlet box is metal, for the wires to be screwed into the box itself; the outlet will then be grounded through its chassis and the mounting screws. If the box is a resin or thermoplastic, the ground screw of the outlet chassis must be used).

If that doesn't indicate the cause of the problem, you will need to determine which of the various wire bundles is fed directly fro the panel. This is generally done by disconnecting all the black wires from all the outlets, then turning the power back on and VERY CAREFULLY probing each one with a non-contact voltage tester, like this:

The black wire that lights up is the one fed most directly from the panel; however, it may not be the actual wire run from the panel itself, as there could be something further "upstream". The usual culprit is the switch for the lights, especially in older homes (newer NEC code encourages lights and outlets to be on different circuits, by encouraging calculation of demand load based on separate lighting and appliance branch components, so you're not fumbling around in the dark if your hair dryer shorts out). If your NCVT lights up on anything else that you know is "dead" when the power to this circuit is off, turn the circuit back off and pull those things out of their boxes to inspect those wires. Check for the existence of ground wires, whether they're properly continuous with all other grounds, and with all black wires disconnected, whether any black wire still lights up with the power on.

If the trunk that seems to be the main power feed does have a ground, use a multimeter to measure the ohms between the neutral (white) and bare (ground). It should be zero. If it isn't, the ground is probably not properly connected to the neutral bus strip at the panel; this is where you call in a qualified electrician, because the rails in a fusebox or breaker panel can kill you instantly with one wrong move. If the ground doesn't exist in that supply wire, that's the problem; you'll need to run a new length of grounded Romex to the panel, or alternately run a green-jacketed ground wire to another box with a known good ground (I THINK this is acceptable; an electrician can verify). Understand that if you have a fusebox and the electrician has to open it up, he may insist on replacing it with a breaker panel in order to bring everything he's touching up to current code.


Potentially asbestos? So we're doing a tear-out of the second half of our kitchen, and we came across some old batt insulation in the wall chases from the forty eight company(one of the companies sued out of business from the class-action mesothelioma litigation). The house was built in 1872, but it was extended twice, once in 1910, and once again around 1940. This area is in the 1940s extension.

I've read online that batt rolls rarely contain asbestos, but I was wondering if anyone who has dealt with this specific brand before knows if it contains asbestos or not? It's greyish in color. The insulation itself says 'copr-fibre', but I can't find any information about it.

This may get you on the right track:
"The Forty-Eight Insulations Company was founded in 1923 in East Aurora, Illinois. Forty-Eight sought to produce high-quality insulation." "Forty-Eight used asbestos until 1982, long after it was known that the mineral was toxic. The Forty-Eight Insulation Qualified Settlement Trust was created to compensate the victims of Forty-Eight. Two separate amounts were placed into the trust fund. The first was $39 million to resolve existing claims. The second was $15 million for future claims."

You have a local testing lab that can sample the material and give you an answer.  In my area the test runs about $50.


How can I install a stair skirt to fit the stairs instead of running alongside? Can I place a stair skirt on the top of basement stairs instead of between the stairs and the wall? The gaps between the stairs to the wall are all different so instead of dropping the skirt between the wall and stairs I need to place the skirt on top of the stairs to cover the gaps. I hope this can be done and that someone has instructions on how to do it.

I think this may work for you:

This article, "Scribing Skirt Boards" by NORM YEAGER, provides a pretty good explanation of a technique to install a stair skirt "on top" of an existing stairway. You might want to do a couple of "practice runs" before you do the actual skirt...depending on your skill level and the steadiness of your nerves, etc. It isn't difficult, but it is one of those things that gets easier with a bit of practice.

What they're detailing here is laying a 1x12 across the top of the stairs and scribing the outline of the steps onto the board, for cutting out the profile of the steps and then installing it above the steps instead of between the staircase and the wall.

Personally, I think that I'd use a pencil instead of a sharpened brad to mark the cut lines, but both methods should work.

If there is an existing skirt, you could install your new skirt over the top of it to effectively make the two skirts into one thick enough to cover the gaps.

If there isn't an existing skirt, making one out of 1x12 might be thick enough to cover the gaps, but you may want to use a 2x12 to make the skirt so that you'd have the additional thickness to cover the gaps.

Depending on the surrounding woodwork, etc. you could augment the existing molding to match and blend in the additional thickness of the skirt.


Can I solder 12/2 Romex to extend wire 5 ft? I'm sure this is going to be lambasted by the code gods, but is it SAFE to solder the wires in a Romex cable to extend it? Obviously I would ground the circuit as normal, just trying to avoid another junction box. Would I heat shrink each individual wire and then the outer sheathing as well? Thanks for any advice

They do make Romex Splice Kits that claim to be legal for rework inside of a finished wall without junction boxes.  Soldering is absolutely the wrong way, and regular wire nuts are not going to cut it.  You need a mechanical fastener rated and tested for the job.


Voltage drop to water heater A couple months ago, I replaced my water heater.  For the sake of full discolsure, I replaced an AO Smith 40 gal lowboy with a Bradford-White 50 gal lowboy, but the electrical requirements were still completely the same: 240v, 25A, two non-simultaneous 4500w elements.
Since the installation almost three months ago, I have had two instances where I experienced a loss of hot water. Both instances were several weeks apart, and well over a month after the install, the second instance happening just a bit ago.  Diagnosing the issue both times, there was low voltage at the wire nuts between the heater and the line coming in from the breaker box: around 92v. Simply flipping the breaker to OFF then back to ON corrected the issue.  The breaker did not APPEAR (or feel) tripped, but looks can be decieving.  FWIW, the breaker box is a GE.
Since I'm experencing an occasional low voltage issue, I am leaning towards an issue with the breaker itself, for which simply replacing the 25A double pole breaker would be my remedy.  But could there be a different issue I should look into before replacing the breaker?
Thanks in advance.
EDIT:
As per request, I took off the breaker panel cover, only to find a new monkey wrench to throw into our conversation.  Here is the breaker, which the more and more looking into this, and as cheap as breakers are, I might a step ahead and (at worst) out less than $10 if I replace the breaker.  The arrows indicate the one in question:

I am sure you quickly noticed the spliced wiring that is present which some genius wrapped up with electrical tape.  Turns out these spliced wires lead to an older style load control bypass:

Red wire #1, which is spliced in with the black line in the box does tie in with the black wire with the LCB box.  The black line in image 1 goes out to the water heater. The other red line stays red until it gets to the LCB and then you can see it goes across the jumper bar to the white which then proceeds out to the water heater.
This may be an opportunity to clean up a pretty ugly mess, but now I am wondering if my issue is Duke Energy playing around with me by shutting down my water heater and not turning it back on.
FINAL UPDATE:
I replaced the breaker, and took the opportunity to remove the wires going to the Load Control box, which from all apearances is no longer being used.  I was relieved to find that the splices underneath were done with crimped splice caps, and then covered with the electrical tape.
Everything checks out good with votage at the heater and back in the panel box now.
I appreciate everyone who commented and served as a sounding board so I could confirm what I was orginally suspecting!


What type of wire nuts are recommended for #6 and #8 wires for oven installation? For an experienced diy-er trying to install a 40A oven/microwave combo (8/3 cable) and a 50A rated range (6/3 cable), what type of specific wire nuts can I use that I can easily pick up at Lowe’s? Hopefully one that is good for both, 2x#6 and 2x#8 wire. Any twisting tips on those, or a link to a video is also appreciated.
This seem to be the fit, but wanted to double check as far as nuts as well as install tips: Wing Twist Wire Connectors
Edit: does this look good?

I had to join some #6 and #8 wires in a nut. Took a few minutes of looking, but I found a small 6-pack of nuts that said it would support up to two #6 wires. The only thing different about these is they're much larger than the ones you'd normally use. There's no real terminology to look for, but read the bags to find sizing.
There's nothing special about twisting I found. Both were stranded, but they easily wrapped around one another and the nut screwed on like any other wire nut.


Ok to roof-over in the rain? A buddy and I will be installing a second layer of composite shingles over the old ones already on my roof. Should we consider doing any of this in the rain?

It is quite possible to slide off a wet roof even if it's not that steep.

Shingles over shingles are not remotely close to vapor-tight, so they will dry eventually.


Faucet handle removal I’m trying to replace my bathroom faucet (I turned off the water supply lines) and cannot get the base of the handles off.

Here are photos of the top and bottom:

Anything I should try?

This is a NUT:

Channel locks or a slip lock wrench will work. Remove the metal piece on the threaded pipe first.

For the top, I agreee with @jstola but it looks kinda like someone may have filled the bell housing with caulk (the white goo out the top doesn't belog there).
Once in a while, these housings have a small recessed hole with an allen nut inside; yours does not look like one of these, but if you see a small hole in it that looks useless, it probably is.
Also, sometimes these fixtures are also threaded on (and I believe sometimes they are a reverse thread), yours could very well be one of these. If it is caulked inside, you might need to (sensibly) apply some heat to get it to break/melt free.  Definitiely try the putty knife idea first, clean off all excess plumbers putty or caulk, and remove anything plastic. Dont cook the countertop.


How can I verify that the ground wires in my outlet boxes are grounded properly? I am a non-professional with limited electrical experience. I recently bought a house built in the mid-fifties that has some two-prong receptacles (i.e., no ground hole).  I planned to replace the first outlet in the circuit with a gfci outlet, but when I turned off the power and removed the outlet from the box, I was surprised to find that the cable feeding it and the cable continuing to the next outlet are three-wire.  So my question is:  why would the person who did the original wiring not use a three-prong receptacle? How do I test to ensure the ground wire at the outlet box does in fact go to ground?

Connect the new receptacle with hot going to small slot, neutral to larger slot, "ground" wire to ground screw on receptacle. Turn power back on, insert a 3-prong circuit tester into the receptacle and see if the tester says you have a good ground.

Even if you don't have a good ground you can install a GFCI receptacle and get protection from any shock that a GFCI protects from (or at least some types of shocks).

If you find that the ground is not good then unless and until you fix this, just leave the new GFCI receptacle in place and put a sticker on the receptacle stating it is ungrounded. You can legally use it that way.


Landscaping - How to Correct Heavily Flooded Yard I live on a fairly small urban lot (~3100sq/ft) and have been having issues with water pooling in my backyard. Recently during a very large rainfall this caused my basement to flood. I'm going to be fixing the cracks in the foundation from the inside, but the flooding is likely the source of the issue.

Because of the restraints of my property I can't really divert the water away anywhere (at least in a way that I can see). I'm honestly thinking about turning the entire grassy area into a rain garden. What else could I possibly do?

If your jurisdiction's drainage code permits it, you could install a yard drain in your yard.  You would need to slope the lawn so that in a light rain (such that the water can eventually be absorbed by the topsoil) the water does not drain into the drain, but that if enough water collects on the lawn to be a problem, the excess does drain into the drain.  You would also need to pipe the drain water to where your roof drain goes to.  (This is why you should check with your jurisdiction about its drainage requirements.)

Also, is your topsoil well aerated?  Compacted and/or clayey topsoil often does not absorb water well.  You might want to consider aerating your lawn, or even replacing the top 8" - 12" of your topsoil with a sandier, more organic mix that is designed for drainage.


Copper to PEX connection I am swapping out an old pedestal sink for a conventional vanity.  Currently in place are some 1/4 pex lines that are run through the pedestal.

I want to swap the small pex for 1/2” and am fairly handy and I’m pretty sure I can figure out the pex stuff but am not sure what to do with the current shut offs that are in the basement.  Is there an adapter that I purchase that will make the shutoff to pex connection?

Easiest is going to be Push-to-Connect 1/2" Coupling.  You will be able to cut the 1/2" copper and then use the SharkBite Push to Connect Coupling to switch to 1/2" PEX the rest of the way up to your vanity.  Then you will have to figure out how to connect the 1/2" PEX to the sink and include a shut off under the sink.  If you have access to the wall behind the vanity then I like to put 90-Degree Drop-Ear Elbow with a 1/2" Chrome Plated Nipple followed by a 1/2 in. x 3/8 in. Angle Valve.

This Video does a good job of showing it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DL1NL_9Yd1U

https://www.homedepot.com/p/SharkBite-1-2-in-Brass-Push-to-Connect-Coupling-U008LFA/202270492

https://www.homedepot.com/p/SharkBite-1-2-in-Brass-PEX-Barb-x-1-2-in-Female-Pipe-Thread-Adapter-90-Degree-Drop-Ear-Elbow-UC334LFA/202270584

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Everbilt-Lead-Free-Brass-Pipe-Chrome-Plated-Nipple-1-2-in-MIP-x-3-in-802589/207176770

https://www.homedepot.com/p/BrassCraft-1-2-in-FIP-Inlet-x-3-8-in-O-D-Compression-Outlet-1-4-Turn-Angle-Valve-G2R17X-C1/202047053