How should I repair a loose marble door sill? My bathroom door has a marble door sill, which turns out not to be affixed to anything, so that I can move it freely. (See photos.) I imagine that I ought to fix this. What should I use?

Mix up some thinset mortar and spread out out evenly and then place the door sill on top... Try to even out the area between the sill and the tile as it looks uneven from the photo. The sill can be a little bit slanted to even off the edges of the tile and wood floors. You can fill in any cracks or spaces with the thinset too.


Two Water Heaters - One off affecting the other? We recently moved into a property with 2 water heaters installed. These were installed less than 3 years ago, so they are relatively new. Now, in an effort to conserve electricity (we are just 3 people in the house), I switched off one completely.
We then noticed that the other (functional) water heater's pilot was going off every other day, causing no hot water. We then switched both heaters on 2 days ago, and the problem hasn't reoccurred...

We had a technician come over today, and he said it could be a problem with the thermocouple. But when I mentioned that one of them was switched off, when the problem occurred, he evaluated the plumbing, said that both feed into the same water line, and that that could be the problem causing the pilot on the functioning heater to switch off.

My question is - Does the operation of one water heater affect the other in a setting described above? Of course, I will evaluate whether the problem reoccurs with both heaters being on over the next few days.

It sounds like you are describing two different problems.
FIRST PROBLEM: Turning off a hot water heater.
First, there are two ways to hook up two water heaters: series and parallel.

SERIES

In series, the water comes in to the first water heater, then passes through the second hot water heater, and finally goes to your fixtures.
If you turn off the second water heater, then the water in the second one cools down between uses. This results in very long warmup times.
If you want to turn one of these off, turn off the first one. (This is actually a legit way to save on energy costs if you don't need the extra hot water volume because in many places the water supply is colder than room temperature and the first tank allows the water to sit and reach room temperature before it's heated.)

PARALLEL

In parallel, the incoming cold water is split between the two water heaters. Hot water coming out of the two heaters is combined and sent on to the fixtures.
If you want to turn off one of the water heaters, you also have to close the valve to the inlet or the outlet. Otherwise you will just be mixing the cold water in one water heater with the hot water from the other heater.
Leaving one heater closed off for a long time is a bad idea because the water can become stagnant and foul.

SECOND PROBLEM: Pilot light going out
Just turning off one heater should not cause the pilot light on the other to go out.


Replacing the power button on washing machine How do you replace the power button on LG WT-H800 washer?

Modern washers and dryers, and this one is no exception, use a control panel that is a plastic overlay over domed touch buttons. Sometimes these plastic overlays will also have clear windows that allow LED indicators to shine through as well.

The LEDs and touch switch domes are all mounted onto a circuit board that is part of a sandwich comprised of the overlay, the circuit board and possibly also a metal or hard plastic rear support plate.

Common types of failure of the touch dome switches are:

The domes become intermittent and will not reliably register with the internal microprocessor to invoke the desired function.
The domes lose their springiness and collapse so that they no longer operate as a touch button.
Sometimes the plastic overlay material cracks around the most often used buttons. A complete piece of the plastic will often come away leaving the underlying circuitry exposed.

Unfortunately the fix for bad or broken touch buttons is to replace the whole control panel assembly. This is often not a welcome option because the part can be quite expensive. But it is really the only way to restore the function and appearance of the original product.

Some electronics technician or hobbyist or engineer could possibly replace a broken touch button with a discrete push button switch. However that type of fix will always look like a kludge even though it may actually function okay.


Microwave not heating: Should I pay a contractor to diagnose? My microwave is turning on, but it's no longer heating food. It just runs until the timer finishes, but the food is not being heated.

I read a few articles online that say microwaves aren't easy for DIYers to troubleshoot, and that they can be costly to repair.

So is it worth paying a contractor to come out and diagnose the problem (and potentially tell me I need a new microwave), or should I just bite the bullet and buy a new microwave?

Depends on if it was expensive, if it is mounted, and how much the one you'd buy would cost. (and install)

Encountered a similar problem, once it was a safety switch for the door, another time it was a burnt out magnetron. Worth replacing either on a $600+ unit. $200? Just buy a nice new clean one.


What do you call the clips for attaching a dado rail? The dado rail in our living room is attached with plastic clips that have kind of grove on them. Researching online, it seems that most people have stuck these rails on with glue.

Some of these are broken but I cannot find what they are called or where to buy them either online or in the UK.

I suspect you could.. well, you could make your own using cut up gift cards or credit cards. It won't be as nice as the originals, but I think the plastic would be the right material.

Could you put up a photo of the groove this snaps into?


Central supports for bed I have an old Ikea bed with this kind of central supports:

The problem is that these central supports are flimsy and tend to fall on the side, and I would like to find a way to secure them. For now, I put a pile of books below it, and it's still unsteady.
The height of the supports is 23cm.

I looked for better solutions (apart from changing the bed).  I've tried a few approaches, including supporting it with car jacks.

.

These jacks are ugly and generally too tall (28cm+), so I also attempted to support it with bed risers.

:

These tend to be too low and not adjustable (15-20cm max).

How can I secure the central support, or support it in an adjustable way?

The existing supports look to just be a piece of wood stood on end, and fastened into the rail running the length of the bed. The simplest solution would be to build a wider support, also out of wood, and also fastened into that rail. Grab a 2x4, cut it into pieces ~6" long, and stack them until you get the height you need. 6 lengths of 2x4 stacked in this manner should get you the 23cm you need (a 2x4 laying down is only 1.5" thick, and 23cm is 9"). Screw or glue them all together and you're good to go. Orient them perpendicular to the rail for additional stability.

A single 8' 2x4 typically seen at the home centers will cost about $2 or $3 (in the US, at least), and a box of screws a few more dollars, making this a very cheap solution.


How to remove this shower head arm Trying to replace the tub and shower fixtures when I encountered this light brown, cement like hard but gummy advesive liberally applied all over the joint.

How do I remove this?

Simply unscrew it. The sealant/adhesive will break away from the wall as you unscrew it and stay attached to the pipe.


Should I replace the window frame while installing replacement windows? I will be considering replacing some of my windows in the future. Recently I had my house re-sided and had a chance to see how things were looking "under the surface" for much of the home. There were a few surprises with significant rot in plywood due to leaking around some of the windows, but I think that issue has been resolved.

One question that remains is how to deal with the windows, and what will be involved with their replacement.

Picture

Questions:

Looking at this picture I see rot in both the sill and the bottom part of the frame, is that correct?
Would be replacing the frame when the windows get replaced be a good idea? Is it necessary if going from one window type to another (awning vs double hung)?
What is involved with replacing a window frame? Is the siding effected?

Desired Replacement Windows:

Something that will not rot
Something that does not require paint
Double hung. Would consider an awning window again if I could lock it tightly shut. These windows do not have that feature and frequently gap ever-so-slightly open
Thermally efficient and well sealed (I live in area where heating is more important than cooling).

Edit:

This is how the windows look now:

Unfortunately, the windows probably should have been addressed before the new siding went on. Doing the windows before putting on new siding would have given you the option of using new construction vinyl double hung with J-channel build into the frames. It also would make repairing or replacing rotted framing members much easier.

However, since you already have the new siding up (would like to see a pic of the window with the new siding in place) you may have to use replacement type windows. If you have rotted frames, those will have to be replaced and the new replacement windows sized to the opening AFTER the frame is fixed. Of course you can carefully calculate the opening based on what you intend to use to reframe the opening, but that can be risky for an amateur. Keep in mind, replacement windows usually have to be ordered to you exact size and are not returnable if you measure them wrong.  Always a good move to have supplier measure and order the windows for you.  After you install the new replacement windows, you may have to install some new extension jams and exterior trim in order to fit snugly to the new siding. Don't forget to use Ice & Water shield under the finish frame/ over rough opening framing and caulk all areas where water could possibly get in.


Splitting off one leg of a 20A 220v circuit for a plug - Is this to code? I want to avoid buying another breaker and using a slot up in my sub panel just for one plug.  I bought a plug\box kit which contains a 15A receptacle.  I assume this wouldn't be to code since the feed is 20A and the receptacle is rated for 15A.  If I get a 20A receptacle would I be able to wire in this manner?

I want to take one leg of the 220V feed to the pump motor, split it off, and go to a plug along with a neutral. Here is a diagram to explain.

You're fine putting the receptacle there

You have a common-trip, two-pole breaker (instead of two handle-tied single pole breakers or an independent trip breaker), so that meets the disconnecting and OCP requirements for a mixed 120/240V circuit (210.4(C) Exception 2), and since the motor FLA is only 8A, it doesn't exceed the 50% (10A) limit on hardwired loads where receptacles or luminaires are also present (210.23(A)(2)).

Since the breaker is 20A and this will no longer be a motor-only circuit, not only do you need to use 12AWG wire for the connection to the new receptacle, you need to make sure the existing wiring is all 12AWG or thicker, and replace any substandard wire found.  Also, make sure the motor has a built-in thermal overload protector or is impedance protected as per 430.32(B) and 430.53(B). (Look for a red button on the motor, or the letters 'T.P.' or 'Z.P.' on the motor nameplate.)


How to fix spacing with a California corner Ugh.  So I just framed two walls that form an interior corner.  When I layed out the walls, I did the typical mark the centers on the 16's.  What I did not account for, however, was the corner. I did a California corner, which means that the drywall is not actually starting from the end of the baseplate (for one of the walls), but rather 3.5" from the end.  So how do I fix this?  It's a ~15' wall, so can I just add a stud 3.5" past the 8' mark and then have the drywallers cuss at me for having to do the adjustment to the normal spacing?

Sounds like you know the answer, and I'm sure the drywallers have seen way worse than that.


How does the insulation value of multiple layers of insulation compare to a single layer of the same total thickness? If I insulate a surface with two sheets of rigid foam insulation with thickness x, or with one sheet of otherwise identical rigid foam insulation with thickness 2x, how should I think about the performance differences between those two situations? What about if there was an intentional air gap between the two?
I'm thinking of an application exposed to cold air, around 10 to 50 deg F (-12 to 10 deg C). I'm also assuming that the warm side of the insulation would be faced with aluminum foil. I'm especially interested in expanded polystyrene.
Thanks!

2*1x or 1*2x would be the same, but 2*1x with an air gap would be better than 2x by itself. Same principal as double pane glass; trapped air slows the transfer of heat.


How to get a stuck Moen faucet cartridge out? I have a single-lever Moen kitchen faucet that's 12 yrs old and I'm trying to replace the original cartridge.  Moen sent a replacement cartridge (1225 B), that includes a removal tool.  I've removed everything that is supposed to come apart up to this point, including the retaining clip that holds the cartridge in.  The instructions at this point look like this:

The cartridge is completely circular, nothing keyed.  It has O rings top and bottom to seal it.  The removal tool is a plastic cap that fits around some wings in the top of the cartridge.  You are supposed to use it to twist the body of the old cartridge.  The only obvious purpose for this would be to sheer any built-up scale that might be stuck in the various openings, or just to generally loosen the body.

Inside the body of the cartridge, there is a stem that moves up and down for shut-off/flow volume, and rotates for hot/cold mix.  Pulling up on the stem is supposed to pull out the cartridge.

The cartridge is frozen inside the faucet.  The removal tool just deforms.  I managed to turn the cartridge body maybe a few degrees and now it is stuck there.  I tried using a metal tool to turn it without success, stopping short of enough pressure to damage the plastic cartridge.

I've used vise grips on the stem in the up position, tapping them up with a hammer.  I've used enough force to knock off the vice grips but the cartridge body doesn't budge.  I've also tried a small pry bar as a lever between the vice grips and the body of the faucet.  Nothing budged, and I'm concerned that the cast metal body is too brittle, and that using the thin top rim for leverage is likely to break it.

There have been some other questions here about removing cartridges.  A common theme is using WD-40 or CLR.  Aside from the poisoning potential of WD-40, the cartridge is a very snug fit and O rings seal the area where scale could build up.  So it isn't obvious how I could get enough to where it could count.

Any suggestions for extracting the old cartridge?

I have a Moen bathroom sink faucet Model  Number 4570.  It has been in place for about 25 years.  I am the original owner.  The cold water faucet finally failed and I ordered new parts from Moen (the cartridge plus various adapters and also their tool to aid in removing a cartridge nut.  After removing the faucet handle and the cartridge nut, I then tried to extract the cartridge using needle nosed pliers as per the Moen instructions.  After being in place for 25 years, it did not want to budge (not surprising).
I then looked on the internet to see if anyone else had experienced this problem and it looks like it has been a common problem.  I read all the suggestions and tried putting vinegar on it to no avail.  I was impressed with one proposal from an engineer in which he suggested attacking it from the underside by disconnecting the tubing and inserting a 5/8” rod and tapping it with a hammer.
I am 82 years old (also a retired engineer) and I did not feel like getting under the sink.  I then tried to attack it from the top.  I fashioned a loop out of some old pipe strap I had and I was able to attach the loop to the top of the cartridge with the screw that is used to attach the top extension to the cartridge.  I then fashioned a lever arrangement using a block of wood and the lever that goes on my floor jack.  See the attached photos.  With this arrangement, the cartridge just popped out with very little effort.
Here is a photo of the Pipe Strap loop that I attached to the top of the cartridge.  This photo shows the cartridge after extraction.

This photo shows the arrangement of the lever with the cartridge still in the housing.

I added some extra silicone to the two “O” rings on the new cartridge and then inserted the cartridge and finished the job.  The valve turns extremely easily – maybe I did not need the extra silicone.  Moen was very helpful in sending the parts (at no charge since I was the original owner).


Mounting Ethernet wall-plate in a solid wall I have an Ethernet cable running through a small hole in a solid concrete block wall. I want to cover the hole with a plate:

Do I need a mount/bracket or can I just screw in the plate? A bracket will require a much large hole.

Nothing easier.  Install any sort of electrical 1-gang junction box on the surface of the wall.  Remove a knockout from the back of the box, and line it up so the wire comes through the middle of it.

The cover plate you linked is designed to fit to a 1-gang box.

I would go for either a $1 handy-box, or a Wiremold surface conduit box, depending on the aesthetic you want.


Piping question for garbage disposal installation What do I do if the garbage disposal outlet is lower than the wall connection pipe?

You are going to need open up the wall and move the drain down.


Is it possible for wind driven rain to be forced into soffit vents? Possible Duplicate:
  Can wind force rain into the soffits?

Apologies if this question was asked before.

I've recently noticed slight paint peeling in two ceiling locations, right next to (two different) undereave vents in my roof. The vents are at the very top of the exterior wall, right under the roof itself.  The house was repainted about 1.5 years ago,  no peeling elsewhere.

This side of the house is subject to strong wind-driven rain. I'm wondering
if rain could be blowing up into the vents.   The rain would actually have to travel slightly upward to do so, but the wind gusts are very strong.

Is this plausible?  Right now, the vents are covered only by a wire mesh.
 What would an appropriate replacement be for these conditions?

Yep, that's perfectly plausible. You're saying that there's only wire mesh in the soffits -- not actual metal soffit vents? That would be the first thing I'd fix. The louvers on the soffit vents make it much harder for rain to blow up and into the attic structure. The second thing you might consider is then putting soffit baffles in ... they may make it harder for water to blow up into and across the attic space, and are generally considered a good idea anyway.


Why is the caulk cracking and the toilet rocking? We paid a lot of money to have our bathroom gutted and redone.  After several problems with the contractor not returning calls to correct shoddy work, we are at a loss.  I am not sure if the shower was tiled properly (or the toilet seated correctly for that matter—it rocks all the time).  The caulking has come apart so many times already.  The soap dish fell off the wall.  The towel bar was recaulked, along with the base of the tub, where the tile meets. Every couple of months, it pulls apart or cracks open.  Why is this happening?  We do have a fan, and the contractor checked it, it is venting, so don't think it's a moisture issue.

You don't have a caulking problem, you have a structural one. The walls and floor shouldn't be moving so much that caulk cracks. And caulk isn't an adhesive for holding up the soap dish or towel bar. Finally, a rocking toilet indicates the floor either wasn't properly leveled or that it's not structurally sound. If these are the issues you are noticing, then you can be sure that there are a lot more serious problems you aren't seeing.

You don't want that contractor back in your house to fix these problems. You want to sue them for gross negligence and to get someone that knows what they are doing to come in and fix it. To fix it right likely requires gutting your bathroom all over again and starting over from scratch.


Why does a driver bit shank have an indentation? The part that interests me is marked in the picture. I have no tool that utilizes that part of a bit and I cannot find any clues on the net... In fact, all of my bit holders have better grip on bits without that indentation.
So what's that indentation for?

Impact (or hammer depending on your region) drivers have a locking mechanism which holds the bit in place:

Usually the drill bit will just snap right in. To remove it you need to pull the collar forward and the bit will pop out.
Typically you would buy impact-grade bits such this one which are designed to twist at a specially designed weak point so that the phillips end does not fail and break.

A hammer drill is typically used to drill holes in concrete as it exerts a hammering action to break up the material which it drills into.
You can get a dedicated hammer drill or lots of standard drills have a hammer option (not as effective as a dedicated hammer drill but good enough for small-ish holes).
An impact driver does not exert a hammering action. This can be confusing depending on the terminology in your region.

Not to be confused with an impact wrench which natively accepts sockets for automotive work.

Milwaukee also produces a 6 inch locking bit extension which will hold the bit in place using the same principle as the impact driver's collar:

So you could attach this to a regular drill and always have the convenience of a locking collar for quick bit changes.


How do I wire a light controlled by two switches? The ballast in one of our oldest florescent lights finally died, so I thought it would be a good opportunity to replace it.

The wiring was a bit of a jumble (I should have taken a photograph).

We have a main light, with 2 switches (upstairs and downstairs),
then next to that, a second smaller light with a separate switch to operate that independently, which looks like it is wired to the main first light. But I'm not sure how to attach it.

I understand the 3 red wires all go together, and the three black?
But where do the 3rd set of black and red go? :(   ...I'm guessing they might be for the second light/switch?

The picture below is of the wires which were attached to the main light, and below that is the connections to the new florescent light.

You need to connect the switched live to the brown wire in the new fitting and the neutral to the blue wire. The neutral will be one of the black wires. The switched live may be red, or it might be a black wire in one for the T&E cables (though it should have red tape or sleeving on it if it is...).

You might need look at the switches to try and figure out which cable is which. A typical arrangement for two-way switching is shown here (I've linked rather than inline-display the image for copyright reasons).

I'd hazard a guess that the two cables with the red and black joined are the feed coming in and going out to the next fitting on the circuit - but don't take my word for that, please check that for yourself.


How to repair an electric outlet which died while running a carpet cleaner? I ran a carpet cleaner in my condo for the first time in a bedroom and the outlet and lights died. Then I went to the living room and ran the cleaner and the outlet died too. But I was able to use two other outlets in the room with no problems.

I went to the breaker box and all the switches are in the same position. None looked like it was tripped (see photo below). I turned off a breaker switch which said bedrooms. None of the bedrooms went dark. That's weird.

How to fix the dead outlets? I understand that a breaker switch controls the power to a section of the condo. So what does it mean when only an outlet is dead in a room where the rest of the outlets and lights in the room are OK? These are regular outlets which don't have a reset button. Do some type of outlets have fuses in them?

I am guessing the carpet cleaner uses a lot of power and it did something.

The breaker on the bottom right (with the green tab on it) looks tripped. They will move to center position without doing much else. Turn it all the way off and then all the way back on.
If that does not work: turn ALL your breakers all the way off and then all the way on to make sure all are reset. Then look for gfci receptacles and make sure to reset all you can find.


Do you include the concrete that squeezes out under the frame as part of the depth of the concrete driveway? We had professional concrete contractors pour a new driveway.  We asked for five inches depth.  When I measured at the side of the driveway I found concrete had squeezed out under the frame.  Do you measure the squeezed out portion as part of the driveway depth?  Please help!

You would measure the thickness, from the base to the top of the form. If the form was an inch off the ground that extra inch is part of your new slab. It just dosenot look as nice unless putting a lawn next to the slab. I have done things like this but usually back fill because the concrete that gets out is a waste of $.


exterior door to landing mininum height does anyone know what the minimum exterior door to landing height is in MA. I know the max is 7 3/4 but I dont know the minimum. I'm getting conflicting information that it can't be less than 6 inches, ideally I wanted to go 4 inches.
TIA, P

Yes, the maximum vertical threshold height is 7.75” at a LANDING, if it’s not an accessible unit. That is to say, from the top of the landing to the top of the threshold it can only be 7.75” max. (So, the distance from top of landing to top of floor must be less.) (See ICC 1008.1.6, Exception)
The distance could be zero, so your requested 4” is acceptable.
Btw, a landing is required to be the width of the stairway or door which ever is greater and a minimum of 36” in the direction of travel. (See ICC 1008.1.5)


Slow draining Clothes Washer Drain My clothes washer drain backs up after about 10 seconds.  If I wait for 15 seconds it will accept another 10 seconds of pumped water--but, it backs up again.

My kitchen & clothes washer are both connect to the same main drain line (~20 ft apart).  I used an electric powered 3/8" drain snake to clean out that main line up to 75 ft.  The kitchen drain drains perfectly, however, the clothes washer drain still hasn't improved.

I used a 5/16" drain snake on the clothes washer drain, however it would not go very far into the piping.  I imagine it gets caught at the p-trap (which is inside the wall) and that is probably where the clog is.

I live in an older house & I don't want to use caustic drain cleaner chemicals in my old drain pipes to clear the clog.  What is the next best DIY alternative for clearing out a drain pipe that has a p-trap in the wall or in the concrete floor (my 1st floor shower drain may soon need cleaning too)?

p.s.:  There is NO clean-out access port in the plumbing for this drain.

Some washing machines have strong pumps that discharge lots of water quickly, overcoming the capacity of the drain standpipe. Yes, unless you can see it on the outside of the wall, there is a standpipe in the wall. You should consider increasing the diameter of the standpipe, thereby increasing the volume of water it can hold as the discharged water drains. I frequently use plastic pipe (PVC, ABS) and fittings for this.

This is not to say you don't need to also clear the drain, to do this you need a good quality 1/4" drum auger with a stiff cable. The good ones are expensive but will last a lifetime if used and maintained properly. I have had the same one since 1996 and have saved hundreds (thousands?) of $$ by clearing virtually every local clog myself (my neighbors' too).

There is some skill involved. Go to an actual plumbing shop to find a high quality auger and to get good advice on how to use it properly (or buy one and post another question about how to use it).

The good ones look like this:

Not like this:


Wiring a ceiling fan with black, white, red, green in ceiling box and two wall switches I'm trying to wire a ceiling fan in my bedroom (condo built in 2014).

The bedroom currently has two wall switches and a single ceiling light (no fan). The right switch turns the light on/off and the left switch does nothing. The ceiling box has a black, white, red, and green wire. The red wire is connected to nothing.1

I bought a new fan that doesn't use a remote. It has a one gang switch with separate controls for the light and the fan. The switch has 4 wires: white (load), blue (light), black (motor), and green (ground). The fan has 5 wires: black (motor), blue (light), white (neutral motor), orange (neutral light), green (ground).

This is the wiring directions I received with the fan:

I want to verify that I'm wiring this correctly.

For the wall switch:

Connect the black from the left switch to the black (motor) on the new switch.
Connect the black from the right switch to the blue (light) on the new switch.
Connect the white from the right switch to the white (load) on the new switch.
Connect the green on the new switch to the ground.

For the ceiling box:

Connect the fan black to the ceiling black.
Connect the fan blue to the ceiling red.
Connect the fan white, fan orange, to the ceiling white and tie the three wires together.
Connect the fan green to the ceiling green.

Is this correct? Do I do anything with the white wire from the left switch?  Does my wall switch really look more like this (in which case, I can probably connect directly to the red wire)?:

Here's a picture of the ceiling box and switch box (sorry for the poor lighting). Thanks for your help.

That's not really a white wire coming out of your fan control

When the instructions for your fan control say a wire is "black/white" -- they mean it's a black wire with white stripes on it, which has nothing to do with the white neutral wires in your box.

As to wiring up the fan control...

The new fan control gets wired as follows, then:

Green gets nutted in with the rest of the greens
Black/white gets nutted to the bundle of red wires that the two bottom black wires came off of (the two bottom black pigtails can be removed and saved for use down the road)
Black gets nutted to the black that was nutted to the top right black pigtail
And blue gets nutted to the red that was nutted to the top left black pigtail

You'll also need a two-gang faceplate that has a decorator opening on one side and a blank space on the other -- either that, or a decorator opening blank for your existing faceplate, considering that the new control only takes up a single gang of box space.

And to the fan itself

The fan, though, is a bit easier to wire:

Ceiling red to fan blue
Ceiling black to fan black
Ceiling white to fan orange and white
Ceiling green bundle to fan green

As to mounting that fan...

Your box is likely a special type of box known as a concrete box that was poured right into the ceiling.  This type of box, however, does not have the correct setup for mounting a fan to it (the mounting ears will bend if you try, letting the fan fall on your head).  So, you'll need to use masonry fasteners to mount the fan to the concrete surrounding the box, instead.


How can I determine what type of washer/gasket to use for an antique shower? I have an old home (built in 1760). One of the beloved features is the clawfoot tub in one of the bathrooms. The shower assembly leaks from the shower head and my attempt to replace the gasket/washers has given me a new problem. It seems the previous owner has stacked two rubber type washers together to replace the originals that must have gone bad. How can I find out what the original types where so I can fix the dripping correctly?

Note: this is an old set up with individual hot and cold water taps that mix while going to the shower head.

I would just take one of the old ones with you to a home improvement or plumbing store and find a close match.

If you are trying to order them, you need to measure the outside and inside diameter along with the thickness.

Sometimes it is necessary to stack two of them if one set of threads is not that deep and doesn't make contact with the washer even when it is fully screwed in. In this case, adding a second washer ensures that the shower head makes contact with the washer and creates a proper seal.


GFCI for electric floor heat I am installing electric floor heat in my bathroom. It will be on a dedicated 120V/20amp circuit. The breaker has a GFCI. I am using same manufacturer for thermostat as floor heat. The thermostat is a 120 Volt stat that is connected to the line and load. . The thermostat includes a integral GFCI. The thermostat's GFCI has a end-of-life feature to isolate the heating cable load. Question: Should I keep the system with 2 GFCI's or should I replace the breaker GFCI with a regular breaker? I can't disable the thermostats GFCI.

I would not put a GFCI breaker on this device. Code requires it to be GFCI protected and 2 GFCI devices can cause trouble in resetting.
I ran into a issue with one of the floor style that ran a self test that would trip the breaker so we could never reset it (the home owner called me I megged the heater and it was good so then I pulled 1 lead to the heater still tripped the panel breaker, called the mfg and they told me it was in there GFCI test that was tripping the circuit. I believe this test was the end of life test where it basically megged the circuit prior to energizing looking for leakage that may not show up on a standard test until wet.


why is CFL more sensitive to low temperature than the LEDs? we know that CFL are more sensetive to low tempweratures but what is the reason behind it?And how is it not so in the use of LEDs?

It's the way they work.

LEDs are entirely solid-state and DC.  Apply power, zing, light comes out.  LEDs don't care about temperature (though the AC/DC converter behind them, might.)  The LED lights as fast as the power supply/driver can self-test, sync with its dimmer, and come up. That varies by power supply.  For a 12V battery feeding a light strip, it is instantaneous.

Fluorescents are a type of arc-discharge lighting (like neon, metal halide, mercury vapor, high and low pressure sodium, etc).  They have a long pressurized tube full of magic gas, and they "strike an arc" down the length of the tube, which ionizes the magic gas and makes it emit light.  The gas is not a particularly good conductor of electricity, so getting that arc started is tricky. And this process is rather sensitive to temperature, operating frequency, and the sophistication (i.e. cost) of the ballast.

An instant-start fluorescent blasts an extra-high voltage to try to force a start, but this accelerates bulb wear. To remedy this, a rapid-start fluorescent (ballast) adds an intentional, fixed delay while it heats up small "filaments" in the end of each bulb.  A programmed-start ballast detects when the bulb has warmed enough to strike - but that can be 3-4 seconds in extreme cold!

Electronic ballasts are also able to operate at the ideal frequency for fluorescent bulbs - unlike old ballasts which are chained to the far-too-slow 50Hz or 60Hz power (visible to some, and to everyone when the lamp is struggling due to cold.)

Any discharge lighting will struggle in the cold.  However, the "high intensity discharge" family (metal halide, mercury vapor, sodium lights) operate VERY hot, so ambient temperature quickly becomes irrelevant.


What is the difference between lab Accreditation and Certification when selecting a drinking water test? I need to test my drinking water and while researching labs in Virginia to send my water to, they designate some as Accredited and others as Certified.
I am confused by the jargon to what is the difference between the two?
They both seem to need to adhere to the same EPA standards.

This may help. Without examples we can't provide be sure. Sounds like DGS does both in Virginia. Probably, they accredit the labs as following all standard operating procedures to be a competent lab and they certify that the test they use is sensitive to detect lead if lead is present, and specific when not.


Is it okay to put an instant hot water dispenser on the garbage disposal wiring? Current setup:

An old, hardwired, garbage disposal
Controlled by a wall switch
20A breaker for disposal

I am replacing my garbage disposal and also wanted to add an instant hot water dispenser, but I don't have anywhere to plug it in under the sink.
My idea:

I bought this new garbage disposal (Specs & Instructions) which says 120 volts, 9.5 Amp (Avg. Load)
I bought this instant hot water dispenser (Specs & Manual) which says it needs 115 volts, 750 watts, 6.25 amps.
Remove the disposal wall switch by wiring the connections together and putting a flat wall plate in its place to provide always-on power under sink.
Add this button switch in an empty faucet hole, to control the disposal
Add this surface mount box to the back of the under-sink cabinet with the wiring that's currently going to the garbage disposal (in metal conduit), plus a 20A outlet and cover.

Note: My dishwasher is separately hard-wired behind the dishwasher (not sink cabinet) so using that seemed harder.
Questions:

Is it okay to have both the disposal and the instant hot water dispenser on the same breaker/wiring?
Any issues with my plan overall?

The main rules that I am aware of (but I am not a professional electrician) are:

Total planned usage should be < 100% of total and < 80% continuous usage

With a 20A circuit, 80% = 16A. 15.75A < 16A, so you're good there. Actually, the disposal would likely not count as continuous anyway, but since the numbers work, no problem.

If hardwired loads are > 50% of the capacity of the circuit, then you should not have any receptacles for plug-in loads.

This is where you could get to a problem. 9.5A is under 50% of the total, but more than 50% if rated at 80% for a continuous load. I don't think that is a problem. It is certainly not a problem if you either have both loads hardwired or both using receptacles. However, the instant hot manual only shows plug-in and the disposal only shows hardwired. Unless there are alternatives officially supported by the manufacturer, you should not be switching things around - i.e., don't change the disposal to plug-in or the instant-hot to hardwired. The switch you linked is specifically for use with a receptacle.
My recommendation:

If power goes from circuit breaker to disposal to switch, then you already have power in the right place.

If power goes from circuit breaker to switch to disposal, you will need to run an additional cable between the switch and the disposal and move things around a bit. But unlike many other situations, this should be pretty easy since it is all near the sink and should be easily accessible. We can outline all the specific details if needed.

Below the sink, you will have a box with:

Power coming from the circuit breaker
Switch loop going up to the switch
Disposal connected to the switch loop
A single receptacle for the instant hot


Do I need an 100A or a 200A current transformer to measure total current draw at my home? I would like to monitor total current draw at my home from my 200A electrical panel. I have L1, L2 & N (a typical three-wire single-phase distribution in an North American home). Assuming I have a perfectly balanced panel, I would assume that I need only a 100A CT on L1 and a 100A CT on L2. Am I correct?

Since we do not know if it is perfectly balanced, I assume it would be a good idea to put a 200A CT. Please let me now if this is incorrect.

If you have a 200 Amp service, I would take that to mean 200 amps at 240 volts - 200 amps on each hot leg.

However, you should check the rating of the main breaker in your electrical panel, and match the current transformers to that.


What wire gauge is required for a 220V air compressor? I just bought a new stationary 5HP air compressor, and I need to know what wire gauge I should use for it. Relevant compressor details:

40 Amp draw
Magnetic starter
Length of run from power box to air compressor is 25 feet

Since it's on a 40 amp breaker I would use #8 THHN.  5HP is only 3750 watts (1 HP = 750 Watts (rounding up)) so you are only pulling less than 18 amps when running.  Start up amps will be around 36 amps (rule of thumb) so that should be covered by the 40 amp breaker.  You can also use @Tester101 suggestion also.

If this is an expensive piece of garage furniture you might make sure that magnetic starter has heater protection and phase drop protection, which will even work on single phase which will shut down the motor if one of the legs drop out.  Heaters are over current protection.  This sort of depends on the compressor because the starter could cost more than the compressor.


how to remove a stuck shower handle? I have a shower faucet "mixet" temperature handle that I can't remove. I have have the screw out but the knob won't come off. How do I get it off with out breaking, or pulling apart the pipes?

If it were plastic I'd just break it off. But it's metal and costs like $25.

With things like that, I've found that putting a plastic bag full of white vinegar, warmed up a little is even better,  will dissolve various crud and free it up.  Seal it up with tape or a rubber band and leave it for a few hours or over night.


Drywall finish for projector arm I'm working on a projector theater project. I have the drywall up and have a projector mount drilled into the stud/joist. Problem I'm running into is "how can I finish the hole in the drywall where the mount comes down?" I'm looking for something similar to a cable pass through but larger so that the project arm can get through.

Or, do you have any ideas on how to finish the drywall where the arm comes out?

Finishing the drywall can be neat if done well. But if you're lazy or not confident in getting your plaster work to look good around the projector arm, consider using a cover plate of some sort. Ideas:

Floor and ceiling cover plates
Custom cut and drill a wooden plate
Maybe even try a ceiling medallion


Termite treatment options I've been noticing termite wings around my front door and near the bathroom.  My girlfriend says she has seen them swarming sometimes at night (mostly 2-3 at a time no more than 10) although I haven't seen them yet.

I had two termite inspections that gave different advice.

The first one (Truly Nolan) said he thinks I have subterranean termites and for that he advised a non-tent solution.  They would come in and drill little holes near the baseboards every couple of feet and spray in the walls.  They would also crawl under the house in the crawlspace and apply poison to all the pedestals that the house sits on.  For that he wanted $1550.  He also gave the option of tenting for $1700 although he didn't recommend it.

I also had Terminix come out who thinks I have subterranean termites and drywood termites.  He advised a tent for $1200 and the application of bait stations for $900.

I'm not really sure what options I should choose.  Both of the inspectors were more salesman than anything so I'm skeptical of Terminix's claim of both kinds of termites.  Any input would bee helpful.

Edit:  I'm open to supplementing or replacing the above with stuff I can buy from home depot if that stuff is actually helpful.

You said both contractors "think" you have termites. They should know and be able to point out evidence like Tester101 pointed out. Both prices seem high for just basically spraying, especially since you don't have a slab that has to be drilled through. Near the front door, they could have just came in under the door.  If they are subterranean, their should be evidence of how they got in - typically mud trails coming up from dirt, up the piers and into the house. They can also look for any things that are conducive to attracting them, such as any boards (pressure treated or not) that are in contact with both the house and the dirt. Just because you have seen a few doesn't mean they are already in your walls. A less expensive spraying might take care of it. I would call another guy and see what he thinks.


2 15 amp breakers to 1 30 amp I have a wired garage that has 3 wire 10 gauge going in to it.
In the panel this wire is hooked up to 2 individual 15 amp breakers.
I want to know if i can put in a 30 amp breaker in that spot.

The Garage has a 240V heater and 115V plugs and lighting.

I just want to clarify what you're asking.

You have a sub-panel in your garage.   How large is the breaker feeding this sub-panel? (located in your house)

This sub-panel in the garage, has two 15a breakers, one of which is connected to the red, one to the black wire in a run of 10-3 wire.

What does this circuit power?  I'd assume your 240v heater?  Is there anything else connected to this circuit?

Since it's 10 gauge wire (as I understand from your post), it can be used with a 30a breaker, but it will need to be a 240v 30a breaker, there can't be any branches off this circuit with smaller wire, and only if your heater is rated for 30a.

Now, do you need 30a?  What is the requirement for your heater?  There's nothing wrong with oversized wiring, and if you're not tripping any breakers, it might not need to be changed.  YOu WILL need to make sure both 15a breakers are tied together, but that's it.


How to add GFCI to a box with one outlet controlled by a switch? I'm pretty inexperienced when it comes to electrical work, though I do know my way around a circuit diagram, thanks to some EE courses in college.  I think this is one I can do myself, I just would like some validation that I understand the wiring correctly and that my plan is acceptable.

Current Configuration

I have an outlet and single pole switch in one box next to the sink in my kitchen.  The switch controls the top outlet, and has plugged into it a fluorescent light that is mounted above the sink.  The bottom outlet is always hot, and I currently have my microwave plugged into it.  I opened up the box to look at the wiring (with the breaker off, of course), here's a sketch of what it currently looks like inside:

One additional note on the setup - my fridge is connected to the same breaker as this outlet, and I'm 90% sure it's further down the line.  I'd rather not put the fridge on the GFCI load, as I don't want my food to rot if it randomly trips while I'm out.

Questions

I want to protect the outlets next to the sink with GFCI, but I want to keep one of the sockets controlled by a switch, and I don't think I want to put the rest of the circuit on the GFCI load, because I don't want the fridge on GFCI.

What's the simplest and/or best way to rewire to achieve this?
I'm not sure which of the lines leading into the box comes from the breaker box - is there an easy way to test this?
Is there an easy way to test for sure whether or not the fridge outlet is before or after the sink outlet?

Tentative plan

I know I can get a GFCI/switch combo unit at Lowe's for ~$30.  I'm thinking I could replace the switch with that, and wire the existing regular outlet to the load end of the GFCI (with the top outlet wired through the switch), but have the rest of the circuit wired to the line (i.e. not on the GFCI load).  I think this does what I want, plus gives me a bonus GFCI-protected outlet by the sink.

Something like the first diagram in the answer to this question, actually, except with the top outlet connected in place of the garbage disposal, and the bottom outlet also connected to the load.

Does this sound reasonable?

Ok I read your question a few times, so hope I understand what you want to do. You want GFI prtection on the outlet , but no GFI protection to the fridge.  This will be easy to do if you can affirm that the load wire leaving the j-box where the switch and outlet are located, is actually the feed for the fridge. To check this out, you need to turn off the power, check the outlet at the sink and fridge to be sure they are ,in fact on same circuit and off.  Now disconnect all the wires from the outlet and any wirenuts so everything is isolated.  Now, carefully turn the power back on and check the hot (typically black) leads to ground with a volt meter to determine which one is the feed/source wire. Mark this with some red electrical tape. Double check to see that the fridge outlet is still dead.

Next, turn off the power and wire nut the black source wire and associated white neutral to the black and white wires you suspect goes to the fridge.( black to black, white to white) Turn the power back on and check with your voltmeter at fridge outlet again. If there is voltage there now, you have found the right feed wire to the fridge outlet. An alternate method of finding that wire with the power off, is to use an ohm meter. Assure the power is off, then twist the black and white together on the wire you suspect goes to fridge and check the hot and neutral slots of the fridge outlet with your ohm meter.  the meter should show 0 ohms or "short circuit".

Now that you have identified the hot feed and load wire to fridge in your box, you can wire it so only the counter outlets are GFI protected. Put the source black wire together with the fridge black wire, along with a separate 8 inch piece of black wire (pig tail) and wire nut them all together. Use the 8 inch black wire to feed your switch/gfi hot. The neutrals tie together as usual with an extra pig tail for your GFI outlet neutral. Obviously, trim the pig tails to a comfortable length to fit in your box before connection to the GFI.

Since all outlets must be GFI protected in the counter outlet and since you cannot split a gfi outlet top and bottom like in your diagram, you have to do your light differently from your previous plan. I would suggest using a switch/single outlet device wired from the load side of the gfi. Wire the switch in series with this single outlet. This means only the single outlet is switched and gfi protected.  You must have gfi protection on this outlet, as someone could unplug the lights and use it for something else.

Hopefully, one of my artistic buddies can do an edit and add a nice diagram depicting what I have outlined for you.


Underfloor solar heating My family has a property in Portugal with a broken old solar water heater mounted on the roof. We've been using the immersion heater instead of the solar panel for a while now, but rising energy costs mean we're now looking into replacing the solar panel.

So, my question is: would it be possible (or is there already some precedent here) to install piping under the baking hot terrace on the roof of the building with the dual purpose of heating water and cooling the property below? I'm thinking of something like underfloor heating in reverse - using hot flooring to heat water pipes.

Ecnerwal gave you a VERY good answer, and I'd like to underscore one point in a separate answer ("accept" Ecnerwal's answer, mine's just supplemental).

I have a neighbor who did something similar, laid pipes into a well-sunlit concrete floor. He learned a strong lesson from doing that: while heat RISES through masonry very very well, heat does NOT travel downward through masonry very well at all; you can't count on the blazing-hot upper surface to heat any pipes below it if the pipes are more than one or two inches below the surface. Experiment by (reversibly) peeling up a little of the terrace surface on a blazing hot sunny day, and feel its underside. I think you'll find that if that stone is more than a couple of inches thick, its underside will be easily 50*F cooler than the top surface, and possibly as much as 100*F cooler.

My neighbor never DID get any benefit to his under-floor pipe, so he abandoned it. You, too, may get no measurable benefit. Too, you should know that the long run of pipe may slow down the hot-water flow by virtue of friction.


Copper line to fridge The copper line in my fridge is cracked and now is leaking, we’ve turned off sadder line and is still leaking a lot. How can we get it to stop leaking without replacing? We don’t mind if our ice-maker no longer works.

If you have a saddle valve clamp that is closed yet still letting water through, you may simply have to turn the handle a bit more with force to drive the pin tighter to the copper pipe.
HOWEVER: If it instead breaks you have a bigger problem to solve.
If you only wish to temporarily block water in a copper tube, squashing it flat with a tight vice grip pliers can work until a replacement saddle clamp (or better a genuine T fitting with valve) is installed. A leaking copper tube can easily be spliced unless corrosion was the cause.
There are many variables and I don't have enough info from you to know exactly what is happening and what your ultimate goal is..
Take some cell phone photos to post of the leak and of the valve. Or bring those to the hardware store (but confirm the skill of the clerk before you listen!). All the needed parts are easily purchased. It can be fixed by anyone comfortable with a screwdriver and adjustable wrench.


How do I clean thinset from Quartizte Wall Tile? Our contractor didn't do a good job installing the Quartizte wall tile, and left a white thinset film on all the tiles.

[1]: https://imgur.com/a/fwHJ5 Wall Tiles

What we have tried:

Vinegar: It seems to help a little but no real progress
Nylon Brush bits for Drills: brushing away the thinset. Has helped a bit but again no real progress.

Are there any suggestions how we can remove this?

If you are reasonably careful you can pick up a bottle of muriatic acid (the trade name for HCL) at the hardware store. Dilute it according to the instructions and gently scrub with a nylon brush. The acid will dissolve the mortar while leaving the quartz.

It goes without saying that reasonable care includes not using excessive amounts or spilling it on any cement-based surfaces you're worried about etching. I'd suggest working from a pail with a brush so you don't apply too much. You'll see bubbles in the acid while it's reacting with the mortar which will slow and cease as the pH normalizes. Then you can wipe down the tile with a damp cloth and move onto the next.


Do attic vents or rafter baffles need to be as wide as the rafter bay? What happens if the attic vents or rafter baffles don't cover the entire opening between the rafters and one or two inches of wood is left exposed?

A vented soffit allows air to flow in.  The ridge vent allow the air to flow out.  The purpose of this attic venting system is to keep the roof deck at approximately the same temperature as the outside air across its surface so that melting snow won't form ice dams.  The venting system is not there to cool the attic volume itself.

If the baffles are not properly installed so that they guide the incoming air up to the underside of the roof deck, air may be blowing through the insulation, a process called "wind-washing".  This will displace loose fill insulation like cellulose and will reduce the R value of batt insulation which relies on still air for its effectiveness.


Electrical plug question I have a dust collector that has a 6-15 plug. I want to occasionally be able to plug a heater into that receptacle that requires a 6-30. Can I change the dust collector 6-15 to a 6-30?

You can't / shouldn't try to make an adapter to power a 6-30 device from a 6-15 receptacle, the voltage is correct but the current handling capacity is insufficient.  The 6-30 heater would at a minimum overload the 6-15 receptacle, and likely overload the circuit's wiring and breaker.  Hopefully the breaker would trip before much damage was done, and you'd only waste time, but if the breaker doesn't trip quickly, you could start a fire.


How do I make a Liquid-level-indicator for an overhead sintex water tank I have a 5000 ltr overhead tank atop a 20 meter tower.  I wish to make a liquid level indicator, mechanical type, which would indicate to me the liquid level therein the tank, as the tank is made of opaque material.  The indication to be at the foot of the water tower or
closer outside my kitchen window for viewing convenience from within my house.

Probably the simplest indicator would be to have a float that raises or lowers a rod of some kind. In this setup a float is attached to a vertical rod that goes through the ceiling of the tank. The rod then angles horizontally to the right to the side of the tank, then down vertically towards the ground. You would then build an indicator with lines painted for every unit of height of water in the tank. As the water level raises the float goes up, lifting the rod assembly, and as water us used the whole assembly drops.

The other mechanical way I can think of would be to use water pressure to indicate the amount of water in the tank. Assuming this is gravity fed you could install a pressure gauge on the main water feed and then calibrate the pressure levels with the water levels.

There are other mechanical ways to do this, however if it were me I'd go with an electronic solution of some kind rather than a mechanical one. You could install a low power (even solar powered) electronic system with some LEDs to show your water levels. You could even install a webcam in the tank itself and measure water levels based on lines painted on the inside.


Narrow conduit with 90 degree elbow - three thhn wires Currently the narrow conduit (1 inch outside, so inside maybe 3/4 inch) has 2 wires (hot and hot switched). I want to include one neutral so I can change to a light switch outlet combo.
It is an old (1960) conduit, with a 90 degree elbow in the middle, so feels very "dry" and wires start getting damaged after a few attempts.

The wires were old so I bought black, white and red #12 THHN solid wires.

It was impossible to just add the extra wire (white) without fishing everything together. The wire would not even start moving properly (get stuck with the other 2 wires in the way).

However, my attempts to fish all three wires failed. Mostly due to this 90 degrees elbow - it would always get stuck there when pulling, and locking, not moving any further, I had to pull back. It seems that the conduit is too narrow to allow three wires to flow there coming from this elbow. At the start, is fine because I can adjust them, but inside the 90 degrees elbow it is hard to be able to make the right angle so the three wires go inside.

I once managed to finish two - the third wire ended up stuck there (it was very hard to bring the 2 wires past the elbow already). They arrived with their protective plastic with several scratches. It did not matter if taped all together or in different areas to allow better movement.

My questions:
- It is definitely doable to fish 3 #12 THHNs inside this conduit, if it were straight. Just feeding it, it moves through the conduit. With this 90 degrees elbow, however, is it something you still consider fully doable?
- Is it normal to be so hard to fish 3 solid #12 THHN when there are 90 degrees connections?
- What would you suggest doing in this case? Stranded instead of solid wire? Lubricant? Different wire? Anything else that I did not use?

I question what a professional would do to finish the job - I've been trying to do it for 2 days already.

Thank you for sharing your thoughts!

I am thinking if you got as far as you did, the 90 degree bend in this conduit is OK.  If it's a buried box, or even conduit body, you got very lucky if you got as far as you did.

Fishing wire is sometimes a science, sometimes an art, sometimes black magic.  Here's a voodoo free approach for you.

If at first you don't succeed, lube, lube, lube.  There are many lubes available with different uses but the clear stuff which is easy to clean up and readily available should be fine.  Wipe it on the wire with a rag, and squirt it into the conduit.  Do not use dish soap, a common improvised lube.  Silicone spray lube is not an approved lube, but may the least objectionable improvised lube.  Silicone spray lube may stain upholstery or carpets so I would not try it.
Make up a good pulling head.  With three small wires there are many ways to do this but you want a secure loop at the end and minimal bulk.  Here's a picture of one way to do it, this guy stripped all three wires, made a loop in one, and twisted on the other two.

Work with gravity, not against it.  Go from the high spot to the low spot.
If you get lucky you can push, but it's easier to pull.  Solid wire pushes better but stranded wire pulls easier.
Pull with a fish tape; push the fish tape through from the low spot to the high spot, then attach the wires to the fish tape, and pull back through.  If you can push a single wire through, you can use that as an improvised fish tape.  In fact using a scrap piece of #10 solid Simpull as an improvised fish tape sometimes works better than a real fish tape.
If the fish tape fails, add a spring leader to the fish tape.  Harbor Freight sells a plastic fish tape with a built in spring leader for $cheap and it works fine.
As an alternative to pushing a wire or fish tape, sometimes you can suck a string through with a vacuum cleaner.  I doubt this will be necessary for this short run but search for it on youtube if the fish tape fails.
Work from both ends.  Have one person push from the one end to assist the person pulling at the other end, and go slow.  Even if you don't have to do this, it will allow you to get the wire through with minimal tension and minimal abuse of the insulation.


Can upgrading my boiler save me money? I've just received my annual gas usage statement. It came as a surprise to me that I'm using almost the average gas consumption in the UK. The average is 16,500kWh and I used 15,000kWh over the year.

The reason this comes as a surprise is because I rarely use the gas central heating. The reason for this is simply because it's expensive (we have a process: clothing, more clothing, thicker clothing, blanket(s), THEN heating). I find it hard to believe that I'm using nearly average when all I'm using my gas boiler for is hot water. There are two of us (my wife and I). We both wash on a morning and evening. We wash the pots regularly. We shower more often than bath so we don't use an unusual amount of hot water.

Being concerned about the cost of gas given my apparent usage, I started to wonder if I'd sprang a leak. I believe disproved this by taking notes of my meter reading before going to bed one evening and after getting up the next morning. During this period of time, we did not use the boiler. The result was good, no gas usage.

I did another exercise to see how much gas my boiler is actually using so I ran the heating for 2 hours and it came out at 3m3. Using a rough calculation of multiplied by 11 and a rough cost of 5p per kWh, it cost me approximately £1.65 to run the heating for two hours.

Although there was no need for blankets that night, I can't help but think this is high consumptions. My boiler is quite old and I expect it has a poor energy rating (probably an E but I don't really know what that means).

So my questions are:

How much gas (m3) would an A rated boiler typically use in a two hour period to run the heating?
How much does an A rated boiler cost (fitted), and would I likely see a saving in the short to medium term?

Average figures are fine as I appreciate there are probably a lot of variables here (e.g. temperature, pressure, number of radiators, etc).

I do not know much about the uk boilers, but the principles are the same everywhere. Unless your boiler is ridiculously old and grossly inefficient, then it's always more effective to spend your money on weatherization and insulation first.
The price of the new boiler + the installation cost will likely take many years to recoup before you will see much savings.


No power to outlet, single line, circuit breaker ok I have a direct line from circuit box to outlet for garbage disposal, no daisy chain, nothing else on line. Disposal stopped working, thought GFCI was bad, couldn't reset it, so replaced it. Still not working. Checked circuit breaker with multimeter, it is fine.  Removed outlet checked bare wires with multimeter,  no power.  Did continuity test, no continuity.  The wiring is only 5 years old, I cant believe there is a break in this line anywhere.  Before ripping down drywall and attempting to run a new line, any other suggestions on what could be wrong?

Be extremely skeptical of "wire within walls" failures.

Anytime the evidence starts pointing to a failure of wiring within the walls, stop it. Unless you have recently been driving nails into walls or had damage from an earthquake, with all deliberate force, push "arbitrary wire failure within walls" to the very bottom of the list.  They are highly improbable.

This usually surfaces something else.  Often, novices don't have the skill or experience to spot the "something else", but focus there anyway.  For instance, many will wave around a non-contact voltage detector and find all the wires that are supposed to be hot are hot.  That doesn't check the return wire, neutral, which is equally important and is supposed to read not-hot.

Connections should be doubted unless they can be physically inspected, and even then, disconnecting and reconnecting them never hurts and can help.  This is where "back stabs" are a big problem. They frequently fail without any evidence of failing: Back stabs are uninspectable.  They also cannot be reused, because pulling the wire out ruins the spring.  All backstab connections that are not proven working should be moved to the side screws, and torqued properly. (most people torque too little). There, you can inspect them (and they're also a lot less trouble).

If a GFCI is involved, examine closely its wiring, which often means reexamining ones assumptions about how GFCIs are supposed to be wired.  If in doubt, get a picture of how it is connected, then remove it altogether (temporarily).  If a circuit works in all respects until a GFCI is added, that is an entirely different problem, and again has nothing to do with wiring in the walls.

The last thing you want to do is bust out walls, spend $500 on work to replace a cable, only to cross it off the list and say "Nope, that wasn't it, what's next on the failure tree?"  That is why I say "push it to the bottom".

Or even worse, in the course of replacing the cable, you unknowingly correct the actual problem, e.g. a loose nut on the neutral bar.  As I say about car repairs, "replacing a $600 car computer is a very expensive way to reset a car computer".


100W LED floodlight indoors, diffused by concrete ceiling 1 foot away During the electrical lighting system failure at work on a grey rainy day I was stuck with 400W metal-halide reflector lamp as the only source of illumination. Thing radiates about 38.000 lumen, so I pointed it to the ceiling, and kept on working in my office. To my surprise, the effect of the so diffused light was much like sunny summer day, and sometimes on November days (live in the central Europe) I play with the idea of firing it up just to improve my mood, although 400W nowadays is quire a waste of energy :)

On the other hand, my apartment is facing north and it is in at the first floor of the 7 floor building, so November days are dark and gloomy even with moderate cloud cover. I am constantly searching how to improve lighting and feeling in the apartment, and I remembered that metal-halide floodlight which made such a huge difference at my workplace one day.

I am an electrical engineer, btw.

So I got the idea of buying the LED floodlight,daylight color, about 100W, and pointing it to the ceiling in my living room. But here immediately lies the problem: instructions for all floodlights explicitly say that it has to be at least 1 meter away from the surface it illuminates. Why?

I understand that problem when people were using 500W halogen lighbulbs, which generated enormous amount of heat and IR radiation. Couple this with dark wooden surface, and there may be some serious fire risk.

But why shouldn't I mount a 100W (or even 200W) LED floodlight, mount it about 20 centimeters (1 foot) below the ceiling and point it upwards? The material is concrete, painted over with white chalk-based indoor paint (which I am pretty sure is as non-flammable as concrete).

So, the question is:

Why all manufacturers specify that distance to the lit material even with LED reflectors? As far as I understand, white LED spectrum is determined by the phosphorous used as the final stage of light generation and looks like this: https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/1041/2564/files/warmNcool_large.jpg?v=1472124974 which should really not be a problem, especially when the ceiling is covered in white paint
Any other reasons I should not attempt such installation?

I think it is a CYA situation.  What would we do without lawyers?  I would point the beam somewhat at an angle so you won't get radiation bouncing directly back at the light source.  Otherwise, I see no problem. Shine-On!


Can I install sub floor over carpeting? Part of my basement has carpet laid 25 years ago  The area is dry: never a water, mold or odor problem.  We tested a small area and it was a nightmare to remove the glue from the concrete.  We are thinking about installing a sub floor on top of the carpet, constructing a grid of 1 1/2" strapping and 3/4 plywood on top.  Will this work?

Edit: Thanks for the replies. I need to add that the house is a back split. The basement lower area basement is split. One half is the traditional basement housing the furnace etc and is 2 1/23 feet lower than the area that I will be making a sub floor for. There are four steps leading to an upper hallway. Off that hallway is the room I wish to install the sub floor. This area consists of the area which is 2 1/2 feet higher than the basement area. That area has been carpet over a cement base. Never had a water problem, no evidence of mold nor any damage to the existing carpet, never any foul order. The area is completely dry.

Pull out the carpets. never put a subfloor over something like old carpet. You may not have any moisture problems now, but any occurrence  of water (flood, broken plumbing, spill) getting in that hidden carpet in the future will cause you more grief than you could dream of. This would be a perfect situation to grow mold, mildew, stink and rot the wood subfloor from the bottom up. Don't take the chance, remove it before putting down anything else.


Light won't turn off I had a remote ceiling fan that went bad. I replaced it with a plain light fixture.

I have five wires coming out of the ceiling: 2 white, 2 black and 1 red. I hooked up the wires to the new light (black to black white to white).

The light works but the switch won't switch it off. I next tried to hook the red to the other four black ones and the light still stays on.

What else can I do to make it switch off?

You'll likely have to do some testing to figure out what's what, since you didn't keep track while disconnecting the old fixture.  Start by opening up the switch box, and taking a look at what's going on in there.

Here are two possible wiring configurations, based on your description.

These diagrams could be completely incorrect, so don't follow them blindly.

Connecting wires simply based on color, is almost never a good idea. A multimeter, and some basic electrical knowledge will help you figure out what goes where. If you lack either of these two things, you might want to consider contacting a local licensed Electrician.


How can I prevent my dining table from tilting? I am building a dining table similar to this one -

The problem, if you apply some pressure, the opposite ends lift up. In fact, that box underneath itself lifts up. One way is to add a big plate underneath the box. That will help. But with that the aesthetics completely changes.

Any alternate ideas?

If the base is hollow and open at the bottom, I would try making it slide around something heavy.  Make a concrete block or something that will fit fairly tightly inside the base.  Make it a bit shorter than the base to ensure the table goes all the way to the floor.

Then when you setup the table you sit the block on the floor, lift up the table and slide it down on the block.

If it fits nice and snuggly, pushing on the table will try to tip the block as well.

To me this sounds better than filling the base because eventually, someone is going to have to move that table.  It is going to be much easier to carry up a flight of stairs if you have 2 pieces - a large but relatively light table, and a heavy but small concrete block.  You might even make some handholds in the block to make it easier.


Inlet valve to share between faucet and dishwasher I just realized that my hot water 1/2" copper inlet in the kitchen is terminated with a regular single oulet valve but I do need to share it between the faucet and the adjacent dishwasher. Is there a way to do it without uninstalling the regular fitting with some sort of splitter that mounts on it or do I need to just remove it and install a double outlet fitting?

There are adapters you can screw on that give an additional tap for the dishwasher. The size needed for the dishwasher connection is fairly standard (3/8 compression thread) as it is common to run 3/8" o.d. copper tubing or a braided stainless flex connector with that same thread.

What is NOT standard is the existing valve's outlet size (it can be any one of, like 4 different sizes). You will need to either have someone with experienced eyes take a look at your existing valve, or remove the existing supply line and take it to the plumbing shop with you.


Should I reinforce the floor over my basment to tile bathrooms? I want to tile my bathrooms in the house I'm remodeling. They are over a basment with 2x8 joists 16" on center. The span over the basement is around 12ish feet. I put 3/4 OSB and plan to put 1/2 backer and tile. Will this work as is or should I add a 4x4 beam under around the midway point with a 4x4 to the floor of the basment. My wife would rather not have a beam in the middle of the basment but if it's necessary I would rather do it

Floor joists can bend (deflect) without breaking. However, certain kinds of flooring cannot deflect much or they’ll crack (or the grout joints between them will crack).

Each material is rated for maximum deflection. Ceramic tile happens to be one of those materials that cannot deflect much without cracking.

At a 12’-0” span, most lumber species will deflect too much. However, here are a few things to consider:

1) at 11’-0” most lumber species with a “standard” grade (No. 2 & better) will work.

2) span distance is measured from face of support to face of support. That is to say, it’s the “clear span”.

3) calculations are an average. That is to say, they use 40 lbs. per square foot for Live Load AND 10 lbs. per square foot for Dead Load. I suspect your live load will be less (take your weight plus your wife’s weight and divide by the room area), but your dead load is greater (weight of tile, mortar base, underlayment, subfloor, joists, ceiling below (if any), etc. )

If your span is 11’-8” or so and you do not weigh 350 lbs. each, I suspect you’re fine.  I’d go look at each joist and see if there are any large knots (especially loose knots). If not, the grade could be No. 1 or select structural and you’re probably ok.

As an alternative to adding a beam in the basement (happy wife, happy life) you could sister a joist to each of the 5-6 joists in the immediate area.


How can I relocate this drain to accommodate the new shower pan I removed a fiberglass shower/bath combo and I wish to replace it with a TileRedi shower pan. 42x60 right drain. the problem is, the spec drawing shows the center of the drain to be 6 inches away from the edge. My current p trap is 2.5 inches away from the wall.

Can anyone think of any way that i can make the piping fit the new drain location that'll be 6 inches away? The top of the p trap is about 5 inches below the floor where the pan will rest.

Thank you !!!

I wasn't able to solve the p-trap relocation, but this what I have so far.

I know you are trying to do this your self so i will throw some spaghetti at the wall and see if it sticks.

  LEGAL DISCLAIMER: YOU PROBABLY NEED A REAL PLUMBER.

Duct Tape a piece of cardboard over the hole in the floor ( larger than the opening ) and then place a template ( or the pan for that mater ) on top of that then mark the hole location with a sharpie on lower paper and then cut that hole out of the cardboard. Remove the template/pan, you now have the piece of cardboard over the hole with a hole in it that is were the drain should be. Leave one side of the  cardboard taped so you can hinge it in and out of place.

You may be able to use a short turn 90 degree elbow coming of the shower drain bell to a short peace of pipe and the either a street 90 or short 90/pipe into the P trap. The Template will help with lining it all up if you know the height or the shower pan drain bell. Get a bunch of fittings and pipe to cut into short pieces and play around with it. Its going to take a lot of thinking and trial and error. Maybe it is something compleatly different like 45 degree fittings and ???

NOW  having said all that , you will not be able to make any connections ( I.E. glue any fittings ) after the pan in place and that means you need exact precision and placement of the fittings so that when the pan is put down into place the bell lines up and the plumbing is at the correct height. That means dry fitting EVERYTHING and putting the pan in place and checking it.

  REMEMBER: distance or measured pipe length's change from dry fitting to wet gluing. DON'T SHORT YOURSELF

I do not know anything about your pan or bell and what height it will be, and even if i was there it would tax my brain to figure it out.. ( I CHARGE BY THE HOUR )

Good luck and remember you did not pay for this "advise" If it works i am a genius and if not it is your fault.  :)


Mounting a heavy (21 Kg) fan on a shed wall I want to mount an industrial fan in my shed.

Because of its dimensions, the only option seems to fix it on a wood beam that run around the shed near the top (see the red square on the picture):

I'm not sure of the type of wood, but the same type of beam is used for holding the roof so I guess it should support the weight (its section size is 95mm x 45mm).

My questions are:

Will the beam be strong enough to support the 21 Kg fan (I guess it should, but I'd appreciate a more qualified answer)
What should I use to fix the fan (the metal plate provided features two 14mm holes; see picture bellow)

EDIT: Here is what I'll do after taking advantage of the great advises I received:

Note that I moved the fan to the left since the first draft; That's where I wanted it in the first place but because of the vertical placement constraint there wasn't enough ceiling clearance.

Feel free to make remarks if I missed something important (I'll try to find a 3/4 inches plywood board for the vertical support).

(1) The fan as shown in the photo is upside down. Mounted in this position, the weight of the fan will pull the plate away from the beam. Turn it over so the weight will push the plate against the beam.

(2) The beam will hold the fan but the weight will apply a twisting force to the beam.

To overcome this, you should mount a board vertically from the beam to another anchor point, perhaps the steel beam directly above. Mount the fan on the vertical board, not directly on the beam.

Alternately you may be able to brace the fan mounting with a chain or other tension member between the end of the fan mount arm and the steel beam directly above.

Of course I'm not there so you'll have to identify and calculate the forces yourself.

(3) If you can, use through bolts with fender washers rather than large wood screws.


How to fix water leaking past toilet bolt? I've recently applied yoga mat as an interior barrier for my toilet tank that has a lot of condensation issues. I used silicon adhesive to prevent the separation between the yoga mat and the tank's walls.

However, I've noticed after turning the water back on that water is dripping from a bolt.

I've tried to tighten the bolt and it slowed the drip rate to nearly no drips, but I'm finding a small puddle forming at the foot on my toilet tank on the left side regardless.

I placed a small plastic container to catch the drips, but I noticed the container isn't getting filled and a puddle of water was forming beneath it.

Does anyone know why this happening and how I can remedy this problem? My guess is that it is caused by condensation from the tank since the my yoga mat cutouts aren't perfect, but the weird thing is the right side of the tank isn't having this problem.

Change the rubber washer seals on the bolts. Over time these washers disintegrate and water in the tanks leaks around the bolts.


How to patch concrete board plaster job I removed the trim around my back door and was left with the monstrosity pictured.
The new trim I want to install is about 1/2" skinnier so I was wondering if there is a easy(ish)
way to patch this?
If it's too much of a hassle I can just find wider trim that will cover but I was hoping to match it to the same stuff in the rest of my house.

You can:
A) Install the new trim and fill the remaining gap with Spackle and/or drywall. Or:
B) Install a section of drywall to fill this gap and han install your trim on top of it. (This is probably the best route to take.


ledger for ceiling joist What size ledger do I need to hang joists in garage. I'm using 2x10x20'8 inch joist #1 or # 2 lumber. 12 inches on center. Do I need to double up on the ledger as well. I will be attaching ledger to top plate and studs in garage with lag bolts. The space above joists will be used for limited storage.

Your design (2x10’s at 12” oc spanning 20’-8”) will support about 38 lbs. per square foot for #2s and about 55 lbs. per square foot for #1s, depending on the species. (I used Douglas Fir-Larch.)

I’m assuming the joists will fasten to the ledger with joist hangers...not sit on the ledger.  So, I’d recommend a single 2x10 ledger (not a double), but it depends on the joist hangers you use. (The nails furnished with Simpson joist hangers are short and stubby. That’s because they take all the load in shear...and none in withdrawal.) You only need a single ledger, because you can fasten into a series of studs and a continuous double top plate...no spanning large openings.

Therefore, each joist will need a joist hanger that supports about 400 lbs. for #2s and about 575 lbs. at each end. Likewise, you’ll need lag bolts that support about the same per foot. I’d use 1/2” x 4” lag bolt at about 12” oc. Best practices would call for the lags to be staggered along the ledger, but keep them a minimum of 2” from the edge of the ledger.

Please note that this does not account for any seismic loading. If you live in a seismic zone, you may want to re-think this design, because the lags do not comply with withdrawal requirements for seismic requirements.

Also, please note that the design loads are TOTAL LOADS. You’ll need to subtract the dead load (about 5 lbs. per square foot) from those design loads to give you an allowable live load. (Live loads are the things you’re storing.)


Sewer line repair - most cost effective method? Background

So I recently had a bad clog to which I had a plumbing company come out and clear out. A part of the process is looking at the finished job on their sewer camera.  Our sewer line is made from clay pipes and our clog was due to many roots penetrating in. The clay pipes do have quite a bit of "stress cracks" and two spots that appear to actually be holes.

Question

So now it is all cleared out, I am trying to think of the best way to prevent anything from happening again like this.  Best being qualified as least expensive, but lasting for the rest of my life.  I plan on owning this house for the rest of my life so would like to do it the correct way.  As far as I know, my options are:

Pour a product like RootX down the drain once a year to kill all roots that come in the pipe
Hire a company to replace the pipe with PVC.
Install a pipe liner, where they make an "epoxy pipe" inside the existing one.

So obviously I would like to not spend as much money as I can help.  Will pouring RootX down the drain once a year be a long term solution or will the clay pipes eventually have other issues?

I only recently heard about lining a pipe from the inside which seems ideal for clay pipes like mine. They are rated for 50 years so would I have to replace the pipes anyways after 50 years?

Pipe replacement is the most costly, but it's also the most permanent. There are (at least) two ways to replace the pipe, and you may not have considered the second method I'll mention.

The traditional method is an open trench stretching the full length from the house to the sewer main, probably somewhere in the middle of the street. This is both slow and high-impact to the surrounding landscape.

An alternative method, less commonly known to homeowners, is pipe bursting. This often requires access holes be dug only at the two ends of the pipe. A steel cable is fed through the pipe. A splitting wedge and replacement pipe, often semi-flexible HDPE tube, are attached to one end of the steel cable. A hydraulic machine pulls the other end of the cable. The splitting wedge breaks the original pipe into pieces, forcing them outward and reaming the space large enough for the new HDPE pipe to follow through. The replacement pipe can even have larger diameter than the original if needed.

Pipe bursting gets the job done with much less impact to the surroundings and often in less time. Cost compared to the other options will vary by market, but it's worth at least evaluating as one of your options.


Changing Stair Rise After Landing Replacement We recently replaced our upstairs flooring from carpet to hardwood floors. After leveling the upstairs floor and installing the new flooring, the upstairs landing is now 1 3/8" higher leaving a noticeable step down when going from the landing to the first stair down. Due to having smaller children, we prefer to keep the stairs carpeted for now. Recognizing there are code requirements for stair rise and runs (we live in Washington, US), is there a conventional way to adjust stair rises as needed to stay safe and stay within code? The last thing we want is someone taking a big step down and falling down the stairs.

A landing is required if the door swings outward, except for screen doors. The landing is to be the width of the door and a minimum of 36” in the direction of travel. (See ICC R311.4.3.)
The maximum rise of steps is 8”. The maximum difference between risers is 3/8” from smallest to largest. (See ICC R311.5.3.1)
The minimum tread depth is 9”. The greatest difference from smallest to largest is 3/8”. (See ICC R311.5.3.2)
A handrail is required if there are 4 or more risers. The handrail is to be installed a minimum of 34” and not to exceed 38” (See ICC R311.5.6)
Handrails are required on one side only. (See ICC 1009.15) It’s customary to have it on the right side descending, but not mandatory.
Handrails are not required if there are 3 risers or less. (See ICC 1009.15.4)
Make sure you have a minimum of 1 1/2” clearance between the handrail and wall. (See ICC 1012.7)
I think you’ll have to remove the treads and adjust the height of each so no tread is more or less than 3/8” compared to the height of any other riser.


insulating exterior walls I have an old house with no insulation. The walls are 2x4 with plaster and lath. The outside is aluminum siding, in good shape. I would like to blow cellulose insulation inside the wall cavities from the inside, then hang paneling over the plaster.

Do I really need to worry about moisture if I'm actually keeping the warm air from inside reaching the cold air that would come into the cavity once filled?

All this talk about moisture problems is confusing me. And one step further would be to wrap the room with foil radiant insulation then install furring strips then hang paneling or drywall. What are your thoughts on this aside from loosing inside space?

Any recommendation depends on your location - I wouldn't provide the same answer for Yuma, AZ as I might for Edmonton, AB.

When water vapor diffuses through a wall and reaches the exterior sheathing, if that sheathing temperature is below the dew point the vapor will condense. Depending on the amount of water vapor and the rate at which the wall cavity is able to dry out, this may lead to moisture problems.

Installing insulation in the wall cavity will help reduce heating costs, but won't address the problem of sheathing temperature. As a result, some builders are specifying 2" to 4" or more foil faced polyiso panels be installed outside of the sheathing to raise the temperature above the dew point. In these designs, some don't even advocate using cavity insulation. Vapor will still diffuse into the cavity, but it will not condense on the sheathing surface.

Installing foil faced polyiso on the interior of the wall, properly air sealed and with taped joints, forms an effective vapor barrier which will reduce the problem of moisture diffusing through the walls. However it may not solve all of the problems with vapor diffusion so it's quite possible to still have problems.

Additionally, while most people look to insulation as a primary solution for energy savings, often older homes would find greater benefit from air sealing. There is almost no way you can make an older house with plaster walls "too tight." In fact, the idea of houses being "too tight" is something of a myth. Your goal should be to have "managed ventilation" rather than the unmanaged ventilation common in older homes.

In my 1870's New England house as an "inside" solution I removed the plaster, installed fiberglass batt insulation in the cavities, applied 2" foil faced polyiso over the studs (for a thermal break and vapor barrier), with 1x3 furring strips and gypsum on top.


How should holes in a crawlspace liner be fixed? I had a company encapsulate my crawlspace with 20 mil liner. The liner installed has 3 dime size holes as well as a 4-5 inch gash they covered with tape. They now would like to cover the holes with tape as a fix. They also mentioned they are going to foam then since they have to come back. Is the only real fix for them to reinstall a new liner or is there an actual fix to this? What issues can I have in the future?

It is a common practice to patch seams and holes in the vapor barrier with tape. The type of tape you need is often called house wrap tape. You can get it at your local home improvement store.

If you use the correct tape, then you shouldn't have any issues with it.


Replacing Toilet without Replacing Tile The previous owners of our house tiled around the toilet, rather than removing the toilet and placing it on top of the new tile.

I would like to replace the toilet, but I don't want to have to re-tile the entire bathroom.  A couple possible solutions I'm thinking are:

Find a toilet that has the exact same size (or bigger) on the floor.
Put down the new toilet, and find something to put in the gap between the toilet and the tile.
Put something above the tile, but underneath the toilet.

What is generally the best solution here?  For #1, is there an easy way of finding a toilet with the right size?  Are there any common ways of doing #2 or #3, and what material should be used?

Thanks in advance.

Pull up the old toilet, finish the tiling job, and drop in the new toilet. Anything else is going to leave you with a hack job that will eat away at your satisfaction in having your own home every time you turn around to flush.

Finishing the tiling job may turn out to be dead simple if matching tile is available. This is not likely, though, as anyone too lazy to pull the toilet when tiling a bathroom was probably also too cheap to buy tile from a reputable open stock.

So -- find some tile that co-ordinates with the existing floor. For example, if your tile has a pattern, pick up one of the pattern colors with a solid color. Or, you might like the effect of a solid color matching the new toilet.

Pull the old toilet. Enlarge the hole in the tile to a neat shape and fill it in with new tile. Make the replacement area just large enough to look like an expensive decorating consultant did it on purpose. Of course you might need a flange extender when installing the new toilet.

Now, to really finish off the look, find some other feature in the bathroom that can be highlighted in the same way. For example, you might re-color the area where you stand at the sink. Or, you could call out the door sweep area.

Save the removed tiles as well as any unused new tiles for future repair needs.

Is anyone in your family artistic and crafty? Use a combination of removed tiles and new tiles to decorate a tissue box.


What type of screws and anchors are used for concrete? I have cinder block walls along one side of the garage and hang a lot of 'tool storage' hangers and such. Often what I buy comes with screws and anchors so I use that but I have some hangers I just got for hanging lawn equipment that did not.

I already know a different type of drill bit is used for concrete, and I have those. However if I need to buy some screws and anchors for concrete, and wondered are they different than ones used for drywall? For example if I go to the hardware store and get one of those '150 piece' screw + anchor variety set, are they OK to use in concrete or are there any differences for screws and anchors used in concrete?

Suitablilty of fasteners for supporting bracketry in concrete depends mostly on the weight.

light duty 0-10lbs: Screws with concrete threads, no anchors needed
(EG Tapcon and Spax)
medium duty: 10-50lbs:  anchors of plastic or lead,
heavy duty:  50+    : sleeve and wedge anchors

There are overlaps between light and medium duty , based on screw size and depth of penetration.  Follow package directions closely.  Drill the exact size hole and depth called for, the fastener retention depends on it!


Help with wiring new dimmer switches I recently moved into a new house and am trying to replace a couple of dimmer switches but it's proving more complicated than I'd expected.

I have a fairly long living room which is sort of divided into into 2 sides, let's call them A and B.
Each side has 4 recessed pot lights (so 8 lights in total), and each side has a 2 gang box.
Each box has a 3-way switch on the left hand side, (can turn on/off all 8 lights), and a dimmer switch on the right hand side (can dim only the 4 lights on that side of the room)

My goal is to remove all existing switches and install a smart dimmer (Leviton DH6HD-1BZ) on one side of the room, and the matching remote (Leviton DD00R-DLZ) on the other side, and then finish each box with a 2-gang 1-hole plate.

Here are the wiring instructions for the smart dimmer:
http://www.homedepot.com/catalog/pdfImages/3e/3e474cd2-a567-4471-a400-3e21fd978b0b.pdf
(see step 4b for wiring with the matching remote)

My problem is that there are so many black wires in each box that I'm having trouble identifying which ones need connecting to the new dimmers, or which ones need connecting to each other in order to complete the circuit!

Here’s a crude diagram of how everything was wired up initially:

Am I right in thinking that I can just remove everything, then install the matching dimmer where the 3-way currently is on side ‘B’ of the room (using connections A1, B2, C3 in my diagram), and then install the smart dimmer where the 3-way is on side ‘A’ (using connections 10H, 12F, 13G) and then the fourth connection (traveler?) into the smart dimmer should be 16? and leave 14 and 18 together, right?

Any help/advise would be very appreciated! Thanks!

First off -- nice wiring diagram!

To answer your actual question, though:

Putting the dimmer in box A and the remote in box B is indeed your best plan -- it's possible to do it the other way around, although that is slightly outside the scope of this answer.  To do that, you'll need to make the following connections (with the breaker off, of course!):

Dimmer BK pigtailed to the junction of 14 and 18
Dimmer YL/RD connected to 13
Wire 12 connected to the 11/17/15 junction, and dimmer WH pigtailed to that same junction (you may need to upsize the wire nut a bit here)
Dimmer RD pigtailed to 10 and 16 (which are joined together now)
Dimmer GND (green) pigtailed to all other grounds in box A -- if there aren't any bare or green wires in the box, do not connect anything to this terminal
Remote BK connected to 3
Remote YL/RD connected to 1
Remote WH connected to 2
Remote GND (greeen) pigtailed to all other grounds in box B -- if there aren't any bare or green wires in the box, do not connect anything to this terminal
The existing 5/6/8 junction must remain intact here (the 12 to 2 white wire provides neutral to the dimmer remote itself to avoid a NEC 300.3(B)/310.10(H) violation due to wayward neutral current from the remote)
7 and 9 are nutted together to power the lamps on B side from the dimmer feed coming from the A side (the Leviton smart-dimmers need to be on the load side of a multi-way setup)
Finally, make sure 4 is capped off with a wirenut as we have no clue where it leads.  Connecting it to the hot in box B would be a 300.3(B)/310.10(H) violation due to its power coming into the box on the 14 to 3 wire and its neutral returning back from the box on the wire that connects to 11 in box A, which is either 6 or 8.  Connecting it to the dimmed hot in box B would also risk a Code violation if it leads to anything that's not a light fixture, as 404.14 prohibits connecting a dimmer to any load, other than a permanently installed incandescent fixture, that it's not rated for, and 406.15 prohibits dimming standard receptacles.