What could cause my water heater to pulsate during cold water usage? I have a well and a pressure tank. I lost water pressure last night and thought everything was frozen but it wasn't, however, the regulator was not engaged. I engaged the pressure regulator and the water was flowing through the pipes in the house. Now when the cold water is used in the house the water heater pulsates. What could be the cause of this?

Sounds like the pressure regulator is failing and needs to be replaced. Last time mine went, it would bang all the pipes after I used any water, hot or cold. Depending on your existing pressure regulator and the replacement you find, it may be as easy as unscrewing the old one and screwing on a new one. But more than likely, you'll need to cut the pipe and solder (assuming copper) a new connection or two.


Cabinet footprint cheaper tile I'm using pretty expensive tile for my kitchen but feel stupid to cover invisible parts of the floor with it, such as under the cabinet footprint. Is it common to use cheaper but equally thick tile under cabinets, to save expensive tiles?

In addition to saving money, there are a bunch of reasons to put cabinets directly on the subfloor and not put tiles under the cabinets:

(As already answered by Lee Sam): Level the cabinets with shims and use the tile (or baseboard molding if the tile is not very thick) to hide the bottom edge of the cabinets
If any plumbing or electrical needs to run through the floor, it is easier to do so without being concerned about tile or finished flooring
Tile could be installed with different tiles around the edges, treating the installed cabinets like a wall.
If you ever decide to replace the flooring in the future, there is no need to remove the cabinets (which can be quite involved due to sinks, dishwashers, heavy countertops, etc.) in order to replace the tiles underneath the cabinets.


What are the grounding requirements for a panel fed from another panel? I have a 60 amp subpanel in my garage and plan to add a second 30 amp subpanel to an out-building 130 ft away (fed from the 60 amp).  I Plan to run 6 AWG 4-wire from the 60 amp to the 30 amp in 1 1/2 in PVC buried 18 in.  My understanding is that I must keep the neutral & ground from the 30 amp separate from the 60 amp (e.g. the ground goes to a separate ground rod [or two] at the out-building and the neutral runs back to the main service entrance).  If I understand this correctly, I have a problem in that I do not have a means of getting the neutral from the new 30 amp back to the main service entrance.

Is my understanding regarding the ground & neutral correct?
If so, are there other options (current needs a return to source so I doubt it)?

The new 30A panel needs a 4-wire feeder from the 60A panel. This is two hots, a neutral and an equipment ground.

The remote 30A panel also needs a grounding electrode (or two) since it is in a detached structure. This grounding electrode has NOTHING to do with the equipment ground run with the feeders. The two serve very different purposes.

In the existing 60A panel you will terminate the new ground to the ground bar and the new neutral to the isolated neutral bar.


Why is water collecting in the base of my furnace? I changed my filter the other day and noticed a pool of water in the bottom of the furnace, below the filter. The humidifier has been off so that's not the issue. I removed the furnace panels and see water coming off the hoses that seem to collect to the intake/exhaust pipes (picture below). BTW, this is a high efficiency furnace, and is only 3 years old. The condensation drain pipe is bone dry so I thought perhaps it could be clogged, but would it drain during the winter when humidifier is off? Fortunately the electronics are dry. Any ideas on what's going on would be greatly appreciated. Here are a couple photos

It is indeed condensate water, high efficiency furnaces wring water all year long (more so during heating, but A/C in summer too).

What has happened is the condensate collection point (on the inside of where the external PVC drain runs) has cracked.  It is a very brittle and cheap plastic, just saw this on another customers furnace.  It acts like a little trap, holding water until it overflows into the PVC to drain.

Possibly the PVC got kicked and the force made its way back to the box (good luck getting a show of hands for this one)..

In any case, your furnace vendor will likely have one in stock.


How can I remove a cordless drill chuck? I have a Dewalt DC725 cordless drill. I was recently drilling some holes through a plasterboard ceiling and I guess the drill has been jammed with plaster dust because the chuck is stuck in the fully open position.

I thought that if I removed the chuck I could replace it, but I can't get it off. I have removed the holding screw from inside, but as it is jammed, I can't tighten it around an allen key to unscrew the chuck.

Thanks a lot in advance!

Prop the drill upside down in a glass filled with warm muriatic acid for a few hours to dissolve the packed calcium sulfate, followed by a couple of whacks on the chuck with a hammer; repeat as necessary. Rinse and dry thoroughly afterwards as muriatic acid is a strong oxidizer that will quickly rust high-carbon steels if left metal surfaces exposed in air.

USE CAUTION as muriatic acid is actually hydrochloric acid and can burn you and your clothes; wear gloves and eye protection. You can find muriatic acid in the pool cleaning section of the big-box hardware stores.

I use this technique to dissolve impacted gypsum dust from my Dremel chucks.


How should I repair drywall where heating registers used to be? We recently had an asbestos abatement crew remove heating ducts in our house that had asbestos-lined duct insulation.  Part of the process required them to remove the duct registers in the wall as well.

The result is that I have sections like this in almost every room in the house:

Yikes. What's the procedure for repairing drywall like this?

I was thinking of doing something similar to Niall's recommendation here. Basically cut back some extra drywall on the sides so there's room on all of the studs (which would also have the benefit of removing the damaged sides... then put in a cross support between the studs and screw the drywall to all sides and the cross support.  Then mud/tape as usual.

Is there a better way to do this? Keep in mind that I'm a beginner and need to do this procedure multiple times.

I should also mention that we're not planning to add the registers back at this time... it'll be several years before we get a new furnace anyway. We just want to repair the drywall and make it look like the hole was never there.

-M

Personally, I would just build a rectangle out of 2x4s slightly smaller than the hole, lower it into the hole flush with the existing framing, then screw it to the existing framing.  That will give you a nice surface to attach your new drywall to.  Depending on the size of the hole, you might want a cross member in the box as well so your drywall isn't spanning too big of a hole unsupported.

As for cutting back the existing drywall - I wouldn't bother with that for a couple reasons:

First, you're likely to run into issues with the nails or screws that were used to originally attach the drywall to that framing.  If you cut around those, then the old drywall isn't going to have a very secure connection to the framing unless it was glued.  And if it was glued, then you have the problem of the glue residue getting in the way of the new piece you want to put on.

Second, the damaged areas of the drywall are well within the areas that you'll need to mud over anyways - figure on mudding out at least 6-12 inches on either side of the joint. So you're really not saving yourself any work by cleaning that up.


Is it OK to have a light that can only be controlled via automation? I am retrofitting the main light in a room to be controlled by a home automation system, in this case, I'm using z-wave, but for purposes of this question, it could be any digital protocol.

I would like to have all switches that control the light do so using z-wave, and the actual dimmer circuit won't have a physical switch (it will be buried in the light fixture).

In other words, I will have no switches in the wall that actually break the connection or dim the light.

Is this ok from a code perspective?  Does NEC have some kind of rule that I must have a switch in the room that physically controls the light?

If it's not ok, I'm looking for the particular part of the NEC that says that.

The NEC requirement is that it be possible to turn on a light in a room, via a switch that is in a reasonably expected location.

If you need your phone to turn the light on, that's a no go.

NEC is not particular about whether the lamp is a permanently installed light, or a plug-in floor lamp.  The floor lamp is allowed to have a switch on itself, which if turned off, defeats the room switch.

NEC is also not particular about the technology used, as long as it's listed.  It just needs to work.

However, they may be other building codes which come to bear.  There is also your local jurisdiction's interpretation, their local rules, and the ultimate nuke: the ability of the jurisdiction to revoke a home's occupancy permit if the arragement proves to be problematic.


How to manage leaves? The location is wooded Georgia suburbs on roughly an acre with lots of oak and a smattering of pine trees. There isn't much yard; a couple hundred square feet of grass with leaves three to six inches deep. And there's a 300 foot driveway I've been leaf blowing and accumulating the leaves off to the sides. One to two feet of paved surface has been reclaimed on each side of the driveway from years of damp leaves gathering.

The landlord said I can put the leaves in a depression near the driveway. Its volume is such that a full dump truck of material might not fill it.

My questions are:
1) What techniques work to move lots of large leaves 100 feet? Right now, I begin work near the pit and move 3 or 4 feet at a time with the leaf blower.

2) Is it safe to leave a dump-truck sized pile of leaves in "the pit"?

3) Any concerns or life-experience observations about dealing with the 2 to 4 inches of rotting leaves I am removing from the driveway edges?

Update:
Answer chosen based on direct applicability; I'm trying to preserve the existing grass and keep the people areas tidy. Even with the mountain of leaves I'm moving there is 10x more leaves several inches deep covering the rest of the wooded area on the property.

The pic shows me about 1/5 done. I laid a bar on the edge of the tarp to help loading it. The bar is from a weight lifting set and holds the edge of tarp in place while I used the broom to push leaves in. Then I'd use the leaf blower to sweep the rest of the leaves in.

Once the top layers of leaves were removed, I was using the leaf blower more like a hair dryer. Note in foreground the brick. The leaves are 2x to 3x the height of bricks used to line the yard. The "pit" is 80 or 90 feet from where the pic was taken and is now practically full. The roughly 10,000 sq ft area of the lawn took about 6 hours to clear. The leaves surely were there for more than 1 season, as the bottom layer was starting to decay and was clinging mightily to the earth.

I have a very similar yard as yours.  I too went through this process my first few years living at the house.  Paid for people to haul leaves away and such.  After a few more years of honing the process it is really simple.

Identify good areas for leaves to end up.  For me it is depressions near the driveway, the street, and right next to the large trees.
Rake leaves out of hard to reach places or rake to the point that it makes doing step 3 easier.
Start away from your target areas.  Mulch your leaves and spit them out towards your target areas.  You will have to inch your way with the lawnmower to the target areas back and forth.  Yes you will leave deposits in your yard but unless you are leaving huge amounts these will only enhance your grassy areas.  (For some parts of the yard you may need to rake leaves to grass or to driveway - yes I mow my driveway!)
Use blower to better disperse clippings.  An example here is 50% of my front yard clippings go to street.  The first 8-10 feet of yard near the street obviously contain more clippings on them.  I use the blower to get them to the street.  Then when in the street I use the blower to disperse the clippings.  On day one I might have a 1 foot mound of clippings near my edge.  After a few days of blowing a little of the clippings at a time... clippings gone, happy neighbors.  The blower breaks apart the clippings piles.

Any plan to not mulch the leaves is futile in my opinion.  My way is raking maybe for 2-3 hours twice a year, lawnmower 5-6 times times an hour, and blower 5-6 times times 20 mins.  I was spending 10x that my first few years trying to move leaves or bag leaves or send them to a compost.  Even putting them on a tarp and burning them took forever.


Should I block or insulate my air vents for the winter? I live in a house which consists of a 17 year old extension on a 40 something year old cottage. The two main bedrooms are the only rooms in the house with air vents. They are also two of the coldest rooms in the house.

The vents are basically just holes in the wall covered by plastic vent covers. They have a switch to slide them 'closed' (I leave them closed permanently). Even on closed I can feel a cold breeze if I hold my hand to them. I can also hear the wind whistling through them at night.

As it comes into winter I feel like all the heat in these rooms is escaping through these vents. I keep thinking I should just stuff some insulation in there, even just for the winter months.

Is blocking them a bad idea? Long term, can I replace these with a more insulated kind that won't lose as much heat?

Go ahead and block them off.

My house was built in the same era and has similar vents in the bedrooms. I believe the rationale is the construction of this era had become so tight that infiltration alone was insufficient to provide fresh air into the house, so these vents were installed as intentional infiltration.

In my case, I'm not convinced the construction was all that tight. Even if yours is that tight, you get enough infiltration from the old section that I don't think you will have an issue with stale air if the vents were sealed off with insulation. Even if you do notice the air being stale afterwards, it's easy enough to remove the insulation to regain some infiltration.

If you do find the need for some fresh air, the only energy efficient solution is an air to air heat exchanger that heats incoming air with the residual heat of outgoing air. These units are installed in homes that are truly tightly built. As in refrigerator like tightness. Without these exchangers air in such houses becomes noticeably stale.


Is a soundproof stud wall made of 38 x 63mm CLS strong enough? I'm building two stud walls joining at a right angle to create a small room in the corner of a larger room. The timber I'm using is 63x38mm (2 1/2" by 1 1/2" - actual measurement) CLS. One wall is 2.4 m long, the other wall with the door is 1.8m long.

Now looking at the soundproofing solution I have in mind I wonder if these studs will be strong enough to support the wall. Can anyone advise on the strength of such a structure with 40 or 50cm centres? The walls are not loadbearing.

Heaviest case, the wall layering will be: Soundboard | Stud wall (40cm centres) | Soundboard | Rubber panels on which are suspended: | Soundboard | Soundboard

An alternative layering would be | Soundboard | Stud wall (50cm centres) | Rubber panels on which are suspended: | Soundboard | Soundboard

The soundboard is heavy sound resistant plasterboard which weighs 28kg for 2.4m by 1.2m.

The rubber panels weigh 15kg for 1m by 1m

You could always use the lumber you have and reduce the spacing to something like 5 3/4" (that's the actual spacing ratio for a 2x4@16"oc) to get an equivalent amount of control over the deflection.

I would not use anything less than a 2x4 at 16" on center, or it's equivalent. The main reason for this is because if someone were to lean on that wall they could crack the boards on either side. This would not only ruin their appearance but it could reduce their acoustic performance. Additionally, if a seismic event were to occur the weight of all that materials you have on there would begin to move with the earthquake. It would bend the wall out of plane causing cracks. 2x4s at 16" is the code recommendation to avoid these cracks.


Stringer separating from deck stairs I’ve got a not quite 2 yr old deck installed by our builder. We have a problem with the stringers pulling away from the treads and risers. We first started noticing it last year, so I added some 3.5” deck screws to each board to try to secure them, but they’re pulling out as well. This is happening to almost all the treads and risers on both sides.

Just wondering at this point what the best course is? Is this repairable, or do I need to look at replacing the stairs?

The issue you are running into now is that end grains are poor for holding power. I would make 2x4 blocks 4” long and secure it in the corners underneath each side of the steps. The grain should run front to back, screw it into the stringer, then pull the stairs tight together, then screw the treads into the block; this will lock it into place.


Wiring Options for 14/3 NM-B Cable and Two Single Pole 15 Amp Circuit Breakers A 14/3 NM-B cable is run from the main breaker panel. The black wire is connected to one 15 amp single pole circuit breaker and the red wire is connected to a second adjacent 15 amp single pole circuit breaker. Are any of the following acceptable according to the National Electric Code? If so, do the handles of the two circuit breakers need to be tied together using a handle tie approved by the manufacturer of the circuit breakers?

Single duplex receptacle in a one-gang electrical box

Black wire to the top brass screw terminal
Red wire to the bottom brass screw terminal
White wire to one of the silver screw terminals
Ground wire to the green screw terminal
Tab connecting the two brass terminals broken
Tab connecting the two silver terminals intact

Two duplex receptacles in a two-gang electrical box

Black wire to the top brass screw terminal of the first duplex receptacle
Red wire to the top brass screw terminal of the second duplex receptacle
White wire to the top silver screw terminal of the first receptacle
Separate insulated white wire from the bottom silver screw terminal of the first receptacle to the top silver screw terminal of the second receptacle
Ground wire pigtailed to the green screw terminal of both receptacles
Tab connecting the two brass terminals intact on both receptacles
Tab connecting the two silver terminals intact on both receptacles

Two duplex receptacles in a two-gang electrical box

Black wire to the top brass screw terminal of the first duplex receptacle
Red wire to the top brass screw terminal of the second duplex receptacle
White wire pigtailed to the top silver screw terminals of both receptacles
Ground wire pigtailed to the green screw terminal of both receptacles
Tab connecting the two brass terminals intact on both receptacles
Tab connecting the two silver terminals intact on both receptacles

Please reference and/or quote the National Electrical Code.

Reason for question: I recently assumed responsibility for maintenance in a small office building that was constructed in the late 1990s or early 2000s. While adding a new outlet, I noticed that the existing panel makes extensive use of 14/3 NM-B cable where the black wire is connected to one 15 amp single pole breaker, the red wire is connected to a second 15 amp single pole breaker, and the handles of the two breakers are not tied together. Based on other issues I have found, I have a suspicion that the wiring is not compliant with the current National Electrical Code.

(NB: All quotes here are from the 2014 NEC, but I know of no significant changes to these passages between 2014 and 2017.)

Methods 1 and 3 are fine...

For a 15A MWBC, both wiring method 1 and wiring method 3 will work and are Code-compliant as described, insofar as the receptacle wiring goes.

but Method 2 isnt...

Method 2, however, violates NEC 300.13(B) as described:

  (B) Device Removal. In multi wire branch circuits, the
  continuity of a grounded conductor shall not depend on
  device connections such as lampholders, receptacles, and
  so forth, where the removal of such devices would interrupt
  the continuity.

as removing the first receptacle of the circuit leaves the second receptacle sans neutral.  Fortunately, this mistake won't fry any equipment, but that's only because the second receptacle only gets the second leg's hot.

And all three of these need handle tying to be compliant

In any case, identified handle ties need to be used in order to provide the "common disconnecting means" required by 210.4(B):

  (B) Disconnecting Means. Each multiwire branch circuit
  shall be provided with a means that will simultaneously
  disconnect all ungrounded conductors at the point where
  the branch circuit originates.

  Informational Note: See 240.15(B) for information on the
  use of single-pole circuit breakers as the disconnecting means.

and 240.15(B) (specifically, 240.15(B)(1)):

  (B) Circuit Breaker as Overcurrent Device. Circuit
  breakers shall open all ungrounded conductors of the circuit
  both manually and automatically unless otherwise permitted in 240.15(B)(1), (B)(2), (B)(3), and (B)(4).

  (1) Multiwire Branch Circuits. Individual single-pole circuit breakers, with identified handle ties, shall be permitted
  as the protection for each ungrounded conductor of multi-wire branch circuits that serve only single-phase line-to-neutral loads.


Leaning against a window My bed is right up against a window. I prefer to lean against something and sit in bed while working. Is it safe for me to lean against a closed glass window? Is there any way I could fashion something that would put less stress on the window?

Glass isn't very flexible and you stand a pretty good chance of breaking the glass, which could injure you directly, or allow you to fall out the window.

You didn't say how far the window is off the ground outside, but presumably you don't want to fall out the window unexpectedly amidst shards of glass that could end up sticking out of you at comically tragic angles.

You also didn't mention whether the window in question is made of plate glass (brittle, shatters easily, ends up in big pointy shards) or some kind of safety glass (specially treated, often has some kind of polycarbonate material sandwiched in the glass or coating one or both sides). Safety glass is somewhat less brittle, and tends to break into smaller, rounder pieces that won't impale you. Automobile windows are made out of safety glass.

So that's my way of saying no, I probably wouldn't make a habit of leaning on the window.

If you can't pick up an actual headboard for you bed as @Tester101 suggested, maybe you can just lie with your head at the other end of the bed and lean against whatever's on that end (a wall?). Or maybe you could screw a few wood slats across the lower half of the window and lean against those.


wiring switch off a 14/3 receptacle I would like to install a light above our kitchen sink.I can tap into close receptacle but it is wired with 14/3 wire?How do I do this with extra red wire?

Get a meter.  Set it to measure Volts, AC, in the 250 v range.

Stick one probe into the short side of the upper outlet, and the other in the short side of the lower outlet.

If it reads ~240 volts, then this is a split outlet, that is both outlets are on separate breakers, and the neutral is shared.  This is old code, and was done so you can plug in both a kettle and a toaster at the same time without blowing the breaker.

Current code requires a 20 amp circuit, GFCI protected.  This will require pulling new wire (12 gauge).

Using the existing set-up, You would want to run a 14/2, tapping into EITHER the red/white pair, or the black white pair.


Can I sand and re-varnish a flawed area on my staircase? I have a new staircase that's gone in, and I've happily stained and varnished it.

Now I have a problem.

It appears that on the handrail that was varnished, some of the adhesive from tape that was holding a covering cloth in place was missed.

Its a single square right in the middle, and although I've gone over it a few times (and I thought I'd cleaned it thoroughly in the first place) it's glaringly obvious, even from a distance.

What I'm wondering is, could I sand off the varnish on that section and (hopefully) lift the adhesive, then reapply the varnish without making the situation worse?

The varnish I'm using is a water based polyurethane.

Cheers!

Of course you can do it, and you probably can even get the polyurethane to look pretty good. The trick might be how closely you can get the stain to match. If it's a very light stain or an extremely dark stain it will be more forgiving.

If it's a tone somewhere in the middle, you will need to judge your skill level, and make sure the color is spot on before re-applying the varnish.


How to deal with a failed primer coat I "restored" a bathroom that had had a heavy wall paper that did not come off neatly. I repaired the walls and ceiling and skim coated much of the wall. I also sanded and repainted a shower ceiling. I found numerous recommendations for Zinsser BIN primer and rolled that over all of the prep'ed areas. There were one or two coats on the primer, depending on initial coverage. The primer was allow to dry at least a day. The walls and ceilings were then painted with at least two coats of normal household wall paints.
Three months afterwards, the shower ceiling started cracking and pealing. A year or so later other areas started to do the same. From the chips, it looks its the primer that pealed away, not the paint from the primer.
So, I now have to redo the entire bathroom.
Did I get a bad batch of primer?
Is there a better product to use?

Even in areas that from a distance look good, a closeup reveals that the cracks are everywhere.

And an unrelated question ;-) all of the pictures got rotated 90 degrees when I uploaded them. Is that normal here?

When you say redo the entire bathroom does that just mean redo the sections of exposed wall? Because if it doesn't you should consider the opportunity to pull the old drywall entirely, replace it with a modern bathroom wallboard (such as densarmor or similar) and refinish the walls. Sanding and reskimming are messy and laborious, replacing the wallboardb would give you a better result and maybe afford more opportunities along the way.
But let's say you're not going to replace the wallboard.
You should sand them down aggressively. Get a mechanical sander that you can attach a vacuum or dust manager to.
Then you need to seal the walls. Old wallpaper walls are notorious. I recommend you use zinsser gardz for this (you can order it from big orange hardware store). Gardz penetrates and seals any residual wallpaper, adhesives, etc. Two coats will be safe even if not necessary. The second coat goes on fast so be careful of runs.
Then I would use an adhesion primer such as inslx stix (it's a Benjamin Moore product so should be able to find it at those retailers). Urethane primers are really sticky, but follow the directions carefully regarding dry and topcoat times. You may want to scuff sand this primer before topcoating it being very careful to clean all dust from the walls.
Then you can paint a bathroom paint over the urethane primer. Again, follow application and recoat timing instructions carefully.
After it dries and before recoating, vacuuming is your friend. Dust removal is important. It may feel like extra steps but it's nothing compared to your teardown and do-over.


Replaced my first power cord. Will I set the house on fire? I’ve replaced the power cord of an appliance for the very first time. How does it look? I have switched the appliance on for 3 mins and there were no fires. I just want to make sure it’s safe. It’s a NEMA 6-20P plug.

we don’t really know but if you have turned it on and it works without arcs and sparks. Then if you touch it you don’t get shocked you probably did a good job.  Well now I see the first photo of the connections it looks a little short on the wrap around the screws I think the code book has an example of 66-75% wrap NEC exhibit 110.3 its for aluminum wire but copper should follow the same rules 2/3-3/4 wrap. I would not be afraid of using this but might try to get the wires a bit tighter around the screws but good first job.
You left the normal electricians mess according to my wife , When I was an apprentice my training supervisor said don’t wast your high dollar time picking up wire that’s for the clean up guy. But I try depending on the job,
Note I find with stranded wire a pre twist of counter clockwise helps keep it tighter.


Using dry portland cement mixed with latex paint primer as a filler for weathered wood One side of my home has been quite weathered and the wood is quite rough.
I wonder if anyone has mixed primer paint with  Portland cement to produce a thick and durable product that would fill the roughness and prime the wood for followup painting?

I doubt that will go well.  Wood expands and contracts a great deal due to changes in temperature and humidity.  Cement doesn't, especially portland cement.  In addition cement doesn't really bond all that well to wood: that's why it's commonly used to make forms.  My guess is that the cement would pop out within a year, if not less and make it look way worse than now.

There are products specifically made for this purpose.  You should use one of those instead if you want to do this.  Use one made for outdoor applications.


Exterior puddle at foundation What is the best way to drain under an outdoor faucet in heavy clay soil? Faucet use and rain cause a puddle to form. I could grade the soil away from the house, but I think that would only be temporary.

Basically what Tester said in his comment but to elaborate... Ideally you want a 6" drop 10' past the foundation.

In addition to placing stepping stones under the spigot I might consider also adding one of those gutter splash blocks.

Plant some foundation plantings and grass. They'll help absorb some of the rain water and reduce erosion. The level of soil around the foundation was probably higher at some point based on the height of that pvc pipe.

Does the building have gutters? Last time I remember someone from GA posting about having a hard time growing grass around their foundation their home didn't have gutters for most of the time since the house was built. The rain comes down heavy as a result around the perimeter causing nutrients to leach out of the soil and the soil to wash away which just makes the drainage problems worse. Bring in some good top soil with a good mix of compost when you do the grading to help grass establish. Install gutters if they're not there and make sure downspouts extend at least 6' away from the foundation.


How can I remove a stuck pivot rod from a popup sink drain? I cannot get the pivot rod out to remove my bathroom sink stopper assembly. I unscrewed the nut easily enough. The ball part doesn't seem stuck but the rod will not come out. Every post/youtube video/instruction makes it seem like it will easily slide out once the nut is removed. I sprayed it with WD40 and will try again in a bit, but any ideas otherwise?

update: the WD40 worked! Now if I could get the dumb J trap loose!

I have had the ball /pivot plugged up with hair and toothpaste more than once. I usually use a pair of pliers and a little force to remove it, in one case I had to remove the drain and use a long handled screwdriver to pry it out from the inside, once it was clean it slid back in place no problem. So give it a bit of force and it will come out.


Hot water heat zone valve The hot water baseboard in my apartment stays warm when the heat is off. It is working but does not completely turn off. The head on the zone valve has been replaced. Is this normal or should the base board  shut off  completely.

Depending on the pipe layout between the baseboard and the boiler, it's not too uncommon for the baseboard closest to the boiler (typically) to have an inadvertent thermosiphon when off, which can cause the temperature to rise above the setpoint of the thermostat.

If the temperature is not rising above the setpoint, see @ratchet freak's answer and @JACK's comment


How should I paint my basement floor? I have an 80 year old basement concrete floor that recent had asbestos tiles and mastic removed. It is in good shape, with a few hairline cracks.  I  am planning on painting it. The basement is dry, but humid in the summer. I will use it as a laundry room/crafting/doing projects on the work bench. I see that a good bonding primer is recommended.

My questions are:

I am on the fence as to whether I should use an epoxy paint or a porch and floor enamel(or another enamel type) paint.  I want the paint job to last many years!
Should I put a concrete sealer wet look to help seal the paint? Whatever I put down, I want it easy to mop.
There is about 1/4 space between the concrete floor and the concrete wall, should I seal this with something before painting?  Is is better to leave it open to give the floor a chance to "breath" If it better to seal it up,  what product is best for caulking concrete?

A true two-part epoxy will be the most durable option, yet the priciest. The active mixing agent, causes the coat of paint to dry extremely hard and durable. Valspar offers a great product that is available in a variety of colors. Valspar also has a clear epoxy coat to add extra protection to the floor coating and adds a glossy shine.

Valspar Garage Floor Coating

A cheaper route, and lesser in quality is using Seal-Krete's Concrete & Garage Floor Paint. It is labeled as an epoxy, but it is not a true epoxy since there is no mixing agent. However, the paint does dry hard for protection. Seal-Krete also offers
Clear-Seal for a clear topcoat.

Seal-Krete Concrete & Garage Floor Paint

Either choice requires proper surface preparation. The concrete should be cleaned, etched and dry of moisture. Both Valspar and Seal-Krete sell concrete surface prep solutuions.


Trimming or spackling the edge of a tile schluter to drywall (Large Gap) I would like to get any suggestions for closing this gap. The bathroom studs were out of plumb in an older house.

The edge of the schluter goes from 0 at the bottom to 3/4" at the top on one side. And the other side it goes from 0 to 1/4".

I attempted quick dry spackle to fill the gap and it looks horrendous. Does anyone have any ideas of certain trim (corner round won't lay flat) or possibly doing a second coat of good smooth spackle?

Sometimes aesthetics are more important than "level, square, and plumb".

Try scraping that stuff back a bit and doing it over with lightweight topping compound. Use a smooth clean knife and the stuff goes on like butter, and it's easy to sand smooth after it sets. Hit it with primer and paint and it will look as good as it is going to.


Fixing cracks in a cinder block wall I have a wall that is cracking in a couple of places.    Two important points:

This wall is not part of a building, it's like a fence or property boundary wall, but it's made of blocks of some sort, covered up so they look like one continuous surface
It's not really so much cracking as it appears to be separation along the joint lines of the blocks.  It goes all the way from the front to the back of the block.

There are two places in the wall which are cracking and both are near trees, so I'm wondering if the roots could be pushing up the ground under the wall and causing the cracking.  None of these trees are on our property, so we can't remove them.

One of the set of cracks is occurring near a corner in the wall, and the cracking has formed a stair-step pattern starting about 15 feet from the corner and moving up towards the corner to within about 3 feet.  When we purchased the property 3 years ago the previous owners had put expansion foam in the cracks to seal it (the cracking was around 3/4" or less, but within the last few months there was movement and now the cracks are at least double that.

My initial thought was to perhaps seal up the sides and pour mortar mix or concrete mix in the opening from the top.  However there are a number of problems with this: due to the stair-step nature of the cracking, the mix wouldn't go all the way to the bottom; (but conversely, I don't know how I would force the mix into cracks to make it go all the way through); if the problem is caused by the ground moving it might just crack more as the ground continues to move, possibly in a different location on the fence, and I'm not sure concrete or mortar mix would hold the fence together against such forces anyway.

I'm trying to find a solution that will fit in the budget, i.e. I can't afford to have the fence removed to fix the ground and the replaced or something like that.  I can afford some raw materials, but all the labor is going to have to be myself. Are there any solutions that will allow me to effectively deal with the problem?

Short answer is: there is no quick fix with any kind of patching material. The trees will eventually destroy the wall.

You said the trees are not on your property so you can't remove them. You can however remove any part of them that does come over onto your property including the roots.

The only way you can affect a long term fix is to excavate behind the wall removing the offending roots and heavy soil. Replace it with sand or light gravel to increase the drainage and reduce the attraction of organic growth. You can rent a mini-excavator for a few hundred dollars and have the sand delivered for around $100 a dump truck full. Depending on the size of the wall you could get out of it for less than $1000.

After excavating, and before backfilling you need to straighten the wall and insert 1/2" re-rod into a core every couple feet and fill it with light concrete mix. This will help to stop the cracking from happening again in the near future and support the wall for backfilling. Let it cure for a week before backfilling. People falsely believe that the mortar between concrete blocks gives them strength, the truth is the mortar is only there to seal the joints. A poorly reinforced block wall is easily pushed in. Sounds like whoever built the wall didn't understand this.

Good luck!


Furnace turns off before temperature is reached, fixed by unplugging and replugging thermostat As the title suggests, my furnace will sometimes shut off as if it's reached the target temperature, while it is still far below (ex. set to 70F, stops at 63). If I unplug the thermostat, the furnace will turn back on (even before I plug it back in).
This happens when running on a schedule or on 'permanent hold'. It doesn't happen reliably, sometimes it goes until the target temperature is reached and turns off normally. It may be related to temperature (it might take more resets to go from 60 to 65 than from 65 to 70), though I also just might not notice as much at higher temperatures.
It seems to me that either:

Something is wrong with the thermostat, and unplugging it (switching from wall to battery power) updates the signal appropriately.
Something is wrong with the furnace, and I'm overriding some shutoff condition.

The second one sounds dangerous, though I hope that the furnace is smart enough to not be overridden if it's unsafe.
What's going on here?
UPDATE:
The thermostat is a Honeywell model TH6210U2001:

The pins connect to the base plate which connects WYGR wires to the furnace and air conditioner (separate units).
The furnace is a Jonson AirEase 80 Plus.

A professional HVAC guy would have a spare tstat and swap it for testing if you were bent on keeping the old thermostat.  Unfortunately, while for a century furnace thermostats were as reliable as a rock, and nobody would ever suspect them, furnace thermostat makers have discovered if you build it just expensive enough to last 5 years, when it breaks people will just accept it because so much other electronics these days has designed-in short lifespans.  Then they will buy another.


Fixing foundation crack with repair kits I have a crack in the foundation visible on both sides, interior and exterior on an older home (built in 60's).
In my case the foundation does not seem to be sagging.

I have received some advice suggesting that patching it might be enough.

However, I see a lot of sources pushing crack repair kits that cover the a cement foundation crack with epoxy, leaving injection ports, then filling the crack with polyurethane or epoxy.

Is this the de facto way of doing it now?

There's two types of foundation crack repair kits, one of them is an expanding foam type of sealant that fills the crack and prevents moisture intrusion. This will prevent water from getting into the basement, crawlspace, etc.... The other type is a bonding adhesive that actually bonds to the concrete and makes a structural repair while also sealing against moisture. Best bet would be to consult a structural engineer, they can recommend the best way to repair it (Even if you do it yourself), the repair kits are $100-800 depending on the size of the crack, with the bonding agent kits being more expensive.


Rental equipment selection for digging 52" deck footings? I need to put in about 20 concrete footings for several deck-related projects. The footing base should be 12-18" (but see note below). Frost depth in my area requires footings to be 52" below grade (local building official has stated this).

Soil is clay with rocks, mostly 4-5" across (softballs). Based on past septic excavation, this seems to be pretty consistent.

I'm weighing how to best dig holes that deep. Local equipment rental options are:

Towable post-hole digger (up to 16" auger + extensions):

Mini skid-steer (Dingo) with auger attachment (up to 16" auger + extensions):

Mini-backhoe which claims 6' digging depth:

In theory / "on paper" all of these could do the task. But it is hard to assess which will be the most effective at digging holes. By effective I mean:

Will work well in the soil
Dig a reasonably neat hole to requirements
Not take excessive time or labor

The rental cost for all is roughly the same or at least not a enough to be a primary concern.

I have some experience with small 3-point equipment on tractors and feel confident to safely learn & use these machines.

It is an option to do a larger # of smaller footings (meaning, smaller footprint & less load-bearing) if that makes any difference here. Though all things considered I'd think fewer, larger footings would be less overall work.

Having dug footings before by hand (2-man auger, clamshell digger and shovel) I would definitely suggest the Dingo for this project. I did 5 with the auger and 2 with clamshell (because it was near utility lines) but 20 footings is a lot and you should keep this simple and quick, letting the machine do most of the work.

Note- clamshell post-hole digger example:

A clamshell is not better than 2-man auger, it's a lot more work but you have to hand dig near utility lines. The 2-man auger has 4 handles and the motor in the middle, one man operates from one side and the other stabilizes as it digs. It's fast but it's a lot of exertion, especially for as many footings as you're talking about.


When is it time to replace the roof? I've read several some of the guides out there (examples here and here) on this topic.  I've found a shingle in the yard a couple times (after heavy wind/rain), and at times I've seen a few granules in the downspouts, but otherwise none of the warning signs are present.  My roof is asphalt shingle with age approx. 15 years.

In the St. Louis area where I am, conventional wisdom says that 20 years is as much as you can expect out of an asphalt-shingled roof, so replacement is on the horizon.  The best time to replace it, I suppose, would be the day before it starts to leak.  Short of using a crystal ball, what other factors would help narrow down the optimal time to replace?  I don't want to replace it now if it would still have several years of service left, but don't want to wait until it leaks either.

It depends on what your goal is.  If the goal is to never have water enter your house in any way then probably what you need to do is get one of the shingles that fell off and see what its lifetime rating is.  Most are 15-20 years.  If you are near that point and shingles are coming off then I would think about it.

However shingles falling off doesn't necessarily mean you need a new roof.  It could have been a bad install on that part of the roof - or everything.

What you read is pretty true though except for the vegetation part.  If you have tree coverage over your house you might get moss with a 2 year old roof.  The curled, cracked, badly warped shingles... this is extreme and should be replaced.

If you want to wait to the last second, then you need to venture to your attic a lot - after big rains.  Most of the time a roof will show signs of moisture before it starts letting in a lot of water - unless your roof is pretty flat.  If you don't want to get up in the attic to do this then it is purely a guess/luck.

Last thing...  How long do you plan on being in the house?  If it is less than 10 years.  Do you plan on replacing before reselling?  If yes and yes.  Then just replace it and enjoy the roof.


How do I extend shower cover plate without replacing a tile I had my shower tiled and, unfortunately, the job was sub-par.
I am not wondering if this can be somehow fixed via workaround, without replacing my tile. Maybe some sort of cover plate extension?

Thank you

Check with the manufacturer for parts for your model #. They might have a larger cover plate. You could also bring it into a plumbing supply store and see if they have a larger one. You'd be amazed at the parts a good plumbing store has. Last but not least, there is usually a bead of white caulk around cover plates in showers this color. A good bead might just cover that opening if all else fails.


Install deadbolt in metal steel door and door jamb I searched online but could not find answer to all these questions.

I'm installing a deadbolt to a metal/steel door. There is only a sheet of metal and it is hollow (empty inside). I also need to drill the hole in the door jamb (frame of the door) so the bolt can go inside when locked.

Considering that I already drilled the 2-1/8 inches hole on both sides of the door (exterior and interior), and also the 1 inch hole for the bolt:

The inner side of the door (where bolt sleeve/plate would be attached) is flat. The bolt sleeve would not embed inside the door, and would prevent the door to fully/soft close. How to fix this? How to prepare this side of the door to embed the bolt sleeve? If it was wood, I could simply chip the wood to the required depth, but how to do it with metal/steel door (specially considering it is hollow/empty inside)?
Same question above for the door jamb. Same thing, it is flat. If I install the strike plate, it would prevent the door from closing properly. How to embed the strike plate into the door jamb?

Thank you!

Since you already have the holes drilled, it seems you will need to make this work somehow. The latches that are supplied in many new lock sets typically have a few face plate options for the strike bolts. Since these types of doors are made to accept dead bolts at the place they are assembled, you will have to use the option that has no face plate for the edge of the door. It is typically a thickened ring that fills the rest of the 1" bore in the edge and held in place by a snug fit and the connection with the deadbolt cylinder.

You may need to ream the 1' bore a little more to get the bolt in all the way, If that is not practical, you may be able to reduce the outside diameter of the added ring on the bolt.

With the 2 1/8" bore, it will not handle the compression of the screws that hold the cylinder in place and will always come loose if the bore is not reinforced with properly sized wood blocks that will keep the thickness intact while the screw hold the cylinder in place. Metal will work too if you can get it the right size.

About adding a strike to the door jamb. It can be done, but to make it look nice and not hacked up it will require a lot of time and tedious cutting and gluing in inserts to receive the screws to hold the strike in place, all for the effort to make a "pretty" hole. I would in all seriousness, simply drill a 1" hole in the jamb and be done with it. It will be plenty strong. The metal strikes that come with latch sets are to strengthen the wood jambs to make them more secure. The meal jambs already are.


How do I hang an OTS microwave without a cabinet above? I dont have a cabinet above my stove. The stove is positioned between my cabinet and my wall.  I desperately need a microwave that has a fan because my small galley kitchen get so hot being there is no circulation. I found OTS microwaves but I dont have a cabinet above. How would I hang it?   Note: I will only have ONE stud to use on one side.

Note: photo below is of an idea I found online.

Over the stove microwaves generally have two main mounting points:

back bottom held up by a bracket attached to the wall
top front (on each side) using heavy bolts though the floor of a wall mounted cabinet.

The bracket mounting would work like any other. It is strongly recommended that all mountings of microwave units be attached to framing. While there are provisions for heavy-duty wall anchors (such as toggler type) these are strongly discouraged. You might consider opening the wall and adding a horizontal framing member if you can't find two studs.

The upper mounts could go through a shelf in the same manner as a cabinet, but you need to ensure that the shelf is solidly mounted and can hold the weight. This would require supports just below the shelf and an angled support from the front edge of the shelf to a spot on the wall 8-12 inches above the shelf. Again, these supports should attach to a stud near each end. The shelf would also need to be the depth of the microwave.

Such a setup would give support comparable to a cabint mount.


What window part do I need for this window? A lot of windows on my sun porch are missing parts of the latch. I am guessing that time and cold has led to the plastic latch mechanism breaking. Some of the windows are missing both latches resulting in the top window sliding down over time and leaving a gap at the top of the top window (think: flies, wasps, and the like).

What is the component called that I need to replace in these windows, and where would I find it? Note: No idea of window make/model. See pictures below.

Here is a picture of a window with the proper latch and "hook"

Here is a window where the part that is hooked into is missing

Here is the latch detail.

It's a window latch and keeper. Unscrew a good one, head over the your local hardware store, and see if they have a match in stock. Pay close attention to the distance between the screw holes and the how tight the two parts are pulled together. They come in a lot of styles, e.g. this would work if the keeper was on a horizontal instead of on a vertical surface:

You can also look online, and worst case scenario, you'll have to go to the window manufacturer to get the replacement parts.


Why is my Sterling three handle shower tub faucet leaking? I have a three handle shower tub faucet that has leaked for years. I replaced the stems last year, but recently learned that the stems the hardware store gave me to use were the wrong ones. I brought in the original, and being a novice I was under the impression that the associates working there had the knowledge to give me the proper replacement parts. Against my better judgement I used the Price Pfister stem replacements that were given to me by the sales associate. It started to leak shortly after and washers have since been replaced twice.

There was a leak on the main water shut off, and since the water had to be shut off for the repair, I decided to go ahead and replace the washers, or rebuild, whatever it would take to stop the leak. Since there was issues with the diverter, I decided to go ahead and rebuild or replace that too. That was when I realized my gut feeling was correct, and the stems were not the correct ones. Before I went to the hardware store, I went online and cross referenced images and descriptions of older faucets and the diverter. I found out the original parts were/are Sterling.

Beings Sterling is no longer manufacturing these faucets, I had to find either an after market repair/replacement kit or find somewhere that still has the parts. I prefer OEM, and found a plumbing supply that carry Sterling parts. Since I no longer have the original stems, all I had to go on was the diverter and the original seats.

Knowing how important it is to have the seats in good shape, I chose to replace the old ones. I cleaned up the inside of the manifold as much as I was able. It didn't appear to be stripped or gouged in any way. I used a plumbers brush to clear any debris that may be left, and blew it out.

I purchased all 3 new seats,  H/C stems with original washers, new diverter stem and washers, and all the trim.

I sprayed a little silicone spray on the seats, put on single layer of Teflon tape on all the stems, and carefully inserted and tighten. I made sure the stems and bonnets were tight, but was careful not to over tighten them.
After everything was in it's place, I turned on the water and it leaked. Something did, but wasn't sure what. It was a small leak, but no leak is acceptable, especially living in So Cal, where we are in a drought.

I have tried everything I know to stop the leak...I've changed washers, trying different styles in hopes one may better cover the seat, if there is possible issues there, I've put a single layer of Teflon tape on all threads, I've silicone sprayed every part, and done it without each. I have kept the openings in the manifold clear of any possible debris, although there has never been any found as of yet. It doesn't appear to have been crossed threaded from the prior install of the improper stems, but I could be mistaking or just not seeing it. I have looked at the threads of each stem every time I have taken it back out to see if there was any particularly unusual scratches or change in the threads and I have seen nothing.

I am at wits end...I can't stand this leak, and it just plain puzzles the heck out of me.
Is there ANY tricks someone can suggest? ANY suggestions, short of replacing the entire faucet, would be so appreciated. Like most homes built in the late 50's early 60's, the tub is tiled and re-doing it is not viable option right now.

Remove the seats, put pipe joint compound or Teflon tape on the threads, and reinstall.  If it still leaks check threads inside the rough-in-valve (housing in wall) that the seat screws into.  If those threads are bad you have 2 options: You can use 5-minute epoxy on the threads or you can replace the faucet.


Can I use a small propane instant hot water heater for a clothes washer? I would like to set up a clothes washer in a location that has only cold water. (It will be in a makeshift shed of some kind, with a hose and an extension cord.)

I could just wash everything in cold for a while, but I was thinking of getting a small, cheap propane hot water heater. These are designed to produce a relatively small flow, for a single fixture, like a shower. A washer uses a lot of water, but it should be fine if the flow is low - it will just take a while for the machine to fill up. Is this OK?

For example, Eccotemp L5, $120 on Amazon

Modern washers have a timeout (in case the water-fill sensor fails) which is around 10 minutes, but you'll have to check the manufacturer to get the exact timeout for your washer as well as how much water it needs to fill at your preferred load settings.

If (DesiredCapacity / HeaterGPM) < TimeoutInMinutes

...then you'll be ok (I wouldn't cut it very close though - it would be a bummer to see it time out one millimeter short of full) So if you had a 10min timeout and needed 10gal to do a tiny load with a 1.5GPM heater:

10gal / 1.5gpm < 10min ? True.

... to be fair, a maximum load of a washer is typically 40gal so the concerns would be reasonable.

Because of all of these variables, those who make the washer would know best since they would know these variables.


How do I go about fixing this window that won't pull shut, either temporarily or permanently? So much cold air is leaking in Album link: https://imgur.com/a/I64sdOR

By looking at the other windows that function properly this one white lever should cause two little arm thingies to pull the two brown tabs inward and shut the window. The problem is neither or the metal bits inside the frame are doing their job. I sprayed both ports with WD40 and that did not help.

Pushing the window closed from the outside doesn't work either, it just bounces back to the position shown in pics 2 and 3 which lets in so much cold air.

Any ideas how to properly fix this? Or the type of latching mechanism even? Don't even know what to google.

Look closely at another window. Move the lever to get an idea what should be happening. From the outside, with the window open, look for a removable plate that covers the mechanism. Open a good one to see how it works, then open the bad one to see what is not working. If it can't be fixed easily, remove the whole mechanism and go to local window suppliers. It should be removeable. Good luck!


How Would You Reattach This Baseboard? Do I need to replace the drywall that was ripped out?

Nail-gun or hammer and nails?

What type of nails?

Thanks!

No you do not need to repair the drywall, but you will need to fill it back in around the metal plates that are there. If you have the scrap drywall that was cut out, set it back in place at least over the studs, but, I say again, not over the metal plates. You DO NOT want any fasteners there, the metal is protecting something inside the wall cavity. If you do not have the scrap drywall handy, 1/2" plywood cut to size will work too. The idea is the base you need to reinstall, is well supported at the bottom as well as the top. The spaces where the metal is, the base will span that short dimension with no problem.

The length of finish nails (pictured in Testor 101's post) you will need are 2" long. Set 2 at every stud location. If there is no stud available because of the metal plates, you can nail into the bottom plate, that will always work. The amount of nails you need to drive do not warrant a compressor and nail gun, unless you have one handy. You will only need about 20 or more well set nails, figuring you have about 10 studs along that line. Keep your nails about 1" from the top and bottom edge. Piloting is a good idea for a novice. A 3/32" or maybe an 1/8" drill bit will do nicely for a 2" finish nail.

As suggested before, do use blue tape where you want to nail. Use it to mark the ends of the metal plates so you will know where you nails can go without hitting the metal plates.


What kind of inverter do I need for an inductive load? TLDR: My shed AC unit (maximum draw 8A 120V AC) keeps tripping my 1100W inverter. It seems to have troubles occasionally when the fan turns on. It's pretty much guaranteed to have troubles when the compressor turns on. Looking at the power draw though, it never seems to draw more than 14A on the 12V DC line.

I've built a solar power system for my shed and so far it works well. In theory, I've got plenty of capacity for everything I need.

Solar panels producing 150W
Batteries capable of producing 50A at 12V for 5 hours
Inverter rated to produce 1100W at 120V AC

The system is more than capable of powering lights, chargers, and other small loads for as long as I've tried running it for. Thus, I doubt it's really a lack of capacity in the general sense.

I'm fairly sure the problem is the inductive load of the motors during startup. I've been reading a bit and I think one way to solve the problem is to get an inverter capable of handling roughly 8 times the load of the AC. My calculations would indicate that I need an inverter capable of handling (120V*8A*8) = 7680 Watts. Such a beast is quite expensive...especially if I can't be sure of it solving my problem.

Is my problem really just inverter size, or is there something I should look for when handling inductive loads.

It's easier to teach a violinist the bongoes than the other way 'round.

You should be shopping for an A/C unit with "soft start".   This is one of the reasons for these units to exist - ability to start off inverters, generators etc.  They use an inverter drive to run the compressor motor.  They are also able to run the motor at different speeds to suit demand, so they don't do the slam-on/slam-off thing like simpler units do.

This platform doesn't allow product recommendations, but I would be asking on the off-grid/solar forums where people deal with that all day everyday.


Are the risks of aluminum wiring reduced with higher-efficiency fixtures? As you can see from my post history, I am blessed with a lovely home with aluminum wiring. I am also taking steps on every project to review and mitigate the risks of aluminum wiring by using proper pigtails or Alumiconn connectors.

The authoritative references on aluminum wiring seem to have been written at least a decade ago. Have the risks from aluminum wiring been mitigated to any extent by high-efficiency fixtures and appliances becoming more common?

My thought process is that an LED fixture will generate the same light with significantly less draw. This reduced draw reduces the heating and expansion of the wiring. The expansion and contraction is what causes the separation in AL and CU/AL joins. That separation then induces the sparking that gets people hurt.

My question is entirely focused on theory rather than application. Even if modern loads actually reduce the risk, it is still imperative to use the correct connectors and strategies with AL wiring. Using proper solutions, such as crimp connectors, AFCI breakers, and proper boxing nearly eliminates the risk which is far better than any theoretical reduction.

Focus on what is known to work.
AFCI breakers
What are you concerned about?  Fires.  Why? Because temperature changes, plastic deformation, dissimilar metals corrosion, and oxidation are causing contact surface/pressure to be lost.  How would that start a fire? Arcing.
AFCI breakers are uniquely good at catching that. They are usually easy to install.
If you have a main panel like a Pushmatic that does not support them, then install a subpanel and route your wiring to it.  Possibly one on each side of the main panel so you don't have to extend wires very much.
And when an AFCI breaker trips, treat it seriously.
Metal boxes
Of course a contact can just overheat.  But that is vanishingly unlikely to be a problem in a metal box, becuase the heat has to reach the metal box before it can reach the wood, and metal has such very good thermal conductivity that it will make the entire box warm, rather than a small part of the box hot enough to ignite anything.  And of course if the box is grounded, the arcing will cause an AFCI trip.
I would also recommend metal box covers, same reason, if they're grounded.
But in the aluminum wiring age, metal boxes were pretty common.  I would change out any plastic ones.
Between AFCI and metal boxes, I wouldn't even rush to do the Alumiconns and all that.


How can I remove a plastic cupholder glued to the wood frame of a large mirror? I don't want to damage the frame or mirror How can I remove a plastic cupholder glued to the wood frame of a large mirror?The mirror is on our bathroom wall above the sink. I don't want to damage the frame or mirror. The cupholder is stuck on quite tightly and there does not appear to be any nails involved. Please Help!

Get a 3" wide plastic drywall knife and cut off the handle. Wrap masking tape around the cut end, and you can use it like a saw. A second plastic drywall knife 1" wide can be used to pry away the cupholder as you cut.
After the cupholder is gone use the "saw" to cut away the glue, just like slicing bread. If the wood is painted you can remove the glue and repaint. If the wood is plastic coated you could test a solvent like alcohol or artist thinners. If the wood is varnished, look for a goo-gone product safe for varnish. Coconut oil dissolves many things, but test it first on a hidden edge.


Do I need to staple cable when installing lighting fixtures? I understand that when doing new installations (not fishing wire) you need to secure the cable with staples or another approved method, but do I have to secure the cable within 12" of light fixtures in my ceilings since it's not an outlet? The light fixtures are those recessed lights that you just insert into a hole in the drywall. They are not secured to anythings besides the drywall.

The ceiling is a basement ceiling so the wiring is going through some joists.

This is for a new installation. The ceiling drywall isn't installed yet.

This is the fixture I am using.

NEC 334.30(B)(1) allows Nonmetallic-sheathed cable to be unsupported when fished though ﬁnished buildings or structures and supporting is impracticable.

Answer provided by @Tester101 here as comment.


How to remove this adhesive, is it a hard job? Here is a pic of some adhesive under my vinyl tiles.  The glue is brown, thick and strong.  I’m thinking to just cover it if the removal is a lot of work.

How can I move it diy and is it a hard job?

It’s funny we have had several questions with these tiles lately, the adhesive is asphalt based or it appears to be the same as I have seen many times and it will clean up with mineral spirits but takes a fair amount of work.

Since those tiles are usually asbestos filled for the last 20 years I have recommend removing loose ones filling the void and overlaying.

I have put down epoxy /pebble , carpet and regular tile and vinyl floor coverings over this type of tile, it looks like you are having better luck at removing the tiles so maybe that stuff is drying out, but use caution as the tiles did normally contain asbestos.

So yes it is a lot of work to clean it up and leaving the tiles in place may be a better plan unless they are loose , normally Around the edge I find a few loose ones.
I use self leveling compound to fill the void it has stayed in place well even where vinyl flooring was glued over the top and the epoxy pebble (yes it can be done indoors and looks much better than a heavily cracked 1920’s floor).


How can I make an outlet switched? I thought all I had to do to make an outlet switched was to break off the tab between the hot wires.  Needless to say when I did that, the fan previously controlled by the switch quit working all together, as did other lights/outlets on the same circuit in another room.  Is there something wrong with my wiring (or me)?  Is this enough information?

No, just breaking the tab off is not enough. You need to have wiring specifically that goes from the switch to the outlet.

What likely happened is this: Most electricians will daisy-chain outlets, using one set of terminals for the feed, and one to go to the next outlet. By breaking off the tab, you removed power to everything downstream from that outlet.

Wiring for a switched outlet varies.

Sometimes there is a normal two-conductor wire that goes from the feed in the outlet to the switch (on black), and then the switch connects the two wires, and it comes back and goes to the top outlet (with the tab broken off). In this case the white wire should be colored red, or at least black to indicate it's hot. Red usually means switched. It's against code to leave a white wire carrying hot, but it does of course happen.

The other way it's often done is by having the feed come into the switch, then carried over a 3-conductor wire to the first (switched) outlet, where the red wire is switched and is connected to the top outlet, white carries neutral, and black is hot and is both connected on the bottom outlet and daisy-chained along to the rest.

There's other variations as well, though generally the power will be on the same circuit (breaker) - otherwise any fixture on it must have a clear indication that it is powered by two sources, and honestly I've never seen this done in a residential setting before (not even sure if residential code allows it).

So in short, you can't make a switched outlet unless the outlet is explicitly wired that way.

If you can re-wire (from an unfinished floor below), it's doable.
If you want to cut holes in the drywall and redo it, that works as well.
For a less intrusive option, you can put in some "smart" switches like Insteon, UBP, or X10 (though honestly, X10 has signal reliability problems, I'd stay away despite it being dirt cheap). Benefit of those is you don't even have to replace the outlet - once you have the switch in, you can put plug-in modules anywhere you want that will be controlled by that switch.

(Note: I prefer, and usually see -- at least in Canada -- the bottom outlet switched, but these diagrams show it as top switched, so I left my description that way)


Do beam supporting posts need to line up from basement to roof Do beam supporting posts need to line up across multiple levels of a house? I have a steel beam holding up the main level of my house.  In line with that beam, on the main level is a load bearing wall I wish to remove.  All posts in drawing are existing.  I do not want to move the posts on either level.

The posts do not have to line up- structures can certainly be designed and engineered that way.
Is this OK for your project ? There is no way that anyone here can make that judgement with the information you have given. There are many other structural considerations when thinking of replacing a bearing wall with a beam (load, uplift, lateral forces, etc).
I am guessing you would like someone here to say that it will be just fine- and it very well might be OK.
This is something you need to be sure of. It is really worth the time and money to have a proper evaluation done by a qualified engineer familiar with your local regulations.


Electric shock from pellet stove I accidentally let some hot pellets fly out of my pellet stove while stupidly cleaning the glass while it was on. The few pellets melted some of the carpet. I put them out with some water. When i went to try and pick them out of the carpet I leaned my hand on the stove a received a good shock. My pad under the carpet is solid concrete. After a bit of trial and error I found that I do not receive a shock while touching anything dry. I unplugged the stove and still received a shock. I pulled up some of the carpet and there is no wiring under the carpet. What could this possibly be?

I'd really stop testing this by shocking yourself.  (!)
If it happens repeatedly it's usually not static.
If it happens more when you're on water, probably not static.

You can use a non contact voltage tester (NCVT) to see if the stove frame is energized:

Just don't trust it too much, and test it on an outlet every time you use it to make sure it's working.

I'd use the NCVT to verify that the frame of the stove is energized, unplug the stove (carefully!) and test again.

If it's hot plugged in but OK unplugged, I'd call whoever installed or services the stove, otherwise call an electrician.


My hot and cold water are connected in the output of my water heater Never seen this before, the Cold water is connected to the hot water for the output of my water heater. Any idea what this is?

This is a thermostatic mixing valve, and it is a beneficial and useful thing to have. The temperature of the water in the tank heater should be 140 F to prevent the growth of Legionellae bacteria, but this is in general too hot for most uses in the house. The solution is to mix cold water into the hot to bring the temperature in the distribution system down to a lower temp, usually 120 F.

Lowering the temperature in the hot water delivery system also increases the service life of valves and piping.

Some of these valves are designed and specified to be installed at or near the hot water heater, others were designed to service only a single use point, usually a shower. I believe the later type is not much used anymore because all modern shower valves have a thermostatic mixing valve incorporated into the valve.

For example, Watts thermostatic mixing valve.

EDIT BTW this water heater is apparently plumbed with copper all the way to the tank. At one time this was considered the first rate way to plumb it, but no longer is.  The reason is because this makes a conducting connection between the steel WH tank and the copper plumbing. This can cause accelerated corrosion of the water heater or the copper plumbing.

Much better and easier is to use bendable supply connections which have a so called "dielectric coupling" meaning the tank and plumbing are insulated from each other.

Also you should have a cut-off valve in the cold water inlet to the WH. I believe it should be located ahead of the T for cold supply to the thermostatic mixing valve, but I am not positive and you had better check on this with someone experienced in plumbing with TMVs.


Light socket adapters - are they safe? I'm in the process of building a little grow cupboard for herbs and vegetables and want to make a row of 24-30W CFL's (compact flourecent lights) and have found these plug adapters:

http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.view&alt=web&id=281689827872

Are these safe to plug 5 of these into a power board that has a safety switch?

If not, can anyone suggest a safe alternative? I want to use multiple lower wattage bulbs instead of a few high output bulbs.

Thanks in advance!

It's all about the watts, dude!

The safety concern surrounding the use of adapters, power boards, and the like is as you mentioned: wattage.

Power strip (board) safety 101:

Add up the wattage of all loads (in your case, CFLs) plugged into the power strip.
Look at the power strip for a wattage rating, and take four-fifths (or 80%) of it as a derating factor to prevent the safety switch (circuit breaker) from nuisance tripping.
Compare that four-fifths-of-the-rating number with the total wattage of your loads; if it's less than that, you're good to go!  If it's greater than that, you need to use more than one power strip/tap/board plugged into different outlets, or even multiple circuits coming from the panel.

Using a 1200W (240V 5A or 120V 10A) power strip/board and your example load of 5 30W CFLs:

The total load is 5*30W = 150W
The power board is rated for 1200W -- but we don't want to push it that far; the 80% is a derating factor as fuses and circuit breakers aren't exactly fans of operating at their rating continuously.  So, 80% of 1200W is 960W.
Since 960W (the amount of power the board should be handling on a continuous basis) is well over 150W, you are fine.


What is this called (adjustable angle pipe footplate)? I'm constructing an EMT pipe tarp canopy frame. It will be a shed roof. One side will be pipe supported (low end) and the other side (high end) will be mounted to the top of my garage roof.

The plan for the garage-side was to use foot plates that have an adjustable angle on them so that they can be mounted flat on top of the roof, then have the pipe fitting adjusted vertically.

It would look like this:

...except that the connection between the plate and the pipe fitting would be an adjustable angle.

I have seen this before but have no idea what it's called so I can find them online to purchase.

Does anyone know what these are called?

Swivel Pipe Flange: (amazon.com)

Railing Fittings: (hollaender.com, the site has all sorts of stuff like this)

Google search: (boat canopy chrome swivel joints): (sheridanmarine.com, accepts 7/8 {sounds like 3/4 EMT to me} ;)


Attaching a motorized flip down tv mount to my apartment ceiling I would like to attach a motorized flip down mount for a 50” tv to my apartment ceiling. This is the exact mount.
My apartment is a new building that was built 2 years ago.  It was built with post tensioned flat plate cast in place concrete.  I know one part of the ceiling is concrete.  The other another part of the ceiling is made out of an unknown material and dips down 14 inches.. that is ideally where I’d like to attached the mount.
On the diagram to the far left you will see a little cubby that I opened up to see what is in that 14” of ceiling.  I have included 4 of the best pictures I could get.  Do you think this is possible? If so, what do you recommend doing?

I like that mount.
It appears your soffit housing the duct work is made of steel studs covered in drywall.
This is a challenge for the weight of large TV, especially a hanging one that moves.
I would mount a Thick, long, wide board to the drywall spanning  3  studs. The board or boards need to be wider than the depth or length of the mounting plate of the the TV mount.
I would use Toggler anchors to attach the board to the studs, the toggle would/must go through the wall of the metal studs, at least 2 if not 3 anchors per stud.
You need to know exactly how the soffit is constructed, I.E. where the studs are and make sure you are mounting to them and not just drywall.
Here is good YouTube video of how to install the toggler toggle anchors.
Once you have a good solid board installed you have something strong enough to mount you TV too.
Before you install your board you should determining where the TV mount will be located and mark the location of the plate and the holes for the mounting bolts on the board.
Since it is a hanging mount i would not use lags or screws but instead i would use machine bolts into T-nuts.  Pre-drill your holes and mount the T-nut on the back side of the board. You will need to size the bolts, washers and T-nuts to work with your TV mount holes.
Here is a good YouTube video on T-nuts.


Please help me understand my HVAC wiring I'm trying to replace an old thermostat with a WiFi one that requires a C wire to power it. When I opened the panel on the air handler 1 (where I'd like to connect the thermostat to), there's no wire at the C terminal (from the cable running to TS), however it looks like there's an extra wire in the cable running to the thermostat which I hope I should be able to use for the C connection. I'm seeing something strange (at least seem strange to me) with the way the whole system is wired. We have two zone cooling and heating. Two air handlers in the house and two AC units outside. The boiler has two zone valves controlling the heat. Everything works as it should - ie everything works independently when turned on separately and together when turned on together. The equipment is relatively new (the house is 12 years old). I believe I accounted for all the cables. Based on the diagram, I'm not sure I understand the connections between TS2 and AH2, specifically why there are no connections between Y and W terminals. Comparing to TS1<->AH1 a call for cool and heat would activate the air handler, which in turn would active the outside unit or the boiler, but there are no such connections from TS2->AH2.

 Does this make sense or am I missing another cable somewhere. Note that on the AH2 terminal there are wires connected to the Y and W terminals, however as far as I see, they're part of the cable going to TS2 and they're simply not connected there.

Your air handlers don't need those connections (and aren't even equipped to use them)

The explanation for what's going on here goes back into the mists of history, back to when forced-air, fuel-fired furnaces and fan-coil air handlers were first developed.

Back in the bad old days

Early gas furnaces had only two thermostat wires, R and W.  A call for heat from the thermostat closed the gas valve and fed gas to the burner, which the pilot then ignited, producing heat.  (Oil burners are roughly similar save for having more combustion control complexity.)  This was fine in gravity duct systems, but when forced air came to pass, something had to turn the fan on and off at the right time.  You can't have the fan turn on with the burner or else you'll get a bunch of cold air out until the heat exchanger in the furnace warms up; likewise, turning the fan off immediately when the call for heat goes away isn't always wise either.  So, a fan thermostat (often combined with the high-limit in more modern furnaces) mounted in the furnace plenum is used to switch the fan on and off autonomously.

This means that when a G wire is added to such a system, it is a request for the blower to come on.  The blower can come on without a call for it from the thermostat, and in modern furnaces, it is possible for the furnace control to override the thermostat's blower call (say if a call for heat comes during a call for fan, to allow the heat exchanger to come up to temp as it should).  Adding A/C means that the furnace needs to know to turn the fan on during a cooling call, so the Y wire is also routed to the furnace control in these systems so that the fan can be run at the correct speed during a call for cooling.

Enter electric, stage right

However, some people didn't want to mess with gas in their house, and other folks wanted to get rid of messy oil tanks or expensive propane, and its attendant delivery hassles.  For them, the first alternative that developed was what is called an "electric furnace" -- this is a fan-based air handler with resistance heating elements in the airstream.  While not as economical as piped fuels, electric heat was seen as safer as it couldn't leak and/or explode, and also is cheaper than trucked-in propane or heating oil.

When the early electric central heating furnaces were designed, though, the designers had a decision to make: who should control the fan?  Unlike fuel-fired systems, with electric heat the full heating power is available instantly and the peak temperatures are happening inside the duct.  This means that the fan needs to come on basically instantly to keep temperatures within the air handler acceptable.  As a result, either the air handler or the thermostat could get delegated the job, and to save some money on a fan relay in the air handler, the job got left to the thermostat.

Hydronic fan coils like yours and direct-expansion heat pump air handlers are the same way -- hydronic heat is available whenever the boiler and circulator are going, and likewise with a heat pump where heat's on whenever the reversing valve is set for heat, the compressor is going, and the outdoor ambient isn't too cold.  In this scheme, the G wire is a demand for fan from the thermostat -- if the thermostat calls for heat but not blower, then the air handler will shut down on high-limit after a little while to protect itself from damage.  Likewise, the Y wire is not needed by the air handler since the thermostat will call for blower along with a call for cooling.

Fast-forward

Since HVAC supply houses don't want to stock 57 flavors of thermostat, nor do HVAC people want to have to sort through thermostats on their truck just to find a compatible one, modern thermostats are compatible with a wide variety of systems: gas or oil forced-air furnaces, electric forced-air furnaces, hydronic zone valves or circulators controlling fan coils, heat pumps, or even mixed systems.  Hence, all modern thermostats have a setting for fan control -- older ones used a jumper or switch inside the thermostat, while newer 'stats like yours set this mode using a software option.  In the "gas/oil" or "fossil" position or mode, the thermostat only calls for blower if the fan switch is set to ON.  In the "electric" position or mode, the thermostat calls for blower if the fan switch is set to ON, or if the fan switch is set to AUTO and a call for heating or cooling is taking place.

In your case

Your fan coils are designed along the paradigm of an electric furnace; namely, that the thermostat is in charge of the G wire.  In fact, neither Y nor W are even connected to any circuitry within your air handlers -- the terminals are provided there to serve as convenient wire-landing-points, that's all.

So, both your thermostats are set up correctly, and the 0180 setting should not be changed or else you'll get quite poor performance out of your system unless you select the fan ON all the time (albeit not a high-limit trip since hydronic fan coil units can't meltdown due to lack of airflow, unlike their electric or fuel-fired counterparts which need high-limit protection for safety's sake).

As to the C wires going back to the zone valves? That's just a return path for electricity so that you have a closed circuit from the air handler transformer, to the thermostat, to the zone valves, and back to the transformer.  (It's also where the C wires coming back from the air conditioner compressor contactors join in.)


Two A/C units are close to each other and turning one on turns the other on. How to fix? I had an Air Con unit installed in the Living Room and another in a bedroom adjacent to the Living Room, both from the same brand.  The Air Con units are actually next to each other, and only separated by a wall that has a doorway just 3 feet from the Air Cons.

Most of the time, when I am on the couch and turn on the Air Con in the Living Room using the Remote Control, it also turns on the Air Con in the bedroom, which is a waste of energy.  Likewise, when I am in the bedroom and turn on the Air Con in the bedroom with its Remote Control, most of the time it also turns on the Air Con in the Living Room, which is also a waste of energy.

How can I fix this very frustrating problem without moving the units and without having to keep the door always closed between the bedroom and the Living Room?

EDIT:  As requested, the 2 indoor units that are interfering are the Daikin FTXS20K and the Daikin FTXS35K:  http://www.daikin.co.uk/products/index.jsp?singleprv=FTXS-K

I have 3 units air con of same brand in my office room. So all 3 units will turn on/off at the same time, by single one remote control. So I used a brown tape to cover the signal emitter to weaken the signal strength, and it works. But i have to place the remote control very near to the relatively air con, and i can control each air con individually.


how do you remove a stripped screw that holds the handle on outdoor faucet I am trying to replace washers on an outdoor faucet but the screw holding the handle on is stripped.

Also apparently stucco is all holding the PVC pipe to the faucet on the wall.

How do I tighten that up? Is there some sort of cement I can use?

What I would do is use some solder to fill the hole and solder a screwdriver to the screw and gently work it out. Once its out you can just reheat the solder to clean off the screwdriver.


Wall between House and garage is hanging over the concrete slab. Is this a major issue? We bought our house about six months ago, and we are first time home buyers, so please forgive my ignorance. This weekend I noticed that the bottom of the wall in the garage was about 1-2 inches over the concrete slab underneath. Is this a major concern? What could this be? I have a structural engineer coming, but he cannot make it until Friday. I'm just wondering what we might be in for.

It is only an issue if it is load bearing.  If it is load bearing then you cannot have part of your footing floating (in the first picture it definitely looks like the bottom plate is outside of concrete).  Period.  Is it a thing that has to get fix right away?  No.  Engineer will give you advice on fix.  It is just a wall though and shouldn't be too costly.

If it isn't load bearing it is still horrible workmanship.  I would like to see what engineer says - since we are only looking at 2 small pics - but I would say that at the very least you run a 2x6(ish) from ground to bottom plate and anchor 2x6 into concrete.


Is there a safe, ethical, way to get rid of old gas? Normally I'm pretty good about buying just enough at the beginning of the spring.  Last year my grass continued to grow into December so I ended up with nearly a gallon of extra gas.  I don't feel like clogging my 1 year old lawn mower carburetor, but I'm not sure what do do with it.

If the suggestion is the same as any of these, It's probably not something I would put under the category of safe or ethical.

http://www.survivalistboards.com/showthread.php?t=190269

If you do not wish to risk using it, even though it is probably only 6 months old, I would take it to where ever your community recycles hazardous wastes.  In my community, the recycle center has the following information on it's website:

  Fuels and fuel oils are petroleum products that are used in many types of engines, lamps, heaters, furnaces, stoves, and as solvents. Fuel oils come from crude petroleum and are refined to meet specifications for each use. Fuel oils are mixtures of aliphatic (open chain and cyclic compounds that are similar to open chain compounds) and aromatic (benzene and compounds similar to benzene) petroleum hydrocarbons. In addition, they may contain small amounts of nitrogen, sulfur, and other elements as additives. Fuel oils are distinguished from each other primarily by their boiling point ranges, chemical additives, and uses. Fuel oils include: Kerosene, coal oil, diesel fuel, home heating oil, and Gasoline. All fuels and fuel oils should be disposed of as a hazardous waste.

In this community there is no cost for this service.


LG oven turning off and flashing "PF" I have an LG L8E3092ST Oven/Range, and it's been working great for years.

However, the oven has recently started randomly turning off mid-cycle, flashing PF on the screen, and resetting the clock. Once I reset the clock, I can re-enter the cycle and resume.

The PF seems to indicate power failure, which is strange - no other appliances/lights turn off at the same time, and the oven switches instantaneously to "pf mode" - it doesn't have any period of true power failure where it's not able to turn on.

A few ideas for what might be happening:

Something has changed such that my electrical system can't support the oven sometimes under normal load.
The oven is over heating somehow.
My house electricity is momentarily flickering out, fast enough that I don't see the lights dim, but slow enough that the oven detects a power failure.

Would appreciate thoughts on what might be up here.

Thanks!

Well, it is either a whole house power problem or something specific to the range.

Incandescent lights won't show a quick power flicker, but LEDs will.  Look carefully if you know when the range might "PF".

As for the range, it could be internal or it could be the range circuit.  It is worth (since it is a very low cost experiment) shutting off the circuit breaker and turning it back on.  There is like a 20% chance this might fix the problem if the breaker is marginal or the range needed an external power reset.

If the problem persists, do these steps from easiest to hardest:

Slide the range out from wall, (with breaker off) pull out plug from socket and reinsert.  If anything is loose or wonky, tighten or replace.
Open breaker box, shut off range breaker and tighten the wire connectors.  Especially the ground and neutral wires.  Inspect the wire near the connectors:  if any wire is not bright and shiny, cut it off, strip, and reinstall.
With the range pulled out and unplugged, inspect the "pigtail" (cord) connection inside the range.  Tighten screws and look for signs of overheating and sparking.  A replacement pigtail goes for $12–25.
Open the top where the control board is.  Inspect for melting, soot, smoke, loose connections, etc.  If all other causes are eliminated, it is probably a controller fault.


Why would my pressure reducing valve fail after repairing my water main? I had a main water line bust on my side of the water meter. After fixing it and turning water back on to my house my water heater T&P valve kept releasing spurts of water which found out it was caused by increased water pressure. My PRV was installed two years ago and when i had my plumber come to check out my problem he tested the pressure and found that i had 160 pounds running through my plumbing system after PRV. I have seen problems caused by PRV's going bad and usually it causes a decrease in pressure. What would cause one to fail and cause more pressure? Is this common and what would cause this to happen in PRV that is only two years old?

The most likely cause is that dirt or debris from the water line repair have gotten jammed in the PRV so that it cannot close. You can remove it and see if there's anything visible that can be cleaned, but at that point, you may as well replace it with a new one that you'll know is good.


Can I run hot wires for both GFCI-protected and non-protected branches in one conduit? I have an new incoming circuit at box in garage that is not GFCI protected but I want to add a GFCI at that point (garage) and then add 2 more GFCI protected duplex outlets in garage downstream off the GFCI load yet still carry the  original non GFCI circuit forward in same conduit run. Is this possible by splicing properly?
I was hoping to utilize the same conduit to add a couple non GFCI duplex outlets to bedroom above garage.  My thought is that I will need to add additional conductors in conduit along with the downstream feed wires from first GFCI.
Will I just spice in first JB and carry the original non GFCI conductors (black and white) or can I share the hot for both?  I don't want to add any unnecessary wires or conduits in the garage if not needed.

I do that all the time.  For instance in our breakroom, I have black + white carrying non-protected supply, whilst purple + gray carry GFCI-protected supply. They all share the ground of the metal conduit pipe.  Purple + gray land on the GFCI-protected outlets, and black + white land on the non-protected outlets.
You can pick ANY colors you want, as long as neutrals are white or gray, and hots are not (and also not green).
There is no way to "double up" and have white+gray (or purple+black) be the same wire.  That would instantly trip the GFCI device.  Anyway, THHN wire is cheap, so don't worry about it lol.
If you don't actually want to buy purple + gray wire (would have to go to an electrical supply), then just go ahead and either mark the wires with tape, or group them with tape so their relationship is clear.  I'm a huge fan of colored tape for that, but it can fall off down the road.


Clamped flexible rubber pipe/hose coupling won't seal completely This is a coupling between the ABS pipe from a sump pump and a check valve so needs to be removable. Does one apply any sealant to make a leak-proof joint? I tried different tightness on the hose clamp, replacing the hose clamp altogether, and rotating the coupling, none of which is able to seal the joint completely. The leak seems to move a little when I rotate the coupling, but there is no visible cracks on it or the pipe.

Is your check valve upside down?  or is your ceiling concrete and have a wet spot?
I typically use a 2" pvc union.  Is that check valve spring operated or just a gravity flap?  The union allows disconnect without being a clamp based fitting.
Don't put any kind of sealing compound on the furnco - rubber doesn't like chemicals.


How to support existing above garage-door storage platform? I recently bought a house that has above the garage-door storage.

This is hanging from the roof, which means that if you look at the house from the street you can see very faint waviness because the 2x6s supporting the roof that the garage hangs from are unsightly. In talking to our home inspector he suggested it wasn't a structural problem but just a "it might be nice to fix" issue. It is 1/2 mounted off another support beam running the length of the garage, only the cantilevered part is hanging from the garage.

Some pictures to better explain

Side view:

There a total of 6 of these supports, in three groups:

I'd like to better support this. The garage door is awkward, though, because I can't just put a support under the corners of the platform.

Is there a good approach to supporting this? My gut is to run a beam across the edge furthest from the existing support and support this from the floor of the garage. It's about 20 feet across and I'm not sure I can get a solid 20' continuous beam up there without hacking pieces apart, whether disassembling the garage door or taking supports off entirely. I could then fasten the floor up to the beam.

Putting a beam under the platform will give me minimal space (if you look at the first image you can see how close to the bottom of the platform the garage door comes).

I'd guesstimate it only really has to support 500-1000 more pounds than the platform, for storage purposes and supporting the weight of someone being up there.

Any suggestions would be appreciated. Hoping to avoid taking most of it down..

Can you get a laminated beam up under the rafters like a purlin and sit it on 90 degree brackets on the wall either side?


secure river stones in our driveway This is one of those "it looked good on paper, but not in practice" stories...

We have river stones in between concrete pads leading to our garage.  They're pretty, but the stones migrate for a few reasons:

The driveway is on a slight incline.  Stones like to roll downhill.
It's pure sand between the concrete pads, so there's nothing substantial to hold the stones in place.
If the car tires don't stay exactly on the concrete pads (and they don't), they push the stones around.

So the question is: how would you anchor the stones in place so they don't continually migrate?  They don't have to be absolutely rigidly held in place -- maybe something semi-elastic would be ideal.

Here's a picture of what the stones should look like:

And here's a picture of how the stones end up:

I would start by adding more stones to that sand only area. This will create even pressure across all of the stones when you drive over them. Those stones really should be set in concrete.