Why cordless hammer drill possess such few markets in Europe?What's the difference between hammer drill and impact drill? Recently, I found in a GfK data report that cordless hammer drills have very little market share in Europe. But to my opinion, we use it very often when doing home improvement or building something. What on earth is the reason? Very confusing.

I can't tell you why a market does or doesn't adopt a tool, but I can tell you the difference:

A hammer drill has a device in it that provides lateral motion down the tool as if you had a regular drill and somebody was hitting the back of it with a hammer.

An impact driver is like having a that you smack with a hammer in the direction you want it turn.

A good link for this with a few more words: http://www.thewoodwhisperer.com/articles/drills-vs-hammer-drills-vs-impact-drivers/


How can I make my room darker at night? I live in a place where we do not have completely dark nights in the summer.

This is how my room looks like (picture from the web, just example - Sliding doors with vertical blinds).

I'm looking for an easy solution. And I do know that sleeping masks exist, I just hate them.

Possible solutions in my understanding:

Tint attached directly to windows -  then I do not have control during the day.
Couple of blankets pinned in front of the blinds - looks ugly.
Get new curtains - hard to install (expensive?)

Look for some black out shades.  They come in several styles and colors. The fit is important so measure carefully.  Once they are closed, little to no outside light comes through.  Good luck   http://www.levolor.com/products/blinds/customsizenow/cellular-shades/


Fixing a hole in the wall I punched a very large hole in the wall. I think I know how I should go about fixing it, but I am asking here in order to double-check. I've cut circular hole into a slightly larger rectangle. I plan on positioning a piece of wood behind the hole and covering it up with a block of drywall and sealing it up with mud.

How large is the hole exactly? If it's 16" or wider I would consider removing some drywall so that you could reattach the new drywall straight to the studs.

If the hole isn't that large, normally you would use two pieces of furring strip that will be 4 inches longer than the hole in the wall. The furring strip will serve as makeshift studs.  Evenly space them apart so that the drywall will be stable when installed.

Measure 2" down from each end of the furring strip and mark it. When you place the strip inside the hole, align the strip so the mark you made is even on both sides. Using drywall screws, screw through both sides of the wall 1" from the mark you made (remember, you have 2" to place with). Repeat with the second furring strip. Once the strips are securely attached to the wall, screw the new drywall to the furring strip (use at least four screws).

Finish by applying compound or plaster (whatever your finish is), sand if necessary and paint.


How do I fix my kitchen ceiling? How do I fix my kitchen ceiling? I have the ceiling covering peeling off. It has exposed cracks where water has possibly come through from the tiles above. So, how do I fix my kitchen ceiling?

From what I see in your pics, you have a plaster ceiling that is failed. Usually water is the culprit for delaminating the scratch from the finish coats.

You have two options to repair this.
First option is to remove all loose plaster down to the lathe and replace it with new plaster. This is not as easy as it may sound. Working with real plaster takes some skill and practice. Matching the original texture of the finish can be tricky.

Second option is to recoat the entire ceiling with a layer of 3/8" drywall. Although this may be a bit larger job, it will secure any loose, soon to fail plaster. The new drywall ceiling will be clean and smooth if taped properly and give many years of service. I have found that once a plaster ceiling starts to fail, it will usually continue to get worse.


Do I need rim joist for this tree house platform? What will happen if I leave them off? Because the angle is odd and the trees are not parallel my idea was to put everything up as is, tack the decking on and then strike a line on the joists to cut them exactly so they're even. You can see in this picture that everything is up and all I have left is to cut the joists to the right size, but, after having it like this for a few days we like the exposed looks of the joists and don't really want to add a rim joist. Is this a problem for cutting them to length but not adding a rim joists? I know it's there to provide lateral support but for this application do you think it's necessary? What could happen if I leave it off?

Do you have to?

No.

What will happen if you don't?

The unsupported ends of your joists will:

sag
twist

The decking on the left of the single tree (from the angle of the picture you provided) will become uneven, making tripping hazards for the occupants up top. You'll also end up needing to replace those deck boards more frequently, since not only will they want to do some warping and cracking of their own (it's wood, that's what it does), but they'll be forced into even more warping by the joists moving underneath them.
An additional consideration - without the rim joist, what are you going to attach the railing to? Having the nice straight, even surface of the rim joist gives a good mating surface for screwing the railing posts to (with some serious sized structural screws, not decking screws (they're not designed for that kind of load), and especially not drywall screws). Without it, you're going to have to fabricate some pretty unique and beefy brackets to hold the railings to the ends of the joists. You'll probably have to cut through that last deck board to attach them. Then, you'll get to watch the whole railing get ripped apart as the joists twist with age.
But, you don't have to.
Maybe OP had thought about this, but it just occurred to me: I'd put a rim joist at the far end, too, even though each joist is directly supported by the beam and attached to them with the hurricane clips (kudos for that!). Those metal clips will help prevent the bottoms from moving when the joists want to twist (if it twists away from the metal, a joist can pull itself off the nail, leaving the metal behind), but will leave the tops free to move. A rim joist on the far end will help prevent warping all the way along the ends of the joists.


How should I run power to a powered bidet toilet seat? Does anyone have a good solution for running a power cord for the Toto 2034#01 bidet toilet seat? I don't have an electric outlet behind my toilet and don't really want to install one. I am planning on running an extension cord (white) from the toilet to the wall outlet near my vanity, and then using these sticky things I found online to keep the cord in place and kind of out of the way. Not sure if it'll look good, or if anyone has a better idea.

You're not allowed to use extension cords as a substitute for the fixed wiring of a structure.   NEC 400.6 -> 400.10 in the new Code.
What you want is surface conduit, something like Legrand Wiremold, starting at an existing recep or switch, and running along the wall or baseboard to where you need the power.   There, you install a receptacle box compatible with that conduit system.
The receptacle or switch where you started the conduit, gets moved outward onto the starter box's surface.  From there, you run THHN individual wires (black white green), to the new receptacle.  It's a lot like building LEGO but with some hacksawing on the conduit segments.  If you don't want to do the arcy sparky stuff, you can install the physical conduit (that's most of the work) then call a pro to connect the wires.
Further, you'll really, really want this extension circuit to be GFCI-protected, and the best way to do that is tap an existing GFCI receptacle.


Painting Prefinished baseboard I'm looking at purchasing some prefinished baseboard to save me some time. My plan is just to paint it white. Am I correct in my thinking that since it is prefinished, I should just be able to paint it and go?

I don't think that's a very good idea. First of all, the wood is already sealed, so the paint isn't going to adhere very well. Second, you're going to waste a lot of money by purchasing nice grainy oak baseboard, since you're paying for the color and grain that are going to be covered up by paint. You can save a dollar per linear foot or more by going with some finger-jointed pine or MDF pre-primed white baseboard that you then finish off with a coat of paint.


Vaillant aquaPLUS filling loop I have to repressurize my Vaillant Aquaplus gas boiler, and I couldn't understand from the manual where exactly the internal filling loop should be fitted.

The water pipes don't have any valves directly on them, but the manual states that this model should be equipped with an internal filling loop.

However, I don't see one and I don't see how I would fit one here:

Can you please clarify where I should fit the flexible loop? This answer mentions a flexible silver pipe but I don't see it in the original picture.

Turns out there is no flexible pipe, I guess I was reading the wrong manual. The system can be refilled by simply turning the screw at the bottom, as shown in the pictures.

The boiler needs to be powered off, and the screw (valve) slowly opened while keeping eye on the pressure gauge. Refill slowly to 1-1.5 bar (everything below 2 bar should be fine).

In hindsight, this seems obvious as the screw is right at the connection between the cold water mains and the central heating return pipe:

There is no need to remove the bottom grill either:


how to wire a light with only 2 wires available? I have some outdoor lights that are broken and need replacing. I have bought some new ones which I thought were suitable. However the problem I have is only 2 wires appear from wall recess (active and neutral). The light fitting I bought has a 3 point connector (a point for active, neutral and earth). Can this light fitting be wired into the 2 existing wires, or does it need an earth wire?

You only need two wires. The earth, or ground, wire is a safety measure should something go wrong with the wiring inside, exposing a live wire. Older homes don't even have such a thing throughout the home and often include a three prong electrical outlet through "updating" without wiring up the ground connection.


How to fix scuffs and scratches on wood door? When passing a sofa through door I saw a few scratches after and even some irregularities.

I know there are some pastes I can use to fix the irregularities and on the past I used some kind of varnish with color on the door.

Is it the best alternative?

I would go to a home store and look for a “scuff repair pencil” you need to replace the color first once you have it close then a light sanding and touch up varnish can hide these scrapes and scuffs. Next time you will know it is easier to pull 2 or possibly 3 hinge pins and not damage the door. Pulling hinge pins normally only takes a minute or 2 and the door is not damaged.


Using a 100A main breaker in a 200A panel So I purchased a 200A Siemens panel to replace the old 100A sub panel in my house. The main panel is in the garage and is also 200A Siemens and has a branch circuit to the house of 100A.

I bought a 100A main breaker for the new 200A sub panel since the sub panel will still effectively be 100A, but I noticed on the box of the breaker it says "Do not install on 150A-225A Load Centers." Can I really not install this in the 200A panel? If so, that's kind of a bummer... I guess I'd have to return the 200A panel and downsize to a 100A or 125A panel instead. The breaker fits just fine.

Breakers protect wires.   The wire to the sub-panel can only be protected by the breaker in the main panel, and that must be correct for the wire's type and size.

Like Ed Beal says, you don't need a master breaker in a sub-panel.  The breaker in the sub-panel wouldn't protect the wire to the sub-panel. It protects the sub-panel itself, which is listed for 200A.  It can also be nice if you ever get sick of paying the tenant's electric bill and have the electric company feed a separate meter to that panel - voila, the master breaker is there already!

(I'm saying "master breaker" to avoid saying "main breaker", which might be confused with "breaker in main panel".)

If you are hoping for the sub-panel breaker to trip before the main-panel breaker, that doesn't work. Breaker trip curves are complex and unpredictable.

If the 100A breaker is not listed or labeled to work in the 200A panel, then you cannot use it, end of subject.  That's the law.

This is a situation where buying from a proper electrical supply house (and not a big-box home improvement store) will be very helpful.  You tell them what you want, they will sell you the right thing in the first place, and stand behind the combo.   On price, for the behind-the-counter stuff, I find them more than competitive with big-box. Their customers are, after all, electricians who deal in volume and drive past 3 big-box stores to buy there. (Electrical supplies do tend to wildly overprice the impulse-buy grab-candy at the front of the store, so don't go off those prices.)


Prevent water spill from shower pipes during removal of stem It is good to know that I don't have to worry about small, isolated water spills behind a wall. But, I would like to avoid this happening whenever I want to work on the shower stem.

With a minimal opening (a 6cm hole, maybe 1-2cm gap around the stem), how do I prevent the remaining water in the shower pipe(s) from spilling behind the wall when I remove the stem?

Take a 3x5 index card or similar size flexible but not to thin piece of paper and bend it into a curve so that it will slide into the opening under the stem, angle it slightly so water will run out towards you.

You may have to trim the length and width depending of the depth of the wall and the opening. It only needs to curve up slightly, you are creating kind of a half funnel, for lack of a better term. It sits under the stem so when you take stem out the water falls onto the funnel it runs out and not into the wall.

If a few drops get past it it is no big deal, as long as you divert the majority of the water.


3 way switches with voltage drop I have two ceiling fans powered by 2 (3 way switches}. The fans stopped working so I checked the voltage across the terminals on each 3 way switch. The voltage goes from 120 to 74VAC in about 5 seconds on my digital meter. I replaced both switches and still have the same problem.

If you're measuring voltage by touching your probes to the terminals on a single 3-way switch, you're not accomplishing much.  Your readings will come out as follows.

From common to the closed traveler terminal, you'll read 0 volts. This is because common is electrically connected to this terminal, so they're at the same voltage potential.

From common to the open traveler, you'll get some arbitrary value between 0 and line voltage. This is because one of the travelers is floating, and has no reference to ground or the line.

Between the travelers, you'll again get an arbitrary value.

From common (or the closed traveler) to the open traveler, will yield a line voltage reading, if the other switch is in the opposite position. This is because the other traveler now has a reference to ground, through the load.


How can I reset my Baxi Combi Duo-Tec HE boiler after a gas supply fault error? My boiler is giving me some real problems, for whatever reason, it's not resetting as it should. I ran out of gas last night and since ice put some on and tried to reset, it still thinks there is a gas supply fault. The error code is E133, this is normally quite easy to reset and the boiler works as normal, but after trying to reset it a million times I'm still having no luck. I know the gas is working because we have a gas cooker and that's fine. Also, whilst trying to reset the boiler, the switch has now moved default starting position from the top to the left? If anyone can help I would really appreciate it.

As it turns out, the switch has actually seized, all that was required was the switch to be replaced at the cost of £8.00.


Electrical Wiring - New Circuits (Added pics) I have run two 12/2 Romex “Home Runs” to a junction box, each for 120V to Circuits A and B.
T-off at the junction box, two 12/2 Romex lines split to one 2-gang box, and two more 12/2 Romex lines split to a second 2-gang box.  So each 2-gang receptacle box gets 2 Romex inputs, each feeds a 120V 20A GFCI receptacle. (40A available in each box on Circuits “A” and “B”).
Four GFCI’s (Line inputs only), leaving load outputs taped-off.
(NOTE: I understand I could have eliminated the junction box and daisy-chained the GFCI’s to downstream standard receptacles, but I didn’t because I’m feeding the 4x4x2 metal boxes through a single rear-hole and I didn’t have 12/3 Romex to run a MWBC and couldn’t evacuate another pair of Romex 12/2 from each box. The junction box also happens to be located between the two receptacle boxes which are in different opposite directions.)
Question 1:  Even though these are two distinct circuits, can I use a “2-Pole Breaker” to power the “HOT” conductors for each circuit such that opening the one breaker removes power at both receptacles in each box?
———————
In the (4x4x2) junction box, I intend to make the following connections:

Wire-nut 3 “Circuit A” Hot wires together
Wire-nut 3 “Circuit A” Neutral wires together
Wire-nut 3 “Circuit B” Hot wires together
Wire-nut 3 “Circuit B” Neutral wires together
Wire-nut 6 Ground Wires together; connected through-wire to junction box chassis

Question 2:  My Grounding Wire Nut connector is rated for 5 #12 wires but I need to join 6.  Can I use a greenie to reduce 3 wires from Circuit A to one wire, and another greenie to join the one reduction wire to the remaining 3 wires from Circuit B, and then connect to the chassis?  Or get a bigger wire nut that doesn’t have the hole in it and do a pigtail to chassis (7 #12’s)?

Thanks, Rich

Yes you can use a 2p breaker for individual circuits (the neutrals must remain separate), and you can daisy chain wire connectors in order to connect all grounds.


Could someone check this wiring diagram for outlets/switch? Renovating the garage and replacing the lights with ceiling outlets and eventually plug in LED lights. I'm going to install a single smart switch to control these lights from one end of the room and put a remote on the other end of the room. The source for the outlets is a sub panel that I installed (which passed inspection!). Because the source would most conveniently enter an outlet in the middle of the room, the wiring wasn't as straight forward as I originally anticipated. I drew it out and it makes sense, but just wanted to verify here before I start doing things. Apologies for the crappy image, hope it makes sense. The gist of it is I'll need 14-3 for the outlets leading to the switch, but 14-2 from the source to the outlet and the remaining outlets running away from the switch. Does this look right?

Edit: thanks for the answers / comments thus far, but no one has actually answered the question yet. I think this diagram will work, but just wanted confirmation from someone with more knowledge to confirm.

I'd just use 14/3 throughout
If I were in your shoes, I'd use 14/3 throughout this circuit (homerun aside of course) with black as the always hot, red as the switched-hot, and white as the neutral.  Why? Well, someone down the road, maybe even you, might want to change one or more of the receptacles to constant power from being switched, and without always-hot available at all locations, that's going to have a good chance of requiring the wiring to be rerun.  It also simplifies the color-coding of the wires, which helps you keep track of things so you don't have surprises with regards to the behavior of the switch.


Heat pump causing high humidity in house when in heating cycle I have a heat pump system that is increasing the humidity in the house when it is in heating mode. So much so that when the heat pump comes on condensation starts to form on the windows.

It only affects the rooms where the heat pump is heating and even then it is not equal. For example, I have one zone that has two rooms. When the heat pump comes on the windows in one room fog up, but in the other room which is directly adjacent they do not, so the moisture might just be coming from one supply--not sure how that could happen.

How can I further diagnose and fix this problem?

If your drip tray in the inside unit has standing water this will cause high humidity when heating. Other than this there is no way for a heat pump to generate moisture in heat mode.


Replacing a door handle with no visible screws I am trying to replace a door handle that doesn't have any visible screws. I am assuming the first step is to remove this faceplate that probably conceals the screws underneath, however the plate does not budge. There is a tiny divot in the plate, large enough for a screwdriver, but no amount of twisting, pulling, or prying via the divot seems to remove the faceplate (rose?). Any tips on how to remove this without causing any damage?

Lever-style handles like this often have a face plate that you need to remove. Your first image shows the nub on the face place. I've circled it for you

Slide a flat screwdriver into that slot and twist it. The plate will come off and expose the screws.


Can I wire a one-way parallel light switch? I have some switched lights in my attic, which is accessible via scuttle in a pantry, which also has lights. Sometimes the attic light gets left on and forgot about.
The attic and pantry lights are on the same breaker, served from the same junction box.

The attic switch is not visible when the scuttle door is closed.

I'd like the switch in the attic to turn on both the attic lights and the pantry lights in parallel (not three way) such that if the attic lights are on the pantry lights are also on. The pantry lights should always be on if the attic is on, regardless of the switch position in the pantry.

However, I do not want the opposite to be true. If the attic lights are off, then the pantry switch should work correctly for the pantry lights but the pantry switch should not turn on the attic.

Can I do this without "smart switches?"

My intent is to make it more obvious that the attic lights are on.

An alternative is using a switch with indicator for the attic. That has a small light that will light up when the light is switched on.

Otherwise you will can use a double pole switch for the attic and wire the second pole in parallel with the pantry light.


What tools are required to unclog sink drain with garbage disposal? So yesterday someone in my family put some celery stalks (with the hard stems included) down the garbage disposal, after which our drain drained much slower.  I tried filling up the sink with water and running the garbage disposal.  This forced the water down while the disposal was running, but when power was turned off it all came jetting back out.  So now I'm faced with the question how to remedy this problem.  I see two ways:

Clear the drain myself
Call a plumber

What tools are required to properly accomplish this task myself and how much will they cost?  If they are cheaper (or even close to to the cost of a plumber) and this task won't take a whole day, I'll probably do it myself just to have the tools on hand.  Any recommendations on which way to go (me with new tools or the plumber with more powerful tools)? I already have a hand operated pipe snake and some screwdrivers and an AC voltmeter.  I assume that I'll need an adjustable wrench that can fit a pipe and I can't think of what else.

Have a look at the trap under your sink. Assuming it's PVC with large plastic nuts, all you should need is ChannelLock pliers:

Unscrew the trap from the wall and disposal, and clean the trap itself, or snake the drain going into the wall, depending on where your clog is. Be sure to have a bucket and towels handy since there will be water backed up before the clog and in the trap.

If you can't find the clog either in the trap or with the snake, and you know it's further down the drain (try running some water through the disposal and into the bucket with the trap out), then I have family that swear by these drain bladders that attach to a garden hose, get inserted into the drain (past the vent) and they swell up to seal your end of the pipe while sending water down until the clog is forced out:

Each one of these will cost around $20 give or take, well less than a visit from a plumber.


Will the water be able to drain out of a blocked toilet? Our toilet is backed up and water is filled to the brim but there is nothing else in the bowl. I turned off the water supply for the toilet with the little knob connected to the wall, but will the water still be able to drain out of the bowl?

Water usually seeps past most blockages, but not always.

You may have to hand bail the bowl down 1/3 or 1/2.  THEN employ a plunger.  The older cup plungers worked best with a strong UP pull (hence the bowl draining).

If its a newer, smaller tank, an older cup plunger may not make a tight fit:

This style may work better and will both push and pull against the blockage:


What areas of 1st floor sheetrock sould be replaced subsequnet to a major 2nd floor water leak? In our apartment, the ceiling began leaking in 2 places. One of the places, the water was brownish and had multiple droplets, the other the water was clear. We called maintenance at 8 am and no one showed. As time went, the leak went from 2 spots to 6 places in the ceiling, water also began running down the wall in 4 places and began pooling around the toilet, about 1 inch. At some point the paint on the wall fell away and water began running like a faucet.

Finally at 4pm maintenance shows and cuts 2 large holes in the ceiling. 30 mins later, he was done and said they would come replace only the places where he cut away. My concern is that they didn't cut into the wall, where we have heard water running in the past, but was told that it was just the pipes. If that much water was running and pooling in the walls, shouldn't the wall and whole ceiling be replaced ? What about mold? They left no dryers and said they would be back in 2 days to close everything up.

What should I do? Should the floor be replaced too since the water was pooled for so long?

To answer the specific question, you should replace any sheetrock that has mold.  A one-time leak for a day won't cause this -- significant mold arrives when an organic material stays wet for an extended period of time (weeks or more, usually) so you should make sure it's dry before it's repaired.

The bigger problem is what is being covered up.  You need to know what was the cause of the leak and be convinced that it has been corrected properly.  You need to check what you can see for any blackness (i.e. mold).  If you find more than a couple dots, then there are moisture problems beyond this one major leak and the ceiling and walls need to be removed until the full extent of the problem is known and removed.  Don't do this yourself!  Contact a professional remediation company.

Same for the floor.  A one-time thing, even this big, won't cause mold as long as it is fully cleaned up and allowed to dry out completely.  This can be difficult if the water has gotten beneath the surface as it certainly will with carpet, hardwood, etc.; you may have to remove everything down to the subfloor, let it dry, and re-install.

The brown water is a concern.  If it was waste water, then you may have a health hazard and you'll need an environmental assessment.

I understand that this is not property you own, which makes getting this done difficult.  I suggest you do what investigation you can, consult with an unbiased professional, and talk politely with the landlord about your concerns.  If you're not satisfied with the answer, you can take your concerns to the government (mold and waste water are health hazards) and find a new place to live.


can I extend my open loft? I own an open loft (I have open view to the living room from the second floor), however, I feel that I'm wasting a lot of space. I want to know if is possible to close the second story completely and add more footage to the already second floor (200 sq ft) and leave it as a normal second story home. Do you think is possible? How much would it cost?? Please, I need help! thanks!

If you want it badly enough, it's probably possible. Whether it's practical or cost effective is another matter. I don't think anyone could possibly give you any idea of the cost without looking at what you have and what you want. Costs are related to the amount of work involved, local labor and material costs, and the level of finish you want.

A new floor must be supported by load-bearing walls. If you already have suitable walls in the right place, this might not be a problem. If you don't, you've got to build some, which might mean changing the downstairs and adding to the foundations.

What are you going to use the space for? There are code requirements about ceiling height, size and placement of windows (especially in a bedroom) and so forth. It may be necessary to run a new electrical circuit from the breaker box. There may be local regulations that say that if you spend more than a certain percentage of the home's existing value on repairs or remodeling you have to bring the rest of the house up to current code. If you have a septic system you may be required to upgrade it if you add a bedroom.

If you really want to do this you would be best off talking to a local builder who can give you advice specific to your situation.


I’m trying to replace my doorknobs Help! I am trying to replace my lock with a new lock that I bought at bunnings and I’m here with my screwdriver but look at this what kind of screwdriver do I need for this! What is this. I’m very confused. I tried poking it but it doesn’t come off. What can I use to remove the lock??

Either the holes to secure the strike plate became very worn and the technician decided to "rivet" it into place or it might be a security addition. Drill those out using a small bit and keep increasing in size until the rivet falls out. You might find that the threads still exist so be careful and you might not have to use rivets to reinstall the strike plate.


Can any deadbolt be made to work without an outer lock? I am planning a secondary entrance door that does not need to be openable from the outside. So, if I have a deadbolt on the door, I just need a twist lever on the inside and no lock on the outside.

When I look at deadbolts in catalogs, however, they all seem to have key holes and plates on the outside. Is it possible to just leave this part of the lock out, or do I need to find a deadbolt that is specifically designed to have just a lever on one side and no lock? If so, what is that called?

What you're looking for is easily and cheaply available.  The relevant keywords are "one sided deadbolt" or "keyless deadbolt".

Home Depot, for example, has a selection of them that start at $7.

If you already have a deadbolt you want to use, some companies sell a conversion kit to replace the keyway with a blank plate.  Here's one from Kwikset.  However, that's more expensive than just buying a new one sided deadbolt, so I'm not sure I see the point.


Do I need to add a fuse for a lamp circuit off a ring main? In my flat I have a spur from the ring main to two double plug sockets either side of the bed. There is a 13amp fused spur switch between the ring main and the spur.  I want to extend the spur to go to 2 wall lamps (they have a on/off switch in the base).
Do I need another fused spur switch between the end socket and the wall lamps? If so why? Thanks!

You can only spur off a ring once but by installing a fused connection unit (FCU) as you have there, you can extend to the lamps under BS7671.
The FCU will have a maximum 13A fuse so this would be your design current for the spur.


Replace Gfci plug with standard I need to use a timer for my pool filter but the filter plug is a  Gfci so it won't turn on automatically. Can I replace the plug with a standard plug?

Does the cord/plug-mounted GFCI really trip every time power fails?  Or are you assuming it will because other GFCIs do?  That is a design choice by the GFCI manufacture, and that would be a rather stupid design choice for a cord-mounted GFCI. For this very reason.

Change the order of things

Right now the sequence is:

Breaker panel
Place you would like to put the timer
GFCI

Change the order so the GFCI is before the timer.

Since this appears to be an appliance with a GFCI integrated into its power cord, this gives you three ways to do this, in order of increasing badness:

replace the appliance power cord with a better GFCI cord which does not trip when the power is cut.
Hack the appliance to include a timer.
use a GFCI upstream of the receptacle, and then replace the appliance's power cord with one that is not GFCI.

Your insurance company will not like the last two.


Repairing fiberglass garage door panel with large hole This large hole came with the garage when we bought the house. I would like to repair this to make it look a lot better, and at least keep prowling cats out. The backing you see in the picture behind the hole is just a floor tile I have propped up against it. I'm asking for repair steps rather than suggestions to replace the entire panel. It is important to me to match the corrugations with a repair and make it look like a decent repair, not a new panel.

The hole's dimensions are roughly 11" x 11".

Find a good section of door with the same pattern.
Spray release chemical on that section of door.  Build a box/frame with a back around this area.
Fill the box with expanding foam, so it extrudes against the door area.
Release the foam and box from the door.   You now have a mold.
Paint the mold with just enough epoxy to give it a hard shell (harder than normal foam).
Spray the foam and box with release agent.
Move this foam and box over to the damaged area and  attach it to the door.
Now you have a mold to do a fiberglas layup in the normal way.


How to fix double-tapped 14-3 cable to boiler I have an oil boiler for heat. 14-3 cable runs from the panel to a thermal cutoff above the boiler, then into the boiler's control box, and from there to a Taco controller that manages three zone thermostats and controllers for forced hot water heat.

At the panel, the 14-3 cable is presently double-tapped so that both the black and the red are attached to the same 15-amp breaker.

I'm in the process of migrating the whole circuit to a subpanel so I can put the boiler on a transfer switch to a generator for backup power. I'm tempted to attach the red and black wires to 2 ganged 15-amp breakers, but I'm afraid because I don't understand the original intent of this wiring.

If that is the red and black from the same 14/3 cable it is anyone's guess why they did this. In any case they are using the same circuit on both wires, obviously. If there is no problem at this time just splice the two wires to a tail of the same gauge and put that one tail on the breaker. Those GE breakers are NOT made to accept two conductors, but it's also not the end of the world either. Since you are working on it is worth fixing.

IF you do feel that stongly that you want them on separate breakers you MUST use a 2-pole breaker, and NOT a tandem, or twin, breaker.


Sump pump running constantly - water coming in FROM discharge pipe I recently had the misfortune of a flooded basement due to a failed sump pump. While putting in the new pump, I noticed that there was a substantial amount of water coming into the sump pit FROM the sump discharge pipe, i.e. the place where water should be going OUT. In fact, were it not for the check valve in place it would've been near impossible to put in the new pump due to the amount of water coming in. I'm guessing this isn't normal by any means and why the old pump kept running every few minutes and eventually died (although it did last for 7 years.) What could be causing this constant backflow?

...An inappropriate discharge arrangement would seem to be the obvious answer. Changing the discharge pipe's path and/or destination would be the solution.


What do you call a widget that holds the side of a curtain against a wall? I moved into a house and found these handy widgets screwed into a bedroom wall.  These widgets each consist of a hook-shaped piece of metal with a small clip that fastens a window curtain to the hook.  These are very handy for keeping light from shining around the curtain while I'm napping.

This is completely separate from the rod that the curtain hangs from.  They are at about breast height.

I wanted to buy some more of these, but I don't know what to ask for at the hardware store and it's tricky to describe it.

They are called safety cup hooks and have been cleverly repurposed.

Links are for illustration purposes only. No product or source is being endorsed.


Replacing a door's glass panel with a wood panel I basically have the following type of back door:

The problem is that my girlfriend moved in with me. Well not, really, her dog did and we need to install a pet door. The problem is I need the first row of glass to be made of wood in order to be able to install the door in.

I thought of replacing the bottom row of glass with wood panels, then once they set, cutting into them to fit in the door.

What kind of wood should I use to make sure that it is weather proof. Assuming this isn't a dumb idea.

I would suggest a quick visit to any building supply recycling type place near you to see if you can simply grab an inexpensive replacement door that's already better suited to installing a pet-door in - you may have structural issues with this door if you cut away a significant part of the bottom to insert a pet door. Replacing glass panels with wood is not the same (structurally) as a solid wood door (or door with glass on top and a solid wood bottom.)

Even if you have to buy it new, it would be a lot less work and more dependable to use a different door here.


Concrete floor surface finishing My company recently moved into an office, that has an attached warehouse. The warehouse used to be a paint booth, so there is layers and layers of paint and gunk on the floor. It also has a lot of chips, gouges.

We are planning on putting an AC in, and putting heavy (2-4k lbs) circuit board assembly equipment in it. The floor needs to be strong, smooth, and easy to clean.

Af first I thought we should epoxy it, but there is so much gunk I worry it will never stick. Now I'm thinking of renting a floor grinder from home depot, and working on polishing the floor.

The problem is, the people at my local home depot, don't seem to know anything about these tools. I was recommended against the heavy duty edco grinder, and instead told to get a smaller Clark surface maintainer.

Also, home depot doesn't seem to have progressive diamond grit blades to truly polish the floor. If you want to check what my home depot has, the address is 10550 Park Blvd Seminole, FL 33772

I think my best bet is to use whichever grinder you recommend, get the gunk and crap off, then work on filling the cracks and spalling with self lever or filler? Not sure on which to use either. Then to rent the grinder again, and polish/grind it all again.

Looking for any guidance or suggestions. Really can't afford a professional, as the going rate for polishing around here is up to $10 sqft. Our space is around 700 sqft.

As Kris already indicated with a link in a comment, the solution for "big" equipment is usually not Home Depot. Some Home Depot rental departments are better than others, so you may have better luck if you check other area stores. But there are plenty of places where the only thing they do is rent equipment, so they:

have a larger variety of equipment available than an "everything" store
often have lower prices, since this is their specialty
are more likely to have someone on staff who can give a little advice instead of being just an order-taker

A typical place won't require anything special to rent a floor polisher or most other equipment, though it helps if you come in seeming reasonably knowledgeable about what you are trying to do and what kind of equipment you need.


Bathroom Vent is tied to ceiling vent in adjacent room I live in a bungalow with a bathroom on both levels.  The bathrooms both have exhaust vents.  Outside of each bathroom is a ceiling vent.  The previous owner stuck towels in these to block them off.  When I removed the towels I felt cold air (it's winter right now) falling down, so I put them back.

When I had them out, I could see the vent hoses go back towards the bathrooms.  With the towels out I turned on a fan in the bathroom and I can feel air being blown by it to the vent outside of the bathroom.  It seems like they are connected.

My question is this.  What purpose do these vents serve?  Is it okay to have them blocked?  Should I be concerned?

I have electric heat, so I'm guessing that it might be a way to help bring in fresh air?

Any thoughts?

Bungalow was built in 1978 in Ontario, Canada.

The vent in my bathroom seems to be connected to a ceiling vent just outside of the bathroom.  Why?

Yikes, this is really the first time I have ever heard of this configuration. Could this have been part of a previous central forced hot air system? It is not common to tie exhaust vents from a bathroom to any other living space. A dedicated exhaust fan vented to outdoors with a one way damper is a very important way to remove excess moisture from bathrooms and help prevent mold and mildew growth. It is not acceptable to vent a bathroom to another living space or into an attic. It is equally not right to tie this type of vent to any other air plenum. If you are feeling cold outside air through these vents, you are getting huge heat losses. There is no need to introduce outdoor air into your house intentionally unless it is done with specifically designed air exchange equipment in an extremely airtight designed house. I think you need to determine the routing of these "phantom" vents and come up with a plan to isolate the bath vents to the out of doors with a proper bathroom fan unit and block your heat form other areas from being wasted out an open plenum.


Can I use blocking between floor joists to support off-center jack studs in a load-bearing wall? I have a load-bearing wall running down the center of my house, perpendicular to the floor joists. As this house is from the 1920's, there is no subfloor - the bottom plates of the walls sit directly on the joists. The studs and bottom plate are 2x4s, the floor joists are 2x8s.

I started relocating a doorway in this wall to accommodate our new floor plan, but I forgot to consider how the loads would now be transferred! Specifically, the jack/king studs for the new doorway don't line up with the floor joists. When I cut away the portion of the sole plate inside the doorway, there will now be two "free" ends bearing the load above that may not be properly supported by the floor. This diagram shows a birds-eye view of the situation:

My thought is to simply install some blocking between the floor joists, parallel to the wall, to support the new studs. Will this be sufficient to prevent sagging? The blocking would be as follows (in red):

There is already a central "backbone" beam or joist that seems to support about half of the width of the bottom plate (~2"). This by itself would perhaps be enough to support the doorway, but I would fasten blocks to this backbone, as well as to the joists that they run between, to support the full width of the bottom plate.

That should be just fine. A few points for clarity:

Use substantial (joist-size) lumber. These are essentially joists themselves. I wouldn't go smaller than 2x6.
Consider using joist hangers or lag screws. Sheer nails don't meet modern code in a load-bearing situation like this--either at the ends or into the existing beam.
You might double them to give better bearing. Double joist hangers are easy to come by.
You could drop these new joists 1-1/2" and lay in a wide plate on top of them, and under the wall plate, to give yourself flooring/subfloor support around the wall plate.


Can I seal my bath overflow waste with silicon, from the inside? We have a freestanding bath https://victoriaplum.com/product/mode-harrison-freestanding-bath-1790-x-810

Unfortunately, we cannot gain access to the underside and when it drains water is leaking through the ceiling.

This began when the bath was overfilled and water ran down the overflow seemingly draining into the floor/ceiling. Since then when water naturally flows through the plug it appears to be flowing back into the overflow pipe and into the ceiling.

What would be the best product to inject down the plug into the overflow pipe? Silicon? Or expandable foam? Would sealing the pipe from the inside work?

It will not work.

You will need to find the exact cause of the leak (e.g. disturbed slip-joint fitting, cracked tube, fitting pull-out, bad gasket, etc.) and fix it proper. If it is "freestanding" then the overflow should be accessible unless it is concealed in a skirt. If it's concealed... time to disconnect the supply and drain and tip that b^*ch up...


Can I use the crushed remains of an old concrete slab as a base for a new slab? I have recently broke up my old concrete shed base which was 100mm thick, I also have quite a lot of gravel.
The broke up shed base is quite large chunks of concrete so could I use that a long with the gravel as a sub base for the new concrete base I am about to lay?
The chunks are a range of sizes from 20mm to about 90mm. Would it be ok for me to whack it down? Or should I just buy some proper stuff.
The new base is for our new summerhouse.

Thanks for looking.

Graham

Crushed concrete is a very good substrate for a slab. The key is to not have chunks so large that air pockets are created. Maybe bring in a layer of sand to fill the voids and level things a bit. A water rinse will help bring air out and compact the material.


How to remove flue from fireplace firebox with limited access? This house has a non-functional fireplace. At some point in the past the external chimney box was removed, the flue truncated, the gas logs and burner removed, and the gas pipe capped off.

Since the firebox is now wasted volume, I'd like to place a PC, DVR, etc in it and run the cabling behind the wall to the TV mounted over the fireplace mantel.

It seems that the easiest way to get the cables through the firebox is to remove the flue from where it connects at the top back of the firebox and use that preexisting hole.

I have access to the attic and can get to the stub of the flue sticking up, and I can get inside the firebox and work through the vent hole, although it is obstructed somewhat by the damper. I don't have access to the firebox from outside it in any way except from the front.

What's the best way to detach the flue from the firebox in this scenario?  (The flue appears to be two concentric sheet metal pipes.)

If that's impossible, what's the best way to cut a hole through the ceiling of the firebox? (It appears to be double-walled sheet metal with fibreglass insulation between the walls). I don't care about ruining the firebox, resale value of the house is not an issue in this case.

Sketch of the setup:

I'd suggest using a small diameter schedule 40 PVC as conduit up the flue and into the attic. Use this as conduit to protect the cabling while it's in the flue. Then once you're into the attic, run your cables back down the wall to behind the TV. I would think it would be much easier than trying to break through the flue then drill horizontally through studs until you get to the TV's stud bay.
I don't know how tall your flue is, but you can run a piece of PVC up the flue by bending it slightly, then, once it's into the old firebox, glue a coupler on it. Glue the next piece of PVC into the coupler and start pushing again. If your PVC won't flex enough, you may have to cut it into shorter pieces, then reassemble it with glued couplers once it's in the firebox. At the bottom of the firebox, you'll need to attach the conduit to the wall somewhere so it doesn't just slip back down. You'd need a masonry wall anchor and a conduit clamp to do this.
Once you've got the conduit in the flue, you can drop a fish tape or just a piece of string down from above to pull the cables up.
I think (wait for one of the electricians to confirm) that you're safe and within code using CPVC for the low-voltage data lines. CPVC is much more flexible than PVC and it should be cheaper, too. If you're running power, I believe you have to use schedule 40, not CPVC.
Going up, over and down will use more cable and be more expensive, but it will be much less frustrating and time consuming than all that horizontal boring. You'll likely have to cut the interior wall surface (drywall?) back, drill through each stud, pull the cables across, apply a wire protector plate to the stud, then patch the wall surface. You may break even on time and effort. Especially if you've never repaired drywall. It can be very time consuming and fiddly to get it right for a beginner. If you've got wallpaper (don't laugh, some people still do!), but don't have any for a repair, cutting into the wall is basically a no-go right from the start!
Or...
I misunderstood right from the start. It looks like the TV is directly above the fireplace so you're in the same stud bay. In that case, ignore all some of that above and try this:
You'll need to make an access hole in the wall for the cables to come out. I'd suggest a double- or triple-gang old-work box for this. Not so much because you'll need the surface space for connectors, but because it will make a bigger hole in the wall that will be easier to work through. You can get standard double- or triple-gang cover plates to cover it up so it won't be quite so obvious when you take the TV down later.
Once you've got the hole in the wall, you should have access to the flue. You may have some insulation in the way that will need to be cut out (fiberglass bats or expanding foam) or pulled out/pushed to the side (blown in cellulose, fiberglass, etc). Tunnel through the insulation until you see the flue.
Once you've got access to the flue itself, determine what it's made of.

If it's ceramic/terra cotta/earthenware/masonry, then a hammer and something chisel like are your answer. A few whacks with a hammer and a cold chisel placed against the flue liner should break through it. You may end up breaking out a large chunk instead of a neatish hole, so you may consider using a hole saw designed for masonry work, though these can be a bit pricey.
If you've got a metal flue liner, you'll definitely need a hole saw to get through it - you won't be able to just break it away. Make sure you get a hole saw that'll handle cutting metal. A "standard" one only designed for wood won't work well on metal and it will dull very quickly.

Once you have a hole in the flue, I'd still recommend going with some sort of conduit as I mentioned above. You'd probably want to start with an elbow at the top of the conduit stack to get your cables around the corner and to protect them from any rough edges of metal or masonry work. You'll need to modify the back of the old-work box by drilling a hole through it (welcome back hole saw!) for the conduit to run into. For just low-voltage wiring, you shouldn't need to worry about attaching the conduit to the box itself, just a snug fit should be sufficient. With a clamp (as described above) holding the bottom of the conduit in place, you should be good to go.


How can I consolidate different heating/cooling systems into a single system? I have 3 different types of heating/cooling systems that I inherited.

Hot water heat. This heats the whole house/garage via 3 zones.

Zone 1: Kitchen/Livingroom
Zone 2: Bedrooms/Bath
Zone 3: Garage

In Floor Heating

Zone 1: Kitchen
Zone 2: Hallway
Zone 3: Bathroom

Forced Air AC

Only one zone/thermostat

What I am looking for is to consolidate all these thermostats into one "system".

With the ODControl from OpenDomo You can control up to 8 on/off outputs, 8 on/off inputs and (with the complementary module) up to 8 analog sensors. Is designed so you can configure it for any automation, and you can control it from a smartphone or tablet. In your case, each line will be controlling one zone or another.

Disclosure: Responder works for this company.


GFCI: both load and line have voltage How should I wire my GFCI?
There are 5 wires from the box, two blacks, two whites and a copper wire. I used a multi-meter to test the blacks they both have voltage  of 117v (-ish).  One white has 30v (-ish) and the other white has none.
If I wire all of them to GFCI, two for Line and two for Load, its led turns green but it cannot  be reset and there is no power from its socket.
If I only wire 1 set of black and white it works.
What should I do? Should I connect them to the same line port?
To fully power of this I have to switch the Disp and DW breaker off. (They are link together as the picture)
Edit: (add some images). Note both black wire have voltage before I group them like this so don't blame me.

The black with the 117 ish and the white from that same cable go to the line side then the black with 30 and that white go to the load. Make sure to get the correct black and white wires coming from the same cable on each side this configuration will provide GFCI protection to everything down from the GFCI connect the bare copper to the green ground screw.
The 30 ish in almost every case phantom voltage it has no real potential and is induced voltage because the line wires are running with the load , nothing to worry about. This is how transformers work but they have lots of wire in close contact so you get the current there but not here.
Edited ;
I misread the voltages thanks to doxylover, the white wire that appeared grounded and the black in cable that it is with is probably the line side   The black and white on the load showing a voltage is still phantom, if we want to verify this the safest way is to tie the 2 whites together then with the blacks not connected plug in a load down stream the whites instantly go to ground when connected and since the 1 phantom black is now connected to a load the voltage will dive. If a hair dryer or other large resistive device is used the voltage on the load black will be close to zero but maybe a few volts. The line side black won’t change still 117 and the white that that black comes in with is the proper neutral for the line side.


What are the differences between SDS, SDS Plus, and SDS Max drills? Basically I had to use a breaker last weekend, it was clear I did not need the “heavy duty” as I did not have 6” of solid concrete, but the descriptions of the other options  confused me.

The SDS chuck system was the original developed by Bosch.
SDS Plus is an improvement on the original SDS system, but remains
compatible with SDS bits, and is now the most commonly seen on the
market.

SDS Max is designed for the heaviest masonry work, and is
incompatible with SDS/SDS+ bits.

(source: wikimedia.org)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drill_bit_shank#SDS_shank

It sounds like for your application, SDS Plus would be the way to go, given that they are generally less expensive, and you don't have really tough masonry work to do.


May I block off all windows in a mostly below-ground basement? I have read Is it necessary to put a special egress window in a basement bedroom if there's already a window above ground.  My situation is similar but different.

My basement has a furnace, a work bench, a ping pong table, a washer, and a dryer.  That's it.  There are no plans to create a bedroom down there, ever.

There are two small windows that let a bit of outdoor light in.  Each one has a window well and a plastic well cover.

Water comes in through the bottom of the two windows in a heavy rain.  We tried caulking, and that solved the problem initially, but after a couple months they started leaking again.  Maybe because of the change of season (late summer giving way to fall and early winter).

I am thinking about perhaps blocking off those windows in some permanent way.  Would that create a safety problem?

From a code perspective, I think you are OK so long as the square footage of the basement is less than 200 and there is adequate ventilation.

I personally believe there is a safety concern though, but minor and something you could mitigate with ensuring smoke detectors are plentiful and fire extinguishers are readily available, but this is something people should already have.

In your case, my suggestion would be to correct the water penetration which is either poor water sealing or poor drainage in the window well.


Can't identify light fixture wires I am installing a ceiling light fixture. I was expecting to see black, white, and green wires. Can someone please help identify what each wire is for?

Since a couple of people have asked to see a picture of both the included instructions as well as the light fixture itself, here they are.

You are correct, the instruction sheet is worse than useless. It doesn't even match the apearance of the product. Also, the lamp is very poorly designed. And I notice that its safety certification comes from el Cheapo knockoff Intertek instead of an established lab such as Underwriters. All this means that you can have the elegance of a $250.00 lamp for, like, $84.00, but you're gonna have to do a little work.

You can safely assume that the green wire is intended as a fault ground for the ceiling box cover plate (the part installed in step 4). This leaves the three wires in the transparent cord to be identified.

You have two sockets in the fixture. Each socket has a shell, the part with the screw threads, and a tip, the little strip at the bottom that contacts the metal dot in the center of the bulb base.

Very likely, one of the cord wires is connected to the metal casing of the fixture (the part with the threaded rod). This is the fault ground for the lower part of the lamp. One of the other wires is connected to both shells. The last wire is connected to both tips.

Your problem is that the three wires appear identical and are not clearly marked. You can't go by what is most likely; you'll need to determine which wire is connected to what. One of the wires has a bit of insulation left on, and is marked with a tape printed with lines. Another wire seems to have the letter L stuck onto it. But what does that mean? Without a diagram you can only guess. Frankly, given the quality exhibited so far, I wouldn't trust these signals even with an included diagram.

So you cannot use this fixture until you know which of the three cord wires are connected to the shells and which to the tips. You will need to learn how to measure continuity. You can buy a continuity tester at Wal-Mart for under $7.00.

You can verify that the continuity tester is working by touching the two probes together.

Simply hold one probe against a shell and try the three wire ends with the other probe. Only one wire will present continuity. This is the "shell" wire. Check that the other shell is also continuous with the shell wire.

Do the same thing with the tips to find the "tip" wire. Label the wires as you find them.

Connect one probe to the remaining wire and poke the metal fixture with the other probe until you get a continuity indication. This proves the fault ground wire.

Now, in step 3 on the diagram, connect the cord's fault ground wire and the green wire to the house fault ground; connect the shell wire to the house neutral; and connect the tip wire to the house switched hot.

If you are in the U.S.A. and your house wiring is not ancient, the fault ground will be bare, green, or green+yellow. The house neutral will be white, and the switched hot is never white and usually black or red.


Do most stackable washer dryers fail because of the washer being overloaded/won't drain? What would happen if I just stacked my dryer on the washer?
I know if falls but I"m try to determine the most likely cause. My quess ss unbalanced washer as that's the only time I'm seen major movement and i'm guessing the most common major vibration cause.

How could I stop the dryer from falling if I didn't have a kit for the stackable?

I know they sell kits i just want to understand the most common reasons they fall so I can make a stack kit if need be.

It seems the washer would have more weight and would start vibrating and the top would fall.

A loaded washer would be more dangerous.

Rather than simply "stacking" the dryer on the washer (as the term implies), it's important to secure the dryer above the washer with a solid connector. The stacking kits provided by manufacturers accomplish this task. The problem is not just large vibrations, but frequent tiny ones that cause them to move away from each other - similar to a vibrating phone moving on a table.

The dryer is commonly (if not exclusively) put on top of the washer for weight reasons, as you suggested. The washer will be filled with water, whereas the load in the dryer will weigh much less.


What height are lumens measured at when calculating lighting layout? I'm trying to determine how many recessed lighting fixtures I'll need to light an area that is a 500 square foot rectangle, with 30 lumens per square foot (30fc). 30 lumens per square foot is what is recommended for the type of room in question, but the recommendation guides don't say what height those recommendations are intended for.

In my case, 30fc times 500 sqft would be 15,000fc total.

An R40 compact florescent lamp has a rating of 1150 initial lumens (at the fixture). Looking at photometric data though, it appears that this lamp produces 1fc at a 12' height with a 37' spread.

So, if 30fc is the goal for the room, do I want 12 fixtures, which will produce 30 lumens per square foot near the ceiling? Or 30 fixtures to produce 30 fc at the floor? Or something in between?

Or to put it more succinctly, when guides recommend that such and such a room should be x lumens, do they mean initial lumens at the fixture, or lumens at the floor, or lumens at the expected working height (like a counter top)?

Where are we getting all of these lumen questions all of a sudden?

So let's start with your nomenclature, you start out with lumens but what you are looking for  is footcandles, which you actually reference. Lumens are the amount of light created by a lamp. Footcandles are the light measurement on a flat plane.

By reading your third paragraph you are using an R40. So I am assuming you are using a recessed can. A recessed can is designed to direct light in a certain direction. So depending on the lamp and can it could be a wide flood, a flood, a narrow flood, a spotlight, a narrow spot or a very narrow spot. This doesn't include asymmetrical designs. Regardless you need to layout recessed lighting so you don't get dark spots or shadows in between bright light spots unless you're a fan of film noir motif.

Google the fixture manufacturer they should have a specification sheet. That sheet should have the fixtures photometrics. Then you can determine the footcandle level of one fixture. You're looking for 30 footcandles at task level (about 3' above the floor). Then look at the spacing of the fixture and determine the spread of the fixture and set your spacing that way.

But you can always do what I do. I start by Googling and contacting their tech help center or if they have a local manufacturer's rep I'll call and ask them to give you the spacing. If you give them the right information they can email you a rough plan and give you the right spacing and lamp.


Stain a half stained deck I now own a deck where the previous owner (for some reason) stained half of it a year or two ago (they did mostly the inside). I'm lucky to have the same product that was previously used. If I stain the rest of the deck, will I end up with two very noticeable colors? If yes, is there something I can do to reduce the differences?

Note, I will clean as much as I can before doing anything.

You'll have to eyeball it. You'd stain the unstained & wipe off the excess where it looks pretty close...test wiping here & there. Then, let it dry & see how close or far it is from the inside portion.

If it's too far or too dark, then you can sand it out a little, but that's a crap shoot & it's better to just let it weather & sun down by itself. If it's too light you just add & immediately wipe off without waiting or waiting much at all. Adding stain to the inside portion will be very difficult to eyeball if it's not in the sun, so I wouldn't try doing anything there.


Securing our roof against possums Possible Duplicate:
  Animal in the attic (possibly a raccoon)

We have just finished a major renovation of our house. Since complete, a possum has taken up residence in our roof. Unfortunately, it is living in the floor space between the ground and first floors and we have little or no access to this area. We have sprayed "Poss-off" in as many places as possible and cut all trees next to our house to reduce access but every night he comes back. I suspect that he is either walking along the power line (although it has a possum guard, I found possum scat under it) or climbing up the pipes to our pool's solar water system (50mm).

So the questions are:

what more can I do to discourage him
if we have it professionally removed (they are a protected species), will another one just take over.

I had this problem in my house in Georgia with a number of animals, to solve I put my cat in the attic for a few hours a day for a week or so (usually when I was up there anyway). The cat never killed anything, (to my knowledge) but the scent of the cat drove the animals out for good. I have found this solution to be simple, cheap, and effective. It also works with dogs.


Do high-efficiency furnaces work well in older homes with restrictive ducting? I was told that a high efficiency furnace needs a certain amount of airflow to work properly. And that in an older home if you don't have enough duct work that a high efficiency furnace is actually a bad idea.  Do others agree with that?

If by airflow you mean the flow of heated air through your home, then I would say yes: a furnace needs to be sized based on how much heated air can be pumped through your home. If your furnace is enormous, and your ducts are small enough that the total air flow is too low, then the furnace won't be able to transfer enough heat to the home air, producing too-hot output air while reducing the furnace's efficiency.

However, this does NOT mean that no high-efficiency furnace will work with an older home with few/narrow heating ducts. You just have to find one that's appropriately sized.

A side note: furnace installers have a tendency to over-size furnaces and boilers, on the theory that too big is better than too small. The truth is that many (most?) furnaces and boilers are larger than they need to be. So, get a heat loss calculation done for your home and then proceed from there.


How to wire garage exhaust fan to humidity sensor/fan control and ventilation controller I'm installing this exhaust fan in my garage. I also want to install this garage ventilation controller, which is triggered when doors open and by temperature.
I also want to install a humidistat/switch which is trigger automatically based on humidity and/or manual switch and Air Cycle mode which automatically turns ON the ventilation fan for a set period of time and repeats the cycle hourly.
I can bring power in to either the exhaust fan, humidity sensor/control or ventilation controller. How should I wire?
The way I understand it, they both are basically just single pole switches, so I should run them separately with power feeding each switch, leading to fan?

While it's OK to have switches in parallel...

While putting switching devices in parallel is not a common way of wiring a house, there is nothing in Code that forbids it, and it is done in other cases as well (such as multi-location occupancy sensor control).  However, such a configuration comes with caveats; most importantly, you'll need something to serve as a disconnecting means so that you can manually turn this fan off in case it needs servicing.  If you don't care about what else is on this circuit, then the circuit breaker will serve the purpose, though.

... you need to be careful when you do so

Even with the issue of a disconnecting means addressed, you still need to be a bit careful with switches in parallel, to avoid inadvertently creating a looped or paralleled neutral situation, which can be read as violating NEC 300.3(B)/310.10(H).

How to wire this

As a result, I would wire this by using a two-gang box at the power source location with the vent controller taking up one of the gangs, then running a new-style (neutral included) switch loop to where the humidity sensor goes and wiring that switch loop in parallel with the vent controller; this can easily be done by using black for always-hot, white for neutral, and red for switched-hot at each location, then connecting matching colors together.  You can then run switched-hot and neutral to the fan from whichever box is more convenient; just tape the switched-hot to the fan from black to red to make the colors match nicely.  This does rely on the breaker as the maintenance disconnect for the circuit, but provides neutral at both locations, as is required by the fan controller and humidity sensor you specified, and means that either device can command the fan on.


How can I protect a heat pump from heavy snow? I have an Carrier air heat pump at the back of my house (installed 1 year ago).  It is generally fine and stays defrosted with the smaller amounts of ice/snow.  With a larger amount of snow, should I consider building  a temporary lean-to above it to keep snow away from the unit?  If so, how high above the unit should it be to not impede air flow?

There are several advantages to having a permanent roof over an outdoor heat pump:

keeps direct sunlight off during cooling season
keeps rain, leaves, twigs, and branches further away and keeps the unit cleaner
no freezing rain can put the blower out of balance with lopsided icing
keeps snow away from the top and sides where it would impede airflow
possibly provide some noise reduction

The first installation manual I could find says (page 7) there should be a 48 inch (120 cm) minimum space above the unit.

Depending on the typical maximum snow accumulation, I would extend the roof out at least three feet from the edges of the unit.  This also avoids the problem of the roof supports from blocking service access (some units have hinged panel doors).


Can I use #12 ground wire as jumper when the other wire in the box is #14? If everything is wired with 14 gauge romex on a 15 amp breaker, can I use 12 gauge ground as a jumper inside a box?  This would be to either ground the box itself or as jumper between to outlets.

Yes.  You can always use larger gauge wire than for what the circuit is protected.  One limitation may be making sure you don't try to cram more/larger wires into the box than what it's capacity is.


Porch remodel with improved electrical service I recently remodeled a porch and upgraded the electrical for just a few floodlights and plugs, probably less than 1400 watts.  I ran a 10/2 with a ground to this remodel, off of a 30 amp breaker at the main.  The wire size had to do with distance from the main.  I then installed a small subpanel on the porch with one 15 amp breaker.   I used 14/2 with ground throughout this project, with 15 amp plugs.
Your thoughts

Nope.  You need a 20A breaker at the main.

When you upsize wire for long distance, you do not also upsize the breaker.  There's no reason to; the long distance doesn't consume any additional amps, it consumes volts. Amps remain the same.

A 30A breaker is not legal on a circuit supplying 15A or 20A breakers, you can only have 30A receptacles on that.

If you really want to get 30A worth of use out of the #10 cable, then add a subpanel at the porch, and you can have 2 or more 15/20A circuits coming out of that sub.  You are allowed to install a 120V subpanel, and that requires a 3-wire connection.


What are the requirements for fire doors in homes? A family member is having some major remodeling planned on an end-terraced house. The builder's plans apparently are calling for fire doors on essentially every interior doorway - bathrooms, bedrooms, kitchen, any other partition between rooms, etc.

I've seen the type of door and it feels quite solid, has a sealing strip around it, and and auto-close mechanism (spring?). They certainly seem fit for purpose but are also: expensive, somewhat difficult to operate, noisy, and sometimes seem almost hazardous because of the auto-close. Aside from annoyances a concern is how well elderly people will be able to handle them.

Are fire doors actually required for ALL interior doorways? I can see the logic for specific areas like the kitchen, but on small bathrooms (for instance) its hard to see the rationale.

I'd like to understand what are the actual legal requirements / building regulations so that we can understand what areas have some design flexibility and which do not. No one is looking to undermine safety, just understand the available options.

Thanks

In England, the regulation is Approved Document B of the Building Regulations 2019

In Wales, Approved Document B of the Building Regulations (Wales) and amendments

In Scotland, Part 2 Building Standards technical handbook 2017

In Northern Ireland, Technical Booklets

In general fire doors are not required inside dwellings of one or two storeys. In a three storey dwelling (including loft conversion or basement) fire doors are required on doorways to the protected stair and corridor leading to the final exit.

In some circumstances a sprinkler system may be allowed as an alternative to protect the final exit route instead of fire doors.


Adjustable angle climbing wall with electric hoist and pulleys - how to lock the pulleys? When I first set up the electric hoist wires, I had a snatch block pulley not just there at the wall near the hoist - but I had two on the climbing wall at each anchor point, and I hooked in the wire line at the other middle wall anchor point. The up and down with the hoist worked great!... but unlike when I have separate lines (or chains), if you pull on, for example, the top right side of the climbing wall then the pulleys roll and the climbing wall bends/torques. I kind of had the feeling this would happen. I'm not finding anything on the internet about rigging or setting something up like this that is stable (I'm not sure what to look for). I have an idea I think might work...

I think if I ran the line from the first pulley down to a pulley on the right side, but then came straight back to the anchor near the hoist to another pulley that then went over to the middle wall anchor with a pulley, and the line then went to the top left climbing wall anchor and hooked in. This would work just like before, hoist up and down would angle the wall (but it would probably still flex since the pulleys and wires are free.

If there were pulleys that could lock (do those exist) then I wouldn't have to set it up this way, but if I set it up this way then once I choose may angle using the hoist maybe I could fix the two wires together (that come down to the climbing wall from the hoist pulley and then go right back up to a pulley on the same anchor). Is there something I could use to lock those together/bind those up? I think that might work as if the wires couldn't move then they would become like to separate fixed lines (like the simpler chains)... maybe.

Any thoughts on this or some better way to do this?

better yet, if in the original I could just lock the pulleys when (after I get to an angle I want), then there would be no travel in the wire...

I'd put the winch in the middle, use it only for positioning.

Maybe also have a long length of chain there so that if the winch fails during positioning it can't fall all the way over.  Then again that's a hell of a shock load to your house so it might be better to risk the fall and just stay well clear of it when the winch is moving.

For supporting during use, I'd use unistrut on the two corners. Attach the unistrut via a very heavy duty hinge to the corner of the ceiling and use two captive bolts in the unistrut and L brackets on the climbing wall to hold it tight to the strut.

I laid out some parts to show the idea.

I didn't have a large hinge so I used black plastic pieces.  You should be thinking large barn door hinge though.

The two 1" pieces represent your ceiling and basement wall.  The 2" lumber is your climbing wall.

Be careful of how long the strut is so it doesn't stick out and become a hazard.  Against a wall wouldn't matter, but in the middle of the room you could walk into it potentially.

Unistrut can handle loads of many thousands of pounds and obviously holds in tension and compression.  You'd use a wrench from the climbing side to loosen the bolt heads to allow the winch to move it, then tighten back up before climbing.

The wood screws in this example might not be able to be inserted all the way because I doubt that angle will be 90 all the time.

Climb on!


How can I effectively remove paint from receptacle covers and screws? We moved into an older house, and one of the projects is going to be replacing the 2-prong receptacles and changing them into 3-prong.  However, there's many layers of paint around/over the plates, and the screws as well.  In the past I would just pry it off with a screwdriver, but I know that's not the best method.  What other methods are appropriate?

Use a utility knife with a very sharp new blade and carefully cut around the perimeter of the plate at an angle as close to parallel to the wall as possible.  This should get you a nice clean separation of the plate from the wall.

For the screws - if you're buying new plates they'll come with screws, and if they don't, you can find extras (including extra long ones) at your local box store.

Now as Tester pointed out, if you cannot even remove the screws, then you need a thin flathead screwdriver and a tack hammer (or a very light touch with some other hammer).

Set the head of the screwdriver against the head of the screw and lightly tap the handle with the hammer to break off the paint enough so that you can identify the actual slot in the screw.  Once you have the slot identified, rotate the screwdriver so that the tip is at an angle set in the slot, and drive the tip of the screwdriver down the slot to dig out the paint.

Once you've cleaned the slot sufficiently, remove the screw as per normal use.


I have paint over unsanded drywall compound. What is the best way to fix it? I repaired some holes in my bathroom with drywall compound, but didn't sand it.   The painter I hired said he would prepare the walls before painting.  He didn't, and put on two coats of paint.

It looks terrible.  How can I fix this?

1 - Sand down the spot.

2 - Prime the spot.

3 - Paint the spot with a fine brush. (Brush strokes make it easier to blend the paint with the surrounding walls)

(After drying the paint should look like the surrounding wall, if the paint looks lighter add a second coat)

As for your painter, you probably should have told him you wanted a smooth wall. Painters usually just wipe the wall down before painting, they don't sand the walls unless asked.


How to mount metal box to wooden beam? I'm using a custom Wiremold ceiling fan box to surface mount a Harbor Breeze ceiling fan onto a wooden beam.  Problem is -- the Harbor Breeze mounting bracket does not have compatible screw pattern holes that allow the bracket to attach over the Wiremold screws extending from the mounting plate and the fan box cover.

The customer wants to continue with the same fan (instead of changing to a fan with compatible mounting bracket), so after brainstorming, I figure I could simply make my own mounting holes in the Wiremold cover and mounting plate.  I would the run screws through the mounting bracket, the Wiremold cover, and the metal mounting plate -- and ultimately secure everything directly into the wooden beam.

I believe the machine screw size that typically is used is #10-32.  Since my custom holes will need to secure into wood -- I'm assuming I go with a more aggressive (coarse?) screw type.

Question is:  What is the ideal screw I should use in this scenario?  Also, should I pre-drill the holes or will a self-piercing screw work?  Also -- any advice on screw length , or brand, or any other solution to solidly secure everything are welcome.

Any wood thread with adequate penetration will do, but I'd avoid black oxide (drywall) screws--they're quite brittle. No need to pilot unless the beam framing is extremely hard (or you hit a knot).

Get at least 1-1/4" into the framing (not a beam wrapper) and be happy.


How can I remove a broken plastic packing nut from a faucet? I have a leaky exterior faucet where the plastic packing nut has broken and the threaded end is still inside the faucet.  How can I remove the broken packing nut from the faucet?

I'm assuming this is in reference to an outdoor garden faucet. If you can't get the old packing out, replace the entire faucet. But first, make sure you don't have a dope of a builder that would solder the threads. Try to unscrew the fixture from the wall (shutoff the outside water first). If it unscrews, then all you need to do is pickup some pipe dope and a new faucet from the store. Clean the old threads, put some pipe dope on the threads, and screw on the new fixture.


How can I tightly join two perpendicular pieces of wood in a loft bed from the inside corner without access to the outer side? I'm trying to assemble a double loft bed from Ikea (http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/80160867/), but the problem is that it's 80" wide and the room is 80" wide. This means that there's no space to reach around and put in the very long screws from outside the bed frame, to secure the horizontal pieces to the 4 vertical posts. (Nor is there enough space to put in the screws on the vertical pieces, and then fit the horizontal pieces so they slot into the screws.)

Here's what the loft bed looks like:

It's steps like this one, connecting the 76" long horizontal pieces, that are impossible to do in this tiny room, there's simply no space:

One solution would be to not use those screws that come in from the outer side of the frame in the above illustration, and instead manually screw in a bunch of heavy-duty corner braces to join the horizontal and vertical pieces - something like these:

1st concern: Any reason this would not be safe?

2nd concern: It might be hard to get all the pieces flush together (the whole thing is somewhat bendy and needs tightening pretty hard to stay tightly flush) and I want to avoid unsightly and wobbly gaps. Is there some piece of hardware I can use here that would let me tighten these pieces together from the inside?

A custom loft or securing the loft directly to the wall would obviously work instead, but either of those options is going to be significantly more expensive and/or time consuming (and I'm not sure the studs in my 100-year-old house would need reinforcing or anything) and I already have this bed.

Any thoughts/advice appreciated.

I'd be cautious with anything holding up the top level that's not a bolt going all the way through the wood. The Ikea stuff tends not be overbuilt at all, so the wouldn't be a lot of extra wood to screw into to get a good hold. The extra braces are fine, but if it was my kid sleeping in the bed, I wouldn't want to rely only on some screws in <= 1" thick particle board.

My gut reaction is this can probably be built largely as-designed in an 80" room (so long as the other dimension is at least as wide, anyway), though without actually seeing it in person it's hard to say for sure.

Here's how I'd do it, and for reference, I'll label the corners A,B,C,D:

Throw away the instructions. Or at least, don't follow them in order.
Build the longest edges first -- A--D and B--C -- by building them at an angle in the room. Basically any screw that go into the narrow sides need to be installed first.
You'll also have to assemble the piece you showed from the instructions running across the middle of the bed, even though the cross-braces it's screwing into aren't attached yet.
Now, with the frame in the middle of the room, do the remaining connections, attaching the A--D and B--C pieces together.
Push the bed back against the wall

I have no doubt it'll involve some head scratching, coercion tools (aka hammers/prybars/etc) and some swearing, but it's a relatively simple design so it should be possible.

Good luck!


How to remove excess nail hole filler I recently had my windows and trim replaced and the contractor was very sloppy filling in the nail holes on the trim. There are big globs of whatever he use left on the wood any ideas on what I can use to safely remove the substance without damaging the wood?

It depends on the filler material used, but the most likely candidates would  be caulk or wood filler/putty.

Caulk remains somewhat flexible after drying. It will probably be white. You can trim it with a razor blade to remove the excess. Assuming the caulk is a paintable type, you can then apply primer and paint your trim to conceal the patch. If you need to apply more, simply smooth it with your finger or a putty knife while it's wet.

Wood filler or putty will dry hard. It will probably be some shade of brown. Most putties are designed to be sand-able, like real wood. Simply sand the patched area smooth with the surrounding wood, apply primer, and paint. Putty can come in a can or squeeze tube, and is usually applied with a putty knife (but a finger can work too).

If neither of these works for you, please post a picture so we can better identify the material.


How can house hot water pressure be kept stable if more than one hot tap is open? We have a Vaillant Ecotec combi boiler in the loft. When showering, hot water pressure is fine. But if someone opens any other hot tap in the house, it massively reduces the hot water coming into the shower (obviously because now two taps are sharing the same hot water). Is there a cost effective way to allow both taps to run at the same time but the pressure to remain constant so it doesn't interrupt someone's shower? It's very annoying if someone else in the house decides to use the hot kitchen tap while someone is showering.

There are several ways to fix this problem...

Increase the supply pressure of the incoming water feed.
Increase the diameter of the piping feeding to the shower.
Install flow restrictors in the shower head and the kitchen faucet so
that they share the available pressure and flow at lower levels and
thus less interaction for the existing piping and delivery pressure.


Do I need an architect? I apologize now if the answer is obvious, but I'd like to be absolutely sure before proceeding with out an architect.

I have purchased land that I intend to build a house on, and I'm now at the stage where an architect would typically draw up or look over the construction plans. I have drawn my own plans, and while I am not an architect, I am a licensed (PE) mechanical and electrical engineer (two degrees and licensed as both). This will be the first house I've built, but it is my understanding that an engineer signs off on and seals the work of the architect.

My two-fold question is this: can I approve my own designs given my professional occupation and licensure, and if so, can I forego the architect step if I am the one signing off on the design? In short, can I design and approve my own plans because I am a licensed engineer, or do I still have to employ an architect and/or another engineer to sign off on plans myself or an architect has created?

This is really a regional legal question more than anything. You'll have to ask your local building code enforcement office. Typically, though, no, no one needs an architect...just someone that can approve the engineering (be it 3rd party, or the jurisdiction, itself).

Now, there are arguments for and against hiring an architect in general (outside of sign-offs) but that's a different question.

FWIW, we just bought land and are designing it ourselves. Alas, I am not an engineer, so will be having to go 3rd party for that.


Suggestions for preventing water from building on a shower window that is below shoulder level? Location: California | United States

Hello all,

I have a window near my bath/shower that is slightly below shoulder level (which is now a violation of code in my area but got grandfathered in with the old house).  We're planning to renovate the bathroom in the next year or two but in the meantime, are there any suggestions for preventing water from building up on the window base? Perhaps a guard, plate, or curtain?

-M

If you've got water collecting there, I think your best bet would be to prevent it from getting there in the first place.  A curtain over the window well would probably be best as that would allow you access to the window if you need it for ventilation.

I also thought about the thermal or decorative window films, cutting a piece to cover the bottom of the window and extending down over the frame and sill onto the bathroom wall.  Don't know how well it would work or if it would look OK, though.


Switched a outdoor gfci for a working one but now other components in the house don't work? I did some minor electrical work for a friend as I have some minor electrical knowledge myself, and he called me today saying that the heated floor and towel warmers are not working since I swapped out his old broken outdoor GFCI for a new working one.
The outdoor receptacle had 2 blacks, 2 whites, a ground, and is being powered from 2 breakers (3 and 7). There was a black on the top and bottom and same with the neutrals on the other side so I put everything exactly as it was already and added a ground wire to ground the box as well. The GFCI works and provides power still (as far as I'm aware).
My best guess would be to maybe try putting everything in the top half but with it being 2 breakers I'm not sure if I should do that.
Does any one have any advice on how I should go about this or what's causing it?

For now: cap off breaker 7's hot and neutral in the panel
What you discovered with two breakers feeding power to the two sides of a GFCI is something that basically shouldn't have ever happened to begin with; GFCIs aren't meant to have power backfed onto their LOAD terminals, even, as that can fry older units, and will cause new GFCIs to "lock out".  Fixing it properly will require quite a bit of detective work (I suspect that the two circuits' hots got joined together inadvertently somewhere), but there is a way out of the jam for now.
What I'd do in this situation to get the house functioning would be to remove the hot and neutral that landed on breaker 7 at the panel from their lugs and cap them off individually, then connect the breaker 3 feed to the LINE side and the former breaker 7 feed to the LOAD side of the new GFCI.  Having the owner follow up on the situation would be highly recommended, though, as the extra load may cause some tripping of breaker 3 from simple overload of the circuit.
You'll also want to test the GFCI to make sure it's protecting what you expect it to; if the GFCI-protected loads turn out to be on breaker 3, then you'll have to reverse LINE and LOAD on the GFCI, and interchange the roles of the breaker 3 and breaker 7 homeruns in the panel as well.  Note also that this assumes breaker 3 and breaker 7 have the same amp rating; if they don't, then that throws an additional wrench into the works.


How can I remove my sink drain? I'm trying to replace the second of two sink drains. The first went smoothly, but I'm stymied by the second, which is of course a completely different product.

I have the trap off and everything unscrewed, but I can't lift the assembly from the top because of that protruding flange where the drain lever attached.

Is there a junction I'm supposed to unscrew somewhere at the top? The brass nut that held the assembly against the bottom of the sink doesn't go any further down, so I can only lift the assembly about 1/2".

You should be able to unscrew the upper part of the drain, the part that's in the basin where your stopper is located, from the tailpiece.


Copper failing under the house I am in a 10 year old house.  Custom built, very nice home.  Twice in the last year, have encountered a leak under the slab.

History

The first time about a year ago, I agreed to have the lines rerouted overhead in attic with PEX.  Worked fine.
This month, another leak happened in the other end of the house, again, the hot water side.

The House

The house was on a circulating pump that ran 24/7.
We are on hard water that has a high pH factor out of the tap.

The Plan

I am going to have the entire house re-routed with PEX in the attic.
We are in a fairly cold climate (Oklahoma) but the attic is well insulated and we are going to have them insulate the pex.
I don't want to jack hammer up the floor every six months because it is an expensive wood floor, and tile in some areas.

Here's my question(s):

Would the running water from the pump create more friction in the copper pipes thus creating a breakdown in the copper?
Should I just re-route the HOT Water?  The cold water line has yet to fail, and I would have to tear out some tiled shower walls where the outdoor faucets are, and prefer not to have to rebuild the showers, however, if the cold water is intent on failing soon, might as well replace both at the same time.

when conduit or plumbing is  covered in concrete it must be insulated from the cements high alkalinity, otherwise the metal will corrode and eventually fail. I don't believe the circulating pump has any detrimental effect on your copper pipe. Although it should be on a thermostat so it only works when needed. What I've noticed alot more in recent years is the quality of copper pipe (most imported from overseas) has become much lower. This and a high pH level could be why the copper is failing. If you are going to replace any damaged pipes it would be wise to re-route the pipes in the concrete to be safe. PEX when installed properly is the better alternative than copper.


Adding a single light switch from a 3 way light I have power (12-2 wire) coming to a switch box. That light switch is a 3 way switch (12-3) which goes to the next switch. From there the (12-2) wire goes to the light. I need to connect a light from that light and then down to a single pole switch(12-2 wire). How do I do that?

Short answer you can't.

If what you are describing is correct you only have three conductors in the box attached to the light fixture. That would be a ground, neutral and a switch leg from the 3-way switch. So you do not have a source wire in that box only a switch leg. Your best option to install a separate switched circuit for the second light fixture and run a completely new switch and switch leg.

Hope this helps and good luck.


Can I add cement glue and sand into my concrete mix to repair my cenent garden statue? I have a leopard concrete garden statue that was given to me by my neighbor that has a broken foot and log. I want to repair it and paint it. It also has been weather eroded so I need to recover it as well. I was wondering if I could mix up concrete, add sand and concrete glue in the mix? I know I will have to put concrete glue to the top of the statue to help bond the mix to it. I hope someone can answer my question.

I think that's a good idea, but you dont need to use concrete like the quikrete bags with big rock, make your own using portland and sand, and adding the glue will help!


What is a condensate pump on a boiler heating system? I have searched all the online glossaries and dictionaries related to home systems and cannot find it anywhere.

It is sort of like a small bilge pump mounted below the boiler that empties a small overflow  reservoir of water that is expelled during the condensation mode of a condensing/modulated boiler.  These are common on newer wall mounted high efficiency boilers.


What should I do about a horizontal crack around my porch slab? This crack runs all the way around my porch slab but doesn't go into the foundation where the basement starts. The ranch house was built in 1956. The porch was framed in and our office is in there now. I don't know if the crack was there when we bought the house but I assume it was. The porch sits next to a garage.

Is something I should be concerned about? If it's only cosmetic, what would be the best way to fill it in?

Although I agree with Johnnyz that it seems harmless.  I would fill it with outdoor caulking.  I'm not sure what your climate is but if water gets in and freezes then you have a bigger crack.


Toilet makes high pitch whine after flushing, but only in the middle of the night Sometimes, when my toilet is flushed in the middle of the night, it will make a high pitched whining noise for several (5-10 seconds) while refilling. This doesn't happen during the day, and it only occurs sporadically in the middle of the night.

Can this be caused by higher water pressure during the middle of the night?

Could the temperature of the water be the culprit? It is mid-April right now, and the daily temps are just starting to get higher (like in the 70s).

I have attempted searches on the internet, and most point to the refill valve or ballcock assembly having issues, but since this only happens sporadically, and in the middle of the night, I am wondering if it could be some cause outside of the toilet.

In many areas water pressure is lower at night, to reduce leaks on the network. This will slow filling, and the valve might be 'dithering' at an awkward point, whereas under higher pressure it fills quickly enough to move over the awkward point quickly.