Where do I attach the Ground and Neutral inside a sub-panel? I'm wiring 100 amp subpanel to detached Garage with 2/2/2/4 copper. I'm hoping to replace the subpanel to my detached garage which was previously wired to run on a 40 or 60 amp subpanel with like 6 spaces powered by a tandem 15A/20A breaker with 10/2 cable. So far, I have already disconnected any and all breakers and sub panels that were going to my detached garage in an effort to streamline the new installation and eliminate any confusion as to what(if any) electrical wiring/circuits (is/are) going from the detached garage from the main panel.
Now that I removed the original wiring used for the detached garage,
I am hoping to run a 125 amp subpanel on a 2-pole 100 amp breaker that will be placed inside of the garage where the conduit elbow comes up through the slab.
(((Just FYI If you're looking at my main panel and wondering why I have them there, there is a 2-pole 60 amp breaker on the top right and a 2-pole 30 amp breaker on the bottom left, I point those out because they are both disconnected. the 60 amp one was from my original garage subpanel. )))
The distance is approximately 94' plus the height going from the trenched conduit to the main panel and the subpanel.
I ran copper with 2/2/2/4 and now for due diligence, I am hoping to verify from a 3rd party where I connect the Neutral line and the ground lines on the main and subpanel before I attempt it.
My understanding is that on the subpanel, the two hot wires go to the left leg and right leg and on the other end, go into the breaker itself which then goes on the Main panel.

(Here is Where I'm hoping to get some clarification)

I'm guessing (But Not Sure) the Set Screw on the top center of the subpanel that is connected to both neutral bars is for the Neutral wire. Please let me know if I'm wrong.
There was an included plastic baggy that had a roughly 5" ground bar with a Set Screw on it and I'm not sure but I'm guessing but not sure that is where I connect the ground wire. Please let me know if I'm wrong.
On the Main panel, I see there is a flat Bar on the left side with (2) Set Screws, One of those on the bottom is being used to hold the Copper Ground Wire which is connected to the (2) posts that are buried and sticking out of the ground a couple of inches. I'm guessing But Not Sure, that the empty Set Screw is where I connect the #4 copper subpanel ground wire. Please let me know if I'm wrong.

Feel Free to Roast me or Educate me. Thanks in advance.

I've had maybe 3 or 4 legitimate electricians come out over the last 6 months and they all are booked up with work and I've ran out of time. I know a half dozen other "amateur" electricians but I don't have the confidence that they have so much as heard the term NEC or comprehend safety standards/measures. I feel more comfortable checking on sites like this one so I can try to get the process personally/firsthand.

In your main panel there's a fat bus bar down the left side. It has a lug up high and another at the bottom (hidden from view behind some wires). Those lugs should accommodate your neutral and ground wires.
Unfortunately... you've kinda got the wrong panel for the detached garage. There's a requirement that all circuits in the building can be shut down with no more than 6 motions - by turning off no more than 6 circuit breakers, in other words.
Usually this is accomplished by using a main-breaker panel rather than the main-lug type panel you have there. You could add a QOM100VHCP or QOM125VHCP main breaker to that panel but it'll be more cost effective to return the panel and buy one that has a main breaker already installed.


Now I realize I used too many GFCI outlets. How can I reclaim them? Yeah, so the building inspector redflagged a bunch of outlets for not being GFCI.  Before I understood how the LOAD terminals work, I just replaced every single one with a GFCI outlet.  Most  had a second cable for onward power, so I just attached them to the LOAD wires (didn't read the warning tape).  Big problem, though.
It's super hard to reset GFCIs, because when one trips, all the upstream GFCIs also trip, and you have to reset them in the right sequence.  I also have other circuits with no GFCI protection at all and I'd like to put these redundant GFCI devices to good use.
So how do I identify which GFCIs are useless so I can reclaim them?  Let's assume I am now perfectly competent at replacing receptacles.

There's more than one type of GFCI
Aside from the ubiquitous GFCI receptacle, there are also

GFCI circuit breakers
GFCI standalone devices (called "deadfronts" as they look like a GFCI recep with no holes)
GFCI switches (the GFCI is the switch; it's a deadfront rated for daily switching)
GFCI switch-receptacle combos (a plain switch and a 1-socket GFCI receptacle)
etc.

All of them have "LOAD" terminals. Any load attached to them is in a protected zone that protects the entire downstream circuit (as well as any sockets on the GFCI itself).
GFCI Roundup
Here's how to get rid of that redundant "Yo Dawg" daisy-chaining and get those GFCIs back.

Reset (turn back on) every GFCI device in the house (switch, recep, breaker, deadfront, any of them).
Put some sort of appliance on every GFCI receptacle; that will show you if it's powered.
Push "Test" on any GFCI device.
Did any other GFCI receptacles now lose power? If so, they are in the protected zone of the GFCI you just tripped. They are redundant.  Replace them with plain receptacles and a "GFCI Protected" sticker.
Repeat all this for each GFCI device.

A lot of people install unnecessary GFCIs because the last guy failed to install the sticker.  First, they didn't know the outlet was GFCI protected. Second, the sticker actually is mandatory, and that's why the inspector wrote it up.  (if you don't want a blue sticker, mark it any way you please; I use white outlet covers and white tape from a P-Touch label maker, and I state the location of the 'reset' also).
Sometimes you need to have multiple GFCIs on the same circuit because you can't protect the downline, e.g. if the last receptacle on the circuit is a refrigerator, radon pump, furnace in the snow belt, or other safety system where a nuisance trip would cause serious problems.  In that case, attach all wires to LINE.
In fact, you should never use LOAD at all, unless you actually intend to protect the downstream circuit.  Most GFCIs have screw-and-clamp which will allow 2 wires on LINE.
Installation gotchas
If one is giving you problems, stop.  Break it into two sub-problems.
Hook up one cable to only the LINE side of the GFCI, turn the breaker back on (I assume you turn off breakers when changing wires) and test it.  If the GFCI powers up, tests properly, successfully powers loads etc., then you have the LINE wiring right. Lock it down. and don't disturb it again.
Power off the breaker again and attach LOAD.  If doing so breaks it, there is a problem on the LOAD side wiring.  Most likely a multi-wire branch circuit, crossed neutral, or imbalanced (hot or neutral in the GFCI protected zone, but not the other). The latter is especially a problem in bathrooms with a plain switch next to a GFCI.  Work the problem as best you can; you might have to inspect the next downline circuit.   Crossed neutrals or imbalance are genuine defects that endanger your house.  Multi-wire branch circuits are safe and legal if done correctly, but are a special snowflake that doesn't play nice with GFCI receptacles.
If you are forced to give up, then attach all wires to LINE and fit another GFCI at the next receptacle.  Unfortunately this is one case where you might wind up with a GFCI at every outlet on the circuit; that's par for the course for MWBCs.
Why do you need the sticker?
Think about it. Why did you (or the last person) overinstall the GFCIs in the first place?  Because the person who installed the upline GFCI (the one you are keeping) didn't use the stickers. (no one does). Your inspector quite correctly red-tagged the outlet. If the stickers had been used properly in the first place, none of this would have happened.


AC - frozen tubes, no air flowing when fan on and system off Last night I realized my AC stopped working. I turned the thermostat to 74 degrees and by the time I woke up the house temperature was 80 degrees. My home has a single Carrier compressor (obviously outside). The air handler, evaporator coil and blower are upstairs in the attic.

I spent the day troubleshooting and figured out a few things:

The refrigerant-filled tubes that come out of the compressor unit and into the house had ice around them, but right outside the compressor case and right before entering the house (see 2 pictures below).
The condenser seems to be working OK as I can see some water on it (see picture).
On the thermostat, when the system is off and the fan is on no air comes out of the registers (is my blower broken?). Every 5 minutes the attic makes a loud noise for about 10 seconds, a motor noise. I could smell burnt in my bedroom for a few minutes as well.
Return vent filters were replaced 3 weeks ago.
I cannot open the evaporator coils as the casing seems to be "glued" somehow with sparkling (??) or some sort of tape (see picture with red arrows).
There is a tube coming out of the furnace in the attic with some green liquid spill around it. I'm assuming it's the refrigerant liquid. Is this normal or is there a leak going on?
After speaking to an AC repair guy over the phone, he thinks the blower is broken. That makes sense and would explain the loud noise (blower trying to work) + the "burnt" smell + the fact that there is no air coming out of the registers even when the fan is set to "On" on the thermostat.

Any thoughts will be much appreciated.

Turn the system off and let it warm up this may take a while if the evaporator coil is frozen up. When a system charge is low icing of the coils is a indication. The fan motor may be bad but once fully defrosted it is possible it will work. (Thermal overload tripped and was just hot because the coils were iced up) . If you can not get into the evaporator coil the indoor one give it a good long time to thaw out there may be 20-40 pounds of ice in there and it takes a while. The green liquid could possibly be a leak we regularly narrow leaks down by spotting oil that has leaked. The green liquid could be condensate that has grown some green gunkies. Don't jump to conclusions I have seen systems do exactly what yours has done that worked after thawing. In these cases adding some Freon or in more severe cases pulling the system to a vacuum after repairing the leak and recharging has worked for me. The noise every 10 minutes may be the thermal overload on the fan resetting and then overheating from blocked coils. I did not see the photos on first review but the PVC line looks like your condensate line and it has been leaking could be plugged with algae or my technical term Green Gunkies.  The coil and drain need to be cleaned for health reasons! The heavy frost could be from a low Freon charge or the evaporator coil icing up and the heat exchange not occurring.  Since you can not open the evaporator get an HVAC person to do it it was probably sealed with calking that a razor knife can cut through the system must be opened and inspected at a minimum.


Can you re-crimp the end of a PEX tube? If you take apart an existing PEX connection, is it going to perform correctly if you re-crimp the same end of the tube - without cutting it - to a new fitting?

Often with PEX you can flex it a bit and get a little more length, and probably if that is the case you should cut a fresh end. But if you really have NO additional length to work with... would this work?

Assume that the tube end isn't damaged while removing it from the original fitting (which can be difficult). A really warped, cut, or otherwise mangled pipe end may pose a greater risk and isn't what I'm really thinking of. That said, even a carefully removed tube will have some distortion from the barbs it was pressed into.

Thanks

I think that you'd  probably have to ask your Pex manufacturer to get an official answer as to whether or not this is recommended.  But I can say based on personal experience that I've occasionally done what you propose without issue. And if you try it and it turns out not to work because the connection leaks, it will only have cost you a ~$0.50 crimp ring, plus however long it took you to cut off the original ring.


How big of access panel for DWV cleanout I have a 3" (I believe, maybe 4") DWV line that is running behind a basement wall.  There is a cleanout that I need to get access to and the cleanout is not flush with the wall.  I see that there are access panels by Oatey like the one below.  The question is 1) How large does this need to be (is 8" x 8" sufficient) and once the door is open, 2) how do you unscrew the cleanout cap since it's not flush with the wall and 3) How do you keep the materials to be cleaned out from falling behind the wall?  The plug is maybe 2" or so behind the drywall FWIW

An 8X8 will work great. These clean outs are rarely used, and should the occasion arise, the cavity around the clean out can be packed with towels around the perimeter of the pipe to keep what possible goo from getting out of hand.


What nail size for 1/2" bevel cedar siding? I am replacing some bad sizing of the house using this siding

https://www.dunnlumber.com/Store/ProductDetail.aspx?pg=2600&pl1=2418&pid=23649

SDG12616BVL

Bevel Siding Cedar Aye/Clear Kiln Dried Vertical Grain 1/2x6-16

What would be the ideal nail size/type to install using this Hitachi nail gun?

(I think it is the Hitachi / Metabo HPT KNR9050A 3-1/2" Framing Nailer and 2" Brad Nailer Combo Kit)

Thanks

Since it is cedar It needs to be fastened with stainless steel nails or otherwise you will  have issues with the tannins in the cedar. It will bleed gray if galvanized nails are used.

I would do this by hand to keep from cracking the siding, but if you want to use a nail gun, you will need a siding nail gun. The framing gun you have pictured will not be nice to the siding, it will set the nails way too deep. 2" nails will hold what you need as long as you have OSB or plywood subsiding. If your house is older and has 3/4" 1X laid diagonally it will work too. In any case nail into the studs. Set all your joints on the studs as well. Some folk set a piece of flashing under the joint, over the lower piece to redirect any water from getting too far into the joints. Tar paper strips have worked in the past as well but it was a very heavy grade of paper, 30lb felt at least.

To minimize splitting keep the nails about 1" up from the bottom, the lap of siding should be about 1 1/4", do not nail above the top of the lower piece for it will readily crack the siding. At least with hand nailing it is prone to, perhaps not so much with a nail gun.

Again I always nailed this by hand and if a piece cracked, it was cut shorter to eliminate the crack, which is a PITA, so that's why the hand nailing, for once a nail gun's trigger is pulled, what's done is done. Good or bad....


How can I mitigate humming from a streetside electrical transformer? I have humming coming in and I think it is from the green box on ground, electrical transformer, in the front yard. It also has a hum. I have reported to electric company, but I don't think they will do anything.

House built 2003. Florida. Land O Lakes Area. Neighborhood has underground electrical utilities. Green Transformer Box in the yard. Hum coming from box--can hear low noise constantly making noise. House--can almost not hear when walking around. Once sitting on furniture or laying on bed can be heard constantly. Would not have bought the house if I had hear it now stuck. Wanting to do something to make the noise go away.

Whole house hums. What steps can I take in the house or on the side of the house to stop the humming from coming into the house.

Anyone has suggestions and has been able to get results.

Thank you for any help.

That noise can really get annoying.

Hate to say it, but I'm not sure there is much you can do about it in your house. However, there are steps the utility company can take to mitigate it.

Here is a writeup of what you are dealing with:
https://electrical-engineering-portal.com/transformer-irritating-hum

They may have to adjust how it is mounted, or worst case (for them) change the transformer as some are noisier than others. You will probably have to be persistent.


Slow draining shower Advice please to clear shower drain. I have used bicarbonate soda and vinegar which didn’t help. Then I bought a snake auger but when I take chrome cover off shower drain, all I cannot see any sign of the hole leading to pipe work and I’ve tried feeling for it with flexible wire. If I look under the shower I can see where drain pipe goes off the trap but no entry hole when I try from shower tray.  I wondered if there was a hair trap which should lift out but plastic fitting seems to be secured into shower tray. I’ve tried turning it but no movement at all. I’d be grateful for any tips. I’d post photo but not sure how to add them.

I've dealt with this recently with two shower/tubs.
I'm going to assume that you mean a combo and just a shower because those (at least in my experience) go straight down.
For me, it was really hard to tell which way the drain went at the bottom, but it went straight back under the tub. Please don't take this to mean that yours necessarily does.
For the first one, I put a snake down and was able to get quite a bit of hair out. The snake ended up getting stuck on the way out and I deformed it some.
With the second, I just put some lye down the drain. This isn't really ideal especially if you have a septic field, but is fast and easy.


Want to install Lutron Occupancy Sensor, but confused on current switch wiring This is the original wiring, once I saw it I decided to not touch it. I don't know enough about this to make guesses. I know the bare/green from new switch would wirenut tie to the existing bare, but am at a loss how to handle the other 3 connections.
This is a single pole, controls light at top of garage ceiling. There are several other power outlets in the garage, which I'm guessing this acts as a sort of pass through?

This is the new light switch/sensor.

This looks like a MS-OPS2H-WH.
It doesn't require neutral so the wiring it simple.
For the two back wires that currently go to one terminal on the old switch, use a wire connector and twist those together with one of the black wires from the occupancy sensor (does not matter which one).
Connect the other black wire from the other old switch terminal to the remaining black wire from the new occupancy sensor.
Connect the green wire with the bare copper wire in the box.


How to make pressure treated wood look old quickly We are adding a porch onto our old tobacco barn and are using pressure treated lumber.

We started in July to prepare for my daughter's outdoor wedding in late October. I would like for the porch wood to look old like the barn.

I have seen a lot about making new wood look old by using a vinegar and rusty nail or steel wool solution, but no one ever discusses whether or not you can do this on fairly new treated lumber. It has been hot and dry since we began this project... can someone advise me on this?

Using a light gray and/or brown stain would be the only option I can think of that would work in that timeframe on PT lumber. If you apply it by dabbing/daubing with bundles of rags it might get a less uniform look, more "naturalistic" - particularly if you use a few different shades in multiple applications that are not (each) covering the whole surface.


Why is half of my house without power with no flipped breakers? The master bedroom and middle bedroom of my 3 bedroom mobile home is without power. None of the breakers have flipped. I even changed the breaker that controls that part of the house and my ceiling fan in my living room. Still nothing in those listed bedrooms, but the ceiling fan is working fine and I'm getting 115 VAC to the breaker. I was thinking it could be a short to one of the plugs in the middle room. It was working fine earlier in the morning. I went into the middle room to turn on an electric heater and everything went dark. I changed the plug and still nothing.

What should I do now?

Well usually when "half" of something dies in residential electrical, it means one hot leg is down. This could be an issue at the transformer, the wiring to your meter, the meter itself, the wiring from the meter to your main panel, the main breaker or a fault within your panel.

It is pretty easy to test for, you're just looking for 240v at the service entrance. If you get 240v there, the issue is downstream in your house wiring. If not then it's likely a utility issue.  Testing does however require testing live circuits.

Since it doesn't sound like you have the experience to troubleshoot this safely, your best bet is to contact a qualified electrician.   It might be necessary to then contact the utility depending on the outcome.


Hydronic heat radiators not used for long time - should they be drained? What should I do with radiators that have been out of action for about 3 years since the boiler went on the blink?

Is it better to drain the water out of the system while system is dormant?

It is better to keep a hot water hydronic heating system full of water all the time. This keeps air out, and prevents the inside of the radiators from rusting (assuming these are traditional cast iron rads). Recirculating the same water also helps limit the introduction of minerals from your water supply, so your rads and boiler won't clog up with mineral deposits. For these reasons, you shouldn't empty and re-fill your system more often than needed.

The exception is if your home will experience very cold temperatures, and the water could freeze. In this case you definitely want to drain the system to avoid having ice form and crack the rads.

If your system has had water in it for the last 3 years, I would not drain it unless you have reason to do so when repairing/replacing your boiler. Just bleed your radiators to ensure they are full of water. If the system has been empty, you may want to flush some water through to rinse out some sediment before reconnecting it to your boiler.


How can I extend existing 8 x 8 pilings? I am converting a deck to a boat lift. I have 8x8 sqaure pilings built at deck height, 2.5 ft above water.  I knew it might get converted into a boat lift so they are all in the correct location. But I need to splice/add appx 12' vertical to the existing pilings.  The joint will be below the deck height and will not show so asthetics are not an issue. Current choice is cut both pieces as flat as possiible and bolt metal plates on the outside.  But I have also considered dowels (which would need to be 2" dia.) or would be interested in some other type of joint.  Realize as far as tools go, that any joint will have to be cut into existing pilings about 1.5 ft above water level.

Maybe a timber post extender would work.

That, or steel plates bolted to the outside like you suggested.


What amps would I need for a variac fan controller? I'm looking for a variac controller for a fan. I found one, but it's available in different models based on amps.

How do I work out which controller would be the best one for my fan? My fan specs are: VK150, 230V, 80W

How can I work out the required amps needed to run the fan on a UK power supply?

Current (A) = Power (W) / Voltage (V)

In your case, power is 80 W and voltage is 230 V, so the current the fan draws is 0.34 A. Get a controller which can handle at least that much current.


How do I convert a double 60 amp breaker(hot tub box) to run 15 amp breaker powering an outside light and GFI receptacle? I am trying to run an outside light with a switch and GFI receptacle from a former hot tub panel that was double 60 amp breaker. My problem is that the switch does not function as normal. As soon as I turn on the breaker the light is on with the switch off. As soon as I turn the switch on, the breaker trips.  Is it because the 60 amp has 2 hots feeding it(red and black)?  If so what would be my best way to remove one of my hot feeds? Remove at the main panel?  Any suggestions would be quite appreciated. Thanks.

Here goes. From the main panel in the house is a double 60 amp breaker ran to a hot tub box with double 60s. The hot tub is gone and I replaced the 60s in the hot tub box with a 15 amp breaker. Then I ran it out to a pole with a light switch a GFI receptacle. I think the problem is 2 legs or 220v powering a 110v. Does this help?

You wired the switch from hot to neutral inadvertently, so when you turn it on, it creates a short circuit, which trips the breaker.

By the way, you did replace the 60A breaker with a 15A breaker, correct?


What do you think of this recent (unfinished) bathroom tiling work? We recently hired a contractor via a 3rd party bidding website for such projects.

There are several obvious mistakes or oversights here.
We've already allowed the contractor to correct some of his mistakes, but at this point we are convinced he is not experienced enough to do the job if even we gave him multiple chances to fix things.

Job details:

The contract says we need a $2000 deposit upfront to get the project
started and for materials/supplies.
The 2nd half of the payment would be $2700 upon completion.

  Please see these photos and tell me my frustrations are either justified
  or i'm just being picky. Keep in mind that the project is not complete.

Below: Corner edging for the niche.

Below: Ceramic floor tiles were cut to fit around the toilet (several tiles were destroyed in the process).

Below: Caulking in the niche.

Below: Noticeably uneven tile job (i.e. lippage?).

Below: Grout + caulking around the shower floor-pan edge is already cracking. Note that the edge here had large gaps between the floor-pan and the floor tiles. The contractor explained that he caulked it before the grout dried.

Below: New molding for floor/wall corner.

Below: Edge of wall tiles is very uneven (the higher you go up the more it leans to the left).

Note: I'm now aware that the wall/floor moulding may not be an issue as the contractor may have had something like this in mind.

The work is shoddy.

Toilet should have been lifted and tiled under.
2 x 4's for molding.
Inset opening - no Bull nose tiles on the inset.
Bad molding.
poor fit.
Plenty of other things here .

Directly to your questions and concerns ..

In your contract you paid 2K up front.
Look at your contract READ it.

You should with hold

The 2nd half of the payment $2700 upon completion.

It says upon Completion. Hope you paid the first half with a Credit
   Card.

The job is not complete - it is not properly or satisfactorily performed.
Get Free advice from an Attorney or spend $200 to discuss it with an Attorney. $200 is cheaper than $2700 and a bad tile job.

Disclaimer:

I am not an attorney and this does not constitute legal advice and is not a substitute for legal advice.

For those who decide to do this kind of selection of a contractor to perform work:

Get references,
Talk to those references.
View the results if possible (not pictures unless the references are providing them.
Pay with a Credit Card if you can as there is more recourse to get the issue resolved or your money back in the event you have an issue.


Does PVC conduit need a termination bushing at a service panel? I'm installing a panel with the feed conductors entering via 1-1/2" PVC. Is an end bushing, as shown here (for example), required by the U.S. NEC for PVC?

image source

From the NEC:

  352.46 Bushings. Where a conduit enters a box, fitting, or
  other enclosure, a bushing or adapter shall be provided to
  protect the wire from abrasion unless the box, fitting, or
  enclosure design provides equivalent protection.

The important part is bolded above - you need a bushing unless your fitting provides equivalent protection - that is, equivalent to the protection a bushing provides.

You'll probably terminate your conduit in your panel with either a PVC male terminal adapter:

or a PVC box adapter:

I think anyone would agree the box adapter provides protection equivalent to a bushing.

I believe it's generally accepted that a PVC male adapter does provide equivalent protection, but you might find someone that disagrees, and some of them are pretty sharp.  I usually ream them with lineman's pliers to take the edge off and do without the bushing.

The box adapters make a great connection but since they are cemented on, they are a pain if you have to remove and replace them.


Why won't my new powerstroke 5kW generator start? I purchased a power stroke 5,000 watt generator about a year ago. Only recently there have been some power issues in my area, which made me decide to take it out and get it ready. I purchased new gas & oil, but it would not start. I tried spraying gas in the carb, and still nothing. Any suggestions?

Most engines don't like to start after extended storage. One cause is a dry cylinder bore which prevents compression.

Solution: pull the spark plug and squirt a generous amount of oil into the cylinder. Like 25% of displacement. Turn the generator so the cylinder is vertical and leave it for a few hours so the oil can flow into the piston grooves. Return it to upright for 30 minutes (so fluids can drain to the proper position).

Very important: Cover the spark plug hole with paper towel and crank for 5-10 seconds. A considerable amount of oil should blow out of the plug hole. Now replace the plug and try starting again.


Do smoke detectors have to be hard wired in New Jersey? I'm rebuilding after a fire, and I need to know if the new smoke/co detectors need to be hard wired.

According to the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs, New Jersey has adopted the 2009 version of International Residential Code (at the time of writing). The 2009 IRC has this to say...

International Residential Code 2009
Chapter 3 - Building and Planning
Section R314 - Smoke Alarms
R314.4 Power source. Smoke alarms shall receive their primary power from the building wiring when such wiring is served from a commercial source, and when primary power is interrupted, shall receive power from a battery. Wiring shall be permanent and without a disconnecting switch other than those required for overcurrent protection. Smoke alarms shall be interconnected.
Exceptions:
1. Smoke alarms shall be permitted to be battery operated when installed in buildings without commercial power.
2. Interconnection and hard-wiring of smoke alarms in existing areas shall not be required where the alterations or repairs do not result in the removal of interior wall or ceiling finishes exposing the structure, unless there is an attic, crawl space or basement available which could provide access for hard wiring and interconnection without the removal of interior finishes.

Which means that not only do the smoke alarms have to be hardwired, they also have to have a backup battery and be interconnected. Unless of course you are generating your own power, or you're retrofitting a home and hardwiring is impracticable.


What kind of wood is around this fireplace? Take a look at this picture:

Could any one tell me what kind of wood that is around the fireplace? Is that just skirting board, or Dado rail or what?  I don't know what to look for.  Judging by the picture the wood is about 70mm wide (it looks about the same as the width of a brick).
I'm just having trouble finding something online that looks like it.

I'm in the UK by the way- I've had a scout around on B&Q and Wickes website...

It is called Casing and is mainly used around doors and windows.


Cleaning carpet after candle hot liquid We got candle pot for scent which was dropped by a guest and the hot candle separated into the carpet. How can I take it off? It is like the candle it isfrozen onto carpet .

My wife and daughter love those scented wax things, we have had several spills on carpet, I found making a dam around the area and filling with hot water the wax melted and floated to the surface a few seconds later the water was cool enough the wax became solid again then we used a dry towel to soak up the excess moisture. The water was not boiling hot just above the melting point of the wax. I figured out the temp needed by floating the plastic container that the cubes came in a pan of water on the stove once the wax melted I pulled the holder out let the water get a little warmer then filled my little dam (a hand towel) so the water was above the fibers. In 1 room the carpet backing is plastic and I was worried the hot water might damage the backing but it was fine, the second room this has happened in is wool carpet and it worked even better on that.


Why is one light staying on when the switch is off? Can anyone help,

I have a lighting/wiring problem, I have two lights in front room controlled by one dimmer switch, the problem is one stays on permanently and one switches on and off and dims.

The switch wire goes to the light that goes on and off, then the second light (the one staying on) is fed from that light by a single 3 core 1.5m cable.

The light staying on only has the one cable entering it, the other has 4 cables entering.

The configuration in the light staying on is one single earth (green/yellow), one single neutral (black) and one single live (red), each seperated into the light fitting in seperate terminals.

The configuration in the light switching off is currently all four live wires (red) bundled together into a seperate terminal block (not connected to light fitting), three neutral wires (black) all bundled together going into the neutral of this light, all four earth wires (green/yellow) bundled together going into the earth of this light and one neutral wire (black with a red sleeve) going into the live of this light, something is obviously wrong but I can't figure out what it is, any help would be much appreciated

The red wire that goes to the second light (that is bundled with the rest of the reds at the first light), needs to be connected to the black with red sleeve wire. Since it's currently bundled with the rest of the red (hot) conductors, the light is always getting power. The black wire with a red sleeve is the switched hot lead, and only has power when the switch is on.


Why do small vents at top of garbage disposal blow out water when sink drains? I just finished replacing the mounting gasket of my In-Sink-Erator Badger 5 as I thought that was the cause of occasional water on the floor of the kitchen cabinet. Admittedly I never diagnosed the problem, I just figured it for an old, nasty and dried out gasket and maybe dried out plumbers putty.

Well while testing my installation I noticed water dripping off the unit. This happened after I plugged the drain and filled to about 2" (approximately 1 gal. of water) and then pulled the drain. Further investigation revealed this happens everytime I filled the sink and pulled the drain. It would drain for 2-3 seconds and then start spitting water out of 3 ports arrayed around the top rim, below the gasket bottom edge. It sounds like air vents out first, then as the drain line backs up a bit the water begins to blow out said vent holes.

Here is a photo of one of the holes

I can't find anything about these holes online, I don't understand what they are for? It's weird because it seems like it IS part of the design to vent here, but then the water flows down the case and follows the through bolts which directs the water to the interior of the motor case - dangerous and destructive!

I'd like to know:

Why this is happening?
What the holes are for?
If there is a common solution, what is it?

I ended up epoxying the holes closed and so far have not had any negative consequences.


What to do with dislodged asbestos? I had my roof repaired, and in the process much of the popcorn from my popcorn ceiling (built in the 1970s in the US) fell all over my floor. Is it safe to vacuum it up?

What should I do with it?

I recently abated my house's asbestos exterior siding and did a LOT of research before doing so.

The short answer is, don't vacuum it. Use something wet to pick it up (like mopping or a carpet shampoo machine) instead. Mostly, you'll be fine.

I called my municipal inspector, state regulator, and the national advisory council and they all gave me the same answers. They compared the risks of asbestos with the risks of cigarettes. With cigarettes, any given cigarette could kill you. More cigarettes means more opportunities to find "the one" that does.

Asbestos is NOT like that. Asbestos does, in fact, damage your lungs anytime you breathe some, but it's the same kind of damage as typical dust. The problem is ACCUMULATION, not probability.

For more detail, there are three types of asbestos. The smallest kind is too small to do any damage. The large kind is big enough that your body deals with it very well. The medium kind causes problems. So that's most of the asbestos that's not a problem. The remainder will do damage, but it's nothing you'd even be able to measure. The problem is when that damage accumulates from many many exposures over a period of decades.

They gave me 3 pieces of advice.

Firstly, it's not dangerous if you can't breathe it. In most cases, this means it's safer to leave it alone than to try an abate it. In my case, this meant trying not to break the tiles any more than necessary.

Secondly, wearing a mask is really effective. I used a typical dust mask that filtered pollen. You can find more official recommendations for what is rated for filtering asbestos.

Lastly, keeping it wet will keep it out of the air. This relates to your vacuum idea. Using a vacuum will make it easier to breathe the stuff.

My recommendation would be to spray the floor with soapy water to keep it from going up in the air (carpet or hard floor). If it's on a hard floor, just mop it up, dig a hole and bury the sludge that you mopped up. You might throw out the mop, too. If it's on a carpet, I'd use a shop vac to suck up the water. Water, vacuum, repeat until you feel like you got it all. Bury the water if it makes you feel good, but even just throwing it out isn't going to hurt anyone.

Now, there's an important caveat... you need to check the local regulations. Neither the Federal government, nor the state of Texas have any regulations about a homeowner abating their own asbestos. None at all. The only requirements were when I took it to the dump. They just wanted it in marked trash-bags... then it just got dumped in with all the rest of the trash.

Your jurisdiction might have regulations about how you dispose of asbestos as a private homeowner.

The important thing to remember is that it's the lawyers who have made it scary. MOST governments don't have any regulations at all for private owners taking care of their own home. But it's important for you to do your own research. I've done a lot, but I'm not ACTUALLY an expert.


Priming Over Older Primer I've decided to paint. What I had originally thought was a gaudy awful eggshell white flat paint on the the walls of the ENTIRE house was ACTUALLY PRIMER. I've painted (priming first of course) the main living areas. I'm now on to the bathrooms.

My conundrum is this: Do I / SHOULD I use a latex primer or mildew killing primer? This is the spare bathroom so it doesn't get a lot of shower usage per say. It doesn't have mildew that see; however I know Kilz has a mildew killing primer and wondered if "an ounce of prevention..." would be fitting. The primer in there now seems to have held up rather well. However, I don't want to put really nice paint (for bathrooms of course) on the walls only to have it begin to deteriorate in a few months or worse - when my first guest showers and water splashes somewhere.

I wouldn't worry about mildew resistance primer. Since the walls are already primed, what I would do is buy a semi-gloss latex paint. The semi-gloss will resist the water penetrating it and you shouldn't have to worry about mildew.


When installing new stud in existing frame, does the stud have to be the *exact* height of the inside of the frame? I am about to install two new studs into my wall's frame.  I noticed that the studs are about 1/16th of an inch shorter than the inner height of the frame.  That doesn't appear to be a lot to a layman such as myself, but these studs are going to need to be able to support a layer of drywall and a layer of QuietRock fastened to a hat track that's mounted onto Genie Clips.

One stud is being sistered in directly next to another (thx, Evil Greebo) and the other stud is going right between two studs.  Will the 2 1/2" and 3 1/2" wood screws I will be using to install the studs be enough to counter the 1/16" gap between the top and bottom or will I need to get a longer stud and make an exact cut so that it goes in snug?

For the sistered stud, it makes no difference. All the load is transfered to the adjacent stud and there won't be any movement if you use enough screws and the adjacent stud is properly installed.

For the other side, just make sure the stud is resting firmly against the base plate and screw it down, leaving any slack between the stud and top plate. If there's too much movement, either cut a new stud or put a shim up there. But since none of this is load bearing (in terms of the structure, not your drywall), there's no need for the cuts to be perfect. Just make sure that once installed and screwed in, there isn't any play in the stud, and you'll be fine.


AFCI/GFCI Breakers Trip Intermittently/Simultaneously I have a 4 month-old house with a 200A Square D Homeline panel. There are AFCIs on some circuits, and others are AFCI/GFCI. I am having NO problem with the AFCI breakers. But here in the last several weeks, three of the AFCI/GFCI breakers in the panel have started tripping intermittently, usually with no load on them. One AFCI/GFCI serves a single dedicated 20A laundry room outlet, another is to the master bathroom, and the third one serves 2 - 20A outlets in the kitchen. Interestingly, these three breakers are connected to the same busbar in the panel at slots #12, #14, and #18.  The AFCI/GFCI breakers on the other busbar have no problem. The three breakers all trip simultaneously. I can reset them, then they can be just fine for a couple of days or a couple of hours before they trip again. This doesn't seem to be related to connected loads.  I can run tools and kitchen appliances without problems until some unknown event kicks all three breakers off. Could this be a problem on the power company's side of the electrical service?  Any and all advice appreciated!!

The part where you said they all trip simultaneously and the fact they're all back-to-back makes me suspect of a bad buss bar.  Other than that there should not be any correlation between any of these isolated circuits.  It's plausible, but highly unlikely the manufacturer shipped out a bad case of breakers and the installer just happened to install them back-to-back but realistically not heard of.  Just replace or as Trevor mentioned in his comment swap the known good AFCI with known bad ones and check buss bar for burnt marks.  See what happens.


How can I make thicker interior door slabs work as replacements for thinner slabs? I screwed up when ordering new door slabs. Measured everything except the thickness, and, of course, I wasn't lucky.

Anyway, the door is pre-mortised, and it won't close because it is too thick. I am trying to figure out the best way to proceed given the fact that it is pre-mortised and with the holes for lock-sets.

Can I simply trim the door stop with a circular saw or a router? If not, what other options do I have?

Thank you.

You can't (practically speaking) make your slabs thinner. It would be a monumental undertaking considering the nature of hollow-core doors and symmetrical mortising. You can either move the stops or get new slabs and start over.

To move the stops, slice the paint with a utility knife, then work a steel putty knife behind the stop to loosen it. Gently pry the stop loose. Sand, fill, and paint the jambs.

Determine whether the stops are salvageable with sanding and repainting. Reinstall using trim nails and filler, and apply a final coat of paint.


Tub faucet pressure starts strong then drops off Only my tub fauce water pressure starts great, then after 5 seconds it drops off.

It happens on both hot and cold settings.

What could be causing this?

Thanks in advance for any advice.

I think you've got debris in the lines & the tub is the perfect place to flush it all out. You'll want to turn on the closest faucet, with the aerator removed, to the Main Water Shut-off for the whole house & then turn off The Main.

You'll want to leave that closest faucet open for now & turn The Main on & off several times to make sure it itself is scraped clean & only clean water is coming out of that faucet. It's common for The Main to accumulate mineral build-up. Then, turn off that faucet, reinstall its aerator & turn The Main off.

Now, you'll need to go to the tub & remove those handles & their valves, if you have 2 of them. If you have a single handle, then that handle, its wall-plate & its cartridge need to come out. Then, shut the tub drain & door or curtain & go turn on The Main to flush everything into the tub.

That should clear everything & get you back to normal. If you're unfamiliar or uncomfortable then take pictures as you go or call a plumber to do this operation.


How can I prevent water from puddling on a shower ledge? I'm about to paint/re-caulk the walls above a fiberglass shower.  There's a ledge that I'd just as soon eliminate by putting in something to slope and prevent water from puddling in the corner (shown in photo).  What can I use to fill the void?

Short of recasting the tub I can only think of one solution:  Water always flows downhill, so if you can get some shims under that end of the tub to elevate it enough that water flows away from the wall you're set.  Otherwise invest in a squeegee and wipe the ledge diligently after using the shower.


ground level deck drainage suggestions? I am Looking for ideas to keep water from pooling under a new ground-level deck.

The frame in the photo  was dug 8-10inches below the ground. I'm using composite decking so I need minimum 6 inches clearance from the dirt.

Do I go with French drain trenches diverting water out from under the deck ?

I like what you've done keeping the framing above grade. However, are those poured piers or are they concrete blocks sitting on grade? Hard to tell in the pic. Since you're asking about drainage, ground water is apparently a concern in your area. If that is so you first want to make sure that you sink piers to give your deck proper stability. No matter how good your drainage system is any foundation sitting on grade will eventually be compromised by ground water.
Assuming your piers are stable building french drains under and around the deck to channel away ground water is a good approach. You shouldn't get a lot of precipitation passing through the deck. The main concern is to grade around the deck to channel water into the french drains and away from the deck. Likewise proper grading under the deck should prevent pooling and move it into the drains.


Are louvered bedroom doors allowed by code? I'd like to build new rail and stile type interior bedroom doors with slats installed in the panel openings. This would be for improved air flow. This story on ABC ("Closing your bedroom door at night could save your life in a fire") makes me think there might be code requirements in place to not have anything but a solid bedroom door.

If a solid door is required, I could install the slats as planned, backed by safety glass to give the impression of a "breezy" door, and have some manual louvers in place that could be used to control air flow.

The only INTERIOR door mentioned in the code is the door between the garage and an interior room in the house. (The code requires it to be fire rated...basically it needs to be solid core, the frame needs to have rabbeted frames (no applied stops), side hinged and it must have a latch...not a catch.)

EXTERIOR doors need to have a certain energy rating.

IMHO I think you should sleep with the door open, so you can hear the smoke alarm in the hall.


What did I drill into? I used a 3/32 drill bit for a pilot hole into my dry wall, directly in between 2 wooden studs that were about 32 inches apart, and about 18 inches from the ceiling (of a 1 story house). I mistakenly thought that there was another stud there because the magnetic stud finder was picking something up there. I immediately hit metal behind the drywall, and when I ran my magnetic stud finder along this line, I realized that almost the entire length of this vertical line was metal. What did I hit, and do I need to open the drywall to see if I caused any damage to anything important?

If the magnetic stud finder is showing response across a good part of the stud cavity then there is probably a metal duct in the wall. This could be a stove hood vent, a dryer vent or a heating duct.

If the magnetic finder is showing just a narrow range near where you drilled the hole then the item in the wall might be a metal pipe such as a sewer vent stack, an iron water pipe or an iron gas pipe. Since the first two examples would be pretty rare to use iron pipe I would put biggest odds on a gas pipe.

There is another possibility that you ran into a metal electrical conduit.


What is the pointed end of a spud or construction adjustable wrench used for? I saw one of these at Lowe's the other day and was just wondering what the pointed end is used for. I have seen it called a "construction" wrench and a "spud" wrench.

Same thing you use a Marlin Spike for. (Tapered steel rod with a mushroom head on one end to strike with a mallet or dead blow) It's an alignment tool for drilled holes in metal building frames.

During assembly, the bolt holes don't necessarily line up, so you stick the tapered tail through the mating holes in the construction item, lever them around till the adjacent holes line up, slap a bolt through, affix a nut and washer and then use the wrench end to tighten.

Note: Landlubber term is Drift Pin or Bull Pin. Alignment Punch would be the technical name any machinist or mechanic would recognize. When an ocean going tug captain decides that it's more lucrative to run his boat up a slough, pull the engine and use it to power a sawmill operation, he's already been using a tapered steel rod to splice hawser cable. And when he needs to line up pieces of equipment on shore, he repurposes the Marlin Spike for more or less what he's been doing with it all along, using it as a multipurpose prybar, alignment tool and general persuader of anything that isn't quite in the right place. And the name he knew it as followed him into the big mill where he became head millwright.


How close can soldered and threaded joints be? I would like to extend this pipe (outdoor sillcock) with copper by soldering a female adapter on the extending pipe and then putting this threaded male into it. Then, I would like to continue on from the other end of the extending pipe (roughly 6") by using elbows etc, which would involve soldering (high heat) near a threaded joint that has pipe dope or teflon tape and my concern is, considering that copper conducts heat very well, whether that's too much heat in close proximity (a few inches) to the thread sealant, which may severely compromise it.

If I cannot unscrew the pipe and solder it I will wrap a very wet rag to the end that has the combination plastic/copper fittings and sweat the new fittings on. I use Mapp Gas as it is hotter and works better with non lead solders than propane. I do burnish the pipe and fitting with abrasive and use water based flux. I have done this as close as 3" to a composite fitting without damage. If you notice the rag starting to steam you may need more water on it “dripping wet” keeps the heat from traveling and melting the plastic parts.


what is the right drainage system around a floating crawlspace foundation? 4 years ago I bought a house in a town on the Canadian border of MN.
What I didn't realized was...the property is sloping and my neighbor filled his property up so it's half a foot higher than mine.
Combined with the slope...I have quite a bit of water running diagonal towards the house and then it seems to collect on the opposite corner of the house because that is the wettest area in the crawlspace and the room above barely warms up during the winter.
I had issues with outside doors not closing and cracks in the sheet rock.
So to make it short ...I need a drainage system, but I get confused about the different systems.
Is a French drain around the house and at the property lines to my neighbors the right approach?
Do I put the pipe just above the T shape footing or do I go lower since it is so cold up here?
As I understand, a floating footing is only 14-16" deep.
I noticed that they left the footing forms in the ground...They should have came off, right?
I plan on digging myself and would like to take this opportunity to insulate the footing and wooden crawlspace from the outside.
So do I put concrete paint on or not?
Then insulation sheets and then membrane ...or is that overdoing it?
Do I start at the highest end of the house/property and work my way down with the slope of 6" per 10'?
I can run the drain to a storm water ditch, I already asked.
I know these are a lot of questions and I hope someone can answer them because I only want to do this once and hopefully have all my issues resolved.

There are too many questions in this to do a good job of answering so I will tackle the most important one.

I would build a French drain from above the house along the property line:  build it as high up the property as you can afford to go and at least 3' deep.  The depth will help capture both surface and subsurface water movement.  If you also have water coming down the slope to the top of the property, a drain 20-30' in front of the house that is higher on one side sloping down to where it can tie into the property line drain would be the best starting point to try and reduce the water issues.

If there is still standing water in the lowest corner, you may have to dig a trench under the footer and install another drain there, though not as deep as the main one along the property line going straight downhill until it is at the surface and gravity will keep the crawl space dry.

When I put drains in I use the perforated pipe that comes in a sock. It prevents the small gravel from getting in the holes and filling the pipe. pipe in sock it cost more but really helps over the years.


Can I use these tree stumps for a table? I took two tree stumps of approximately 35 cm in diameter and stuck them inside my living room.

I read that, if I seal the ends with a strong varnish, it will allow them to dry out through the sides more slowly and thus I can start using them.

Now I'm about to attach a table top, meaning that both top and bottom of the stumps will be covered as it dries.. And I'm thinking I should probably get some second opinions to make sure that I won't come across any unpleasant surprises.

There are bugs behind the bark, but I got the idea that the main part of them will stay inside the tree and peel off with the bark in a year or so.

I would not let the bugs remain either, If it is cold outside where you are now as it is here in MD USA, the warm inside temps will make the bugs quite active again. I had that happen with a cherry burl I was turning, luckily I put it in a large clear plastic bag solely for the purpose of slowing moisture loss to reduce checking. After a few days I checked the bag and there were hundreds of carpenter ants crawling around inside.
The varnish, or any paint, even wax that seals the end grain will reduce the amount of rapid moisture loss, and there for reduce the amount of checking. Without the sealer, it will split more aggressively.


Do neutral wires need to connect? I'm replacing a few light switches to new WeMo smart switches. The instructions show the neutral wire from the new switch connecting to the existing neutral wire.

I have an outlet with 2 switches and 4 existing neutral wires. The 2 additional neutral wires (one from each new switch) will make 6 total wires. This seems like too much to crush into a connector.

Can I connect 3 and 3 separately, or do all 6 need to connect together?

So you have 6 neutrals: supply, neutral to two lamps, and pigtails from the outlet and 2 switches.

If your wire-nuts are not certified for 6 wires, you can use a 6” jumper and nut them 3 and 3 (well, 4 and 4 with the jumper).

Now this will come up if you have two hots coming from the breaker box:  Every neutral has a partner "hot" - that's most obvious in Romex 14/2 where you have a white and a black. These are monogamous partners: hots do not share their neutrals with other hots. The reason is circuit protection.  If a neutral wire breaks, you want the circuit to go dark, you do not want another neutral to be overloaded trying to handle double load.  Neutrals do not have circuit breakers.   So if you have two hots, you must be careful to keep the neutrals paired with the hots everywhere they go, so all the current always returns on the partner neutral.  This is mandatory with GFCI breakers, since they compare current flow on hot vs neutral to detect leakage.

It is OK to tie grounds together.


How do I replace insulation in the corner? I'm re-insulating a room in my house, and have come to the corner.  The studs are arranged like so:

x| | |
-
-

x = the space I'm talking about, | = studs of an interior wall, - = studs of an exterior wall.

Peeking in, I can see there is some loose fibreglass insulation in there.

Question:  What should I do about that space?  I can see 3 possibilities

Try to rip out as much of the existing insulation as possible (maybe with a linoleum knife?), and try to re-fill with Roxul (the insulation I'm using for the rest of the project.
Same as 1, but fill the space with Big Gap Filler
Don't try to remove the existing insulation, and just stuff a little more Roxul in there.

What would people who actually know what they're doing suggest?

I wouldn't attempt to remove the existing insulation unless there's a health hazard (e.g. mold). It was put there during the middle of framing because of how difficult the space is to access. My personal solution would be to spray a little big gap filler in there because it's designed to expand and provide an airtight seal. Other types of insulation, like fiberglass and Roxul lose their effectiveness when compressed. Much of the insulation in them comes from trapping air in pockets. So you'd get less efficiency after cramming it through a small crack.


How to fix a slow draining sink? I have a bathroom sink that has started to drain slowly.  There are 2 sinks in that bathroom, and the other sink drains just fine.  The pipes and joints are PVC and the construction is fairly new.  We are careful not to allow anything except soap and water to go down both drains (well, and whatever the soap is removing, of course, but there are no large particles or grease).

I get dirty a lot, so the slow-draining sink gets a lot of action from me washing my hands.  I'm thinking maybe it is soap buildup causing it to drain slowly.  Does that sound like a reasonable hypothesis?

I've tried a few soap buildup drain cleaner products, and they all help a little, but not too much.  After a month or so, I need to do it again.

How can I make the water drain quickly and prevent this issue from happening again?

It it is a new build, then removing the trap under the sink will not be an issue.  Just loosen the nuts, remove the trap (have a pan underneath) and then clean the trap.  This is most likely the source of the slow draining.  If the trap looks clean, then get a hand auger  (snake) to clean the drain line.  It is best to do this with the trap out.  Hand augers are typically half the cost of a plumber call.  If it is still slow, then your drain vent might be clogged.  At this point, it is usually cost effective to call a plumber to clear the line.


Can I have 2 45 degree angles in my wall from drain to vent? Can I have 2  45 degree angles with a 8 inch piece of 2inch  to my bathroom sink? The drain pipe is over to far to be in side my vanity. The the clean out and vent pipe will go strait up threw my roof from there.

If those are the only bends, and they are horizontal, and the total trap arm length is less than 5 feet, then yes. Trap arms can go thru no more than 90 degrees of bends without a clean out. Not including the vertical bends at the trap and at the drain/vent connection.


Painting acoustic drywall with large perforations I have a wall of acoustic drywall in my studio and I'd like to paint it another colour, but it has these cut-out holes in it which aren't painted, they're just white, how should I go about painting it so i either don't get paint on the walls of the holes or cover the walls fully?

Since the holes are deep and there are many of them, I wouldn't try to paint them. I'd use a thin-nap (1/4") or foam roller and just paint the surface of the wall. If you keep the roller fairly well wrung out you shouldn't see significant squeeze into the holes.

You might need to have a scrap of plywood or cardboard on hand to pre-roll, making the paint load more uniform and light. Also, it may take several light coats.

Oops. I was focusing on the dimples on the horizontal panels and didn't see that the ones on the wall in that photo are different.

Original answer:

I would use a foam brush and dab all the dimples first, then a thin-nap (1/4" or thinner--maybe a foam roller) to roll the entire wall. Apply several light coats so you aren't squeezing paint out into the dimples.

This would also be a good use case for a sprayer. Either a rented commercial sprayer or an inexpensive airless should do.


Where can I find replacement light bulbs for this bathroom? This bathroom had two dead lightbulbs, and two other ones are starting to become dimmer.
However, their shape is rather peculiar, and I've had no luck when looking for an identical replacement online.
Can these bulbs be replaced by a similar-looking equivalent, and which one?

As your last photo notes, it’s a G25 bulb, also known as a globe bulb. Your particular ones are compact fluorescent but they were originally incandescent and are also available in LED, which I’d recommend.
A simple web search for “G25 light bulb” returns many matches, including Home Depot and Lowe’s.


Wire Ceiling fan with two switched hots and ground but no common wire age description here][1]2Installing new ceiling fan with a remote. Pulled the old fan down and from the ceiling I have a black wire, a white wire wrapped in black electrical tape and a bare ground wire coming from ceiling. I have a single switch on one side of kitchen that controlled the light to old fan. On other side of kitchen I have a double switch, one controlled fan, the other the light. Not sure how to handle not having a neutral wire for the new fan. Any advice appreciated.

First order of business: fix the bootleg job

The original installer of the fan couldn't be arsed to put a /3 cable in, so they used the two insulated wires as hot and bootlegged neutral off of ground in the fan box.  Your first order of business with this project is to untangle the work of said dimwit, and that's pretty simple, as you figured out already:

Take the fan-half of the switch out of service by disconnecting it and removing the pigtail that went there
Take the black tape off the white wire at the switch end and bundle it in with the rest of the neutrals in the box
And, take the black tape off the white wire at the fan end and move the fan's neutral from the ground bundle to it

If you're content with using the remote as a (loseable) pullchain, this is sufficient, with everything on a single 3-way switch as a result of this setup.  If you want a better integrated system though, with wallbox controls and a remote that work together in harmony, then read on: there are two ways to skin this cat, each with different trade-offs.  They also require your fan to be compatible with third party controls -- some cheaper fans use an integrated remote system that renders them incompatible with wallbox fan controllers, unfortunately.

If you don't mind "point and shoot"

If you like an integrated, fully-supported system, but don't mind "point and shoot" operation, then I would look at the Lutron Maestro IR MIR-LFQMT family of combination dimmer/fan controllers.  These, as the name implies, use an IR remote control, similar in operating mechanism to a TV remote, to provide remote control functionality.  As a result, you have to point the remote at the master wallbox control to use it, which may or may not be an issue, depending on room layout.  However, in exchange for this, you get "out of the box" operation, with no configuration settings and minimal setup required.

In your case:

The master and accessory wallbox controllers can go at either position, replacing the existing fan switches -- common wire (hot or switched) to black, traveler wires to brass, and a ground pigtail to the green screw.
And the canopy module wires just like a normal fan remote receiver does

Once you turn the breaker back on, you will need to perform a brief setup procedure in order to establish communications between the master controller and the canopy module.  From there, you can enjoy your fan!

If you want more flexibility

If "point and shoot" remote operation is an unacceptable constraint, it is possible to build out a system that provides both RF-remote and wallbox control, but it requires some configuration work, and is a bit more expensive than the Lutron package.

You'll need for this:

An Insteon FanLinc fan/light canopy module
Two Insteon KeypadLinc modules (6 or 8 button, your choice)
An Insteon remote control keypad
And fan button sets for each (if you wish)

The FanLinc gets wired up at the canopy, just like any other fan remote receiver module.  The KeypadLink modules are both wired up as secondaries, with their line-hot terminal connected to the junction of the common (hot) and black traveler wires, the red traveler wire capped off at each end, their neutrals connected to the neutral bundles in each box, and their grounds tied into the ground bundles in each box.  Finally, the remote control keypad needs no wiring, just a good charge before you go in and start setting up the Insteon system to provide your desired controls.


Remove a screw with a broken head Used an impact driver to screw into a (pre-drilled) stud. The head of the cheap screw broke off, just about flush with the drywall. How do I remove this screw?

Knock out the drywall around it until you can grab it with locking pliers. Either unscrew it or break it off (if it broke going in it may not want to come out any more cooperatively.) Spackle the hole and move whatever it is that caused you to drill it up or down a little bit so the new hole does not line up with the old one if the screw is broken off in place.


nail through romex copper wire I'm replacing my flooring, when I removed one of the baseboards it revealed a electrical wire nailed to the floor. What really has me worried now is there WAS 1 area where the previous owner has a nail going through the electrical wire.
"WAS" is because they had the baseboard caulked to the floor and some must have gotten on to the electrical wire as I was trying to removed the baseboard by pulling it up I guess I pulled the wire through the nail. Now there is a hole in the wire.
This wire is attached to a electrical outlet for my fridge and it is working fine.
I only lived in this house for 5 years and it's been like this until I discovered it. Do I have to be worried about it? I was planning on just taping up the damaged area.

I opened it up, good news the nail went in between the ground and hot wire, insulation on hot wire has a little scratch, but wire not exposed. But the ground wire where the nail touched turned green. Is it safe?

Known damaged wires in a hidden location? Not a good idea. It could be "just on the edge" such that movement over time will eventually cause arcing and a fire.

The best thing to do is to replace the cable. The problem is that you can't simply wire-nut in a section of cable. The connections need to (a) be in proper junction boxes and (b) accessible for maintenance. Inside a floor or under a baseboard is not considered accessible. Your options are:

Replace the entire cable from the receptacle back to the next junction box (which could be another receptacle or the main panel or sometimes something else). The problem is that it can sometimes be quite hard to do this.
Splice using connectors certified for hidden use. See [Is there a way to simply splice in an additional length of 12/2 NM-B cable? for an answer that is one possible solution.
Replace the cable with a cable going a different, easier, route, such as connecting in to another nearby circuit. The catch is that if your refrigerator is on a circuit by itself, you may want to keep it that way to avoid a number of possible problems.


How do I remove a flush mounted ceiling light fixture dome? My bedroom has a very nice looking flush mounted ceiling light with a glass dome. However, all the bulbs have gone out and I cannot get the glass out to replace them. I'm 5'4" and standing on the bottom corner of my bed I can reach up with my arms fully extended and handle the glass on the bottom and along the very small lip / edge of the glass dome but it doesn't slide or move in either direction. According to a messageboard post I found, the glass dome type of light fixture should move 1/8 of the way counter-clockwise to be removed but I can't get it to budge in either direction. I am at my wits end; HOW can I get this glass dome out? The glass has thus far ignored my curses and yells.

Also my room is pretty small, I can't move my bed anywhere else to get on a stepladder beneath the fixture.

Here is a picture of a similar model:

ETA: I have tried both gloves and exerting sideways turning pressure instead of upward turning pressure. I need to borrow or buy a larger stepladder, but I don't know how much it will help since I think I am getting as much traction and leverage I am going to get with my hand strength. Someone suggested I superglue something to the glass to use as a handle, so I guess I will try that next.

FINAL EDIT: My roommate (who has 6 inches and probably 50 pounds on me) was able to remove the glass after about 5 diffucult minutes of loosening the dome while wearing texturized rubber gloves. His hands are bigger and doubtlessly stronger than mine, which was mostly what granted him victory over the light. I'm glad I didn't have to glue handles to it, but still frustrated by what I maintain is a terrible design for a light fixture. My hands might be on the small side, but it shouldn't be impossible to change lightbulbs if you're on the smaller end of the human spectrum.

I had a very similar light, and the key was this:

Any upward pressure exerted from grabbing the glass created friction that made it not turn.

You want to touch as lightly as you can, near the edges, and try to apply rotational energy only, with no pushing up.

Unfortunately, that is roughly impossible to do if you're reaching so high that you need to press up on the glass to maintain balance. So, you still need to solve the problem of getting higher (and you should NOT climb on anything placed on a bed unless it's highly stable).  But if you can get a bit closer, try less pressure, rather than more.

It feels very counter intuitive, but it helped me in a similar circumstance.

One other thing that may help, suggested by none other than @Joel Spolsky, was to try using rubber or latex gloves to allow you to produce more friction without more pressure.


I need help removing a support beam Hi my question is I have a support beam I want to replace the 8 support posts. And just put 2 at each end of the beam .so that I can open up the space . My question is can I use steel post or do I need to stick to 2×4's. I am using 3 2by4 put together .. which is stronger?

Posts are placed under a beam in very specific places for very specific reasons.  You most likely cannot move those posts at all without compromising the integrity of the beam and whatever is sitting on top of it.

If you really wish to open up the space, you must consult with an engineer to determine what could possibly be done.  Most likely, the scope would be way beyond what you wish to tackle.


Why does my window air conditioner cool but not dehumidify? I have a brand-new 5000 BTU Frigidaire window air conditioner, and it seems to work fine except that it doesn't reduce the humidity in the room.

I turned it on last night, and the temperature was 81 °F with 63% humidity, and when I woke up this morning it was 72 °F with 70% humidity.

I thought that dehumidification was necessary in how air-conditioners worked. How could an air conditioner cool the air without removing the moisture?

Don't forget that the percentage humidity is RELATIVE. Cold air cannot contain as much moisture as warm air. For the same amount of water in the air, the relative humidity will increase as the temperature drops. By consulting a psychrometric (humidity) chart, I see your overnight run removed 19 grains of water per pound of dry air. If you rewarmed the morning air back to 81 deg F, the relative humidity would be about 52%. Or, if you cooled the initial air to 72 deg F without removing any moisture, you would get a relative humidity of around 88%. So despite the higher relative humidity reading, moisture was removed.

The moisture removed is a function of the temperature of the evaporator coils in the A/C unit and the volume of air flowing through it. As bib pointed out, the unit may not have been actually running that much, reducing the volume of air passing through the coil, and thus minimizing the dehumidification effect.

If you continue to cool the same air and avoid introducing additional moisture, the humidity level will eventually be reduced. It will take some patience.


how do I switch on the water supply to my dishwasher? I don't know how to turn on the water supply to our dishwasher. There is a blue tap on the pipe which I am not able to move. I am afraid to break something if I use too much force

That is a standard type of valve used in the UK for connecting a water supply to appliances like dishwashers. It is sometimes called an "appliance valve".

Usually the appliance is supplied with a cold-fill water hose that looks like this

Though they vary and sometimes the other end of the hose is permanently attached inside the appliance.

The blue lever will turn through 90 degrees in one direction only. In your case it isn't clear from the picture whether there is enough room - the wooden partition or the flexible hose "nut" may interfere.

You can actually open the valve by forcing the lever the wrong way. It will break part of the lever but this isn't catastrophic - the valve will still work.

In the worst case you can undo the screw and remove the blue plastic lever. This will expose a  square metal end that you can turn using an appropriate tool (ideally the right sized spanner or socket but mole-grips will work).

If you remove the plastic lever it should be obvious which way it should turn - there will be a protusion in the metal casting that blocks the movement of the plastic lever in one direction.


Is a duplex receptacle counted as one or two outlets for branch calculations? When counting receptacles or outlets for a branch circuit (where the limit is typically 10 or 12 outlets), does a typical duplex receptacle count as one or two? It seems that they each count as two, but I'm having trouble finding something that clarifies that (one post I saw said two on the same yoke count as one).

I'm wiring up an electronics lab space and I need lots of outlets. This is usually solved with long power strips containing 10 or more outlets. I wanted to put in three 2-gang boxes with duplex receptacles in each spot. That's 12 or 24 outlets, depending on the interpretation.

So, is this one or two receptacles/outlets?

Thanks!

There is a limit on the number of plugs for non-residential projects.

NEC 220.14(I) Each yoke is counted at 180 VA.  If there is one outlet, two outlets (most common) or 3 outlets it is still counted as 180 VA.  If there are (4) or more outlets then it is counted as 90 VA per outlet.

What you are describing, a double gang box, with (2) duplex outlets will equal 360 VA.  Having a total of (3) pairs of duplex outlets will be 360 * 3 = 1080 VA.  Since each duplex is 180 VA it can also be counted as 180 * 6 = 1080 VA.

The long power strips that you are used to with 10 or 12 outlets is commonly called plugmold.  In the NEC it is referred to as a fixed multioutlet assembly.  Per NEC 220.14(H) the load depends on if the plugs get used simultaneously or not.  Simultaneous use equals 180 VA per foot of length.  Non-simultaneous use equals 180 VA per 5 foot length.


what substance should I use to refill a hole in wood? I have a small wooden table (ikea) where the legs screw into the table top.

The hole - into which one of the legs screw in - became wider, so now the leg is wobbly.

How would I fix this?

Is there a substance which I can refill the hole with and then drill a [narrower] hole into so that I can re screw the leg in tightly?

I'd use epoxy putty. It gets very hard and sticks tenaciously to almost anything. It would be a good idea to dig out the hole a little to make it larger at the bottom so the hard plug of dried epoxy is too big to come out of the hole. If it is IKEA it is probably particle board under veneer and wont offer much strength for the glue to stick, the surface is friable. This is why you should enlarge the hole, to give the glue a better chance of staying in place. Pack the hole with the putty. wait for it to harden overnight. Drill a hole appropriately sized for the fastener and screw it back in gently. Good as its gonna get for fixing IKEA.


What will I need to repair the grout in a small section of my bathroom? I had my bathroom redone last year. Everything is still perfect except for this one tile that popped up just a little bit.Visually it does not bother me at all, but the cracks in the grout worry me and do not look water tight.  There are some hairline cracks away from the main cracked up area where the tile is raised. I would like to repair them, but I have not done work with grout before. Should this be an easy fix if I allow the one off tile to lay as it is? What tools and other items would I need?

You can remove the existing grout with a grout saw. Your local hardware stores should sell one.

The catch here is re-grouting. You can buy pre-mix grout in pints at some big-box stores, but be prepared for it to not match your existing grout. You may need to saw all the grout out and redo it afresh.

I would remove the toilet first, however. Make sure that tile isn't loose because of the toilet, or improper mounting


Dryer being on of off effects other appliances, and has no heat Dryer is new, uses 3 prong outlet from old dryer. been working for over a month. Now, the motor works but no heat. However, the real puzzle is that when I turn it off, the oven, the fridge, the ceiling fan and outlet in the kitchen shut off, as do the lights in the basement and the furnace fan. The outlets in the rest of the house work fine. There appear to be no circuit breakers blown. One last clue, it seems there is some minimal power in some (maybe all) of the lines... the computer shut off, tried to start and continued to shut off before booting and the light in the microwave in on, but when I attempted to heat something, it simply exhibited a grunt and shut down.

one of the phases to your house is off

the dryer element, which is 240V, is connecting the two phases together

1/2 of the breaker panel is getting power via the dryer

the problem may be the main breaker, or it may be a problem at the power provider


How can I tell if stains are caused by a ceiling that is drying out, or if there is still a leak? Historically we've had a leak from our shower in our bathroom which has leaked into the neighbour below's bathroom and kitchen (this has gone though the bathroom wall to the kitchen which is adjacent). This caused staining on the ceiling and dividing wall of the neighbours kitchen / bathroom.

Was fixed in Feb this year and the neighbour reported no further problems. We decided to wait a long time for everything to dry out - the building is an old 120 year old tenement flat with a large amount of deadening material (soil, rubble, stone, sand) between the floors so a lot of water could be absorbed and need time to dry out.

About mid July this year we had a leak from our kitchen sink into our neighbour kitchen. This found a path through the interfloor material quite quickly so we are not sure how much water was absorbed. I'm told it leaked through the ceiling although I suspect water would have been absorbed everywhere behind the ceiling plaster, including going down the wall against the brickwork. Anyway, leak fixed.

Now neighbour is telling me that they are getting further marks / stains on their walls and wants me to take down my shower and pull up my kitchen floor to investigate. They have been away for three weeks so I am not sure how much of this has suddenly appeared and how much of this happened while they were on holiday.

To make matters worse, I am away from home at the moment and have let my flat out. I won't be back for about 7 weeks without making an unplanned flight home.

I think this might be residual marking as the wall dries out / water comes to the surface - plaster on these walls is about 30-50mm thick, but I'm no expert. I'm not able to actually see any of this other than some photos so it's difficult to tell if this is actually a further leak.

We've contacted a firm who say they can do a thermal image of the wall to show the temperature differences along with actual damp meter readings which will indicate how damp the wall is (cost ~£100).

We could buy one of these Damp Test Meters, or Non-contact Moisture Meters from Amazon.

Anyone have any suggestions? Are stains appearing 2 months after the initial escape likely to be the wall drying out?

Any suggestions on ways to find the leak if there is one?

(sorry for the long explanation and perhaps incorrect keywords - there's no "damp" keyword)

We had a leak going into our ceiling. Luckily, as a wood turner, I already own a moisture meter. This can test the moisture content of wood (but other similar density substances too) merely by pressing a button. That meter worked very well for my problem. Of course, if you do buy one, I don't expect you will find many other uses for it than catching an occasional leak, but it can still be cheaper to buy one than to pay someone to make a simple reading for you. Just store the meter after you are done with it with the battery removed.

It will take several weeks or even months for a ceiling to dry out. This depends on how enclosed the area is, and whether there is still water getting in. Readings made over time should be decreasing. If not, there is still a problem. The moisture content of even dry wood will be around 8%. Check other walls in your house, because this number will vary by where you live, and what time of year it is.

There are several styles of moisture meters. One relies on pins that must be inserted into the material, testing electrical conductivity between the points. As such, it will leave small holes. Better are the styles that do not leave a hole, but they are more expensive. Note that the cheaper models use a probe. This probe will have pins to stick in the wood.

By the way, while the ceiling is still damp, stains WILL continue to spread by capillary action. The water will continue to wick the stain further away. 2 months later is a long time for new stains to appear, however, old stains can bleed through new paint. You may wish to use a product like Kilz to seal in those stains. But wait until it is surely dry before you paint. This is where the meter will help you out.


Isolation valves on tankless heater: is this setup ok? I had a tankless water heater installed with isolation valves.  The setup that I got is a little different from what I normally see, and I'd like to make sure that this is a good solution and I'd like to ask a few questions about descaling with this setup.  There are two shutoff valves, one each on hot and cold lines.  However, there are no drain valves on these valves, all they do is shutoff water with no way to attach lines for descaling.  Instead, flexible hose is used to attach from these lines to the tankless heater.  Here is an image of the attachments from the lines to the hose:

Then, the hose attaches to the heater as shown:

The hose is marked as stainless steel water heater hose, 3/4" FIP.

My questions are:

Is this setup an ok installation?
To descale with this setup, I assume that I just close the valves, unscrew the hose, and re-attach it to a pump to run descaling solution through.  Is this so?  Is it better to unscrew the hose at its attachment to the lines or at its attachment to the heater?  When I re-attach the hose, should I put anything on the threads such as pipe dope?  Will there be any problem long term with repeatedly unscrewing and rescrewing the hose every time I descale it?

This kind of connection does not need pipe dope because a plastic washer or seal is compressed between two hard metal rims. The threads are not exposed to water pressure and are not part of the sealing so pipe dope would not be useful.

Twelve years ago I bought and supplied to the plumber who installed my tankless heater a set (hot and cold) of Webstone 50443 service and isolation valves. I had bought two of these Bosch heaters as discontinued models on sale at Home Depot, intending to put one in my house and the other in a rental house I owned, but I chickened out on doing it myself and hired a plumber. He acted like he had never seen valves of this type. These are specifically for tankless heaters and allow cutting off the cold water supply and the hot water piping of the house from the water heater and then opening up the heater for draining and for descaling with vinegar.

I had it descaled once in 12 years of service. The plumber who did the descaling was not familiar with these valves and wrenched one in the wrong direction over the stop. Luckily this didn't break it and I was able to remove the handle and restore normal operation. He used a pump in a bucket to circulate a couple of gallons of white vinegar but  decided to turn the heater on with the vinegar circulating. I don't think that is a good idea.

I wonder whether descaling is necessary for most installations. If yours is new just use it for 10 years and then think about descaling.

What model is your tankless water heater? Mine is a Bosch Aquastar 125 (?), a discontinued model with a standing pilot light that does not require electric power.

Noritz seems to think that there is no one universal descaling time interval. http://www.noritz.com/blog/biggest-myth-tankless-water-heater/


What are the standard dimensions for the square grips on PVC screw caps? No matter the size of the end cap, the square grip always seems to be exactly the same size.

What is the standard size of the square grip?
(NPT?)

Looking at a few random supply websites for "clean out plug wrenches" there doesn't appear to be a fixed size.  the wrenches are sold in 5-6 different sizes, and there are external and internal sizes since the plugs can be installed upside down.

Here is a site that sells the wrenches: Heavy Duty Supplies


Do I really need a redundant sump pump? So I'm getting my dirt basement encapsulated, and the contractor is installing an interior perimeter drain and sump pit/pump. They offer either a single good quality pump, a redundant system with just another pump, and a triple redundant system with a battery backup. I have no reason to believe that I'll seriously flood the basement, since water infiltration has been due to spring thaws and some relatively minor grading issues on one side (recently corrected)... is it worth springing for the double redundancy (~$400 extra) or triple redundancy (~$400 MORE)?

Only you can answer if it's "worth it".  I would imagine if it did flood, the damage would be more than $400 and you'd be kicking yourself that you didn't spend that $400.  If you die at 100 years old and it never flooded, I guess then you could say it wasn't worth it.


How realistic is lowering a concrete floor? So first off, I love basements, its almost like a fetish. Ook.. so this guy is selling a basement in his building and its perfect(got good water, electricity, comms, location and cheap!) except for the fact that the ceiling is 2m from the floor, since I'm 2m tall that is a problem.

I asked him whether I could smash the floor and put a new one maybe 10cm lower, he said I can do whatever I want for all he cared and as far as he knew, there was nothing important underneath.

Ok so now I'm thinking big! Maybe go ahead and lower it by 40cm? or 300cm? Dig another floor underneath the building!

The floor is 40m2 and the concrete is ~8cm thick according to him. The brick walls should go down another 20cm underground. How realistic would it be for me to do that? Could I leave some space between the walls and the new floor shape to dig extra low? Obviously I'd get some help and I know a guy who knows a guy who has a jackhammer.

The concerns I'd have -- outside of whether there's anything under the floor that could be disturbed, and whether there's a rock layer under the floor that would prevent your lowering it -- would be:

You're going to have to make sure this doesn't disturb the foundation. I'd suggest getting an engineer's advice before doing anything.
You're going to have to dispose of all that rubble. That means renting a dumpster, and hauling it out of the basement. Not impossible -- a friend of a friend put a basement under an old farmhouse by digging outward from the root cellar, putting the house up on jacks as he went, and then getting a foundation installed under the house, and he did almost all of the digging and hauling himself -- but it's a nontrivial amount of work. You're going to be moving several tons at least.
Putting in the new floor is going to require establishing a good seal against water infiltration between it and the foundation walls. Again, I'd suggest getting an engineer's advice.

So: Yes, theoretically it can be done. Personally, given the cost and effort and potential liability involved I wouldn't consider doing it on property I didn't own. And I definitely wouldn't consider it without expert advice.


Outlet for built-in Microwave has 120v/20A (USA) breaker... what amperage receptacle is required? Currently I'm not able to pull the built-in microwave out to examine the outlet, so am leaning on the expertise here. It is a duplex outlet and the connected breaker is 20A, constructed around 2005. I'm looking at replacing the existing outlet with a recessed outlet to accommodate the larger depth of a new microwave. The new microwave is rated at 14.7A.
I have found a single receptacle 20A standard clock hanger recessed outlet. Is there any reason NOT to use this? Because it is a built in, there is no practical need for a duplex outlet.
The other option available is 15A recessed duplex outlet. Is it within code to put a duplex 15A outlet on a 20A breaker?

A duplex 15 amp receptacle is legal on a 20 amp circuit. As long as there are 2 or more 15 amp receptacles on a 20 amp branch circuit it is code compliant with the NEC see table 210.21.B.3


How can I transition between these floors? I have recently fitted some new laminate flooring to my living room floor.  This floor meets directly with the tiled floor of the kitchen.  I'm looking to fit some sort of transition bar between the laminate floor and the kitchen tiles, however, the complication is that along with run of the length of where the two floors meet, the height difference between the two floors changes.

The first picture shows the two floors as they meet (this length is approx 2 metres).  I couldn't quite get the complete length in this picture, but it shows most of it.  The second picture shows one end of where the two floors meet.  This is the end at the top of the first picture in the first photo.  The third picture shows the other end of where the two floors meet (this is not shown in the first photo).

There is a small "channel" between the two floor types, and this channel is slightly wider at one end than the other (as can be seen in the 2nd & 3rd photos) - the width of that channel is approx. 30mm at the end shown in picture 3 and approx. 20mm at the end shown in picture 2.

The bigger issue, I believe, is that on the end shown in picture 2, the height between the top of the tile floor and the top of the laminate floor is approx. 5mm, whereas the height difference between the top of the tile and the top of the laminate in picture 3 is approx. 15mm.

I am aware that, under normal circumstances where the floor differential was consistent along it's length, I'd simply fit a "reducer" (i.e. something like this) however, I've no idea what to do in my case where the height differential fluctuates along the length of the floors meeting.

I've considered a PVC based reducer that will have some inherent flexibility, which may need to be "shaved down" in order to stay flush with both floors at both ends, however, I've no idea if this would work (or how difficult it would be).

Has anyone come across anything like this before?  Anyone got any ideas what the best approach would be to finish this job and fit an appropriate "covering" that would transition the two floors correctly?

You should consider doing something mosaic-y there because the size difference will always prevent you from putting in a milled transition piece.

If you try to install something that looks perfect, it will always look imperfect. But if you go with something that is intentionally imperfect, it will look intentional.


Why would a door be installed without all the hinge screws? Our contractor installed this door without using all the screws (or perhaps the door came without enough screws). Every hinge on each side of these double doors is missing one screw on the frame side. Is there some hidden wisdom here?

Just some notes:

This is just plain lazy.  Maybe he forgot but forgetting = lazy.
Maybe he ran out of screws.  But these are basically the most common type of door screws so again that goes back to being lazy.
When installing doors it is best practice to get at least one screw per hinge all the way into the actual framing of the wall.  This requires some pretty long screws - 2-2.5" at least.  He may not have had those screws on him.  Again that is not planning well and shouldn't have been left like this, which is lazy.


How to find out what breakers are compatible with my panel? This is on the inside of the panel door.

The box says that my panel it is UL Listed for Siemens and Murray breakers.

I see the table on the bottom for Main Breaker and Branch Breakers.  But I still find it hard to search for the breakers.  I'm looking for compatible AFCI breakers online...for example...is this Siemens breaker - QA115AFC compatible?  I see "QA" and "QAFH" in the table. I think it is because the product image shows "QAF2"  However the table shows "QAF"

What about this Murray breaker - MPA115AFC?  I think it is because the product image shows "MP-AT2" and the table shows "MP-AT".

Is there a better way to find these breakers?

UPDATE
I'm selecting breakers and I can't find out whether to go with the 10KAIC or 65KAIC.  I live in a residence and not a commercial building.
Which one should I get?  How do I calculate this based on the info on the panel door?
We have 200 A service.  I'm buying 20A and 15A AFCI breakers.

Here are photos of existing breakers.

Match the letters

If the breaker has the same "Type" letter markings on it as are listed on the panelboard label, you're fine.  Number suffixes on the type marking (such as QAF2 vs QAF and MP-AT2 vs MP-AT) are used to denote a revised type of breaker that is still compatible with the original and can be used in place of it, so they don't matter in your case.

10kAIC is fine

The Siemens/Murray line of breakers comes in three interrupting rating options -- 10kAIC, 22kAIC, and 65kAIC.  The larger options are more costly due to extra internal equipment needed to break bigger arcs, and are only necessary in commercial work where larger services and feeders capable of higher fault currents are found.

In addition, in a main breaker panelboard such as yours, a breaker with a lower rating can be used because it receives a higher series rating by way of being "backed up" by the panelboard's heftier main breaker.


Why doesn't my Touch N Go garage door opener lift the door? I have a Touch N Go model 100 garage door opener, with a remote and a push-button on the wall.  When I press the opener or the wall button, I hear a click (I'm assuming this is a relay) and then there is a buzzing sound.

There is a 110 plug for the motor and a wall-wart type plug which I assume is the receiver for the remote.

I took the cover off of the unit and disconnected a small plastic box that was attached to the inside of the cover.  It has a white modular type plug.

Question 1: What is this thing?

Now, when I press the button to open the door it clicks and buzzes.  If I go up and give the wheel with the belt on it a manual 1/4 turn or so, the door works fine.  It starts and stops in the correct place, just needs a little help starting.  I'm thinking the problem is either a capacitor or starter motor, but I'm not sure.  Any suggestions?

In case anyone else wants to know:  I went and bought a 330 Volt 54-63 uf capacitor   and installed it.  Not only did I not electrocute myself, I fixed it.

It cost me < $7 - not too bad.