Added new light to circuit but it turns on when switch is off I did 2 things. First I combined 2 existing light switches into 1 via a metal box twisting the black wires together into 1 group and then in another group twisting the white wires together. That worked fine.
Then I added a new light that I installed to the same groups of wires in the metal box, matching the colors up.  However, when the switch is on, the existing lights are on but the new light is off. When the switch is off, the existing lights turn off but the new light turns on.
I've tried several things including a different light switch and reconfiguring the wires a few ways, but same result every time.
I've added a picture showing the current configuration. The thick black wire in the top left is the source. The hot wire is directly from the power source. The neutral leads to 3 lights. The thick white wire on the right leads to the new light fixture but is not currently connected.
Why is this happening? What should I check?

What you did was to place the new light in parallel with the switch, instead of in parallel with the existing lights. With the switch on, the new light is shorted out and and the old lights get power. With the switch off, you have the new light in series with the old lights. I’ll bet the the new light is very low wattage (e.g. LED) while the old lights are high wattage (incandescent). The low wattage light gets almost all of the voltage and the high wattage light gets so little that it doesn’t visibly glow.
As @isherwood noted, what you have in the box is a switch loop (actually two, but that’s beside the point). What you need to connect to is the switched hot and neutral and the only place you’ll probably find those is at one of the existing lights.
Edit to add more details:
Here's the wiring called a switch loop:

The power enters via the black (hot) wire into the fixture box. It continues into the switch box via the white (with black tape) wire to the switch. When the switch is turned on, the power continues back up the switched hot (black wire) to the light. After the light, the power returns to the source on the white wire (neutral).
Depending on the age of the installation, there may or may not be an additional white wire carrying the neutral into the switch box. This is to allow the use of smart switches which require a neutral but in your case, would not be connected in the switch box, but just capped off.
The power could also enter via the switch box, in which case, it would look something like this:

The difference here is that the hot directly enters the switch box and goes to the switch. The switched hot continues up to the light. After the light, the power returns on the neutral to the switch box where it's spliced to the neutral back to the source.

You need to connect the new light between the switched hot and the neutral. This is the only way it will work correctly. Here's how to tell where that is.
If there were no extra white wires in the switch box or there were just one or two (one from each existing light) not connected, then you have a switch loop: you cannot connect the new light at the switch. Instead, you must connect to one of the existing lights, back to the black on the light and white to the white on the light.
On the other hand, if there where two sets of white wires, each connecting through (spliced with a wirenut or such), then the power is first arriving at the switch and you can connect there. Connect your new black to the side of the switch going to the lights (if you can't tell, try one. If the switch won't control the light, switch it to the other). Your new white connects to the spliced whites in the switch box: remove the wire nut, add the new wire and re-attach it. You may need a larger wire nut but just going from 2 to 3 wires, probably not.
Note: I have ignored details such as how to connect a wirenut and have ignored the grounds. You must properly connect the grounds assuming there are ones there (maybe not on very old installations).
Hopefully, this is enough to help you. If you are still lost, I'm afraid you need to call a professional: an electrician or, for this, maybe a handyman. Please don't experiment. House wiring voltages or currents make it just to easy to kill yourself or someone else or to cause a fire! Be safe!


neutral bar is burnt The neutral bar is burnt in the breaker box of my mobile home. The kids hooked up a small window cooler and ran it a couple months ago, by morning we woke up smelling wires burning.  We traced it to the breaker box and at that point we lost all power to the mobile home.  We cut off the burnt wires and reinserted them into the Neutral Bar, with power restored we went on with life.

A couple weeks ago a neutral wire came loose in the breaker box and the mobile home went to half power, so we had to unplug all large appliances (Fridge, Window AC Cooler, my oxygen machine...).  As I said we found it was a loose neutral wire; we fixed it and power restored again, only this time the power only stayed on for a little over a hour and went back to half power (what I mean by half power is I can run computers and TV's but that's it).

I live on ssi disability so getting a electrician is out of the question so here I am trying to figure why the power won't come back on fully, I took the neutral bar out cleaned it up found no cracks but it is burnt badly a couple screws are melted together but no cracks I put it back in after cleaning it up and still I am at half power.

I am about to order a new neutral bar and try that come pay day but I am puzzled as to why its not coming back to full power it was working find until that wire came loose? The wire was sparking badly when I opened the power panel but as I said the bar has no cracks It's burnt melted but no cracks and I get 0 reading when I test it with the multi meter with power on!

Oh on the multi meter I get these readings: the big black ground wire and the big red wire 254, black to neutral i get 105, red to neutral 140 and I get the same reading to the ground bar 105 and 140. When measuring all the outlets I get 152 except the one in the bathroom that gives me a reading of 98 it is a GFCi outlet. As I wait for payday any input would be appreciated.

Replace this panel before it burns your house down!

You need a new panel not a new neutral bar, as this panel is trying to cook you, your kids, and your house as I speak.  The FPE Stab-Loks are rife with trouble, and as you have seen, will attempt to burn your house down instead of doing their job.  In particular, at least one of your breakers is out of calibration i.e. not tripping on a low-level overload that should have eventually tripped it, and the excess current is slow-cooking your neutral bar, and who-knows-what-else in the house.  Also, that slow-cooked neutral bar isn't making good contact with at least one of the neutral wires, which is what is causing the voltage imbalance in your house, most likely.

Until then, keep your smoke detectors working and your fire escape plans practiced, as it's not a matter of if, but when this panel will ignite again...


Sub panel feeder circuit wire sizing I’m planning to upgrade the service in a detached garage, which is currently fed by a single 15amp circuit, and I wanted to confirm that I have my circuit sizing correct. The existing circuit runs through ¾” IMC buried under the driveway, which I’d like to re-use to run a new feeder circuit to a sub-panel in the garage. My read on the NEC is that per Table C.1, I can have a maximum number of 4 conductors in the 3/4" conduit for 6AWG THWN-2, Table 310.15(B).16, says I can run a maximum of 75amps on 6AWG copper THWN-2, and 310.15(B) states that I do not need to de-rate for 3 or fewer conductors. The rest of the circuit (main load center to buried conduit, then from buried conduit to the sub panel) will be run though 1” PVC conduit. Based on this, I believe I should be able to run a 70 amp breaker for this circuit. Am I correct on the sizing, or am I missing anything?

You're missing the termination temperature limits from 110.14(C)(1)
You are correct that you are missing something.  In particular, while THWN-2 wire can handle 90°C without an issue, that doesn't mean that the things hooked to it will be happy at that temperature.  In particular, since we're dealing with a feeder here, distribution equipment, such as circuit breakers and loadcenters, is only rated for the use of 60°C or 75°C wire because the thermal elements in the circuit breakers themselves can be thrown off by excessive heat from a wire running at a higher temperature.  This requirement is captured in NEC 110.14(C)(1):

(1) Equipment Provisions. The determination of termination
provisions of equipment shall be based on 110.14(C)(1)(a) or
(C)(1)(b). Unless the equipment is listed and marked otherwise, conductor ampacities used in determining equipment
termination provisions shall be based on Table 310.15(B)(16)
as appropriately modified by 310.15(B)(7).
(a) Termination provisions of equipment for circuits
rated 100 amperes or less, or marked for 14 AWG through
1 AWG conductors, shall be used only for one of the following:
(1) Conductors rated 60°C (140°F).
(2) Conductors with higher temperature ratings, provided
the ampacity of such conductors is determined based on
the 60°C (140°F) ampacity of the conductor size used.
(3) Conductors with higher temperature ratings if the equipment is listed and identified for use with such conductors.
(4) For motors marked with design letters B, C, or D, conductors having an insulation rating of 75°C (167°F) or higher
shall be permitted to be used, provided the ampacity of
such conductors does not exceed the 75°C (167°F)
ampacity.
(b) Termination provisions of equipment for circuits
rated over 100 amperes, or marked for conductors larger than
1 AWG, shall be used only for one of the following:
(1) Conductors rated 75°C (167°F)
(2) Conductors with higher temperature ratings, provided
the ampacity of such conductors does not exceed the
75°C (167°F) ampacity of the conductor size used, or up
to their ampacity if the equipment is listed and identified
for use with such conductors

In particular, since modern breakers and loadcenters are basically universally marked 60°C/75°C, we can use the 75°C temperature rating for ampacity calculations, but can only use the 90°C column of the ampacity chart as a basis for derating.  With this in mind, we look at the 75°C column in Table 310.16 and get a rating of 65A for your 6AWG copper THHNs.  This means you can either use a 60A breaker and a 10AWG ground wire (bare or green THHN), or a 70A breaker and an 8AWG ground wire, with the latter permitted by the "round-up" rule in NEC 240.4(B).
If you really need 75A at the garage, you could use UL 1953 listed power distribution blocks in pull boxes at each end of the IMC run (one outside or inside the garage, one in the house) to transition from the 6AWG THHN inside the ¾" IMC to 4AWG THHN in the 1" conduit you were planning to use for the interior runs.  This would require you to use an 8AWG equipment grounding conductor alongside that 6AWG THHN instead of the 10AWG suggested above, but is permitted by NEC 110.14(C)(2), as documented in this Square-D document
Note that unless you have "straight shot" runs from the underground conduit to the panels at both ends, it may be more economical to use 1" ENT ("smurf tube") instead of the 1" rigid PVC you were originally figuring on.  Even when using ENT, you still have to obey the 360° limit on bends between conduit pull points, though!
GO BIG OR GO HOME
However, regardless of whether you run the underground wire at 75°C or 90°C, you should not let its ampacity be a constraint on the size of the panel you put in at the garage!  In fact, a 125A, 24-space or 30-space, main breaker (to provide a main disconnect for the garage) panel would not be at all out of place here, and nothing stops you from putting in something larger yet, such as a 40-space or 42-space panel.  Regardless of what you get, though, you'll need to fit it with separate grounding bar kits if it doesn't have factory-fitted grounding bars.  Furthermore, you'll need to ensure that the neutral/ground bonding screw or strap has been removed from the panel so that it's configured correctly for use as a subpanel.
Finally, you'll need to take some 6AWG or 8AWG copper wire and run it from the subpanel grounding bars through something like an Arlington GC50 to get it out of the subpanel cabinet, then take it off to a pair of 8' grounding rods driven at least 6-8' apart.  This provides your garage with a path for wayward natural electricity, such as lightning-induced voltages, to return to Mother Nature, while the grounding wire in your 4-wire feeder provides a return path for errant utility electricity to get back to the utility service via the neutral-ground bond in the main service panel.


The (Zinsco?) bus bars have arc marks. Can you file these down to bare metal? I have an old electrical panel.  Some of the circuits were flickering. When I checked the breaker to the associated circuit I found that the bus bar had "porous" looking buildup of metal at the location. See photo showing two arced bus bar sections. I can also still hear some occasional tiny sizzling/arcing noises coming from the breakers but don't know which ones are making the noise.

Can the metal buildup be filed down to the bare metal making the slot reusable?

I saw a bus bar replacement at home depot for $60.  Is it worth time and money to replace this or should I be looking for someone to replace/upgrade the entire panel?

The subpanel has the copper ground connecting to the ground bar in the main panel.  Is this OK?

Any comments on the rest of the panel? It looks like someone added a transformer in there with wire nuts

Looking at the comments now I'm worried.  How much should it cost to upgrade my old 100 AMP to a new 200 AMP main?

If I put a new box in, how do you extend any short wires? wire nuts? a junction box under the house in the crawl space?

Thanks

No, cleaning the bus is not acceptable. Never seen a replacement bus for Zinsco panels. The existing breakers reportedly have 1300 series aluminum alloy that is not suited for non-bolted connections like the connections in the old breakers.  A replacement bus to be safe would need to also have replacement breakers, that start at $30 for a single pole 20A breaker, and a 2p30 is $65. The math starts to get rough, and then would be worried you might not end up with a quality install anyway.

The ground in a subpanel should be connected to the ground in the panel feeding it, the neutral in the sub should be isolated from the ground in the subpanel.


Should I use wider boards or shift studs to clear plumbing? I am looking to put a stud wall in my shower to house the valves and also a few niches, it needs to be a minimum of 150mm deep, so do I use standard 50mm x 100mm (2x4s) boards and offset the stud wall 50mm from the main wall or do I use a wider 150mm board?

I am covering the stud in concrete backer board so I could potentially bridge the gap with that if the wall is offset.

I also have another stud wall that will have a hanging vanity unit attached to it, will this need a double top plate?

Update: Hopefully the crude illustration I've added will help a bit (taken from a birds-eye view of the proposed stud):

You can move the framed wall into the room to provide clearance. Thus is a common practice.
Most interior walls built alongside exterior walls have doubled too plates so wall heights match. Most basement energy and partition walls do not.


What sand do I use to re-secure pavers? I have been told that there is special "sand" to re-secure pavers that is weed resistant.
Is it something different from the normal paver sand (to secure patios) you can buy at the Home stores?

Polymeric sand is a fine sand that is combined with additives that form a binding agent when exposed to water. Silica is such as an additive and is often used to help lock the fine sand particles together. As the sand particles fuse, the joint between two patio pavers becomes impenetrable and the pavers are locked in place.
https://unilock.com/articles/what-is-polymeric-sand-and-how-is-it-used-for-locking-patio-pavers-yorktown-heights-ny/

Through particle bonding a solid surface is formed that resists weed growth. Pavers move, though, and cracks will exist that allow some weeds to establish. Periodic herbicide application or weed-whacking may be required, depending on traffic, sun exposure, etc.
"Paver sand" sold at home improvement stores may be polymeric sand. You'll need to read the label.


Baseboard water Heater Gas hot water boiler not turning on past pilot light and click on thermostat for more heat. The flame on the furnace does not turn on. Changed out the Thermocoupler, After starting the pilot light, initially the flames came on, but did not stay on. and never turned on again.

Thermocouples produce a minute amount of current with a minuscule voltage.  The connection to the gas valve where the new thermocouple is installed needs to be clean and free of debris or it will not be reliable.  Take the connection apart, carefully clean the contacts, and put it back together.  That may solve the problem.


Momentary switch - press once needs to give 5 seconds of power Electronics is not my forte, so bear with me on the nomenclature.
Backstory
We have an old house and my wife bought me some old butler bells to get going as our door bell.

I found a motor which turns a handle to throw the bell left and right and when it's on, it needs to be on for a few seconds for the momentum to build up and ring properly.
Now, I can have a door bell button and if I hold it on for 4-5 seconds, the bell rings nicely. However, I have this old door bell puller.  I have a momentary switch installed at the back of it so, at rest, the switch is pressed and no power flows (momentary off??).  When you pull the handle, the switch is open and power flows while you pull it. This works, but I've found most people when they pull it, they just let it go.  So I want to do something that allows power to flow for a minimum of 5 seconds, whether I pull it once and let it go or for longer. Obviously if I pull and hold for 10 seconds, it should ring for 10 seconds.
Question
What can I add to a momentary off switch, to allow it to run for a minimum of 5 seconds on one press/release?
Thank you.
Update from the comments.  This is all about 12v from a normal doorbell transformer.

There are 2 approaches possible here:

You grab a bunch of capacitors, resistors and transistors and start messing around to make a timer circuit. This is the most fun (according to the users of this board) and the most educational, but it is also the most likely to fail. This solution is also super cheap, if you don't value your time much.

You grab an off the shelf component that has solved this issue thousands of times in the field. I personally like the Omron H3DK series timer relays. They are robust and intuitive to use.


Water Heater Gas B-Vent Install I installed a new water heater and want to vent it right. The old water heater used ABS pipe since it had a blower. Basically I have a 3" b gas vent pipe coming in and connecting to a flex gas pip attached to the vent hood. I used 3 sheet screws to attach the flex to the hood and 3 sheet screws to attach the flex to the B gas vent pip that runs right outside and has the vent cap on it. Does this sound correct? No I just use screws and no tape? Thanks.

Based on the International Residential code (which may or may not apply where you live), this installation is not compliant. Things that I see that need to be corrected include (but may not be limited to):

The vent must be held at least one inch away from wood and other combustibles.
The total rise of the vent must be at least five feet, to insure proper drafting.
The vent must be sloped so that water/condensate will flow towards the appliance, by at least 1/4 inch per foot.
Screws must be short enough that they do not pierce the inner metal of the vent.
The length of the horizontal section (defined as sections at less than 45 degrees) must be less than 75% of the total rise.
The vent cap outside must be a "type B" cap.
Don't use tape because it would burn. Any small gaps should be OK since the exhaust will pull extra air into the vent, instead of letting the exhaust into the room.

Also, I see that one of the corrugated copper water tubes is a little flattened. You may want to replace it. Also, I see the plastic dielectric at the end of the tube on the right, but not on the left. If there is not any plastic dielectric, I'd suggest replacing it with a tube that has a dielectric. These connections do NOT need plumber's tape or dope. Also, these corrugated tubes should be replaced when the water heater is replaced.


Should I drywall and/or insulate my garage wall? I'm in the process of a few projects in the garage, including raising the ceiling and insulating with spray foam. This has left me with a fair amount of leftover fiberglass batts.

There is a room above 70% of the garage (minus the front), and 2 walls are attached to the house (2x6 framing with vapour barrier, fiberglass batts and drywall). The remaining exterior wall is 2x4 framing with vinyl siding. The garage door is also insulated.

I am considering drywalling this wall since I like the look and I'm already re-drywalling the entire ceiling anyway. I'm located in southeastern Ontario, temperature typically anywhere from -30C to +30C (-22 to 86F). The garage is not a conditioned space.

Is there any downside to putting in insulation and drywall? Anything wrong with just drywall?

Has anyone that's done this actually seen a benefit (eg more stable temperature)? Keep in mind there's zero material cost here, so even a marginal benefit is ok (if anything this saves me time having to take it somewhere or throw it out).

I've read I should not use vapour barrier since it would prohibit drying and actually likely cause moisture/mold problems -- anyone disagree?

I would insulate it and drywall it.

You are already losing some heat from the house walls and the second floor into the garage. If you insulate it, your garage will be warmer - at least, after the door has been closed for a while - and you will lose less heat. It won't be super-warm, but it will help.

You do not need 5/8" drywall for the garage walls. In the US, you need it between the garage and living space, but not on the exterior walls.

I also recommend thinking about adding some outlets before you close the walls up - so much easier than doing it later.


How to connect a phone line? I'm trying to connect the phone lines in my new home. I have 2 lines given by my phone provider arriving downstairs in the apartment:

Then I have 2 RJ11 cables plugged into to the connections shown above which send the lines upstairs. However upstairs no connection has been made, I just have the 2 line cables. This is the connection I bought:

Now here are my questions:
Q1: Do you confirm that on the above pictures, holes 1-8 at the top are for the left-hand connection, and holes 1-8 at the bottom are for the right-hand connection?
Q2: Do I need to connect my white/blue wires back into the same holes, or do I need to change their position somehow?
FYI If I connect my modem directly to either of the connections shown in 1st picture, my internet works, so I know those lines are good :)

Those are RJ45s not RJ11s. RJ11's only have 4 pins. An RJ11 fits into the center 4 pins of this jack though.

Q1 Whether one is left or right I can't tell but the top is definitely for one jack and the bottom is for the other jack.

Q2 leave your white on 5 and blue on 4 like all the diagrams below. You can use 568A and the orange pair for the second line connected to 3 and 6 that would be the traditional second line color. The phone doesn't care which color you use as long as they go to the other end.

Hopefully it is obvious that you will not be able to use these jacks for data even though they will accept a data plug.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/T568A/B#Wiring


How can I remove tiles without damaging the heating mat underneath? Removing kitchen tiles from the floor, but the trick is not to damage the in-floor heating. I’m a bit worried about the heating mat, and don’t want to puncture it. Any info would be lovely.

I assume you will put new tiles on top of the heating pad. It is very tedious to remove tiles without damaging the heating pad. I would do it using hand tools (hammer, chisels) or low powered tools (dremel). I would cut out the grout lines first and start chipping the tiles.  It goes without saying this is very time consuming if you have a large area (usually kitchens are).

But once the tiles are off, cleaning up the thinset left on your mat is even more challenging.  There are much more chances of damaging the mat in this step and no good way to remove it. Typically I remove the thinset with a grinder using a concrete disk. But doing it while avoiding contact with the mat seems difficult and stressing to me. The grinder can be rather unforgiven and we need to keep it steady over a long period of time. The heating mat is also not completely flat (usually look like below).  You need to clean the floor well for the new thinset to achieve a good bond with your floor.

The solution comes down to time vs cost.  I would personally replace the mats if they are old.  You will save time and money.  New mats are more energy efficient.


Should I periodically air out the vapor barrier in my crawlspace? I have a vapor barrier in my crawlspace which is made of multiple sheets of 6-mil plastic.

One contractor suggested that in the dry months I should pull back the sheets of plastic and allow the dirt beneath to breathe and dry out.

A second contractor said that the first contractor was repeating an urban legend, and that I should not pull back the vapor barrier.

Should I periodically pull back the vapor barrier in my crawlspace?

"allow the dirt to breathe" doesn't even sound like an urban legend. Just sounds plain pointless. The entire point of the vapor barrier is to keep the moisture out of the crawlspace--so leave the barrier there. The dirt will be OK.


Find and remove odd odor in new room The set up:

I enclosed the part of the garage to make an office/man cave. I had a Mr. Slim installed to control the temperature. The space is 10' X 20'. No carpet. There are three desks, three chairs, a couch, an upright freezer, 7 computers, and a few guns. Your basic geek-ed out man cave. ;)

The issue:

There is an odd lingering smell.

The Smell:

It's a Sweet + foot smell. I don't know how else to describe it. It's not repulsive, but not great. It first hits you when you enter the room. My carpet cleaning friend said it's not something he has come across before.

I asked my wife to describe the smell. She said "Stale locker room with a hint of chocolate chip cookie."

What I have already done:

I fist suspected Mr. Slim. I checked the drainage line and found that is was not draining correctly. I ran a new pipe. Then let the humidifier run for a day and made sure there was a nice flow of water at the end of the pipe and no water in the collection tray. There isn't any bulging paint or warped baseboards under Mr. Slim.

I used a can of Evap Foam no rinse cleaner on the Mr. Slim coil. So I don't think Mr. Slim is the issue.

I found a Kenmore 85500 Air Purifier and have been letting it run with an new filter for about 2 weeks. The smell is less intense but still there.

I had all the same furniture in the old man cave and didn't have the smell.

The question:

Any other ideas on ridding my man cave of this smell?

Comment by "NitroxDM": I was actually just looking at something like this, "Condar ASV", and Air King AK300LS on a timer to run for a few hours in the night.

I honestly don't know anything about those products, as I have no first-hand experience with them, but they look like they would work well in bringing in clean air & removing stale air...

I do know from using trickle vents in the UK and from their wide use in the domestic building market there in the UK:

They are cheap.
Easy to install, definitely a DIY project.
Do a surprisingly good job at providing natural "background" ventilation to an indoor room (space).


reducing light reflection on a wall I have a wall across from the doorways of a bedroom and "office."  It reflects light into the bedroom which bothers people trying to sleep with the other door open.  What would be a good way to reduce the light reflection?  Ideally we could keep both the doors open to hear each other if needed and also for airflow and pet traffic.  Also light in the office is needed for hobby work so simply turning the light off isn't always the best solution, either.  Preferably some kind of wall hanging would be what I'm thinking of.

It might not help with air flow, but hanging a lined door curtain over the inside of the office door will stop the light escaping the office, and you will still hear what is going on in the bedroom.


How can I drill a straight hole without a drill press? I'm making some pull up bars with 1 1/8" diameter holes and have some questions about how I should drill the holes:

Right now I'm planning on using spade bits. A drill press is not practical in this situation, but I could use one if I had to. The poles are 6" x 6" x 10', and a small imperfection will span across 5' to magnify. Any suggestions on some sort of portable drill press I could clamp onto the wood to use?

Is there a better tool for this job? Ideally it should be inexpensive/rentable.

If you are set on using a hand-drill, there are jigs available that will keep the drill perpendicular to the object being drilled.  Alternatively, holding a level against the drill will help you keep it aligned.

I would suggest using a Forstner bit instead of a spade bit.  Spade bits can jump around a bit, tear out and are not that precise. They are good for rough work, but a Forstner bit will give you a much cleaner cut.

That being said, a drill press is the best tool for this, and they can be purchased relatively inexpensively.  You could also find a  "maker" workshop in your area, or a college with a shop where often you can rent time and use their tools.


Paint or Stain a repaired deck I need help deciding to paint or stain my deck.

About a year ago, a tree fell on my deck and half of it had to be rebuilt. The deck builder suggested letting the wood weather for a bit before painting and now it’s time. He specifically recommended painting instead of stain but most people online seems to lean towards using stain.

With half the deck new and half old, is stain a good option? Is there a stain solid enough that would blend the old and new or should I use paint?

I haven't pressure washed the old half of the deck yet but I don't imagine it will be much lighter when I'm done.

Instead of paint or stain you might want to look into Rust-Oleum Restore or Behr Deckover. They are tintable in many colors, will fill small gaps, water based, thicker than paint, will make your deck look uniform. Just follow the instructions.


Exhaust Fan tripping GFCI Our shower exhaust fan is tripping the GFCI when turned on. When I disconnect the FAN (there is a molex plug in the fan) the GFCI does not trip when the switch is turned on or off.

Looking for troubleshooting suggestions?

I was thinking about diving into the switch box and looking for loose connections and neutrals. Replacing the GFCI outlet, which incidentally, is all the way in the garage and also does our outdoor outlets, it's strange the way it was wired. Especially since there already is a GFCI outlet in the bathroom for the outlets.

Finally, I was going to clean out the fan. It's filled with dust and I'm thinking maybe some of the "wet" dust might be causing a bit of leakage to the ground?

It seems to happen more in the cold months where there is more condensation which leads me to think its more a problem with the FAN than an issue with the switch box or a weak GFCI itself.

I just don't want to replace the fan only to find out it was something else.

Also -- the Fan is actually on ceiling 10' feet above the shower and outside of the sunken in the shower area. So technically it likely does even need to be GFCI protected. I'd need an 8' ladder to touch it while in the shower.

First try to stop the nuisance tripping by cleaning out the dust from the fan motor and connection block.

You don't need to have the ceiling fan GFCI protected. You said you have a GFCI receptacle in bathroom so that satisfies the requirement.

You could change the connections of the wires to the GFCI receptacle in the garage so you don't use the load terminals. If this means that some outside receptacles are no longer GFCI protected, then you would have to replace the existing receptacles with GFCI ones.


Keston C36 Combi boiler - Error E37 According to the boiler manual

  E37 Water pressure error - You must top up the water pressure for your system

When opening the fill loop valve to add water pressure, water flows out the exhaust pipe.

The boiler menu isn't interactive. Nothing happens when clicking the buttons, so I can't check the pressure via the display as suggested in several online videos.

We've contacted a boiler technician but we'd like to further troubleshoot until they arrive.

Attached images for visual reference:

Boiler display and menu

Piping below the boiler

Filling loop in hallway cabinet

Knowing nothing about your particular boiler, if you are adding water to the loop and water flows out the exhaust pipe, it sounds like your heat exchanger is leaking, as that's where a connection between the loop water and exhaust would be.

Whether that's a simple part replacement or "new boiler time" will depend on the design of the boiler and price of replacement parts.

When it's fixed, I would personally want to have a pressure or pressure/temperature gauge (analog/non-electric) installed on the loop for my own information/peace of mind/ability to quickly check. Rarely used, but nice to have when there are problems.


How to add "C" wire using a/c fan wire? Honeywell has a video that shows how to use the fan wire ("G") of the cooling system as the "C" wire for the thermostat. It is in the video - "Honeywell DIY wifi...substitute g-wire for c-wire" on youtube.

They say to move the g-wire in the thermostat and and move it to the c-wire terminal.
As shown in the picture below this part can be done. (I have a boiler and an a/c connected to this thermostat. The "R" and "W" wires are for the boiler. The "Rc" "G" and "W" wires are for the a/c.)

The problem is in the a/c unit. In the youtube video they show wires attached to the "Y" "G" and "R" terminals. (I am ignoring the "W" because I think that is for the heat, and I have a separate boiler.)
As you can see in the picture below, mine has wires connected to the "R" "C" and "G" terminals. The a/c works fine and I am able to turn on the fan separately from the a/c.

How would I change the wiring to use the "C" wire on my thermostat?

The Honeywell video describes the process, when the thermostat is used to control a forced air furnace. Since your situation is different, this may not work for you.

If you want to try it, you should proceed as follows...

Disconnect the green wire in the second photo from the G terminal, and connect it along with the white wire to the C terminal.
At the thermostat, move the green wire from the G terminal to the C terminal.

NOTE: This may not work in your situation, and may void the warranty of the equipment.  Proceed at your own risk.

In this configuration, the thermostat will not be able to control the fan. And depending on the thermostat, the C wire may have to come from the same transformer as R. Using C from the Rc transformer may not work.

I've labeled the wires, to hopefully help you understand what's what.

This is what you have now:

This is what it will look like after you switch the green wire.


How do I choose a furnace airfilter? I have a furnace/air-conditioner that can support filters of various thicknesses: 1", 2", or 4".  Filters are available in various MERV ratings.  How should I decide which filter to use?

Depends a bit on your furnace.  If you have someone that services your furnace, ask them.

I used to use a pleated filter with a high MERV value.  The second time my furnace broke when it was well below 0 degrees, I spent some time talking with the service man.  Apparently the type of furnace I have does not draw air through these filters as well as it should.  This causes this part to burn out.

I now use the filters that are fiberglass screens and no longer have the problem.


Will the highlighted legs bow? I don't really know much about building anything so I was trying to keep this as simple as possible (2x4s and OSB, wood glue and screws). I'm worried about the highlighted legs bowing.

This is for a grow box I wanted to build. The top part is a hood, and the front will be a hinged door. I'm trying to avoid another horizontal support across the two highlighted legs because I want to be able to have a completely open space from the front and top.

The hood would have an additional 10lb load from hanging lights. The inner table will hold a tote with up to 8 gallons of water.

The legs will not bow at all, all the force acting on it is pushing straight down. There is nothing going on the inside to act upon it to push out, so this will hold anything you wish to place in it. It will also hold an incredible amount of weight on top without no bowing of the legs either, if you added an apron that is attached to the top the same way you have a front stretcher at the bottom. If you did the top a little differently and made it so the top blocks "keyed in, or just added a few removable screws, it would help hold the front together.That way you could still remove it when you need. Like this without the screws at the top, it will not bow, maybe spread a little if you don't fasten the top.

I added your modified picture to help show what would help


How do I add grounding to my old electrical wiring? This old house is (50's) is wired with cloth covered 12/2 Romex with no ground and all metal boxes. Can I just run a 12 ga or 14 ga solid wire between boxes and then to the ground bus of my service panel or do I have to replace all the wiring with new Romex?

The rules on retrofitting grounds were greatly relaxed with the 2014 electrical code (NEC 2014). Yes, now you can simply run bare or green wire between all your electrical boxes and back to the panel.

The ground wires can follow any feasible route, they don't need to travel with the conductors.

The ground wire must go back to the same panel as the conductors come out of (that's relevant if you have more than one panel).

The ground wires MUST be thick enough (generally as thick as the conductors) and can be thicker -- for instance a 12 AWG ground wire is not acceptable for a 10 AWG/30A dryer circuit, but it is acceptable for a 14 AWG/15A outlet circuit.

Here's the whopper: Multiple circuits can share grounds. You don't have to home-run the ground all the way back to the panel, you need only reach another grounded point whose pathway is thick enough.  So you can daisy-chain your grounds from box to box, as long as all the circuits you are grounding come out of the same panel.  Or, your 10 or 6 AWG ground to your range or dryer can be a "backbone" providing grounds to many other receptacles.

All ground splices must be done with the same rules as any other splices: inside a junction box or using some sort of splice listed for use outside of a box.

For details,  see the National Electric Code, NFPA 70 (2014) Article 250 — Grounding and Bonding.  (NFPA now offers free access online to its codes and standards.)


How do I find doors of unorthodox sizes? I have three doorways in close proximity to one another, and I want to replace the doors in them. Aside from one door being completely absent, the other two have numerous problems, including gaps at the top, damage, rubbing with the frame, and stripped holes. The problem is that the doors are all unusual sizes: 29.5", 30.5", and 31". The two smaller doors are at opposite ends of a small hallway with little room to expand the doorway, so while expanding the doorway may be an option, it will be difficult and limited.

How can I find doors that will fit these doorways, or otherwise install new doors in their place?

Quite simply, you get doors of nonstandard size via special order.

When looking at door replacement, measure the size of the door slab itself, not the frame. If you have e.g. a 30 inch door, that means the rectangular piece of wood that is the door itself is 30 inches wide (and likely 80 inches tall which has been standard in the USA for decades, although that can vary as well). A 30 inch door may require a 30.5 inch gap measured from edge to edge of the frame (note: this is an example, I don't know the actual clearance). If you try installing a 30.5" door slab into a frame with exactly 30.5" of clearance, you will not be able to close it. Doors have thickness, and the hinges need a little bit of wiggle room as they swing the door out.

Your question is slightly ambiguous about what exactly you are trying to replace, so I will cover both options here.

Replacing the door slabs: simply measure the doors themselves. Measure the width, height, thickness, the dimensions and locations of the hinge plates, location of the latch (the part that sticks out of the side and keeps it closed), etc.
Replacing the door along with the jamb, i.e. a complete pre-hung door. Measure the width and height of the door slab, and also the rough-in size. Do this by removing the door casing carefully to avoid damaging the surrounding area, and removing any other obstructions that prevent viewing the underlying wall framing. You should be able to see the edge of the drywall and, depending on how tight the jamb is to the wall framing, the jack studs that surround the door. Measure the width and height of the rough-in opening. I would also measure the thickness of the wall: while a 2x4 wall is fairly standard, you may encounter "sideways stud" walls that are thinner, or even a 2x3 wall. This could be the case in older construction near closet doors (my house has a few like this).

When you talk to the person helping place the special order, it helps to have all of these measurements already done. "Hi, I have a door slab with dimensions X by Y, rough-in is A by B. I need a pre-hung door that will fit in this opening."

Do not underestimate the importance of measuring all of these things instead of going to the nearest big-box home improvement store and grabbing a door off the shelf that may or may not fit. Even little things like making sure the mortises for the hinge plates match (if buying only the door slab) will save you time and frustration later on.


Is it bad to turn off the water while on vacation? I'm a little OCD when it comes to traveling. I have learned from experience that when I am away, I constantly have visions that a pipe in the wall had burst and that the water is slowly filling the house. Having been through this enough times, I am tempted to put my worries to rest by simply turning off the main water line (in the garage) before we leave. My new fear with doing this, of course, is that I will cause something else bad to happen.

So I am curious, is it bad to turn off the water and drain the pipes prior to leaving for a week? In addition, what other precautions should I take aside from turning down the water heater? A few details - our house is two story, copper pipes, and we would be traveling in the spring time so temperatures in the house would stay at around 70 F.

Nothing bad should happen and it's not an irrational thing to do.

Turn the main valve slowly (both when turning off and on) to avoid possible water hammer effect that could stress pipe connections.

For the same reason, turn taps in the house on slowly when bleeding air after you turn the main supply back on. Start from the taps lowest down and closest to the main valve and work your way away and up.

IP cameras are a cheap way to keep an eye on your house while you're away for extended periods. I use old android phones with an app that sends alerts for sound and movement, it really helps with peace of mind and enjoying vacations.


How to wire telephones together as a intercom/party-line I'd like to wire a few phones together to use a intercom. Any body have any ideas as to a good starting point.

A good starting point would be Google :)

It's not overly difficult to do assuming you don't need the phones to ring.  You just need a power source which depends on the length of the cable runs and number of phones.  You can build a small system with a 9V battery even.

If you need the phones to ring it's a bit more difficult as you need to apply 90V A/C at 20hz (I think).

Seriously though, Google it, you will find many walkthroughs and instructions on how to build these.


Can pavers set with polymeric jointing sand be powerwashed? I recently started the process of cleaning my paver patio because the paver was absolutely covered in moss and weeds. I've been using a pressure washer and blowing out the material alongside cleaning the pavers thoroughly. Over the past two days I'm becoming to appreciate how much effort is takes to collect all the material that the power washer blows out and looking to not do this again in the near future. I'm considering re-filling the joints with polymeric sand, with the hope that this will suppress weeds enough that I won't have to do this again soon. However, I'm wondering how sturdy the polymeric sand is after it sets. Will I be able to powerwash the stones in the future if dirt, moss, or other debris gets on them without blowing out the polymeric sand? If not, what would be the way to clean them without risking blowing out the sand again?

Yes, they can be powerwashed but only if you take the time to do it right and follow the directions to a tee. The joints should be 1/4" wide and as deep as the pavers. Which means you have to remove all the old sand. After applying the jointing sand, compacting is advised and then adding more sand. Extensive cleaning of the surface of the pavers is critical to remove all jointing sand before wetting down the sand. drying and curing time is important too. I just touched on a few of the procedures to use this stuff. It's a lot of work so if you take on the project, take the time to do it right.

You don't want to use a powerwasher set higher than 1600 PSI on the pavers after using the jointing sand.


DIY Tubular Skylights for special application; seeking tubular skylights smaller than 10" We would like to have several "tubular skylights" in the construction we are planning. These are skylights consisting of a circular opening in the roof with attached dome-shaped or circular window, attached to a cylindrical duct with a reflective material on the inside, which eventually reaches the interior through the ceiling, terminating at some kind of window. These skylights not only deliver the light from outside, but they also "disperse" the light (using the tube's inner material) so that upon exit at the ceiling the light is spread out over a larger area and not as concentrated as it would be otherwise.

As far as I can tell, 10" diameter is the smallest size offered among today's tubular skylight products.

We are going to be using a concrete roof technology that has a fixed spacing between its concrete beams. I currently understand it to be the case that 10" would not pose structural problems in the roof, and it may not necessarily interrupt one of the beams, but we would prefer to opt for more numerous openings of a smaller size given that strength and storm resistance is a priority for the building.

I suppose that the "volume of light" that is delivered, both physically and with regards to our perception of it, diminishes exponentially as the diameter of the skylight decreases. This may be one justification for the minimum of 10" among the available products. Aside from that, it is not clear to me whether there would be a big issue with hitting some kind of other physical diameter threshold, smaller than which we would be severely limiting the function (light delivered and/or proper dispersion of the light) of the skylight.

There are two particularities to our situation that make me think a smaller diameter would be OK. (1) There will be no bends in our skylight tubing, whereas generally the commercially available skylights are designed to accommodate bends in the tubing (and the eventual decrease in delivered light); (2) Our tube will be short, maybe 4 feet from exterior to interior, whereas existing products are designed to accommodate longer lengths. So we already have two factors which appear to boost the effectiveness / functionality in our case.

Other possible benefits of producing our own skylights: We can adapt it to our specific use, and specifically we can make it more storm resistant or adapt it to the particularities of our roof (which is more-or-less flat and will be topped with a concrete slab, which is different from the average roof with shingles etc). Another is that existing skylights seem to be expensive, though I haven't researched prices much.

I wonder what people think about that reasoning so far. I am thinking of having openings that are as small as 4".

Now, aside from whether it is a good idea or not, I am looking for advice on constructing the skylights. It seems straightforward to create a cylindrical tube, and apply a reflective material to the inside. However I am not sure about:

what to use for the exterior light collecting window / dome, which are usually designed to collect light from all angles. We do not need to take into account storm resistance necessarily, because we can install separately some kind of shutter that encloses the dome. I am thinking that we may be able to just install a 10" dome even though the opening that it will sit over will be smaller.
How best to connect the tube to the dome, in a way that minimizes leaks into the roof opening/canal; or if they are not connected, how to best secure the dome to the roof to minimize leaks.
What to use for the interior circular window.
General construction advice for assembling these items.

I apologize if this question is very long. Thank you.

Your question is very complete. But, for a flat concrete roof? Yes, I know, it won't truly be flat and it better not be. Either way is No Way...you'll be re-caulking every year and it'll take all year long with that Swiss Cheese.

Please have the mason customize the roof for these. I'd like to see a 2" to 3" (twice that if you regularly get snow and ice) ramped cone poured for each location that's part of the initial monolithic pour...not some add-on guaranteed failure afterthought nonsense that actually collects and retains water.

Also, please don't run short-lived Romex under the slab for the night and cloudy lighting. Use the aluminum armored cable, unless it's attacked by the concrete. Then you might need the PVC or epoxy coated armoring.

I'd actually suggest a sidewall stovepipe looking singular tube that feeds a fiber optic lighting box. Of course, it could be a nice feature like a faux gable or corner turret. But, this would allow for experimentation and scalability. Maybe 4-inches is too bright in a fiber optic setup and you just need a 2" periscope that operates as a flagpole.


Can I plug a 15A snow thrower into a 15A receptacle? I'm planning to buy a snow thrower with a 15A motor in it. I have an outside receptacle that's rated for 15A and so is the breaker in the electrical panel.

I'm wondering if this will work without problems, or should I take a slightly smaller motor rated for 13.5A?

I plan to run the snow blower off a 12 AWG extension cord (either 50 or 100 foot long).

I'm assuming the 15A of the motor would be the highest current it'd draw, so during start up, or am I wrong to assume this?

Unless it came with a 20A plug (pictured below), it's designed to plug into a 15A receptacle.

The 20A plug has one blade twisted 90 degrees to prevent it from being plugged into a 15A receptacle. The corresponding 20A receptacle has a slot shaped to accept a standard 15A plug or a 20A plug:

This assumes that the plug on the snowthrower is factory installed and that someone didn't replace it with a 15A plug. If the motor really does draw 15A continuously, then it probably shouldn't be used on a 15A circuit as the continuous draw of the circuit should be less than 80% of the circuit capacity (12A for a 15A circuit).

Additionally, this assumes that the manufacturer put the right plug on the device. If it was purchased from a major manufacturer (and designed for use in this country) it should be fine, if it's from an off-brand and not UL listed, then it's less certain.


How do I clean a Hammerite paint brush? I have recently painted using Hammerite metal paint. When I tried to clean the brush afterwards using White Spirit, I noticed it didn't work. Hammerite sells a specialized cleaning product, but I'd like to use a product that is useful in other situations too. Is there anyone who knows what kind of cleaning product might help?

The consensus of opinion on the Ultimate Handyman forum seems to be to use an old brush and throw it away after use.

A couple of alternatives are suggested:

  Ordianry cellulose thinners will also work.

So presumably the Hammerite product is cellulose thinners based.

and

  I wrap mine very tightly in plastic and stick them in my brushmate, as long as i use them every couple of months they stay reasonably soft, even if they go a little stiff a drop of hammerite thiners brings them back to life.

Which is something I do overnight (or a couple of days at most) when using gloss paint. It does keep the bristles soft for a while so saves on white spirit and having to find a clean brush for the next coat.


Effectively clearing out solvent fumes from a workshop I am looking for safe ways to purge solvent fumes from a basement workshop. First let me say that I am not spraying solvent based finishes. I'm only trying to deal with the fumes given off by slow evaporation. For example, using mineral spirits on the corner of a rag to clean something. The smell will linger for hours or days, but the concentration is not high enough to be a serious respiratory risk or an explosion risk.

Two things I've considered:
Buying or building a "safety lamp", as used by miners in the 19th century. Burning up the solvent vapors safely might be a quick way to solve the issue.

Charcoal based filter combined with a fan to move air across or through the charcoal.

Exhaust fan.
Explosion-proof preferred, but if you're quite sure you don't need that...
If you set up an area as a low-tech fume hood it will be more effective if you can keep the solvent work in that area.


hydronic floor heating system efficiency - using concrete as thermal energy store or not? I am renovating my house and would like some advice on floor heating for my living room. I have dug this room out to a depth of 97 cm to create a lower level. I have lined this box with 2.5 cm thick polystyrene and then a double layer steel reinforced concrete floor of 15 cm.

I am now looking to add a hydronic floor heating system to this lowered area. As I understand it I have two basic options.

add the pipes directly on the concrete with a layer of screed or
add a layer of insulation in which (or on top of which) the pipes are fastened and then add a layer of screed

I would like to know which system would be the most efficient in my case. Reading up on option 2, it seems like this heats up the room faster, but you are not utilizing the concrete floor as thermal storage, so you lose the heat very fast as soon as the boiler is switched off. With option 1 it takes longer to heat up, but then you are also using the concrete floor as thermal storage.

EDIT: I fear I may have under-insulated by only adding 1 inch of insulation (extruded polystyrene), thereby negating the effectiveness of the thermal store.

Could someone please give me some pointers?

A very important factor in deciding to use a thermal mass to store energy is the energy source. Solar energy is the classic example. The energy is free and the supply is periodic and unpredictable. Energy storage is a must.

You mentioned a boiler, so you likely are burning fuel, directly or indirectly, or at least paying for the supply. In this case, energy being of significant cost and in virtually ready supply, energy storage is not warranted. The inherent losses in the store/release cycle make it of little benefit. Especially with only 2.5cm of insulation.


Do I need to add a circuit breaker to the outdoor panel that powers my RV? I purchased wooded undeveloped property and there is a box mounted on a pole with 200 amp service.  The person before me tapped in to the box for his RV with 10-2 wire with the hot going directly to the lug coming off the main breakers.  The neutral is also wired to a lug and the ground goes to a bus bar.
There hot wire is not going to a 30 amp circuit breaker (for the RV).
I believe I need to add a 30 amp breaker.
Also I would like to add an outdoor outlet (110 v) from the box and would therefore need to add another 15 amp breaker. Is that correct?

I purchased a small bus bar from Home Depot. If I remove the Neutral lug, does this just screw in?

It looks as though if I flip the breaker bar off, everything below the breakers should not have current.

I appreciate the assistance and help from this more knowledgeable community.

Yes, you'll want a 30A breaker just to protect the RV.

Breakers protect wires.   In the case of an RV, the internal wiring system is built to withstand onboard loads demanding 30A.  But if an onboard load has a problem, or if the wiring has a problem, and it suddenly starts pulling 100A, the RV depends on that external breaker to trip.  Otherwise you could have an RV fire.

Even if the RV has a little subpanel on board, most likely the subpanel is "oversubscribed" and it'd be possible for all circuits to run at max, trip no RV breakers and pull considerably more through the internal wiring between the panel and the shore power connection.


Why did one of my recessed lights in a group stop working? I have 4 recessed lights on a single switch/circuit. One of them stopped working. I assumed that the bulb went bad, but have replaced it with multiple known-working bulbs. Also confirmed that the center contact makes good contact with the bulb.  The socket is connected to the box with armored cable.
Could something in the box itself have gone bad? How would I trouble-shoot this?

Recessed can lights have several issues you have already checked the center contact, now there are 2 other things to check. First I would look for a thermal overload, these are a small sensor that is inline with the hot conductor to the center tab on the light socket, if a larger lamp was used than the fixture was rated for this is usually the cause, the overload is temp sensitive and opens when hot, these sensors don’t last long if a over sized lamp was used in the fixture they are usually small some about the size of a pea, many about an inch long and smaller than a pencil in diameter, to check this the circuit needs to be turned off and an ohm meter from center contact to the black wire should read close to zero if open the overload has failed and needs to be replaced (sometimes cheaper to replace the fixture. The other thing I find on older fixtures is the heat for all the years has baked the wiring and with some vibration one of the conductors opened at the fixture or the splice to the power that should be in a box ether on the fixture or connected close by.


Is mortar necessary for a single-row tile baseboard? We recently remodeled our bathroom using tile to replace the former vinyl floors.  For reasons of timing and indecision, the baseboard was not completed at the time.  We have now decided to just use ceramic tile similar to the floor tiles as the baseboard.  Since it's been about 5 months since the rest of the bathroom was completed, I no longer have any mortar/mastic left for adhering the tile baseboard to the wall.

My question is, since this is mostly just decoration for the room (not structural or weight bearing), is it really necessary to use proper mortar to attach the tiles?  I know I'll need to put grout between them still, but I'm wondering if I could get away with a couple tubes of construction adhesive rather than going through all the effort of mixing and applying mortar again.

You could use construction adhesive, but it takes several days to reach a hardness I'd consider adequate for grouting. You don't want to grout a flexing surface. Also, it'll be more difficult to keep a flat plane among your tiles if you don't use a notched trowel.

I'd buy some premixed mortar and trowel it onto the wall as you normally would. The outcome will be better, and you'll be able to grout more quickly.


Identifying Window Latch I would appreciate it if anybody could tell me what type of window latch is in the picture below?
I bought a house and need to change a couple of these that are broken.
Thank you!

Sash lock or casement window sash lock.
duckduckgo
I have seen them at the home improvement stores.
I call them a pain in the ***


How to protect my home against spying? My personal information has been stolen and used to commit fraud a couple of times... vigillence has allowed me to not get hit too badly but it's becomming a real chore, consuming lots of my time. Last time (this week), it seems that my wife's phone was cloned and used to access our banking info.

With surveillance equipment and techniques being used by criminals, what are some things that I can do to protect my privacy and information in the home? For example, a bit of cold war tech used the vibrations in incandescent light bulbs from to eavesdrop on conversation with a telescope; also, special microphones could be attached to copper pipes and wires with the same result, not to mention hidden cameras and computer viruses. I don't have any incandescent bulbs or copper pipes... but the fact is, that technology is making home invasion and espionage an activity performed from across the street with some regularity (as evidenced by the slew of commercials for credit protection on TV).

Obviously, internet security and credit card alerts and such are not home improvements... this question is asking for ways to (help) secure the home with respect to spying.

Unless you are specifically being targeted, the majority of "security measures" will most likely be unnecessary/unrealistic.

Regardless, the methods/options of securing a home or structure are likely too numerous to effectively create an answer for this site.

If you are convinced you need to secure your home against the KGB, NSA, or your creepy neighbor, there are some basic measures you could take.

Window film for privacy
Better door locks such as ANSI Grade 1 door locks
A way to securely destroy sensitive items/documents (shredder, fire pit)
Avoid any network-based security system (smart-home items included)
Use a P.O. box for all  mail.
Signal Jammers to prevent unwanted snooping (although this will block your own as well)
Military grade mobile jammer (jammers are not legal in the US)
Only use cash, eliminate credit cards and bank transactions
Live off-grid
Avoid all contact with civilization (electronic and personal)
Be under witness protection, get new identity


How can I anchor to a 1" thick hollow wall with a very shallow cavity? I just moved into a pre-war apartment in the Upper West Side, New York. I'm trying to install some wall shelves.

I don't know anything about the construction of this building, so I'm learning about it as I go. It's been impossible to find studs near where I need to mount (have yet to find a stud using a density or magnet stud finder), so I've resorted to anchoring in the "drywall".

After drilling a  hole, I see that the drywall is over an inch thick, and after 2 inches my drill bit is hitting the building's stone exterior.

I'm not sure what kind of hollow wallboard this is. After some research, it sounds like it is probably lath + plaster, but it doesn't flake or crumble like plaster though. Either way, it is about 1.25 inches thick and doesn't give me enough room in the back for a toggle anchor to open up.

The question is: How do I appropriately anchor these shelves into this wall? Is there a type of anchor that supports thick walls like this, will support the weight of the shelves, and doesn't need a lot of space in the hollow part of the wall?

Shelf Specs:

Dimensions: 36" long, 5.5" deep.
They'll hold no more than 50lbs, most likely much less. Planning to put plants on them.
Shelf Brackets: 2 brackets wrap around the ends of the shelf. 2 screw holes per bracket. Image here

Thanks for your help!

I think these screw in plastic drywall anchors would work. screw in drywall anchors


Wiring switched receptacles I just moved to into a house and was trying to wire a new USB receptacle to an receptacle that is controlled by a switch. The old receptacle has the brass tab broken and the red wire is wired to the top brass terminal. The USB receptacle has only two terminal screws, so there's no way to wire the red wire to the switch. My question is, can I wire the USB receptacle to this outlet box without the red wire? Should I just nut/tape it off?

I do have a switch can controls overhead light, so I don't really need the switch to control that receptacle.

You cannot "split" your new outlet. It must all be constant-on or switched. As you suspected, you need to connect only one of the hots (probably the black) and cap off the other. Do not try to connect both. At best, you'll bypass the switch for everything. At worst, you'll trip a breaker or, if the breaker fails, start a fire!


GFCI not working. Other receptacles do I wired up 4 new double gang boxes for a fish room I’m building. On the first double gang box in the fish room I tied into an existing outlet on the same wall that faces opposite for the room on the other side of the wall. I then wired the outlet that shares the double gang box with the gfci. I made sure everything was wired correctly. (Line and load terminals). And then continued the wiring for the next 6 outlets. With the breaker back on the gfci led light is on but the gfci outlet doesn’t work but all the other outlets down the line do work. I tried resetting the the gfci, installing a different gfci, and double checked all the wiring. What would be causing this?

Move all wires to LINE

Placing any wires on LOAD is incorrect unless you have a very specific reason to do that.

"I have more wires to attach and don't know where else to put them" is not a specific reason.

If the GFCI fails with all wires on LINE, then the GFCI is defective.

If you have a specific reason to use LOAD, then attach the LINE wires first, stop and checkpoint your work, assure that the GFCI works in all respects.   Then attach LOAD.


How do I connect TV cables to this signal booster unit? I am trying to connect some coaxial cables to a antenna amplifier unit. I have 3 cables going to various TV plugs, and a single cable connected to an antenna. All cables are terminated with the connector shown below.

The booster unit is the one below. It doesn't allow me to simply screw the connector in place, so what connectors would I need to buy (and what tools - I've seen mention of crimpers and compression tools) to connect up the 4 cables?

The antenna input also has a different socket type than the TV outputs, even though all my connectors are the same, so I presume this would need another connection type?

Thanks for any details you may be able to provide.

The amplifier appears to have Belling-Lee connectors (Wikipedia) while the cables look like they have "F" connectors
 (Wikipedia). Assuming you are in Europe, you should be able to find adapters. If you are in the USA, BL adapters are hard to find but I've gotten them from Radio Shack in the past.

Also called PAL or European to F Adapter


Can I use a camp fuel butane bottle with a brazing torch? I have a large blue butane bottle with regular attached that connects to my camping stove.

Could I, safely and practically, use this gas with a propane brazing torch?

I want to bond steel with a brazing rod, not solder.

Butane has a much higher boiling point than propane (31 F vs. -44 F).  So if you're burning it at a fast rate, the pressure will be different.  If you're working in freezing temperatures, you may even have trouble feeding the torch.

Also, I've read that butane doesn't transfer its heat as effectively (see this for example).  They have similar BTUs, but the rationale is that the butane flame is more diluted because it takes more combustion air.  I have no idea whether that's true.  That wouldn't make any difference for a camping stove, but brazing steel is more demanding.

Nozzles designed for butane are different, and a different air/fuel mix is required.  So a torch designed for propane may not give the best butane flame.  All the torches I've seen designed for butane are small, but designed to get the optimum flame from the butane.

The canister connection may also be different depending on size, but is you're asking the question, I'm guessing that issue doesn't apply..

You want to use it for a demanding application.  The only way to tell if it will be effective is to try it.  It may be good enough, but it isn't likely to be as effective with a torch designed for propane as using propane.  If it does work, you may go through a lot more butane for the job than the amount of propane that would be required.


How to get rid of smell after wood stain applied? I recently stained some homemade wooden buttons for my wife. The buttons were bade from poplar wooden dowels sliced to 2-3mm thickness. Some quick light sanding was done to each button. I then used some Varathane Classic Penetrating Wood Stain.

The stain seemed to take rather nicely, but now I have the problem of the smell. My wife says they smell like gasoline. Since they are going to be used on clothing items, they can't smell. So, I then took a heat gun to them to try to dry them out a bit more. That seemed to help some. I don't have any other ideas, other than wait for the smell to go away. Can I apply a finish coating or something to seal in the smell? Any suggestions?

Edit/Update: I placed them out on the back porch in the sun to try to get them to fully dry. Hopefully the smell will go away soon.

Once the stain is totally dry the smell will be gone a coat of varnish will make the buttons look better but the stain needs to be dry prior to applying the varnish.


How can I remove a "log lighter" pipe from my fireplace? My fireplace has a log lighter:

What is the easy way to remove it?  Can I use WD-40 to loosen the connector?

You will need two wrenches, one to hold the pipe coming out of the brick to prevent it from turning, and the other to unscrew the log-lighter "air mixing" fitting (the fitting has an adjustable flap that controls the amount of air pulled into the lighter pipe to allow for optimal flame). WD-40 or any other penetrating oil might help, and I would use pipe wrenches as it will probably be stubborn. If you slop a mess of oil around in there you should wipe up the excess before using an ignition source, just in case.


Should I use reflective insulation over other kinds of attic insulation? I just moved into a house made in 1969, it gets really hot during the sunny days and cold during the winter. I'm living close to the rocky mountains just so you have an idea how cold and hot it gets. I then got a contractor to let me know what was the problem and told me that I have about 6 inches of fiberglass insulation in my attic and that I need to have about 15 inches.

He told me the next process is to add insulation with a blower machine and then I could add the needed insulation to solve the problem. I looked online to see how easy/hard is to do that and I found out that it's not an easy job, and of course not pretty cheap. I was planning to do it myself to save some dollars but I'm pretty sure that the current insulation in the attic might have some asbestos, so I just don't want to deal with that.

Then I was looking for alternatives to insulation and I found the reflective insulation to be an effective way (it claims that it can get the temperature down to up to 10 degrees) to insulate a home with a possibility of doing it without having to hire a contractor for the job.

First question here:

If is that effective, cheap and easier to install than other methods is that great as they clam it to be? It sounds good to be true.

After watching some youtube videos on how to install this kind of insulation, I noticed that when you install it inside your attic on the ceiling of it, there will be a gap between the ceiling and the reflective layer, since it has be stapled to the studs, so I was wondering how hot could that get and if would affect the roof in any way?

Thank you!

Something I didn't see mentioned is that along with proper insulation depth to get yourself to a minimum of R-36 also ensure your attic has proper ventilation. Attics need to breath to let hot air out in the summer and keep your roof cold during the winter (prevent ice dams). Windows have really bad R factors so if you only have single pane and cant get to double, consider storm windows. If your walls are "sweating" during the winter then they don't have enough insulation in them as well. For your wall ensure all your exterior gang boxes are sealed. A single can of foam spray can seal up almost all in a 2400 sq ft house.

As for the reflective insulation, it works well but only in hot climates as it acts a radiant barrier but there are numerous factors to ensure it works well. Doesn't do anything for cold.


How to fix a leaky basement wall from inside? I prefer clean, simple and effective ways to fix a leaky basement wall (small leak - about 16 oz from a heavy rain intermittently). Will any new tech or sealants work?

Yes, don’t we all “prefer clean, simple and effective ways to fix a leaky basement wall.” However, seldom are moisture problems simple.

First, concrete is porous. It also has cracks and construction joints in it that allows moisture to enter from a zillion different places.

So moisture is either coming up from below (a rising water table) or its coming from the surrounding ground water in the saturated soil.

If it comes up from a rising water table, it will enter the living space from below through the crack between the foundation wall and slab.

If it comes from the surrounding ground water, it COULD enter the living space through the wall, especially if the exterior side of the foundation wall is not sealed properly.
Either way the moisture enters the living space it will need to be collected and disposed. I think the best way to collect it is on the exterior side of the foundation wall in drainrock and a perforated pipe laid 6”-8” BELOW the interior basement slab.

To keep the subsurface water from seeping through the wall, I recommend installing a moisture barrier on the exterior side of the foundation wall and install a 2” thick plastic mesh on the wall to allow water to flow down to the perforated pipe. If dirt is allowed to be back filled against the wall, the dirt could hold the moisture giving it a chance to seep through the wall.

Once collected it needs to be disposed by extending a solid pipe over an embankment or in a collection well and pumped away.

This may be the most expensive method of solving the problem, but it’s sure to work.

BTW, if you do nothing, you could develop mold (if you haven’t already).


Electrical Outlet - Red and black wire to L1 T1 Background: I removed an in line wall heater thermostat from a 120v outlet, and want to ensure I reconnect the wires accurately.

Question: A google search hit insists the wire marked in red is running from the the panel, and if tested should be active if circuit is on, and should connect to the "L1", the other wire black and not labeled runs to the heater and connected to the "T1". Is this accruate? Is testing the connection with circuit on necessary? Out of curiosity, do the characters stand for anything?

L is for line or supply. T is for load. Basically L is power in and T is power out.

If you are trying to find which wire is coming from the panel, yes the power must be on. The one from the panel will show voltage. Which I assume will be the one marked with red tape.


Millenco Lockmaster Mantis 3 lock - extra part after rebuilding tl;dr - where does the horseshoe-shaped bit at the bottom of the picture go?
Long version
I've been trying to refurbish the locking mechanism (gearbox?) for my street door after it got so stiff the key broke in the lock.
I've removed the 5 point locking strip from the door and taken the gearbox off of the strip, and I managed to get the broken key out with pliers. I've now dismantled the gearbox in the hope I could just add some grease and put it all back together again, but it kind of fell apart when I took the screws out and I've been trying to do the resulting jigsaw puzzle for a couple of hours.
I'm pretty sure got most of the parts back in the right place, but there's inevitably a small part left over that I've got no idea what to do with :-(. I'm hoping someone can point me in the right direction...
See the image below for the current state of the lock - I think it's a Millenco Lockmaster Mantis 3 - see https://www.amazon.co.uk/Millenco-Lockmaster-Backset-Spindle-Mantis/dp/B01B516QYG.
The piece I can't find a home for is the horseshoe-shaped part at the bottom of the picture. I think it goes at the bottom end of the lock somewhere, but that's not definite...
Any help appreciated with either working out where it goes, or finding a teardown guide / reference image for the lock as I've had no luck finding either of those myself.

Per @Ecnerwal's comment, it appears to sit astride the spring just above the keyhole, with the ends of the horseshoe slotting into holes in both faceplates when they're re-assembled...:

I'm having trouble getting the other faceplate on without knocking all the parts around, but that's a different problem althogether...


How can I tell whether this roofing material is hazardous to tear down? I've got this little building in my garden that needs to be completely removed to make room for building a real house. To keep costs down, I'll be doing most of the tear-down myself but I'm unsure about the roof because I am worried that the material might be hazardous.

I don't know what material the roof is made of. It's shaped like corrugated metal but it's not metal. It feels like a kind of hardened fiber material, and is hard as stone or shingles. It's approximately 5 millimeters thick, and there are a few slabs more lying around in the back of the garden.

How can I determine whether the material is safe for me to handle? The building is roughly 60 years old and I can't ask the previous owner and builder.

Background:
I don't know English product names for this kind of material but I know that in Denmark many years ago there used to be roofs like this that contained asbestos. That material was prohibited and replaced by "eternit" (the Danish word for it) which turned out to be dangerous too, so it was also prohibited and replaced by "masonit" (Danish again) which is safe.

That looks like asbestos - the age would be about right. I'd get your local authority to have a look. They'll be able to advise on what you can and cannot do.

Asbestos is "safe" as long is at remains in one piece. It's the dust generated when it breaks up that's dangerous. If (and it's a very big if) you could remove it without it breaking then you'd be safe. However, that's unlikely to happen.

It will depend on your location but it can be expensive to have asbestos safely removed and the usual approach is to leave it in place if there's no danger of it breaking up.


Sharing multiple neutrals? Found a junction box that splices all the neutrals for 5 separate circuits. 3 on one phase 2 on the other. All 12/2 romex.
Was trying to convince them to change it, but I don't have a good explanation besides why this shouldn't be done on the same phase. As my understanding falls short of what is happening as it's a combination of L1 L1 L1 L2 L2.
From a non code perspective, should this setup be changed and if so why?

"I don't have a good explanation besides why" -- this is a common "way of thinking" for people who do electronics, or auto repair.  You're used to having a big "common/return" bus (often called "GND" but let's not go there today!).  Either you're dealing in electronics which is very tiny current, or in automotive it's a massive steel chassis with unlimited current capacity.  *So, "return" is out of sight/out of mind.
In AC mains, everything is wired as full loops - both hot and neutral are wired in every case.  (for instance you would never use a steel building's structure as the neutral current return, holy smokes that would be bad!!)
However, AC power has one throwback to automotive mentality -- We do not "fuse" the neutral wire.   After all, why fuse it?  Since we run full loops, neutral cannot possibly have more current than its partner hot... or hots in the case of a "Multi-wire Branch Circuit".
Of course, this presumption relies on the neutral being monogamous to its partner hot(s).
What was in their head?...
I'd imagine that the above person logicks out that the L1 loads sum up to 60A and the L2 loads sum up to 40A, so neutral flow is 20A and that's within limits.  This ignores the fact that not all circuits are loaded 100% all the time!
Suppose you plug in 13A loads into the three L1 circuits and a 1A TV into the one L2 circuit.  You have 39A on the L1 side and 1A on the L2 side.  The neutral carries 38A.
"But but but... there are 5 neutrals here with a combined ampacity of 100A.  Shouldn't they be plenty to handle 60A of differential current?"
First that's "Paralleling", which has special rules... but let's wind back to "Neutrals don't have breakers".  Yes, if all 5 neutrals stay intact you'd be fine... but what happens if 3 of them fail?  Now you have 30A on each surviving neutral, overloading both.
Neutrals don't have breakers, so nothing would warn you of this. This is why the special rules for paralleling require individual fuses/breakers per wire, including neutral. But that opens another can of worms: What if the neutral fuse/breaker blew, but the others didn't?  You'd now have a "Lost Neutral" situation - which is a nightmare.  So yet another design rule requires if the neutral is breakered, it must trip the hots when it goes.
What to do
Since all these cables have their own neutrals -- they are just improperly tied together -- they simply need to be separated so that neutrals are only shared among cables that share hots.
If you mean that the white wires from 2 cables have been re-tasked to be hots, all sharing the third cable's neutral, then these 5 circuits will need to be refactored to be 3 circuits.  NEC 300.3(B) requires all related circuit wires be in the same cable or conduit, This is AC -- if they are in different cables, it will induce EMF between them, eddy current heating, vibration, cracking and hotspots from the reduced conductor cross section from the cracking.
If 3 circuits is not enough, that's too darn bad.  They could have supported 6 circuits with 3 cables, but they would've needed to be 12/3 cables and multi-wire branch circuits. (2 hots per neutral).   I hope they enjoyed the latté they bought with the "big savings" on wire. talk about a false economy...
"Couldn't we get 4 circuits out of this by remarking 1 white to a hot, giving 4 hots 2 neutrals, and wire proper multi-wire branch circuits?  Nope, 300.3(B) again.


Low-voltage splices behind Drywall without junction box access? For 120VAC, I know that 'splices' in NM/Romex are not allowed behind drywall: there must be a junction box to inspect the splice.
For low-voltage, such as CATV, how big of a deal is it?
The previous owner left my house with a CATV splice (pictured below), and we're about to add drywall to this ceiling.
Do I need to remove this CATV (RG6 Quad Shield) cable and re-run it as a continuous run with NO splice?  (Or add a junction box for access; but I don't want to do this).

Low-voltage stuff isn't regulated in that way. Just know that you lose signal quality with a splicer like that, so some means of eliminating it later is a good idea.


Rotten Floor under immovable claw tub I'm a renter. My landlord doesn't fix things all the time. They have fixed things but this house is such a project that many things get ignored and some things don't get fixed at all or fixed right.   I had rodents and had to repair several holes but one place that is eroding is under the claw foot tub around the pipes. The floor is a crumbling mess. It's no time at all until it is a hole to the outside. I can't hammer under it because the tub is too close. Also the floor is warped and uneven so laying a board on top leaves gaps all around it. I can't afford someone to repair it but I need it fixed. I can't move the tub or remove the pipes. I thought about filling it with spray foam but that seems flimsy and not really a solution. Could I use cement and if so, any tips? Any other suggestions would be so appreciated and helpful. I'm just a disabled woman so I need something easy please. Thank you.

If the issue is rodent access, steel wool is helpful because they don't really like to bite metal.

If you stuff the hole with lots of steel wool (coarse), then seal it in with spray foam, the rodents will probably be discouraged (we don't eliminate vermin, we manage them). And the foam is easily removed once the landlord gets a conscience.


What should I use as a base for my wall mounted PC case? Here is an example of what I am trying to put together:

What material could I use as a base onto which I can mount the motherboard, hard-disk and other wiring?

Your circuitry and peripheral devices could be mounted on a piece of plywood. Such plywood could be pre-painted if you wished to get a desired color effect. For a more unique effect you could cover the plywood with a layer of sheet cooper similar to that used by roofers. This could look very cool of it was all buffed out to an exquisite shine and sealed with a coating to keep it from tarnishing. A clear lacquer finish may be just the ticket.


Why does the flame in my gas fireplace go out after closing the door? I have a gas fireplace model Archgard Optima 45. Pilot works great and stays on when doors are open or closed. Main burner comes on great when door is open. soon as the door is closed the flame starts going out and over 10 seconds eventually goes out completely. If i leave door open flame is full and keeps going. I took off the complete pipe and vent pipes from top of fireplace to ensure that no exhaust was getting blocked. even with the pipes completely off the flame still goes out when door is closed.

You need to have a way for air to get IN to the fireplace as well as a flue for the gasses to get out. If the front and door is sealed up too tight, the flame consumes all of the oxygen in the fireplace and extinguishes itself. Usually there is a little vent hole or louver in the front that draws air into the fireplace, or there is a pipe coming from the outside supplying air. If that pipe got blocked by something, that would do it.


How can I remove smoke odor after a fire? There was a bad fire (everyone got out of the building in time, thankfully. It could have been so much worse!) in the apartment upstairs from mine. We didn't get any fire damage but there was a lot of water and everything smells like smoke. There's a mitigation company handling cleanup and they've been great so far. They got all the water up and wet drywall out quickly, got fans running to dry everything out.
But everything still smells like smoke. I can do a ton of laundry but I'm wondering if there are specific things I can do to clean furniture, especially things like beds and blinds that didn't get wet but still smell of smoke.

As commented, this is usually part of the mitigation company's deal, as the tools are a bit specialized (serious ozone generators, for one thing) and they may have access to ones a bit more serious than any you may be able to find to rent, as the rental company may not be comfortable with the hazard level of putting those in consumer hands.
Other methods they might use include using the upholstered furniture mode of a typical "rug cleaner" (spray wet solution and vacuum it out, generally with a smaller nozzle for furniture than for a floor.)


Will this ceiling fan box replacement work in old work hole? I have had a hanging light fixture in the middle of the living room which I now want to replace with a ceiling fan+light. Nothing huge and fancy... but a hunter nonetheless.

The old pan box was, old (complete with knob & tube which I will not be re-using):

It was stuck in this hole in the ceiling (screwed to an old oak board that is jambed tight between joists):

So my question is... will this box work:

Is it valid? If I bolt it to the old oak board using 4 hex screws (probably number 10s)?

With the oak board in the ceiling how it is, I don't really have room to use one of those hefty giant metal-bar contraptions.

Pictured is a random one dollar 4" octagon box.

That is acceptable for a lamp, but won't do at all for a ceiling fan box.

Since you're rewiring anyway, you'd be better off to spend a latté worth of cost to put a ceiling fan box here and use /3 cable from the switch.  That way the next occupant has a choice about putting a ceiling fan here.  Obviously the last occupant thought it was worthwhile.


How can I remove this toilet shutoff valve? This valve has a slow leak, and I am trying to replace it.  Problem is I can't get the thing off.  I am trying to twist the compression nut (the bronze one closest to the white pipe) clockwise while holding the valve in place.  Am I doing this wrong?

Here's a picture of the valve:

I don't think that is a compression fitting, it looks more like the valve is threaded. Have you tried just turning the valve (silver in color) and not the brass fitting (which is probably soldered onto the pipe)?


How to handle a break in a circuit due to removal of a fixture? (For purposes of this question, ignore the second circuit with the three way switch and 2 14/3 nm cables on the right hand side of the open area.)
I have to relocate the ceiling fixture switch in a bedroom.  The fixture was getting power from the middle of a run of nm cable.  As as temporary solution I've simply tied together the two cables with nuts in the j box, but I'd like to remove this box before drywalling the area.  I realize that it is not going to be up to code to simply hide the connection within a wall, but I'm not sure what other options are out there.  Of course my preference is not to have a box and blank plate visible in the bedroom, and I'd prefer to rip out less drywall over more.

Sounds like you understand the constraint of having the splice in a box. Like a lot of people on here, I am weary about in-wall splice products like the one mentioned in JACK's answer, although I admit I don't have much experience using them.
I would look very closely at the possibility of running a new cable. Sometimes it can be easier than you think and might not involve too much drywall damage/repair. Assuming the cable terminates at the receptacle on the left, I would start there. Remove the receptacle and disconnect all the wiring. Use a hacksaw blade to cut the nails that hold the junction box to the stud and remove the box.  Reach into the hole and try to remove the staples that fasten the cable to the stud near the box.  Then  fasten a string or fish line to the cable and pull the cable through the studs back towards the wall area you have open.  With a little luck the cable will pull through and you can use the string to pull a length of new cable.  When you are all done, don't forget to replace the box you just removed with a new "old work" style box that clamps the drywall edge to hold it in place.
We can't see where the other end of the cable goes, but if it goes to another box close by you might be able to repeat the process on the other end, or maybe by just replacing one side of the cable, you would have enough freedom to move the box to a more desirable location, like higher up on the wall where the box could be hidden behind a clock or wall art.  Although it doesn't look like it would apply in this case, if you could move the splice towards the floor you could put a box with an outlet there and not have a "weird" box in the center of the wall with a blank plate on it.
Don't forget to consider the what is on the other side of the wall.  Depending on how you use the space, the other side of the wall could be a better place to have the junction box, and it would not be too much work to cut a hole in the drywall and mount the box the other way.


How can I remove large nails from cement? I am redoing the flooring in my basement and removed a built-in toy chest. I disassembled the chest and the floor 2x4's are attached to the cement with large nails. If I had to guess on gauge I'd say around 0. I split the 2x4's and have removed them, however I have been unable to remove these nails. I've tried hitting them from side to side with a hammer to loosen them, but after about 20 minutes have no sign of them budging.

Is there a secret to removing these? I don't have an angle grinder so I'm hoping I can remove them without having to cut them off.

If you have acess to Dremel or other rotary tool you can use a cutoff /abrasive wheel attachment to cut them off. They may have been inserted by a power tool that fires them in with a gunpowder charge. If this is the case prying them out will be difficult if not impossible. You could try a Sawzall but these type of fasteners are very hard and you will go through a lot of blades. Some type of cut off wheel or grinder is the way to go. You may forgo the expense of buying one by renting one. If you opt for the grinder you will be able to grind away a little of the concrete so the nail will be below grade. You can then patch the low spots to level the finished surface. Be aware that any type of cutting wheel you use will throw sparks and if you grind the concrete it will generate losts of dust so use appropriate safety precautions.


Grouting a very very small area I've just grouted my bathroom tiles - first time grouter here - and I've missed a tiny area between two tiles.
Unfortunately I've used all of my grout!

Do I have to buy and mix another batch or is there a suitable substitute for a small area?

Help appreciated.

Thanks,
Joe

The best solution is to get more of the same material and install it just like you did for the rest of the grout. This will keep you happy in the following years as you know you did the right thing.

Now it may be possible to patch this spot up with some sink sealer (bathroom tub / sink sealer such as DAP brand) but I can guess that it will look like a hack and in future you will always look at it and know you could have done better.

The other thing to consider is that a small batch of the grout material is not likely going to cost a whole lot more than having to purchase some type of sealer material. It may even be possible that you can even find a grout repair kit that has the material in a small bag instead of a whole wheel barrow load type of bag.


2 prong to 3 prong outlet help I don't know too much about replacing outlets, only what I've read online or through YouTube videos. The house was built in the early 50s. Some outlets have been replaced (brand new kitchen)  but some are still the old 2 prong. I bought a receptacle tester and tested the newer style outlets, which all tested as correct wiring. Upon opening and inspecting, none of these new 3 prong outlets had no ground wires. Does this mean the boxes are already somehow grounded? I'm even more confused now that the receptacle tester said that they were correct. Please help!

There are only 2 correct and safe ways to add a 3-prong outlet where formerly there was only a 2-prong one*:

EDIT: now allowed in Code since this answer was written:  Retrofit just a ground wire, using proper wiring methods. There is no need for the ground wire to follow the same route as the power cable. Grounds can be shared: You don't need to homerun back to the panel if you can reach another grounded circuit with the same size or larger ground wire also coming out of that panel.
Safe way #1: run a new cable with an appropriately sized ground all the way back to the breaker panel.
Safe way #2: Use a GFCI outlet (with the "test" and "reset" buttons), which will cut off power to the outlet if it senses an imbalance of current. (EDIT: As @EricLippert correctly points out in the comments, you can also replace the circuit breaker with a GFCI breaker instead of using a GFCI outlet.)

There are many wrong ways to add a 3-prong outlet, most of which are dangerous and some of which are hard to spot or test for:

Wrong way #1: Using a 2-prong to 3-prong adapter without properly grounding the tab (common but obvious).
Wrong way #2: Replace the 2-prong outlet with a 3-prong one, but only hook up the black and white wires (this is hard to see unless you open up the outlet box, but an outlet tester with reveal the problem).
Wrong way #3: Replace the 2-prong outlet with a 3-prong one and short together the neutral and ground wires (this is probably the sneakiest because it will test as OK with an outlet tester but is just as unsafe as #1 and #2).
Wrong way #4: Replace the outlet with a 3-prong one and connect the ground to a random piece of metal (the outlet box, a pipe, metal cladding on an armored cable). This too may check out as OK with an outlet tester but is not safe.

*There are actually a few other ways to ground an outlet safely, e.g. with armored cable with a bonding strip or a grounded box plus an outlet that allows grounding through the strap. But those are both pretty uncommon.