Is adhering EPDM foil directly onto a slightly porous layer of bitumen to fix a leaking flat roof a good idea? I have to fix a flat roof of about 60 sqm. Right now it has an ancient layer of bitumen (at least 35 years old, maybe even over 50, I'm not sure). The bitumen is slightly porous and not really smooth (but not terribly bumpy either, I hope).

As far as I understand, the way to go is to cover it with a layer of EPDM rubber. There is a lot of information available online about how to use the EPDM, even a lot of videos that explain very thoroughly how to install the EPDM layer.

But most videos I found show people putting the EPDM layer onto a wood layer. I found one video that showed adhering the EPDM on bitumen, so I guess that generally it should be okay to put the EPDM on bitumen, right?

But what about a bitumen layer that is not smooth? Is it still okay to put the EPDM directly onto that, or would I have to put another layer onto the bitumen first, to make it smooth?

And also, what kind of glue should I use? To my understanding, there is glue with or without dissolvent, but I couldn't find any information about what's the practical difference between the two. Which one would be advisable to use in my situation?

Your new roof needs to “move” independently from the old roof. In order for your new single ply membrane to be separated from the old roof, you need to add a “slip sheet”.

I’d use a geotextile fabric and fasten it down “mechanically”. That is to say, use a special fastener to screw it down. It’s about 45 mil thick and the single ply membrane can be attached to it.

The slip sheet can be extended up a parapet wall, around vents, over curbs, etc., so the new single ply roofing can completely seal the roof.

How the single ply membrane is attached to the slip sheet, depends on the type of single ply roofing you use.

BTW, you can take this opportunity to add rigid insulation down before you install the single ply membrane too. However, make sure vapor barriers, venting (or eliminating it), etc. is proper before choosing this installation.


Water Pressure drops Completely renovated a new home recently. We always had issues with the water pressure, so the builder put in a new line from the city (1.5 inch) down a long driveway. We also got a tankless water heater (Navien NPE-210A).
Testing the cold water pressure I get about 100 psi, but as soon as anyone opens up a tap it drops to about 40 psi. After turning the tap off, it slowly climbs back up. I know the tankless water heater has a recirculation feature, but I turned the water off to it to do this test and it didn't make a difference.
The issue is turning on two taps of cold water drops the pressure even lower, making it impossible for more than one person to take a shower at a time. Any ideas of what to test or fix?

Wow.. 1.5 inch should be adequate for an extremely long driveway!

I assume you're monitoring the pressure near where the supply pipe enters the home. If so, I'd try testing the pressure (with water flowing) as near to the customer side of the water meter as possible. That'll immediately reveal whether the flow restriction is in your piping or in the city's system (or meter).


HDPE water and gas pipe v. Gophers I have an open trench and I might as well fill it with expensive plastic.
I went by the local irrigation supply to get 1 inch HDPE water line and was told gophers eat that around here (south-central WA) and I should stick with PVC. I want to avoid joints under the future patio.
I then realized I had ordered HDPE gas pipe for said trench. Will this get gnawed on by gophers too? I have a lot of gophers here although none of my surface PE irrigation lines have been damaged.
Is there any truth to this old wives tale or is it just rumors on the old-timey internet forums? Should I use copper gas lines to be safe? Local AHJ just shrugged at the question.

I feel your pain, I live in Western Washington and have the same issue.  One way to protect against gopher damage is a larger pipe. Like 2" conduit or similar.  They can't open their mouths enough to gnaw on it. But it's not an "old wives tale".  Gophers can do a lot of damage to buried lines.   So if I were doing this, I'd at least put in 2" conduit (or pipe) in areas that would be difficult to access later.   If you want to go further, put it all in conduit.  Depending upon how long the run is, it's not really all that expensive and good insurance.


Ditra uncoupling membrane coverage So I bought a roll of the ditra membrane to lay ceramic tile over. I rolled it out and I am about 2 feet short of reaching the back wall with it. the area that it is not covering will be mostly covered by the vanity so I'm not too worried about that but will this affect how my tile sits if it goes from membrane down to concrete? The stuff is so thin I wasn't sure if it will make a difference. I really don't want to pick up another $100 roll for 6 square feet.

Construction supply stores in my area just sell ditra by the linear foot (the MSRP is around $6/LF or $2/sqft for the 1m-wide version), so you can just go in and buy a small amount.

If you're relying on ditra for waterproofing it'll obviously be no good at that specific area. If moisture somehow goes through your grout and seeps under the ditra, it'll wick out through your plywood/subfloor anyway so it's not like it's sandwiched or anything. The height difference is easily addressed by using a taller trowel in the uncovered area, and for an area that small, I don't see it as enough to break everything else, even if it's grouted.


Need Sprinkler Cracked PVC Pipe Repair Suggestions The issue is this sprinkler was placed in a very bad location. It's next to a large stone and 1 foot away from a 40 foot tall tree.

Over the years, the tree grew on top of the sprinkler pipes. I had to spend 4-5 days figuring out where the leak was coming from. And finally found it. But it's LITERALLY between a rock and a hard place!

I've watched tons of videos on PVC pipe repair, but all the examples are shown in a much more workable and open area. So you can cut the pipe, get new fittings and glue everything together again. Here we can see that I only have this much space to work with. I'm thinking my best bet is repair the cracked pipe somehow and seal the leak. I know the pipe is being bent, but I don't have many options without removing the tree. Which isn't going to happen, I simple can't afford doing that right now.

Large Size image: http://imgur.com/a/zLQaZ

If you guys have any legitimate long term solutions, I would love to hear them. I'm thinking about leaving this hole open for the forseeable future, because it's literally in the back corner of the properity and no one will ever see it. That way I check on the pipe from time to time.

The usually ways to introduce flexibility (both in terms of angles and actual movement) involve adding more elbows and more pipe. I'd take off the broken elbow, add a new elbow that turns to horizontal (toward the camera in this view). Add two new elbows to bring the pipe back to the tee in any convenient manner. You may need to rework more than that because there's no spare pipe at the tee.

A few more elbows are unlikely to reduce flow enough to be a concern unless flow is already an issue, or nearly so.


How do I make a dog-leg corners in aluminium framing for fly-screens? I have 20-odd rectangular aluminium (aluminum) windows that need fly-screens.

Sounds easy enough to make my own, but along the bottom edge of each window is a window-winder (280 mm wide and 30mm high) that I need to work around. (This is the real problem I have - if you have another approach to solve this, I am all ears.)

I figured rather than a rectangular fly-screen, I would make a rectangular fly-screen, with a rectangular section cut out of the bottom edge. Slightly more complicated - it requires eight corner inserts, and a bit more care on which edge is the "inside" with the spline. I went and bought enough supplies for one window to make a prototype - including aluminium framing and EIGHT aluminium corner inserts, rather than the four required on most fly-screens.

I soon hit a problem. The rectangle along the bottom edge requires me to turn a corner, and then 30mm later, turn back again, to make a "dog-leg". But 30mm is less than the length of one corner insert, let alone the two I need to insert into the short vertical length of framing.

Here's an example of one of the windows:

In the bottom left, I have put an off-cut of the aluminium framing, with a corner insert pointing up, so you can see the problem.

Note: While the front of the winding mechanisms bulges up, it slopes back to being square at the back, so there is room for a straight piece. The mechanism is flush with the window when it is closed, so there is no room to go behind the whole mechanism.

If I can't use full-sized corner inserts, how do I secure the framing along the bottom side?

If your windows are timber
Normally they have blocks next to the window winder on both sides.
(The same hight of the winder)
That way your screen sits on the blocks above the winder an your screen is rectangular.
So all you would have to do is make up some blocks to go next to your winder.


Best Way to Heat a Split-Level Home I have a split-level home, which is approximately 1600 sq.ft.  Presently I have electric baseboard heat, with a pellet stove on the main level.  I am looking to upgrade to a better, more centralized heating system, while also ditching the pellet stove (too many problems, too much work).

The main floor; which is one room, combining living room, dining area and kitchen is on a slab.  Go up 6 steps to 3 bedrooms and a full bath.  Go down 6 steps to a 4th bedroom/den, full bath, and a small laundry/utility room.

I have had a couple of different contractors in to take a look, and I am getting conflicting advice.  One person said that since there is a natural gas line at the street, I should have a line brought in and go with a high output gas fireplace on the main floor, and use electric on the lower level.  Then use window units for AC.

Another guy recommended mini splits. He said it would be too expensive to install a gas furnace for central heat. As he would either have to go up into the attic to run vents that would blow heat through vents in the ceiling, or run piping to baseboard heaters and the walls would be torn open.  His advice was to forget the gas option, and just go with 4 mini splits (1 on the main floor, 1 on the lower level, 1 in the master bedroom and 1 in the medium sized bedroom - baby's room doesnt get one, he said to leave the door open and leave her with baseboard heat.)  But I am a bit concerned that I still have electric heat.

Does anyone have experience with this type of home design? It is less than ideal, and maybe this is why the original builder put electric heat in the house. I believe the power company will run the gas line for free if I have a big enough appliance/s.

You live in  a state that's cold and has high electric rates, and electric baseboard heating uses a lot of juice. I'm guessing costs are your primary motivation, right?

If so, my recommendation would be to take the money you would spend on a whole new system (I'm guessing it would run $10,000-20,000) and instead buy a gigantic solar array capable of making your house net zero. New York state has a lot of incentives and subsidies, to say nothing of the 30% federal tax credit.

This approach will result in no disruption to the interior of your home, reduce your electric bill to zero forever, and be good for the environment. Depending on your current bill and the price of the array, this may be a financial no-brainer. Talk to some solar companies.


How can I stop veggie garbage from coming out of my basement storm drain? I keep getting onion and tomato peels coming out of my basement storm drain after doing any sizable cooking and putting it through the garbage disposal.  The kitchen is on the 1st floor, the drain is in front of the basement apartment door.  The 1.5" drain pipe from the kitchen travels some 5' horizontally, then drops down into the basement (where it says "vertical stack").  I know the diagram because I did the pipe work a few years ago.  The outdoor storm drain is 3", from the point where it meets the vertical stack coming from upstairs, it becomes 4".

It can be snaked out, I have done it several times.  But is there any way I can prevent this from happening in the future without digging out and rearranging my drain pipes?  Could it be cause by poor drainage downstream, which causes buildup in the pipe so the solid waste doesn't drain as fast and it floats up and through the outside drain?

It is obvious to me that the main sewer line is restricted somewhere between the house and town line. In areas that allow storm drains to be coupled to sewer lines, it is important that these lines run freely.  If yours is backing up with kitchen waste, there is only one solution.  You need to have the line checked with a camera. you could have a simple  clog, a root growing through the line in the yard, a rust blockage if it is black pipe, etc. You won't know until it is looked at. At that point I'm sure you will need a rotary bit cleaning or a new liner installed. The longer you wait, the worse it will get.  There is no DIY cure for this type of problem.


I'm replacing my outlets and I have too many hot/neutral wires, what do I do? I'm going through my new home and replacing my outlets. This was mostly fine, as the first outlet was very easy to replace. But, I ran into outlets that have multiple hot/neutral wires.

For the most part, I just copied how the old outlets were setup by plugging in the wires into the holes in the back and the "extra" ones screwing onto the side screws, and this worked fine (I hope). The problem I ran into is I wanted to replace some of my outlets with the newer USB/Outlet combinations, which only have one set of screws (and one pinhole in the back). Basically, I don't know what to do here; I don't think it's smart to put multiple hot/neutral on the same screw.

A few questions:

Why on earth are there multiple hot/neutral wires for one outlet?
What do I do for the USB outlet which does not seem to have enough screws to handle 3 hot/3 neutral/1 ground?
Can I do anything to deal with all these extra wires? They make it harder to screw in the outlet because it is so crammed in there.

There are multiple wires because that is how wires are connected to gather to get from the distribution box to the farthest outlet on the circuit.
Where there are not enough screws, you attach the outlets together with a connector with an additional short "pigtail" that goes to the device.
If there is not enough space, you change the box to a deeper one or a wider one. Where you are installing a larger device, that may be required by code. Code has formulas and tables that specify minimum box size. It is a bit difficult to follow and I don't recall how it applies when a different type of device is installed. I think different types of devices are assigned "fill factors" that may be marked on them. The box size may also be marked on it and be readable by looking inside closely with a good light.

Your photo appears to be a USA type device. If you are in the USA , the applicable code is based on the USA National Electrical Code (NEC). There may be local exceptions and additions, but there are usually not many. That and the NEC guide book are often available in public libraries. I believe putting two wires on one screw as suggested by @Tom_Carpenter is not allowed by NEC. Also NEC required any connection to be inside junction boxes that can be opened for inspection. Nothing like that is allowed to be hidden inside a wall.

State and local codes specify who is allowed to install or modify wiring, what permits are required for each job etc. You can get away without following codes, but you could run into trouble when you go to sell your house.

Also, ring wiring as shown by @Tom_Carpenter is not done in the USA.

The Leviton site makes it clear that the side screws are designed for a wire to be looped around in the shape of a shephards's hook. NEC requires terminals that are designed for more than one wire to be so marked. Those types of terminals generally have a groove for each wire or some other mechanism to hold two wires securely. NEC requires all devices to be used and installed in the way they are designed to be used and installed.


Can a 10' high wall be built with 2x4's in Ontario? I'm building a 1400 sq. ft addition which will be mostly covered with a flat (very low sloped) roof, with a second storey bedroom over the rest.

I'd like to have 4" of continuous rigid exterior insulation (in addition to cavity insulation), so to keep my overall wall thickness down, I'd like to have the walls framed with 2x4s. My architect said that because of the 10' high walls they would need to be framed with 2x6's (according to Ontario building code), but I'm nearly certain I've seen recent builds that have 10' high walls that were framed with 2x4's.

I've not been able to specifically find anything to prove/disprove this yet.

The national building code of Canada specify's exterior walls must be framed with 2x6 or 2x8. Interior non load bearing may be framed with 2x4.
I hope this helps.

https://www.saskatoon.ca/sites/default/files/documents/community-services/building-standards/tall_walls.pdf


Wood between slab allowing ground water seepage Warning: Lots of setup ahead...

We have lived in our house for almost 3 years now. The house was built in a newer addition approximately 25 years ago. The grounds is mostly graded away from the house, and we have even installed a lot of yard drainage in the back where we had water issues, and at the same time we tied in all of our downspouts to this system. On the west wall, there is a general grade away from the house, but right at the house, the level does go down slightly towards the foundation where there used to be landscaping that was torn out by the previous homeowner.

We have lived in this house for 3 winters. During the winter, we have often dealt with excessive moisture build up on our interior windows. We have attempted to deal with the moisture, but the house was always humid in the winter, so much so that we often run a dehumidifier. This never sat well with me and I tried re-installing bathroom fans/running new bathroom fan venting to help deal with these issues, and I was even to the point of getting ready to install a fan over our kitchen sink (to suck away excess moisture) and vent our microwave range vent outside (which I should do anyways), but no changes ever seemed to help that much.

A few nights ago, we moved a bookshelf out of the corner of our living room and found two spots of jet black mold. We cleaned these patches and didn't see much else except for a little mold behind the trim. However, the wall was a little soft in that area so we cut up approximately 10" to see what was going on.

A little background on the room: This house is on a slab. Everything is at one level except the room in question, which is the living room. It is set down approximately 6" and there are large step downs into this room from the kitchen and main hallways

The corner with the two chairs is the corner we cut into. This is the south east corner of the room. The outside of the house is on the west wall and partially on the south wall. There is a board (presumable ripped down to fit, looks something in between a 2x4 and 2x6) that I believe is only installed to provide a place for nailing on trim and the kick plates at the doorways.

But as we looked below that board, we saw that below it was another board that was very wet (and we haven't had heavy rain in over a week, maybe two) and was very rotted out. Here is a picture below but it is very hard to see (I've brightened it and increased the contrast so it can be seen)

It is almost like the boards go all the way to the ground and we are seeing water seeping up into the boards and the moisture is just sitting there. It hasn't really traveled up the wall (the drywall that is above our cutout all looks good) but it has totally rotted out that lower board and the excess moisture plus the lack of circulation behind the shelf obviously caused some serious mold.

I'm certainly not afraid to do the work myself as I am relatively handy, but I'm just not entirely sure how to stop the water in the future. Also, for note, we have checked out water meter with all sources of water consumption turned off and we do not have a leak in the slab. Additionally, there is nothing in the attic that shows any kind of roof leaks or water damage of any kind.

So my questions...

Is this normal when meeting two pieces of slab or this poor design/workmanship?
How do I fill/seal this opening so water can no longer come in?
What kind of professionals would I contact about this issue (Basement seal, general contractor, etc.)

Where I live, we have ground water issues year around. This is obviously subterranean water, (i.e.:  you say, not roof, no water leak, etc.  I also assume no window leaks, because you say it's in the recessed room...only.)

Your first paragraph is powerful. Because the ground seems to "go down towards the foundation," I suspect there is a subterranean water problem caused by: 1) shallow water table, and/or 2) subterranean water pressure.

1) Shallow water table: if the "area" around your home is generally flat, rain will greatly affect the water table. You say, "have not had a heavy rain in over a week, maybe two," makes me think you get "heavy rain" from time to time. If so, that water will make the water table rise and put water "pressure" on the bottom of your slab...especially the lowest slab.

Where I live, we'll install French drains under slabs to make sure the water from the water table is diverted away.  Btw, those roof drains that you connected, did you extend them to a stormwater system, or just run them to a ditch where they can seep back down in the ground?

2) Subterranean water pressure: if you live near a hill, the water table will generally follow the  slope of the hill. If your homesite was cleared off along that slope, (or especially if you live near the base of a hill,) the pressure from the water table above your home will push on the water table at the base of the hill and cause the water table to rise. This is called Subterranean Water Pressure AND it will put water pressure on the bottom of your slab.

The only way to relieve this pressure is to install French drains around your house. The size and depth depends on your site, (slope,etc.) and soil conditions. Remember, you are trying to lower the water table. So, after you gather the water in the French drain, make sure it is discharged off site. Don't let it seep back in the ground. This may take a pump.


Breakers loose in panel a problem? So I had an old panel and subpanel replaced with a single new panel. The guys reused the old breakers, and the breakers wobble in the panel like loose teeth. With the old panel, they didn't wobble at all.

Is this because the breakers don't fit the new panel, or were they just not tightened down enough?

The breakers are GE type THQL, 1 pole units. The panel is a GE PowerMark Gold Load Center, type 1 indoor enclosure, model 6.

Replace the breakers

I'm not precisely sure what's going on here, but replacement breakers should cure the wobbling issue, once and for all.  It might be an issue with old TQL (or early THQL even?) breakers not fitting properly into a new Q-line panel (as documented here), or it could simply be that the line-side jaws on your breakers are not in good condition any longer -- either way, the cure is the same.


How can I bring low voltage wire through foundation My house currently has a wiring situation that has caused a leak and water damage. See the attached picture for locations.

I have a sprinkler timer in the utility room inside the house. The wires for the sprinkler valves in the backyard present no problem. The old valves in the front of the house, however go through a hole drilled through the foundation below grade and it looks like filled with caulk.

Low voltage wiring for the landscape lighting also goes through that same hole, and back out the back of the house in the utility room.

I hadn't thought much about this setup since I bought the house until we found water damage last week. Now I want to fix this situation the right way.

There is no electrical box on the front or sides of the house for a sprinkler timer or transformer. The wires have to get to the back of the house. Unfortunately the house is surrounded by concrete. I think this is why they decided going through the house is the best option.

What would be the best (including cost and ease) and right way to get those wires to where they need to go? Above grade conduit that's sealed? Tunneling under all the concrete? The width of the house is about 60 feet wide and the drawing is roughly to scale so that would be a lot of concrete to tunnel under.

What I intend to do is pull the wires through the hole and patch it using hydraulic cement.

I will then drill a new hole above grade around the corner out of site. I will feed conduit through, to an IB fitting, then in conduit down underground. The hole/conduit will be sealed with caulk.

I've been waiting for the winter to end before I fix this.


How do I wire my new ceiling light? Old flat in Melbourne, Australia. When i took out old fitting it had a red wire in joined to red out, a brown and a black one. One terminal had nothing. Have bought new fitting but it seems to be different. How do I know which one goes where?

Think I have done it!! Simple: Red into "L", Brown & Black - Live and Neutral.
Does that seem right?

What you call brown is actually "white".

Likely black/red carries mains power.
White/red is a leg down to the switch. L is Load. E is Earth.
Your bulb should span from the black (neutral), to white (switched hot).

You can verify this all with an inexpensive non-contact voltage tester.
See also https://diy.stackexchange.com/a/28019/5960


How to clean cement smear from concrete? During a walkway pour some concrete residue smeared on the existing landing pad and entrance (both old concrete) causing a dirty appearance.

Is there a way of cleaning a smear of concrete from old concrete slab underneath?

Muriatic acid is the usual way of cleaning up cement-based products. It may act more readily on the newer concrete, but use caution and be prepared to rinse thoroughly if the outcome isn't ideal.

If the concrete is very new, try a water rinse along with a wire brush and some elbow grease.


Is it ok to calk drywall corner joints rather than taping them? Instead of removing the popcorn ceiling I decided to just put a layer of drywall on top of the existing popcorn ceiling.
I noticed the worker used the caulking instead of taping where the old and the new drywall meets.
Is this okay?

I have been seeing this a lot lately so I don't know if there is a new caulk on the market for drywall but in my experience the caulk will 'flash' under paint so it isn't going to give you a good finish and it will be noticeable. I would ask the worker what type of caulk it is and how it handles being painted.


Is it OK to have 10ga wire running from breaker to switch then 8ga from switch to pump? I'm running an 8 gauge wire from the breaker box to my pump (which is 200 feet away from the house).

I want to install a switch near the breaker box and want to  know if I can use 10 gauge wire from the breaker to the switch and still maintain the proper amperage for the pump (i.e. so it won't overheat).

The hypothetical diagram is:

220V breaker
  |
  | 10 gauge wire (under 10 feet long)
  |
switch
  ||
  ||
  || 8 gauge wire (approximately 200 feet long)
  ||
  ||
 pump

The question is: Will the 10 gauge wire mess up the run or will the pump still work right?

You are free to use a conductor that is rated greater than the ampacity of the feed, but not less than. If the breaker is 30 amps, you can go above #10, but not below it. Likewise, if the breaker is 40 amps, you can't go smaller than #8.

If you're using #8 just to compensate for the drop over distance, then yes - you can come out of the switch with #10 if #8 somehow makes termination impractical at the pump. It's not uncommon to see #8 pulled to hot tubs and the like even with a 30A breaker simply because the electrician is not sure what kind of motor is actually going to show up, so they go with the larger conductor just in case.

This, of course is assuming copper wire with THHN insulation.


Floor leveling compound ontop of glued-down laminate There is floating LVP currently installed in my kitchen which needs to be replaced. Underneath it is glued-down laminate.
There is a small section of the floor that dips down that I would like to level if possible. Can I apply floor leveling compound ontop of the glued down tiles?

SLC is typically rated for install overtop of L/360 floors.  Assuming your glued down laminate is well adhered to the substrate below it and that substrate is a minimum of 1.25" thick (almost no wood floors are), then the SLC would be approved for that purpose.  The two SLC I am most familiar with are Sika and Mapei.
I've installed SLC on 5/8" tng plywood using the wood primer.  The SLC generally develops hairline cracks but as long as it doesn't allow deflection and pieces of it can't delaminate and migrate under pieces of the flooring causing noise then you should be ok.  If you are installing underlayment on top of the SLC then noise is less likely.
One trick often employed is to get a stiffer underlay and add an extra piece to this area.  It depends what the height difference is.  Or you can use door skin or a combination of the two.
The best approach depends on your budget, how picky you are for your floors being quiet / flat and the install method for the new floor.


How can I make my flame detector more reliable? I have a new 4-ring gas hob (GHG612BL by SIA) and one of the features it has is flame-failure detectors (FFD) which shut off the gas to any ring if the flame goes out.  I thought that would be a prudent thing to have.
Most of these are reliable, but the largest ring often requires holding down the igniter for several seconds after it is alight (and if released too early and the flame goes out, then it may require constant ignition for up to half a minute before it is stable).  The ambient temperature doesn't seem to make a difference (it was about 15°C when installed in autumn; now it's around 3°C, but no discernable change in this behaviour).
What principle does a FFD operate on?  I'm guessing it's either thermal or triggered by either fuel or combustion gases.  Is there anything I can do to make the detector more reliable?
If it makes a difference, my fuel is bottled butane.

Another term you could search is "flame proving sensor." This is the term we often use for the sensors in gas-fueled furnaces in the US.
Having only looked at the photos of your device, I'm guessing that its flame failure system may operate on the principle called "flame rectification." In a nutshell, the flame allows a DC current of a few microamps to flow from the sensing rod, through the flame, to the burner. The technique depends on clean surfaces on the sensing rod and the burner; combustion of contaminated air can cause an invisible electrically insulating coating to form on either surface. It is easily corrected by cleaning the surfaces with a gentle abrasive.
My best guess is that ignition is achieved by causing a spark to jump from the little metal post to the burner ring. After the ignition spark is finished maybe the post then serves as the sensing electrode.
I'd suggest ensuring the metal surfaces of the burner ring and whatever it sits on are clean and that they seat together well. Also clean the spark igniter post. If it's easy to do, remove some covers and confirm wires and other parts are connected snugly.


What kind of nut is this what is the name of this nut, I need to find a way to loosen it .

From the top

I find using the correct “c” spanner, in fact I would use two together to undo that as it means no hammering to possibly damage bearings etc.

This method of using two nuts is used to set a limit or stop position - if only one nut was used it could easily move. A "nyloc" nut may also move but the two nuts locked together do not move. Some nuts can have a set-screw inserted to prevent movement but that is less secure than the two nuts...

Called a c spanner because it looks like a c but has a tooth at the end to engage in the slot on the nut.


Water pressure problems I was going to remove a tub so I turned off what looked like in my basement, but that one just seems to spin and spin and spin. The hot water valve closed and 2 other secondary from that main looking line I closed ( water to the damn tub never stopped.... but every other water faucet shower and toilet in house stopped...) So anyways I went to open everything back up and now have very little pressure if 1 faucet is on. And weaker as I turn others on (hot or cold) it's on a pump and drainfield system the 1 faucet for sure I can't get any stronger is the kitchen sink... That's weak.. peroiod...

It probably just dislodged some rust and build-up from the inside of the pipes, especially if they are older.

Clean out the aerators on the faucets. These are the filters that screw on at the tip of the faucet. Normally just take them apart and rinse them out, make sure not to wash any important pieces down the drain.


Electric Dryer Leg A drops to 0V Leg B spikes at 240V when start pushed I am in the military and came back from a month overseas and my 3 prong electric dryer would not start.  I am an electronics technician (radios) so I am quite experiences with electronics and theory (although DC is my strength).

I checked all the routine no start issues, door switch, start switch and thermal resistor all have continuity when isolated. I checked voltages at the receptacle and on the distribution block of the dryer hot to hot-240V, neutral to hot A-118V, neutral to hot B-123V and nothing would happen when start was pressed.  I hit start and tried to spun the drum, nothing.  I ended up pulling the front panel completely off and removing the drum and checked that I have 118V on M4 of the motor switch. In order to check the motor I created a test cable from an extension cord and (cut the female end off and stripped the ends) and connected it to the dryer power distribution on the hot side that controls the motor (not the heater) and neutral then plugged it into a standard 120 wall outlet and the dryer started up like a champ so I knew the motor was good.  I then plugged the original cable back in and tried to start it and it didnt work.  I then opened the motor switch and the voltage all looked good.  I then manually shorted the relay for heating circuit on the motor switch and and the coil heated up.  I then ohmed out the timing switch and it was good.

I then opened the receptacle and put my multimeter probes on leg A and neutral, it read 118V and when I pressed the start button the it dropped to 0V and leg B was at 240V.  I thought it could be a open neutral (although I dont have much experience with neutrals being a DC guy but I am familiar with electronic theory) so I connected my multimeter between the common (ground) pin on the door switch and the bare neutral wire on the service panel and it read 1.3 ohms so there is neutral connectivity throughout the circuit (I also verified that all grounds had connectivity with the neutral in the service panel).

I am now at a loss as to where to go next.  I really don't have an idea of where to go next as every thing else in my apartment works as it should and I don't have the funds to hire an electrician or a repair man.  Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

That NEMA 10 dryer receptacle is a hazard all its own, and may be creating a hazard for you right now.
AC power, as implemented in the USA, has many tricky twists that DC people aren't really prepared for.  Some are relevant here; I'll describe them.

I gather you know 240V AC power is supplied from a transformer with a center tap.  The center tap is defined as "neutral".  There is 120V between either phase and neutral.  Neutral has one job: be the one and only current return (in DC parlance, negative, Vss, or ground) for 120V circuits.
AC power has a Safety Ground which is tied to earth via water pipe or driven ground rods, and is carried throughout the electrical wiring (except in older wiring).  Safety Ground** has one job: to deflect faults away from humans.  Ground is not a current return, except during ground fault conditions.
In theory, neutral might "float" above Earth Ground by several hundred or thousand volts, due to capacitive coupling or leakage in the supply transformer. This would be bad, so neutral is "pegged" to Earth/Safety Ground via a tie in the main service panel. This tie is only at the main panel: never in a sub-panel, junction box nor appliance.  As a result, neutral is near earth, and any phase is no more than 120V above earth.
The tie has a beneficial side-effect - if a hot wire touches safety ground, it has a fat current path through the grounding system and the tie back to neutral.  This completes the circuit, flows high current and trips the circuit breaker.  (If a neutral faults to ground, not much happens, as the voltage difference quite small, being only the voltage drop in the wiring.)

Most dryers use 240V for the heating coils, and 120V for everything else. (120V controls are cheaper). So it needs split-phase 240V - both hots and the neutral.
If you've been counting, you know your 3-prong NEMA 10 is a pin shy of a ground. This is where true stupidity sets in. NFPA (the authors of the Electrical Code) compromised with dryer manufacturers -- reasoning that since dryers are rarely ever unplugged or moved, the receptacle isn't likely to fail.  So they authorize tying neutral to ground, even though this is dangerous and would be illegal anywhere else.  Sigh.
So if you lose/break/float a neutral anywhere between the dryer and the panel, the 120V loads will not have a return, and will "lift" neutral to the voltage of leg A. Voltages will measure 240/0/240 instead of 240/120/120.  Since neutral is now "hot" and it's tied to chassis ground, the chassis of the machine is also "hot".  This has killed people.
Which is your symptom.
I'd start by replacing that dangerous NEMA 10 receptacle with a modern NEMA 14 connector, which provides a fourth pin for ground.  I'd also retrofit a NEMA 14 plug and follow the instruction's (on the web) procedure to separate neutral and ground on the dryer.  Also carefully inspect the wires between the receptacle and the panel.  Somewhere in here I think you have a faulty neutral.
If you are unable to retrofit a ground wire, then replace the 30A breaker with a GFCI-type breaker, and label the 4-pin receptacle "GFCI Protected/No Equipment Ground" - but if you do that, make triple-darn sure that you remove that dryer's internal neutral-ground bond!
It's also possible your neutral problem is between the panel and the supply, in which case it would affect everything served out of that panel... but I doubt it.

** Electrical Code purists may dislike my careful choice of words "Safety Ground".  That is to convey that it isn't anything like Vss.  If you really want to know their Legal Names as specified in the NEC, Neutral is "Grounded Conductor" and Ground is "Equipment Grounding Conductor". Say what!? Of course this invites massive confusion, and both are wrong: Neutral is not grounded (except at the main panel), and Ground is not a conductor! (in NEC parlance, only wires which flow current under normal conditions are conductors.)  These are terms only their mother could love, and I suggest avoiding them like the plague.


Is there a way to store drywall vertically on its side? I am going to have a surplus of 8 sheets of 5/8" 4x8 drywall (4 type-x, 4 QuietRock 525) until my next soundproofing job this Summer.  I have been storing 8 sheets at a time stacked flat on my upstairs guest room floor, but I don't want to store the remainder up there until Summer.  If I could store it vertically up against the wall wrapped in plastic in my garage, that'd be great.  Any ideas on this?

You could build a drywall storage rack.

Start by building 2 or 3 triangular frames out of scrap 2x4s.

Space them out to the desired length.

To prevent sheets from sagging between supports, lay a sheet of plywood on the rack before placing drywall on it.

A rack like this may be overkill for a short term storage solution, but could come in handy if you find yourself storing drywall for extended periods. It's nice because you can store the drywall in less space, it keeps the drywall off the ground/floor, and it prevents the drywall from warping.


Help translate terminology relating to concrete floor construction I just bought a house which had an extension done 12 years ago.
I am about to do some work in this area and want to understand what has been done before.
Below is a screen shot of the bits of the planning drawings relating to the concrete floor construction.

What does this say? (it is hard to scribe something when you don't fully understand it)

EDIT:

30mm screed on
175 bar concrete oversite
on 50mm Jablite
on 1200 polythene damp proof membrane
on 75mm hardcore (usually recycled concrete).

Does this have sufficient insulation properties or would you recommend I add more?

What is the likely-hood of this being level/smooth when I remove the existing tiles from the floor?

I'm only answering because an educated guess is hopefully better than no information at all. Is this in the UK? I'm not recognising some of the terms, and of course metric units are alien to us Yanks :) I hope you get a more definitive answer, but in the mean time...

A 30mm screed topping layer just means it was struck off level, there is no indication of finish quality. It may be anything from level with a rough finish to a very smooth finish. This is on a 175bar concrete slab of unknown thickness. 175bar is a typical utility strength concrete.

I would expect the next 50mm layer to be some sort of granular material. It may be something like expanded slag which has some insulating value. A poly (polyethylene) sheeting layer as the next layer is very typical, I've no idea what the remainder of the description line means.

I'm hoping the final 75mm layer is some sort of insulation board like extruded polystyrene. If so, 75mm is a good thickness. The problem is I've no idea what this material really is. As I said, this is an educated guess based on construction knowledge in a completely different country. It could be the 50mm is insulation and the 75mm is is a granular base, or they're both insulation, or neither are, I really don't know for sure.

I am reasonably confident you have a level floor that is properly insulated. Best of luck getting a better answer.


Are EMT connectors (couplers, etc.) prone to disconnecting? I had an e-mail exchange with an electrician at the local permit office.  I told him I am planning on running EMT through my workshop and planned on using the EMT as the grounding wire.  He said that is allowed by code, but he "strongly recommended against it" because one bad screw will break the path to ground.  Are these connectors that prone to failure?

No. Code would not allow it if it was a significant risk.
Do be sure to properly tighten all the screws and threaded connections, but they don't just randomly break or "go bad."
Or: Consider that when you use grounding wires, "one bad screw will break the path to ground", too.


Where is the water shutoff in Australian units I need to be able to turn off the water supply to a unit am working on. However, I have no idea where to look for the water shutoff. (For ex., in most houses in the US (AL), there'd be a little gutter in the ground where I could twist a knob and that would disconnect the water supply to the house)

Where are the water shut-offs in Aussie houses/units ?

When it comes to locating shut-off valves, it seems antipodeans are more ruggedly individualistic than the more conformist locales I inhabit.

Live in a house?
You’ll find the valve near the front of your property ... our valve is located inside the front fence near the boundary with our neighbour. For those of you with larger properties, it might be outside the front fence.
Live in an apartment?
There should be an isolation valve that controls your apartment’s water only. It’s usually under the laundry sink, but also look under the kitchen sink. Look for a tap that appears to be doing nothing. Draw its location and tape it inside the pantry door.

From http://pipeperfection.com.au/plumbing-sydney/water-leak-repair/fact-sheet-turning-household-water/

use the main shutoff valve to turn off the water supply to the entire house. You'll find the main shutoff valve on the inside or outside of your house where the main water supply pipe enters. Turn the valve clockwise to shut it off.

From http://www.powerplumbers.com.au/tips_&_hints.html


is my murphy bed doable and safe? I want to build a murphy bed from scratch :

I don't know if that kind of structure can be made without drilling in the wall to fix the frame and without making some large base.

for Now on my 3d sketch, the base is made with two wood blocks making a 2"x8" section and more than 60" length. I dont'know if such a structure (I mean the frame and the bed) can fall on me when I down the bed (n.b the purple stuffs are hinges).

The sketch is not yet finished, I want to know if it worth to go further with that design. I can add more details if needed

I'd say you have two options.  Attach the top of the murphy bed to studs; or build the bed with a substantial base which juts out from the wall quite a bit, like a sofa.  How to make the latter non-ridiculous would be a design challenge.


Toilet flush stuck down Our toilet flush button is stuck down, and the mechanism on the back doesn't appear to be attached properly.
It's a cable pull system.
Any ideas how it's supposed to be attached?

I have fixed it.
I pulled the blue plastic section away from the bottom of the threaded section. The 2 plastic parts of the flush button sprung back up, and I clipped the blue section back onto the base of the threaded section. I will add pictures later.


How should I distribute the weight on a marble island? I am building a rather large cart for use in my kitchen. Due to the dimensions of the room the top (marble) is about 5' 7" long, 14" wide and is quite heavy (estimated 150 pounds).

My largest concern is how narrow this top is making the center of gravity close enough to the edge that this could be toppled sideways by my three year old. My thinking is that if I place the wheels offset a bit - say 18 to 24 inches wide - this should counteract this risk. Anyone have a chart, etc to describe how wide I need to make this to be safe?

EDIT - I'm thinking that the top for this cart would be 36 inches tall.

EDIT - Based on the discussion here I went with locking casters on one end and fixed casters on the other along with a 24 inch wide base. We also tried pulling the completed unit over. It felt like it took about 100-120 pounds to get any motion on the lateral face. If necessary I also left space on the bottom for a counterweight.

Even without knowing how thick it is or how heavy, that's a lot of marble.  You really need to attach this to something, somewhere.  The wall, the floor...  Without that, you would have to have a serious counterweight at the bottom, at least as heavy or heavier than the marble.

Why not just attach it to the wall or the floor?

When your child's health is at risk, I would double-up on precautions rather than find the bare minimum level of acceptable safety.

Your three-year-old will be stronger than you expect, and even if not actively pushing against it, could fall against it, setting off a chain reaction.

Think for example, if you have something on top of the island, like a vase.  Even if you manage to keep it from tipping while on wheels, it can still move.  If your child pushes or falls against the island, the island can move in one direction, the objects on top will move in the opposite direction and tend to fall on the side that your child is on.

I would not risk this situation with my child or anyone else's child, even if the top of the island was made of wood.  Whenever it falls over, it will hit whatever is on the otherside like a sledgehammer.


Strange noise coming from my bathroon outlet I turned on my bathroom light a couple nights ago & it sounded like morse code coming from the outlet.  I haven't heard it since that night.  My light switch is part of the double outlet.  Do you think this is indicating a problem with my wiring?  Thank you.

Yes this is indicating a problem. It's hard to tell what the issue might be, but electricity is silent when its working right.

BEFORE INVESTIGATING - turn off the breaker.

Things I would check AFTER turning off the breaker:

take off the outlet cover and look for

burn marks
loose wires
cracked or worn insulation
cracked or worn parts on the outlet
signs of rodents

take off the switch cover and look for the same things as the socket

The easy try-it-and-see repair is to replace the switch and outlet, this should cost maybe $10 and 30 minutes of work.

Do you know if you have aluminum or copper wiring in your home?

Is there a fan in this bathroom? Are you sure the noise was coming from the outlet and not a breeze blowing past the fan?


Non wood basement panels What are options for non wood basement panels. I would prefer ones that could be taken down to get behind the panels if needed. I'm looking to the install myself.

There are many types of "basement paneling systems" on the market that do what you want.  I have personally used Owens Corning which is top of the line.  I thought it was pretty good.

Some general advice:

I have renovated 50+ basements and have gone the paneling route twice.  It really should be a last resort.  Basically you should fix the water problem if you want things in the basement.
using paneling, cost about 3-4 times the amount I would spend on drywall and lumber.
the paneling isn't the easiest thing in the world to install.  Maybe it is because my team wasn't used to it but we are much faster going through the traditional method.
no matter what anyone tells you the paneling will not look as good.  At best it looks like a well done industrial office space.  At worst it looks like you are on a bad movie set.
the benefit of being able to take out the panels easier is pretty cool.  On one basement we did it wasn't even about the outside water it was that the house had plumbing along all the walls in the basement (don't ask me copper must have been free back then - and changing this would have meant redoing pretty much the entire house)


How to build up concrete slurry under a new bath I'm replacing our bath. It is a standard built-in plastic bathtub, with a concrete slurry built up underneath it. I talked to a builder some time ago who explained that it was to support the weight of the bath, I guess it distributes the weight of the full bath over the floor underneath.

How to I build up the concrete underneath the bath? Do I pour the concrete first and get the bath into position before it goes off, or shovel it in with the bath already in place?

I have only done this once before and I have no idea if it is the correct way but we just poured the concrete onto the floor (shaped so it was cented where the tub bottom is) and then squished the tub into it before it dried.


Drainage on side of new driveway A bit of a two-part question. I had a new driveway put in this week. The sides of the driveway are exposed still after the forms were removed and I wonder whether I need to rush to fill that in so rainwater doesn't seep  under the driveway. It also makes me question why the contractor didn't fill that in himself.

There is only about eight inches of slope from the garage door to the street. There is an attached concrete porch so they put a slight swale at the top by the garage to help direct some of the water to one side of the driveway and I'm wondering if it might be wise to make a french drain or some such so it doesn't create a hole in the dirt on one side from water runoff. But then we're back to the original question about whether that water would work its way under the driveway. I'm really not sure this is an issue to be concerned about.

I suppose in the US for a normal concrete job, filling around the outside of where the forms were is not part of the concrete contractor's scope of work. This would be done by the home owner who, if he's flush, might hire a landscaping contractor. Where I live people would fill and sod with turfgrass.

I am not a fan of French drains, but prefer surface flow. In Dallas TX I see some people spending a lot on "French drains" to redirect water around slab foundations when in my view the surface should be contoured to do this.

If you sod along the driveway, be sure to avoid over filling. I think you want the level of the soil to be about an inch or so below the surface of the driveway. This includes the soil that comes with the sod. This prevents soil eroding onto the driveway.


Easiest & NEC 2011 compliant way run wire into attic? I have this surface mount wiring connected to an outlet through the bricks (bottom-middle in photo). I would like to branch from this to add a switch (through bricks) and go straight up into the ceiling & attic in order to install a ceiling light on the other side of the brick wall. My city uses the 2011 NEC. How should I run the wire into the switch and up into the attic to be compliant?

Replace the elbow-piece -- it's really a type of conduit body called a LB (L for elbow, B for out the back) -- with a box and make the connections to the new wiring there.  You may have to pull a new stub-length of THHN to the existing receptacles to get enough slack in the box on the existing incoming wires to make the junction.

As to the new run -- I'd use two lengths of conduit for the exposed run: one from the tap box to a box mid-span that serves as a tap point (I'd use a T body, but there's not enough space for it unless the conduit run is offset sideways from the switch location anyway) and the other from the upper box (it can be a handy-box as the box fill's minimal) to the attic, then use a nipple to stub off from the back of said handy-box to the box with the switch in it (which'll need to be capable of taking a conduit).  A one-gang box should be more than adequate for the switch box, by the way.  The wire would be THHN to match the existing circuit gauge, in standard colors (black/white) of course, with only hot (black) wires run to the switch location from the tap box behind it.


Can I run an underground wire to a shed on blocks? I have a 12'x16' shed which has been leveled using concrete blocks but otherwise sits on the grass/dirt.  It's about 100' from the house.  I live in Georgia.  I'd love to add some lights and outlets to it.
Can I run an underground electrical wire to it, ending in a 60 amp sub-panel?  Or does the shed need to be more permanent with, perhaps, a poured concrete foundation in order to do that?

Yes, the national electric code allows wiring in structures like your shed.
If you plan on using UF wire for the run buried 24” deep you need to bring the wire up in conduit so the wire is protected.
If you run conduit, the conduit only has to be buried 18” for PVC.
If you run rigid or intermediate metal it can be buried 6”.
Burial depths are listed in the NEC 300.5.
With the conduit option, we normally pull thhn as it is dual rated as thwn. (Conduit in ground is considered a wet location.) You would not want to pull UF wire in conduit, and Romex or NMB is not allowed.
You might consider aluminum wire at that distance for the feeder depending on what your load is.
Anything more than a 20 amp multiwire branch circuit will require a panel in the shed. There are very small panels that will provide 4-6 circuits but these may be undersized: if you want lights on 1 circuit, outlets a second circuit, possibly a welder or air compressor a double pole circuit... and you are out of room for breakers. So it ends up being better to go with a larger panel (100 amp 20+ circuits). The cost will be close to the same as the smaller panel but you can feed it with 60 or 40; that is fine.
Remember your receptacles in your shed require GFCI protection--even light circuits in the ceiling--if plugs are used. However, lighting circuits that are hard-wired do not require GFCI protection.
With more information, we can help with the wire size or provide additional information.


Can I use a Miele washing machine for US (2 x 110V) with 220V plug Suppose that I have a low end Miele washing machine (say, WWH860WCS) designed for the US market, with 2 x 110V plugs. Very naively, I am guessing that the machines being made in Germany would be mostly identical to those offered in Europe, and the 2 inputs are, roughly speaking, connected in series to produce 220V. Now the question is, can I safely use the machine by plugging one of the inputs to 220V and leaving the second plug idle?
Or is there another (sufficiently simple) way of using such a washing machine in a 220V country?
Thank you.

It's not supplied with 2 cords.

The washing machine is supplied with a 5’ 3“ (1.6 m) long, 3 wire cord, ending in a NEMA 5-15P plug, ready for connection to a 120 V, 15 A, 60 Hz, AC power supply.

Instructions page 84.
If you see a second cord-and-plug, it's for the dryer, which is a completely different appliance.
Your plan is not going to work for several reasons.  First, there is no way to develop 120V from a Euro style 230V supply, except by using a large transformer.  (the hokey travel adapters will not work; they use electronic trickery that will not work with a big motor load like a washer.)  Second, the power frequency is wrong, and the washer cares because it has a big motor that will now be running at the wrong speed with the wrong reactance, and will tend to overheat.
So really, you need a rather hefty electronic sine-wave inverter that would turn 230VAC/50Hz into 120VAC/60Hz, but this is not some $50 travel adapter off Amazon, it's a large multi-hundred dollar machine.
Do not ship large electric appliances across oceans.
It's a waste of fuel.  They won't work. Just sell em on Craigslist and buy replacements off Craigslist once you're there.


Using a timer switch for power, how to wire two lights so that when one is on the other is off Using a timer switch for power, how to wire two lights so that when one is on the other is off.
In the dull and cold winter days I am trying to grow seedlings. The light is insufficient during the day and so is enhanced with grow lights, which should be off at night, but the nights are cold so I want pad heating on then.

You could use a smart plug like a Shelly Plug which will allow you to set up time with built-in tools to automatically turn on and off at dawn and dusk and be controllable with a smart phone. The advantage is that the Shelly is smart enough to automatically adjust to changing daylight hours, which a wall timer will not usually do.
It's hard to argue with the simplicity of a simple timer that @Tim suggests comments for your question.
Edit
There are timers which will allow you to control two different devices from the same power outlet. An example would be the NearPow Outlet Timer, which allows two different devices to have nine on/off settings per day and seven day programmable.
Good luck with the plants.


Why is this plywood missing the grades? I went to Home Depot to find some 3/4" tongue and groove plywood for a flooring project and what I saw was this:

RATED STURD-I-FLOOR
24oc
T&G NET WIDTH 47-1/2"
EXPOSURE 1
--282--
RS1-07 UNDERLAYMENT
SANDED FACE
PRP-108
23/32 CATEGORY

The "sanded face" bit makes me think this is an "A" grade face but it doesn't make any mention of the rear face. How can I make heads or tails of the grades on this plywood?

Sturd-I-Floor is the "Standard/Grade" in this case. It's a little murky for anyone old enough to expect the A-B-C grading. But it's designed for the job you want to do.

http://www.performancepanels.com/single.cfm?content=app_pp_group2


Add a switch for a pool light We just bought a house that needed some upgrades and one of the first ones up was the electrical panel.  Hired an electrical company to come out and upgrade it to a 200amp box.  Work went fine and everything passed inspection but they didn't wire in a switch to control the pool light  Previous owner had cut the wires to the light switch so all that is left is the junction box (wires from light and leading out to missing switch are connected) by the pool and a pipe that contains the cut wires.

When I asked about adding the switch for the pool light I was told it would be a couple hundred dollars since the work order only listed providing GFCI protection for pool light.  So my question is can I add a second switch by using the switch that already exists for my pool pump?  They also installed an exterior outlet so I'm not sure if I can tap into that instead.

If you use the switch for the light and the pool pump, they will always be on simultaneously.  What you can do is splice in a new line and add another switch to the same box as the pump switch.  But it will not have GFCI protection unless your entire pool circuit is GFCI protected at the source.


Why would both switches on a 3-way switch fail simultaneously? My kitchen has six canister lights controlled by a pair of 3-way switches.  Yesterday, I flipped one of the switches on and nothing happened.  I tried the other with the same result.

When I check the voltage, I get 92V on one switch for both pairs of wires regardless of the switch position.  On the other I get 92V from one pair regardless of the switch position, but only millivolts from the other pair if in one position, 92V if in the other position.  The lights do nothing regardless of either switch's position.

Do I need to replace one switch?  Both?  Call an electrician?

I wouldn't pay too much attention to the 92V unless there is some true current (amperage) running through it as it might be trace voltage.

This diagram belongs to do-it-yourself-help.com. The original can be found here: https://www.do-it-yourself-help.com/3_way_switch_wiring.html

You need to find the source voltage and confirm you have power there. In the image above it is sourcing from one of the three way switches and it will always terminate there. That's where I would start looking, try and find the source voltage of 120V and start working from there. The other common is always the switch leg. Then you have the two carriers.

I know this sounds stupid but did you check the breaker and made sure you had power to the switches? Most of the time failure is at the weakest points. That would be splices and connections and the switches themselves. So go through and check all splices, connections and switches one at a time. Switches do break so look for actions that feel broken or are making noises like something is loose or broke free. Normally switches do not go bad together but even one going bad could stop the lights from working. The good news is that it is rare for the problem would be in the light fixtures, but that doesn't rule them out. It would just be the last place I would look.


Aerogel winter window quilt? Would it possibly make sense for me to use aerogel as a seasonal window quilt? It may depend critically on some other factors; if so, what are they?

In particular, I have heard that aerogel designed for insulation has the following properties which led me to consider it. Are these accurate?

I have heard that it is translucent.
I have heard that it squishes fairly well against irregular surfaces and does not lose much of its insulating value when compressed.
I have heard that it is fairly resistant to coming apart if it catches on stuff.
I have heard that it has an r-value of about 10 per inch or more, under "normal" conditions.
I have heard that it is less likely (given current knowledge) to pose health risks than fiberglass.
I've heard that it can be had for about $30 per cubic foot in 2020.

I'm pretty sure that "aerogel" is a pretty broad class of materials. If I am looking for "insulating aerogel," what descriptors should I look for to make sure I am not buying some other kind of aerogel?

It is possible that this question has too many "subcomponents" and will need to be split up; sorry if that's the case.

Aerogel is brittle, easily damaged and extremely expensive. Thirty dollars per cubic inch sounds more likely than per cubic foot. There's a web site for aerogel and related products. The linked product is a silica disk, about an inch around and less than 3/8" thick. US$35 fits in with the expected price.
The same site also offers composite blankets. It's a combination of aerogel and other insulating materials. Two feet by four feet by 5 mm for US$180 still falls into the expensive category, but that's my opinion.
There's no R factor in the main ad copy, but the spec sheet is available for download and may include that information.
Aerogel is silica and in powder form can be a problem if inhaled. Any product of that nature is a health concern. Don't shred it or otherwise damage it and the risk is low.


Add switches for two new lights to an existing switch box My question is a bit complex. I'll try to be short and to the point as best I can. I am trying to add two more light switches to make a total of three at a light switch. The first one that was there controls the ceiling fan in the middle of the ceiling. That was there and I had no issues. I want to install four recessed lights in the corners of the ceiling that will be controlled by the second switch. The third switch runs to an outlet that I'd like to be able to power a desk or table lamp. I already have all the wires in place as there was no drywall up and I had access to drilling through joists, etc. I just installed all the drywall earlier this week and taped it all up.

So back to the three gang light switch: I tried to "pigtail" two more times from the wiring that controlled the ceiling fan but that didn't work. Then I realized that the hot wire was actually not at the switch box at the wall but rather it was in the ceiling junction box that the fan connects to. So I'm leaving that wire connection alone and am trying to connect my two other lights to another source.

To describe what's in the photo above the ceiling fan switch is on the right (the switch is connected but hanging and not visible in photo), the middle switch will control the ceiling recessed lights and I will eventually put a third switch on the left (hoping to pigtail from the middle switch) to control power to an outlet for a lamp. The yellow Romex on the bottom left is my "mock up" to run power from the outlet below). If and once I am successful I will run it behind the drywall.

So then I tried to grab power from a nearby electrical outlet. I am enclosing photos to help with my description. When I got into the electrical outlet nearby I saw that it had two black and white wires connected into the back of the outlet. Between the two sets of black wires I located the hot wire and disconnected it from the outlet (alone with its corresponding white and ground wire). I then did a "mock test" to wire it to my second switch by using Romex to connect my second switch to the hot black and neutral wire that I disconnected from the outlet nearby. After I wired it up I turned the power on and my temporary ceiling light (where my permanent recesses lights will be installed) lit up. I thought I was successful. But here's the thing. When I tested the light switch by turning it on and off it trips the circuit and I lose power. But if I leave the light switch on and then turn the circuit back on at the circuit breaker box the power works. But once I use the light switch to test it, something is tripping the circuit and cutting off power. I have never experienced this before.

The image above shows the electrical socket pulled out from the wall. You can see a black and white wire connected to the back which I did not touch. I am not certain but I think this set of wires run to another outlet on the opposite wall. I'm almost certain. The hot black and white wires that I disconnected from the back of the outlet are now connected to my yellow Romex wire to my middle switch for my ceiling lights.

For the third and final light switch at my three gang light switch box on the wall I was hoping to pigtail from the second light (which will control the ceiling recessed lights) to power the outlet for a desk or table lamp.

Above pic shows the temporary light I connected as part of my mock up. It works when I turn the power back on at the circuit breaker box in the basement. But once I turn the light switch on and off at the wall in the room the circuit trips and the power is cut off.

Does anyone have any advice or can anyone help? Let me know if I need to further explain anything be more clear.

There are basically two ways to wire up a switched device (light, fan, receptacle, whatever).

Switch Loop
A switch loop essentially looks like:

Panel => Device => Switch

That matches your description of the existing fan/switch. Power is at the fan in the ceiling. The hot wire (should be black, at least the part from the panel to the fan) goes past the device (i.e., does not connect to the fan directly) and connects to the switch. The other wire connected to the switch is the switched hot and connects to the hot connection on the fan. The neutral connection on the fan goes to the white wire back to the panel. Or to put it all together:

Panel hot => [through device junction box] => Switch => device hot => device => device neutral => neutral back to panel

It is possible to tap into that to power other devices, but it gets messy. Don't do it when you have another source (the receptacle you identified).

A regular switched circuit
Panel => Switch => Device

This is what you want to do here. Or more specifically:

Panel hot => receptacle => Switch => device hot => device => device neutral => neutral [through switch box] => neutral to receptacle => neutral back to panel

There are a few steps involved in your specific situation:

Patching in to the receptacle

It appears that your existing receptacle has two sets of wires. One set is backstabs (== bad) and one set on screws. Since you were able to pull power for testing purposes while leaving the backstab connections on, I'll assume those wires were on screws. You need to do the following for hot, neutral and ground:

Disconnect the backstab
Make quadruple sets of wires: Wire to next receptacle (was backstab), wire from panel (what you disconnected from screws and used to test the lights), new Romex that will go to the switch box, and a short pigtail (you can make it from wire removed from a short piece of Romex). Connect each set of 4 wires with an appropriate size wire nut.
Connect the pigtails to the receptacle. Black to brass screw (hot), white to silver screw (neutral), green to green screw (ground).

At this point I would cap the other end of the Romex with wire nuts and test the receptacle to make sure it is working correctly (ideally with a "magic 8-ball" outlet tester as a quick confirmation that hot and neutral are not reversed and ground is connected.

Receptacle to switches

This is easy. Black = hot goes to the "line" or "hot" connection on the switch. But if it is a simple toggle switch - no dimmer, timer, smart anything - then it really doesn't matter which screw gets hot and which gets switched hot. White = neutral does not connect to the switch unless you have a timer/dimmer/smart something that has a neutral connection.

Just remembered - you have two new switches. So we are back to pigtails again, specifically, black from receptacle + two pigtails to the two switches. If you need neutral for the switch (dimmer/timer/smart) then you will have white pigtails too.

Switch to device

Black goes to the other screw on the switch and at the device connects to "line" or "hot" (or colored wire if there is a short wire attached to the device). White connects to the white wire that came from the receptacle (so two white wires from the two devices connect to the one white wire from the receptacle) and at the device connects to "neutral" (or to the white wire if there is a short wire attached to the device). If you have multiple devices then you can chain on to the others with more Romex.

What went wrong?

This still leaves open the question of "what went wrong with the switch that it tripped the breaker"? A faulty switch is unlikely - a simple toggle acts as either totally open totally closed - there are only 2 wires and no "in between" settings. So unless you used a 3-way switch (designed for connecting two switches to control one device), all I can think of is that you connected the hot & neutral chained from the receptacle to the switch and then chained from the switch to the lights. Something like:

Black from receptacle -> switch brass -> black to light

White from receptacle -> switch silver -> white to light

If you did that, the light would be always on, as long as the switch was off. As soon as you turned the switch on, you would be short circuiting black & white from the receptacle and the breaker would (hopefully!) trip very quickly.

This should solve the problems, but please read up on things a bit more before just trying different cables, switches, etc. There are situations where breakers won't trip to stop a problem, either due to existing faulty wiring or due to bad breakers. Plus there are situations where even a tiny amount of leaked current can be deadly. Safety first!


looking for a timer to open and close a circuit I am looking to open and close a Feed on a low voltage zone valve on a heating system. Its 16 volt, and I want to put a timer in the line so I can break the current and control the valve with the pre set times of the timer. Most timers I have found are 120 V plug in which is good but only accept 120 V out. I just need a timer that will act like a switch and open and close the 16 V circuit.

All timers act like switches, that open and close the circuit based on time.  The voltage rating is typically based on the maximum voltage that can be switched, not the voltage that must be  switched.

If you're looking at timers that plug into a receptacle, those are designed to turn lamps and such on/off.  That's not the type of timer you want.

You'll want a device that separates the power circuit, from the circuit being controlled.


Damaged connection when replacing oven element Our fan oven stopped getting hot the other day so I guessed that it is likely to be the element. Removed the cover and element so I could test it with a multimeter. Unfortunately on one of the connections the plastic thing broke. I am trying to determine what this component  is called so that I can source a replacement. A picture can be found below

And this is what the other one looks like.

Any help would be great, the oven is a Baumatic B904SS by the way.

That looks to me like a Faston connecter. The plastic part is the housing.

You might try looking in places like this.


Grinding noise and plastic bits in washing machine We just bought a house and it had a washing machine in there. Initially it just seemed really dirty so we gave it a good scrub and ran a few hot cycles with vinegar and baking soda to clean out the mold and scrud. When we finally thought we were done and ran the first run with a load it made a very loud grinding sound when spinning. When it was done, we found bits of ground up plastic in the drum.
I have tried running it a few more times, and the sound is sometimes better and sometimes worse, and we always find ground up plastic. Moving the door seal out of the way, you can see where the plastic is coming from: it looks like it is a plastic ring behind the drum that is disintegrated and I can pull bits off. I have attached a picture of both the plastic ring and the remains of a part I removed.
Is this part of the plastic tub that somehow got misaligned? Is it fixable? Or should we scrap the machine?
Model is Electrolux EWF 1287.

It appears the spider that holds the drum to the spindle is cracked and the tub no longer centers when spun. The early aluminum spider designs were terrible, the accumulation of phosphates and other washer chemicals remained in contact with the recesses in the material and eventually corroded it.  While the part may be replaceable, it it is very expensive and invasive repair.  To confirm this, spin the drum by hand and check for any wobble.


Pressure tank rusts, leak, and draw down questions I have this water pressure tank system:

my questions:

I am not sure whether it is a G.I. or stainless steel pressure water tank. How do I test what kind of material it is made of?
There are so many rusty water coming from faucets.. Can stainless steel or G.I. rust inside it? I'm not sure if the rusts originate there or elsewhere.
Recently when the water pump put enough water to register 30 psi (Is there a list pressure to set for corresponding tank volume?). It stopped runing and goes down slowly even if the output gate valve was closed. Which do you think is leaking? There is no leak at the water tank or water pump. It has no input check valve but for past 10 years there was no defect or pressure going down without use after it stopped pumping at 30 psi.
The water inside is only 20% when water pump stopped pumping. I'm thinking of getting the Aquaflo pressure tank. Is it true it can hold 99% of water? It means the remaining volume of 1% will be compressed air, what do you think of the following?

"Aquaflo pressure tanks are 99% efficient. Conventional pressure tanks use only 25% of the water inside them. While a 42 gallon tank might look impressive, in reality, only approximately 12 gallons are used (“draw down”). With Aquaflo pressure tanks, 99% of the water is used. Thus, you can get rid of the excess size needed by conventional pressure tanks. This allows Aquaflo tanks to deliver the same performance while reducing it’s size."

Visually the system looks dated

The tank itself is glass lined you can test this by using a magnet. Lower grades of stainless steel are still magnetic but only slightly, due to them being only moderately ferrite. Glass lined tanks are only good for 10 to 15 years if maintained well they can see 20 but it's very uncommon. By the look of the tank there's no anode in it therefore it would only last 10 years max
Glass-lined tanks can and will indeed rust and they will Rust completely through if given enough time. Low grade stainless is capable of rusting but usually to a lesser degree.
Losing pressure without a leak is most likely due to the water going back down the pump. It's possible that there is a leak in the tank at the top weld allowing a small amount of air to escape without being evident because water hasn't made it there yet the possibilities are endless.
Bladder tanks such as the Aquaflow mentioned are far superior to standard expansion tanks. The downside is perforations are possible rendering your expansion tank relatively useless but with proper maintenance perforations are very uncommon.


How / Should I insulate my Basement Walls I’m finishing my basement and thought about insulating the walls. Picture of my basement attached. The house is about 22 years old. Poured in place concrete walls, no history of water. I started framing the walls and have them all up.
What should I do here? Thanks I’m advance for your help.

Since you live in Virginia and it doesn't get very cold for extended periods of time and you said that the basement is fully below grade, insulating the basement may not be cost effective.  The outside ground temperature from about 36" down stays approximately 55 degrees the year round. If you have a forced air furnace, you could install a couple heat supplies and returns.  Depending on your end result of finishing your basement the supply registers could be located in the bottom of the supply duct work and the returns should be mounted near the floor level possibly in the furnace return ducting or elsewhere depending upon the basement layout. The supply registers would be open during the winter and closed in the summer. The returns would always be open. This would add some heat to the basement in the winter and assist with the cooling in the summer and keep the basement ventilated year round for comfort. I would probably just use styrofoam mounted tight against the walls and finished as you like. The styrofoam would be it's own vapor barrier. I would however ask builders in your area for their recommendations, first.


Two pole breaker feeding three pole receptacle? Panel has a 50 amp two pole (ie fed by two adjacent circuits) single throw breaker feeding a four wire three pole NEMA 14-50 receptacle for an oven. Just have pictures of all of this, have not had a chance to pull anything apart to verify how it's wired.

Question: can a three pole receptacle be correctly wired off of a two pole breaker? My assumption is that this is a single phase 240v oven based on the breakers, but the plug is confusing me.

All good - the neutral doesn't terminate on the breaker, just the two hots, X and Y in the diagram below.


What I do about mouse droppings in basement ceiling where I can't reach? I had a mouse infestation a while ago - they were coming in from dryer and exhaust vents too close to the ground.  I trapped the mice and fixed the vent/exhaust situation to prevent more from entering.

Fortunately, the infestation was in the basement and seemed to be almost entirely in the unfinished utility room.

While inspecting my HVAC ducts recently, I discovered a ton of mouse droppings on the top of the drywall ceiling in the finished basement.

I know that droppings should not be vacuumed and that a bleach solution should be used to wet them and gather them, but I barely have access to see above the ceiling drywall from the utility room, and certainly can't reach back there to wipe it all up.

How can I effectively clean up the droppings in these hard to reach places?

I was thinking about using a vacuum with extensions, but understand that you're not supposed to vacuum mice droppings.

According to http://www.cdc.gov/rodents/cleaning/ and http://www.cdc.gov/hantavirus/technical/hps/faq.html hantavirus stays infectious for only a few days.

Let the droppings sit for a while (and thoroughly dry out), then vacuum them.


Do I need an egress bedroom window if I have a walk-out exterior door? I have a basement with three hopper windows and a walk-out door.  There's also a staircase that connects the basement with the upper (main) floor of the house.

If I build a bedroom, do I need an egress window or is the basement walk-out door acting as such?  (Note that there probably be an internal door between the bedroom and the walk-out exterior door.)

You need an egress window in any bedroom. The purpose is to provide an alternate point of exit from inside a bedroom in the event of an emergency. Having an exterior door located nearby but still outside of the bedroom will not qualify. If the bedroom doorway is blocked, the occupant still cannot exit the room.


Small Concrete Paver patio under BBQ I have a BBQ that's currently sitting on a not so level grassy area. I'd like to create a very small base for the grill with two 2ft by 2ft concrete pavers so I have a level base, but I don't know how to prep the area for the pavers.

Do I need to dig down, how far, and what do I put under the pavers? I live in the Northern US, if that's important.

Dig down at least 6".
Lay landscape fabric (this will block weeds and what-not), the fabric should run up the sides of the hole.
Fill the hole with a base material (usually crushed limestone), fill the hole about 2" at a time tamping it down thoroughly between layers.
Add a 1" layer of sand (leveled).
Set the pavers.
Brush sand into the joints, using a stiff bristled broom.
Tamp the whole thing (this will wiggle the sand between the pavers locking them in place).

You may have to dig deeper depending on where you want the pavers to sit (at ground level, slightly above ground level), and how thick the pavers are.  You'll want 5-6" of the base material, plus 1" of sand, plus the paver thickness (keep in mind the 1" of sand may compact a bit when you set the pavers, and after the final tamp).

To make the job easier, you might want to rent a Plate Compactor this will make tamping the base material easier and help lock in the pavers after you sweep the sand in the joints.

Typically when you build this type of "patio" you'll have to worry about drainage, so you'll want to slope the whole thing enough to allow the water to run to a safe location. In this case you probably won't have to worry so much, unless the patio is right up against the house.


How to taper an irregular flat roof for a slight fall First of all, Harper gave a great answer to a similar question here, but I'm having trouble making it work for an irregular shaped roof with an angle that is not 45 degrees.

My roof contains an internal drain, with the top right and bottom left sides sloping towards it.

I have attempted to make the slope myself following the reasoning from the above post but I'm not confident it's correct. I've stuck to a slope of 2:100 and tried to use the Pythagorean theorem to find the hypotenuse of the angle which is 65 degrees.

Is what I've done correct?

The slope of the roof is 2/100 so the elevation of the roof at and given distance from the drain can be expressed proportionally 2/100=elevation/distance or e=(2d)/100. So yes, 236 from the drain the elevation is (2*236)/100 = 4.72. If you can measure with a tape or step off the distance with dividers you can dispense with any more math than that.

Basically on the building you can measure the distance from the drain to any point on the roof and mark the height. Or if you're trying to cut strips you can find the start and end heights as above then snap a chalk line between them.

As a practical matter you'd probably want to increase the slope slightly beyond code and pick a few critical points such as corners and the midpoint of long edges to set the height. The reason being that you probably a) can't build a perfect cone with construction lumber and b) the rest of the building probably isn't perfect either. Giving yourself a margin for error means that every point in between should have at least the minimum slope.

By the way, the angle is irrelevant to the Pythagorean theorem which states the length of the hypotenuse is equal to the square root of the sum of the squares of the legs.


Will treating the edges of laminate parquet flooring with teak oil improve water resistance? Recently, I bought laminate wood parquet flooring (8mm) with an HDF core for my apartment.  I intend to use this throughout the entire apartment, excluding bathrooms but including kitchen.  It is not rated as waterproof. The shop I bought it from told me that water issues of the parquet always comes from water seeping through the grooves between each plank and through the locking mechanism and reaching the HDF core.  To help with increasing the water resistance of the floor, he told me that I can treat the locking mechanism with teak oil.

I talked with my installer, and he said that has never done this or heard of it.  I got a bit confused.  It is a bit of an extra effort to paint each and every plank with teak oil, and I would like to know if it makes sense.  I've tried googling it, but did not find any definitive answer.

I've highlighted in orange the image below, to show where the shop told me to treat with teak oil.

Any ideas if it does help to treat with teak oil?  Are there any issues about doing this?  I'm also concerned that the floor might be stuck together, and cannot be taken apart easily if I need to change some of it.

I wouldn't use oil, that could interfere with the boards structure. Why not use the proper sealant?

Silicone based I believe and it's supper thin, doesn't interfere with fitting at all. We always use it in kitchens, dining room, bathrooms etc.
For example, the pic is from this page at Wickes in the UK Maybe there is something similar local to you?


PT lumber as the swingset frame I am planning to build a swing set for my kids and was going to use PT lumber. I was not too much concerned with the chemical issues because my kids were now old enough. Also, the PT lumbers are cheaper than the other lumbers. Then, a friend of mine told me that PT lumber tended to get warped and twisted, especially outside when it it exposed to the sun. For this reason, he was saying that the PT lumbers would be a unsafe choice for an outdoor playset.

Is it true that the PT lumbers get warped? That was the first time I've heard. Would it be a serious issue?

Pressure treated lumber can get warped if left out in the sun. But my experience is that if the lumber is used in an application where it is bolted onto place and secured with proper fasteners that it will work just fine. There is no doubt that certain suppliers of PT lumber are applying the treatment to the lesser grades of the wood.


Adding more to 125A Main Service I was reading the post from the link below. I had a question with regard to that line of discussion. I can post there but it was old.
I have a GE main service box, 24 positions, that has a double pole 125A main breaker.

Do the breaker amp readings sum up to dictate my current panels total / possible amperage?

There is currently a 40 Amp double taking up 4 slots on the right side for an apartment size electric stove. There are 4 more circuits for plugs, and a regrigerator is on one of those. I will add a disposer onto the kitchen circuit but that only has the overhead light plugs.  The main service is for a 450sf tiny apartment of one bedroom, a bath and kitchen. Its being renovated but budget is tight.

I want to add breaks for a 24Kw on demand water heater and a small split unit AC.
Water heater at 240V, requires two 60 amp breakers, and the AC, MRCool, 18K BTU, will require a 15A to 20A, double pole.

Can the main service that is currently in operation accomodate the additional load.  I know the breakers will fit fine. Looks doable to me.

The breakers will physically fit into the panel, but you'd probably start tripping things whenever the water heater turned on.

At 24 kW @ 240 V, it's pulling 100 A* on its own. Add in lights, receptacles, fridge, or especially the stove (pulling maybe 30 A*), and you're well over the limit of the 125 A main breaker.

If you want to install that water heater, you'll need to upgrade the main service - which could mean upgrading the service entrance wires from the utility, the meter, the panel, the wires from the meter to the panel, or any combination of the above.

Installing the AC unit should be doable, though, since it's such a small unit.

*the water heater won't actually pull 100 A (nor the stove 30 A) all the time. Depending on your incoming water temperature, hot water set temperature, etc it may not need that much power. The stove only pulls 30 A when all burners and the oven are on. That said, you don't want to have things work ok in the summer but not the winter. Or only if you're using 2 of the burners rather than all 4.


How to attach a "lean to" shed to a garage? I recently purchased the plans for this 10'x6' Lean To Shed.  It is designed to be free-standing, but I'd like to attach this to the back of my garage, which is more than large enough to accommodate.  This shed will be a bike shed and I plan to hang some bikes off the inside back wall.

My question: What is the best way to attach it? I figure I have three primary options:

Attach it at the roof line, and leave a couple of inches of space between the back wall of the shed and the garage
Attach the back wall to the shed and adjust the roof to eliminate the overhang
Eliminate the back wall completely, attach the side walls to the garage, and adjust the roof to eliminate the overhang

What is the best approach?  Is there a different approach that I'm missing?  Are there other considerations I should think about?

Thanks in advance!

I see no reason to use Option 1.  My daughter would just find a way to loose her hula hoop (and everything else she owns) in that little space between the garage and shed.

I like Option 2. Attaching the wall AND roof directly to something solid will keep the shed rigid. Also, having the back wall installed will allow you to fasten machinery and equipment to the wall without affecting the existing garage wall.

Option 3 would give you a few more inches of floor space, but you’d have to “hang” everything directly on the garage wall. Also, if you ever decide to insulate the shed, you’d have trouble insulating the common wall.


How to estimate the right size furnace for my house I estimated the BTU for a new furnace for my house to be around 62,000 BTU. My Trane XR 90 furnace is 80,000 BTU. The square footage of my house is 1040 sq ft. Is a furnace over 18,000 BTU overkill for my house?
Also 3 companies in town stock Lennox parts. Just wondered how the Armstrong Air-A951 furnaces rate.
And are they hard to get parts for?

You cannot estimate a furnace by the size of your house.   That is just a factor in the equation, and it is not 80% of the equation or even half.
So first when you have the size of your house you should not calculate square feet, it should be cubic feet.   A house with 8 foot ceilings is considerably smaller than ones with 10-12 feet ceilings.   If a furnace tech quotes you on the square feet in your house - wow get a new tech.
Also you need to factor in the cubic area of the unfinished areas that are connected - your basement, useable attic space, an enclosed patio.
Then you have to guestimate - there are services that will get this done for you accurately - how efficient you are insulating your house.   A house that is well insulated may require half the heating of a house with little to no insulation and bad windows/doors.
The last thing is the one-offs.   Are your duct runs longer than average?   Do your ducts travel in the attic or underneath foundation?   Do you have more ducts than normal for a house of your size?
You are rating the entire house system plus size.   There is no easy equation.   An old exterior door with gaps in the middle of the house could cause 10% heat loss.   The problem is if you rate too low your house will never be warm and you will stress the furnace and blower and it won't last as long.   Yes rating too high and you lose a little money in efficiency.   But really you always have to be a little over when estimating or willing to spend a lot of money insulating and replacing windows/doors.


How do I detach the wires from this lamp ceiling socket? This is a very stupid question, but I just cannot figure out how to detach the wires from this lamp ceiling socket.

I know these wire connectors usually have a screw or some sort of lever to tighten and loosen the wires, but I've tried for an hour and just cannot detach the wires so I can install the lamp that doesn't need the socket but connects directly to the wires from the ceiling.

One sure option is to cut the wires off immediately adjacent to the socket. Then you strip off a short bit of additional insulation on each wire to expose the electrical conductor inside.

It looks like that socket used to also provide a hook from which the cordage or swag chain of the old lamp would hang. You will have to carefully evaluate how the new lamp is secured. If it is a hanging unit you cannot simply let it hang from the electrical connections. If the lamp is a ceiling mounted fixture then make sure to hang it in a Code compliant way so that it is safe and does not put a strain on the electrical connections.


Is a grounded (neutral) conductor required at a switch location that controls a switched receptacle used for lighting? The National Electrical Code requires that all habitable rooms and bathrooms, have a switch controlled light (210.70(A)(1)). It also allows a switched receptacle to be used, instead of a lighting outlet (210.70(A)(1)EX.1).
Later in the code, it requires a grounded (neutral) conductor at switch locations that control lighting loads. However, it does not require a grounded (neutral) conductor, where the switch controls "a receptacle load".
So if a room uses switch controlled receptacles to meet the switch controlled light requirement, is the grounded (neutral) conductor required at the switch?

Relevant code text

National Electrical Code 2014
Chapter 2 Wiring and Protection
Article 210 Branch Circuits
210.70 Lighting Outlets Required. Lighting outlets shall be installed where specified in 210.70(A), (B), and (C).
(A) Dwelling Units. In dwelling units, lighting outlets shall be installed in accordance with 210.70(A)(1), (A)(2), and (A)(3).
(1) Habitable Rooms. At least one wall switch-controlled lighting outlet shall be installed in every habitable room and bathroom.
Exception No. 1: In other than kitchens and bathrooms, one or more receptacles controlled by a wall switch shall be permitted in lieu of lighting outlets.
Chapter 4 Equipment for General Use
Article 404 Switches
404.2 Switch Connections.
(C) Switches Controlling Lighting Loads. The grounded circuit conductor for the controlled lighting circuit shall be provided at the location where switches control lighting loads that are supplied by a grounded general-purpose branch circuit for other than the following:
(7) Where a switch controls a receptacle load.

Code is a guide for localities to establish rules. As such, if a locale adopts the code as is, it will be up to them to enforce their rules. Now we are down to the inspector's decision as to whether you comply.

Since the switched outlet is serving functionally as a luminaire, many inspectors would probably take the view that luminaire switches need a neutral (grounded) conductor. Usually when there are two rules and one is permissive and one is restrictive, the restrictive one will apply (unless the permissive explicitly waives the restrictive).

Further, there are practical reasons to include the neutral at a switch for an outlet. Advanced switches, such as remote control devices or a proximity sensor, usually need a neutral. Obviously, devices that would compromise the outlet if used for purposes other than luminaires should be avoided. You don't want a switched outlet with a dimmer to be accidentally used for a vacuum cleaner.

Bottom line, the local inspector will probably be the last word, but I would include a neutral.