What to do with ground wire when installing ceiling fan on ungrounded branch circuit I removed an old ceiling fan and I am replacing it with a new one.  My home was built in the 60s and I'm installing so it works off one switch.

After the removing the old fan the ceiling revealed two wires, red and white.  The ceiling fan has four wires, black, white, blue and green.  From research I found that the red wire in the ceiling should connect to the black and blue from the ceiling fan. The white ceiling wire to the white on ceiling fan. It is still unclear as to what do I do with the green?

The mounting fixture has a green wire on it, which is affixed by a screw to the ceiling mount and the other side of the green wire per product instructions is to connect to the green coming up from the ceiling fan. Do I leave it as is and connect the loose ends and be done with it or am I supposed to unscrew the ground wire from the mounting fixture and screw it into the outlet box in the ceiling? If I have to screw it into the outlet box how do I know where to put it?

If you could confirm my thoughts and provide direction on the ground wire I would appreciate it. Thanks.

The green wire is a ground wire.  The purpose of it is to cause the breaker to trip or the fuse to blow if a short circuit develops.  The majority of the time you can just hook up the white (neutral) and black or blue wires and never have any problem.

HOWEVER! If a short circuit does develop you may burn the place down!

If you have a metal box connected to metal clad flexible conduit or EMT you should be able to screw a #10 screw into the box and fasten a green wire to it completing a ground.  Whatever you have, there should have been a bare copper wire coming in to the box with the black and blue. Some do it yourselfers figure they aren't important and cut them off.


Ground wires absent from circuits exiting apartment panel I'm taking a look at the (only) panel in my apartment (7 apartments in building, NYC) and I'm noticing that out of all the circuits leaving the panel, not a single one of them contains a ground wire. Only hot(s) and neutral. On closer inspection I can see the ground wire coming in through the top, it connects to the ground bar, but there are no other wires attached to the ground bar.
The 120v circuits leave the panel with just a hot and a neutral and the 240v circuits exit in bunches of 2 hot and 1 neutral.
Are all these circuits ungrounded? Is it likely or possible that these circuits get their ground from somewhere else that is not the panel in my apartment? Are these circuits meeting up with ground each on their own somewhere on the way to the outlets or is it another common point?

Your building is most likely wired using armored cable (Type AC), so it's grounded, alright
Given the presence of per-conductor paper packing protruding into the panel through the cable connectors, the lack of cable jacketing protruding into the panel through the same route, the lack of ground wires, the vintage of the panel and apparent vintage of the wiring (rather new), and the context of the building and its locale and use (apartment in NYC), my most likely guess as to the wiring method used in your building would be "new style" Type AC (armored cable).  This cable uses the metal armor in conjunction with a thin aluminum bonding strip as the grounding path; the metal cable armor provides a low-resistance path generally, while the bonding strip shorts adjacent turns of the spiral-wound armor to each other to avoid any potential for "choking" of fault currents.  (Very old BX lacked that bonding strip, and there have been various tales of BX armor overheating under low, sustained fault current conditions as a result of the "choke" effect not allowing enough fault current to pass to trip the breaker.)
As an aside: whoever wired that panel was proud of their work, and for the most part deservedly so, so you might as well take this learning opportunity
As an aside, what you are looking at here is a panel that's been quite neatly and professionally wired, by and large.  About the only thing I cannot see in your pictures are the anti-short "redhead" bushings on the connectors. Otherwise, the feeder to this panel looks to be a proper four-wire feed with the panel's bonding screw pulled, as is proper for a subpanel (if this was a main panel, the bonding screw would sit in that "notch" in the top right of the neutral bar).  Furthermore, the branch circuit wiring was done in a very tidy fashion, looping down along the side gutters and back up to the breaker and neutral lugs/screws to provide excess length in case a rearrangement is called for, and all the wiring's been neatly tagged with what circuit it goes to.  Finally, note that all the white wires used as hots in 240V-only circuits, as well as the B leg of the incoming feeder, have been wrapped with red phase tape to prevent confusion.
Best of luck and wishes for your schooling!


Why don't my fluorescent lights work after a nearby lightning strike? I was working in the basement during a thunderstorm, with two banks of fluorescent tube lights (like office lights) in two rooms on.  Thunder pealed, power went out.  Every so often there would be a flicker of light, then it was gone again.  Went upstairs, discovered power was on upstairs (although newly installed fluorescent bulbs are much dimmer in one room).  Returned to basement, checked the circuit board, which was fine.  Discovered the incandescent lights and the wall outlets all worked.  Hour later, and still can't get the fluorescent tubing to turn on.  What happened?

They all went out at once? It may be a loss of power to the lighting circuit, or it may be a power surge taking out all the fixtures. If the power to the fluorescents is good, then it's one of two things:

the fluorescent tubes ($2-5)
the ballasts ($15-25) -- a ballast is an electrical module inside the fluorescent fixture which controls the power for the tubes.  Fluorescent tubes take specially regulated power, not common mains power.

It's more likely the ballasts than the tubes, but the tubes are easier to swap.  There are Q&A on here which discuss at length identifying and changing ballasts.

Fluorescent tubes are now very good, and no longer give the green flickery sickly looking light they once did.   If it is the ballast, however, you may want to price out switching to LED replacement fluorescent "tubes".  Make sure to get direct-wire types, not the kind dependent on ballasts.


Will this pulley arrangement keep this kayak level when hoisting? I am building a kayak hoisting system for my garage, and was originally going to use a standard two-rope system to keep the kayak level when hoisting, but I came across this single rope schematic, and was curious if it would actually lift the kayak level or not. My spidey sense says "no", but wanted to confirm:

No, it will not, at least if the load is balanced as shown.  The leftmost part of the kayak / canoe, having a snatch block on it, will experience twice the lifting force as the front of the kayak.  If the kayak was moved towards the left, it could potentially balance out, but you will likely need to do some manual adjustment as the kayak is lifted.


Putting up posters in hard to reach places I'd like to place posters in a hard to reach spot in my home.

The posters are pretty sturdy. They're glossy prints on thick cardstock paper.

I'd like to place them up along a tall wall, except that the wall is directly above the staircase.

I can't use the ladder because the staircase is there, and there's no way I could reach high enough on my own.

Are there poles or other equipment that might be helpful for putting up posters in hard to reach places?

Edit- I found these two possible solutions. Ladder Ledge and Staircase platform. I like the idea of placing my ladder directly on the stores, but I'd rather not spend $150 for this solution

If you're only going to ever need it for your own staircase investing in such an expensive adjustable platform may not be warranted.

you can probably build your own from some some 6x2 lumber

cut pieces to make the basic shape of the ladder ledge and fasten the parts together with structural screws, fit rubber feet or a layer of rubber anti-slip floor surface
to the underside,


Outlet Relocation and wiring I have an outlet I am going to move up the wall.  The outlet has two cables running to it.  My question is, if I run a new straight down from my new outlet location, do I just tie together all three cables together at bottom, cap them, same color, and wire up the new outlet at top with the other end of the new cable?

I will be putting a blank face plate at the bottom where the tie in will be per code so it is accessible.  Please let me know if this is correct, I have some electrical knowledge just have not done this before and want to make sure it is acceptable.

Update:

The tabs appear to be intact, so am I safe to assume if I wire this up like I spoke of I will be ok?

Your plan sounds good, except for one thing you do have to check.

Anytime you remove an outlet, make sure you are not falling below the minimum outlets required.   In particular, a 6-foot cord from an appliance anywhere along the wall needs to be able to reach a power outlet.  It appears your old outlet is near a threshold, so if it's moving farther from the threshold, that is fine.


Can I bring power to the 4-way switch? I have a standard circuit with a 3-way switch on each end and one 4-way switch in the middle. Will it work if I run power to the 4 way switch instead of one of the 3-way switches?  The light is also connected to the 4-way switch.

[UPDATE]
Before I have to fire up paint and draw something see if this helps:

Current setup:

12/3 wire: 3waySwitch -> 4waySwitch -> 3waySwitch.
12/2 wire: power -> 4waySwitch -> light bulb

I have a light fixture coming off the 4wayswitch.  Can I bring power to the 4waySwitch instead of one of the 3waySwitches like it's typically done?  This is new construction and I already ran the wire.  I haven't tested it because the power is not live.  I could re-run the power wire if I have to.  The question is, do I have to?

The goal of course is to allow all 3 switches to turn the light off/on (goes without saying).

Did I hear somebody say 'drawing'?

Note: this diagram represents equipment and cables generally available in the USA. I have used blue to represent the white wires because white does not show up without a black outline, which I can't be arsed to draw.


Care for solid oak desk I'm looking to make a desk from some solid oak, and want something that will last me a long time. I was wondering if such a piece of wood can be 'renewed' over time by say sanding to strip the stain and applying new stain ( of potentially a different shade? ), or say I screw some legs in and wish to change them, is filling the old screw holes a possibility that won't be too unsightly / compromise the future potential of it?
I'd prefer this to say buying a cheap desk, and then throwing it away if my room changes and buying a new one.
Whilst on this topic, if it is possible ( and sensible ) to do such a thing, what tools should be invested in? ( A band saw isn't really an option, but I was thinking electric jigsaw and orbit sander? )

Yes, this can be renewed over time with sanding etc.  I am unsure of how much of the stain you can remove by sanding (it will definitely soak into the wood and remain visible longer than polyurethane).  I've removed loads of lacquer and polyurethane for refinishing wood, but have yet to try removing stain.
Yes, you can fill old screw holes by drilling them out and gluing a dowel rod into the hole (use a good wood glue for this, my preference is Tightbond).  This is probably as good of a fill as you can get.  Sand the dowel down until even with the desk.
Regarding tools, that really depends on what how you want to build this and how good you want it to look.  Are you using rough-cut wood, or something that is already pre-sanded and ready to go (something you buy at the big-box stores)?  If you start from rough-cut then you really need a joiner, planer, good table saw, possibly a router, and ideally a drum sander.  That's unrealistic for a single project.
On the other hand, if you're going to buy a solid piece of oak that is already cut and joined (e.g. something that is already 4' x 6') and you don't really care how it looks then you just need something to cut it (a circular saw or even a hand saw).
The point I'm getting to with the tools is that we need more information regarding how you plan to build this before we can help you build it (this probably fits better under woodworking than home improvement anyway).  How you plan to build this will dictate what tools you need to do the job.  Best of luck, this might be a fun project!


What could be causing a Bosch dishwasher to not heat the water? I have a Bosch SHX46a05UC/43 that is not heating the water inside. My first clue something was wrong was that the cycle time was very long (3-4 hours). I'm not sure that it can't heat the water, but in my exploring I've yet to find any hot water inside, regardless of which part of the cycle it's in when I check it.

Any suggestions on what to check next to determine the cause of this issue?

In most dishwashers, there's really only 2 or 3 parts that can cause this problem.

First is the heating coil itself. Disconnect it from whatever it's wired to. Measure the resistance of the coil with a multimeter. If it reads infinite OR 0, then the coil is bad. Anything in between and it's probably fine.

Next is the relay or the control board. On many dishwashers, the relay is on the control board. If yours is combined, then just buy a new control board. If the relay is separate, buy a relay because they are cheap. And if that doesn't fix the problem then it's the control board.


Laminating hallway with opposing doorways - how to tackle the last piece/row having undercut the architrave & door frames? I am planning on spending my bank holiday laminating the our hallway tomorrow. Although I have a fair amount of experience, I am in a bit of a quandary concerning how to lay the last row of laminate and in particular the last row that starts with the piece marked in RED in following figure. The problem I see is due to there being doorways exactly opposite one another in the layout of my house.

I have chosen to undercut the architraves & doorframes in the all the rooms I have tackled so far.

Laying the first piece into the undercut of the doorway is clearly a no-brainer, as will be the rest of the job running pieces along the hallway itself -- hopefully. The part that concerns me, is when I get to last row. I will cut the RED piece to size based on the proportions of the undercut of that particular doorway. As you can see from the figure, that piece of laminate is shaped like a T-section and I am worried that I will approach the end of the job and then not be able to fit that piece in, or at least not with a snug fit under the architrave.

Given this scenario, which I hope is conveyed clearly enough with my relatively poor diagram, does anyone have an tips, or otherwise some potential gotchas to point out? Perhaps there is a different layout of pieces that would work better in this scenario.

Thanks for taking the time to consider this problem.

How would you choose to lay the laminate in this case?

I have just recently tackled the same problem with my own hallway. The solution I did was as follows. I cut a piece so that it would fit the door opening and a little more, so that it will go under the door frame. I have cut this piece so that on one side there is still the laminate "click" side, while the other is naturally cut off (this is piece 2 in the drawing). This way you can attach another laminate piece to this one. Next, I cut a narrow piece of laminate (piece 1) that can click on to piece 2. Finally, I have cut piece 3 so that it will butt against piece 2. Since there is no "click" side there, there is a small gap (if you can cut it accurately enough without leaving a gap, the better). This gap I have filled with wood glue mixed with sawdust from cutting the laminate boards. For my particular laminate it is a very close match to the color of the laminate, plus is it quite a small section (for me it was around an inch). From standing height it is barely noticeable, and can be improving by careful sanding. If you have something better as the filler, than by all means use it.

You can switch between pieces 1 and 3 (in terms of which one will have the "click" side, depending on the rest of you hallway laminate orientation.

For the assembly, piece 2 (or the one it will gone with) should have the "click" partially removed, so that it can be slid from the opposite room, under the door frame and into place, with the a line of glue holding the two pieces together. Then piece 1 can be clicked to place, and piece 3 clicked and glued.

Edit: here are some pictures. First, the glued part. In the picture it looks much worse than in real life (also ignore the lack of skirting board). The glue goes all around the piece since there were some gaps in all directions and as I said, it is barely noticeable from standing height:

Here the opposite side of the doorway, where the piece is clicked. Note that the central part (piece 2) goes well under the door frame:

And finally the entire door frame. Excuse the blurry shot, but I hope it is enough to give you an idea of my installation:

Edit 2: Following the OP's comment, I have an idea about how to put piece 2 in place if you can't slide it from the opposite room. This requires you to not have finished placing the boards in the hallway. You'll need to place some temporary boards up to the door in question, then measure and cut piece 2. Remove the temporary boards and slide piece 2 from the hallway. Then you can continue laying the boards as usual. To connect piece 2 with the real board before it, you still have to slide it out a little (out of the hallway, into the next room), lay the board and slide piece 2 back in. Sounds complicated, but I can't think of another approach.


How can I prevent flooding in my house when it rains heavily? My sidewalk slops downward from the street to the house, so when it rains heavily, water comes into the house. Not sure how to fix this situation without it costing an arm and a leg. Any suggestions?

I am assuming you mean water is getting into your basement and the sidewalk connects to your foundation. My First step would be to try and seal where the sidewalk touches to foundation. There is probably a crack there where the water is getting in.  The best sealant would come in a caulk tube make sure it is flexible and made for concrete. Do not get the cheapest stuff at the store.  It may or may not work but for $10 its worth a try. A picture would help us give a better answer.


Remove dirty/sweaty hand prints from painted wall Sometimes while I am working, I inevitably end up touching recently painted walls with my hands. Though I try to keep my hands clean, the combination of the dirt and sweat on my hands leaves a very visible brown smudge on the wall.

I do not know what type of paint is used on the walls. The paint has had 24 hours to dry, but it typically has been applied within the past week.

What is the best way to remove the smudge? I would rather not carry around a spray bottle with soap water and clean rags. Would lightly sanding the spot with a very fine grit sandpaper work to remove it?

I usually just use a wet rag or a wet brush and "scrub"


Fluorescent light shuts off I am having a problem with a tube fluorescent light that turns on and works fine for a while then shuts off. Sometimes if I turn off the switch and wait a few minutes, it will come back on when turning the switch on.  It always turns on after being off for several hours.  This is the first I have had troubles with the light fixture since getting our house 5 years ago.  It seems like a new fixture (i.e. made in the last 10-15 years).

I doubt the bulbs are the problem as they both work fine when it is on.  Looking at this link and this other question I think the problem is either the inductive ballast or the preheat/starter.  I am not actually sure if the light is a preheat or rapid-start fixture, my guess is rapid-start.  This would mean I should replace the ballast right?  These seem to be 15-40$ at Home Depot, is that the best place to go?  I assume taking the old one into the store and matching it is the best option right?

Do you have other recommendations?

Yes replace the ballast.

You might as well buy some new tubes while you are there too.

And a few grey wire nuts.

Find the price for a completely new fixture, before you start looking at the ballasts. The results might surprise you.

Read the ballast, it will tell you what it was designed to do. Something like 4 wire, 2 tube, 32 to 40 watt, double pins.

There should also be a wiring diagram on the face of the ballast, you can use that to help match things.

At this point, is it less expensive to replace the entire fixture ?

If you can find grey wire nuts that have the spring inside of them, rather than just plastic threads, get them, they are much better.

If the ballast has been abusing the tubes, they have aged quickly, if you are up there replacing parts, might as well go for it.

If you carefully bend back of the fixture terminals, you can push the wire all the way through the socket, it does have to be stripped of insulation first.

If not that is what grey wire nuts are for.

The odds on you having a thermal starter, that is external to the ballast in any light bought in the last 10 years is low, really low.

The odds on you having an external starter, with an inductive ballast, is just about zero, unless someone did it for a twisted joke.


What's the best way to install permanent high/low gauges in a compressor based HVAC system rfc134a? I have a heat pump water heater, and would like to install permanent pressure gauges on the liquid and suction lines (or more likely have a professional install the gauges).  Analog gauges are fine, though i2c would be even better.  The unit uses rfc134a, appears to use standard thread, though it's made in Europe.

I suspect I could purchase a manifold like this, and cap the yellow line to prevent accidents:

But I'm concerned that over the lifetime of the system, which is all hard copper pipe, the hoses on the gauge could get brittle and crack.  What hard pipe alternatives are there? What sort of threading specifications do I need?  What's the best way to get this done?

You would not want to install a gauge set with flex lines on your system.
Why would I say this ? They will leak over time.  The larger line with the service port is the suction line. I have a “low pressure” gauge with a flair fitting that is only ~1” long for checking system pressures.  I attach the gauge and open the valve verify operational range and close the valve.
Why would I not leave a gauge on that port? The ports when open have a higher chance of leaking not only at the flair fitting but at the valve. Notice the threads on the valves over the hex valve fitting? Those need to be capped that location is the #1 location I find leaks I use a thread sealant and always close those off.
As far as the size there are 2 normal sizes 1/4 flair and 5/16 flair  these fittings are not standard flair fittings as they have a valve stem depressor that opens the Schrader valve. If installing gauges on systems was a good idea mfg’s would have this as an option (they used to install sight glasses) but since sight glasses and gauges tend to be a leakage point they are not an option (or I am not aware of a residential system with gauges as an option). I would use caution in even checking the low pressure of your water heater if similar to mine it only uses 3/4lb of r134 each time the system is opened a small amount of the charge is lost this is why I have the gauges with 1” connections. Connecting a standard line set to a small system like this several times can loose enough of a charge to cause problems due to low charge.
Last the EPA can levy fines for a non certified person for opening a system would they for checking your system?  I don’t know of that happening but you could damage your system or introduce leaks by moving forward.


Pressure treated for base plate framing on concrete I used all PT 2x4 for framing base plates in my basement, attaching them mostly using a powder actuated nail gun. I did it because I think I read they are more exposed to moisture being directly on concrete, which does have gravel and vapor barrier underneath.

Would it have been okay had I used regular 2x4 instead of PT? Do building codes anywhere require that they be PT?

I've always been told that the sole plate must be pressure treated, when in contact with concrete. I found section 317.1 in the IRC, but it only seems to address "sills and sleepers".  It also states that the members only have to be PT, if not separated "from the slab by an impervious moisture barrier.".

Based on the code I've found, I'd say there's no requirement for the sole plate to be PT. Even if it was shoehorned into this section, putting an impervious moisture barrier between the sole plate and the concrete would meet the requirement.

I used untreated wood and installed sill gasket under the walls, when I added framing to my basement. Though it was just a couple dividing walls, so it was never inspected.

  International Residential Code 2012

  Chapter 3 Building and Planning

  Section R317 Protection of Wood and Wood Based Products Against Decay

  R317.1 Location required.
  Protection of wood and wood based products from decay shall be provided in the following locations by the use of naturally durable wood or wood that is preservative-treated in accordance with AWPA U1 for the species, product, preservative and end use. Preservatives shall be listed in Section 4 of AWPA U1.

  Sills and sleepers on a concrete or masonry slab that is in direct contact with the ground unless separated from such slab by an impervious moisture barrier.

I'll continue to search IRC, to see if I can dig anything else up.

NOTE:

This could be a local requirement, so check with your local government.


Why do I measure voltage on a breaker that's off? My breaker #1 (115VAC) is connected to my dishwasher.  My breaker #2 (115VAC) is connected to my garbage disposal.

Why do I get 38.5VAC on the dishwasher line, even when breaker #1 is off?  When breaker #2 (Garbage Disposal) is also off, I get 0 VAC on dishwasher.  Why?

Almost certainly an induced voltage. Is this part of a Multi Wire Branch Circuit (MWBC)?  If you have black, red & white wires in the cable it's probably a MWBC. Common to have induced voltages in them.


How can I avoid dust and bubbles when installing window film? I always get some kind of flaw when applying window film. Obviously I've read the instructions, watched diy videos, and even asked for advice before. I have changed up my technique as a result but I'm still getting flaws. Here are some pictures of my progress and current methodology. I’m getting better but the final results are still far from perfect.

The workspace (a rough cut piece of particle board covered in duct tape)

Glass onto film (picture was taken the day before when I hadn’t taped the particle board yet)

Ready to start smoothing!

Done (with flaws)

You can’t see it in the pictures but there are some flaws. Flaw type 1 is just regular air bubbles that you can press down on to eliminate. Flaw type 2 is a “hard” air bubble. I assume flaw type 2 is from a spec of dust but I don’t see any dust when I get my eye really close to it. …it just looks like an air bubble. Finally, flaw type 3 is the rainbow discoloration on the film. I had assumed this would go away when I wiped the mirror down with glass cleaner but it’s still there. You can actually see this a little bit in the picture. But in real life it’s unbearable, at least to me.

I have a USB microscope which I might use to try and get a better idea of what’s going on with flaw type 2. I will probably try poking the flaw type 2 that is on this mirror with a needle to see if I can remove it that way. But if/when that doesn’t work I guess I’m just going to keep trying?

I’m really not sure what to do if the problem is dust. I realized that when I was cutting the film around the glass that the razor knife was digging into the particle board and probably bringing up some particles. So on this mirror I used scissors to avoid bringing up particles from the particle board. Also, if you’ll notice all my blocks are 4x4s wrapped in duct tape. Before I began working I thoroughly swept every surface and hit the whole area with compressed air. …of course I could be attracting dust in some way that I’m not considering. IDK. I just feel REALLY bad at this. Any words of advice encouragement?

btw, I have been looking on Amazon and they want a TON of money for this. As much as $100 for a 12x24" sheet of two way glass! Of course there are cheaper options but I don't know if they look good enough. I’m basically looking for perfection. That is, no flaws or warping or discoloration at all. You know, like a mirror.

From my days installing car film, I have two basic suggestions.

Get off the floor. You can't work down there without dust being blown into your workpiece every time you move. Get up on a table in a room without a lot of human or pet traffic, where the air remains still. Most installations are on the window in a wall anyway.
Use plenty of solution. You don't want things drying out before you have a chance to squeeze out all the air bubbles. They shouldn't be difficult to move if you have things wet enough. Using more will also tend to flush out dust. Per one comment on the product page: "1/4 tsp of tear free no conditioner added baby shampoo per 1qt of water works better than the $3.97 per bottle of Gila spray."


What is the difference between alkyd and enamel paint? I have read that when professionals build houses, they usually use "enamel" paint for thinks like cabinets and builtins that will be subjected to wear.

What are the differences between enamel and ordinary alkyd (oil-based) paints in composition and how do those differences affect the behavior of the paint?

Is applying enamel paint no different than using oil-based paints or does it require special handling?

You are falsely separating "enamel" and "alkyd", because you can have an alkyd based enamel as well as acrylic based enamel.

Alkyd paint is oil / solvent based paint. Acrylic is water based paint. Some places will not allow you to use alkyd paints any longer because the solvents are VOCs (Volatile Organic Compounds) that are classified as hazardous. Even in areas where not banned, many people who feel they are sensitive to VOCs will not want to use them either, they can out-gas for years after being applied even though you can't smell them any longer. On the other hand many people prefer alkyd based paints because they perceive them as more durable than acrylics. That may be true, but you must also consider that the difference may be 20 years vs 25 years and most people will change colors on something before paint actually wears out.

Enamel is the type of FINISH a paint has, meaning it will be glossy with a hard coat that is resistant to stains or wear and can be easily cleaned. Applying enamel paints of either type is different in that brush strokes will show more in a glossy finish, so you want high quality brushes and you should practice on scraps before doing a final finish if you have never worked with it before. Let it dry in each practice session so you can see the effects of your technique.


Which home improvement projects produce the highest return on investment when selling? I am looking to put my home on the market in the next few months (in Ohio). Which home improvement projects produce the highest return on investment when selling?

Should I invest in exotic landscaping? A modernized bathroom? Granite counter-tops?

My home is only about 9 years old to begin with.

Having sold a home last year, I can say based on recommendations from our Realtor and the feedback we got from showings...

The BEST thing you can do is to declutter your house.

First, scout out a local storage unit. Get a 10'x10' unit or bigger (we had two). You'll use lots more space than you'd think.

Then, start filling it:

Pack up all clothing you won't be wearing during the time you're selling (out of season clothes, stuff that doesn't currently fit, out of style, etc.). Even things hanging in closets; people will see all the unused space (where you removed things) and see it as much bigger when empty. If your closet is packed with stuff, it'll look tiny.
Pack up your linen closet (except for a couple extra sheets, towels, and blankets). Most people accumulate way more than they'll use. Leave an item or two on each shelf, max.
Pack up most/all knick-knacky things from counters, shelves, etc. that are in normal view around the house. Many Realtors will tell you to remove photos of your family/friends as well -- it helps potential buyers to visualize THEIR family there instead of yours.
Pack up kitchen utensils, pots, pans, etc. that you don't use often.
Pack up all the holiday decorations (from garage, basement, attic, etc.) you won't be using this spring.
Within reason, try to remove a piece of furniture from each room. Especially things like that extra lamp, chair, couch, or end table you couldn't part with and just found somewhere to keep it.

Feel free to donate or sell items instead of storing them.

Also use the occasion as a chance to get rid of any expired food from the back of your pantry shelves or fridge. If you have storage shelves in your garage or basement, getting rid of old paint cans, yard chemicals, scrap lumber, etc. is also a good idea (do NOT put them in a storage unit).

If you're still motivated to do a project or two, continue with these cheap projects that make a big impact:

Paint rooms. Tend to go for an off-white neutral color. Also, use the same color on all the walls; don't use an accent color on one wall. Bold colors or accent walls can be extremely polarizing as people either love them or hate them and typically have a hard time envisioning a room in a different color. As @Tester101 mentioned in a comment (and other answer), you may want to avoid bright white.
Get any stains out of existing carpeting.
Make sure all window blinds are in good condition. If they're bent, broken, or extremely faded then replace them.
Wash your windows (inside and out).
Repair any screens that have holes.
Remove any hard water deposits from your sinks and tubs (CLR works great for this).


How to read an asbestos report Someone help me out here. I had 3 samples taken as labeled on the results. I'm finding it difficult to decipher the report from the lap.

You took 3 samples and sent them in.  #1 and #2 contain no asbestos.  The third sample does indeed contain Chrystoile, or white asbestos.  From Wikipedia

  Chrysotile or white asbestos is the most commonly encountered form of asbestos,accounting for approximately 95% of the asbestos in the United States.

Of that layer within the third sample where it was positively detected, it is about 8% asbestos (visually estimated) and 92% non-fibrous components (difference of 100% - 8%) that the lab did not further analyze.  In the third sample, there were 3 layers and the layer containing asbestos made up 90% of that sample.


How do I feed an ethernet cable through a doorway without damaging the door or wall? My wife and I recently moved into a new apartment.  We've had it for just a few days.

When our internet company came to hook up our landline, I had them hook it into one of our bedrooms and set up my home office.

Now my wife wants to set up her home office.  She'd like an Ethernet cable connection off our internet router, but there isn't enough space for both of us in the one bedroom - so I'd like to feed the Ethernet cable into the adjoining bedroom.

Since we don't own the place, I want to feed this cable into the other room without causing permanent damage to the wall or door - if I need to keep my door open a small crack, that's fine, but if possible I'd like to keep it mostly shut sometimes.

How can I feed a connecting internet cable from the router in my office to the adjoining room so that my wife can have an Ethernet cable connection, while causing minimal permanent damage to the two doors and wall between the two rooms?

I'll try to upload a picture of the walls/doors later, but they essentially form a "Y" shape so that the two doors open out into the hallway of our apartment, with the bottom of the "Y" being the wall between them.  The walls themselves are wood, but it's fairly thick wall, and the doors are old wooden doors.  The flooring is hardwood.  I'll try and get a better picture of the framework for the door later today.

You can buy flat Ethernet cables. I'm betting you could get one under the door and still allow it to be closed.

Another option is a powerline Ethernet adapter. This is a set of modules that plug into your power outlets and allow you to transmit network signals over them. You run a patch cable from the router to a module in the same room, then plug in a second module in the room the second PC is in.

Also, if the rooms are next to each other, look around ducts, pipes that might pass through, etc. You might get lucky and find a gap big enough to fish a cable through.

Another option is to install low voltage boxes in the drywall with RJ45 jacks. Wire the jacks together, color to color, and use patch cables from the router to jack one, and from jack two to the second PC. Just leave them when you move and it will look like any other jack in the wall.

And lastly, have you considered WiFi?


Mounting heavy mirror that has a angled beveled frame I would like to hang a large heavy mirror (5' x 3) that has a bevelled frame as shown in the picture below.
The back of the mirror is made of 1/8" wood which I don't will be able to hold the weight well. The frame however is solid wood 1/2" thick which should nicely hold the weight of the mirror.
The frame edge is angled at about 35deg from the plane of the mirror.
How do I mount the such that the back is tight to the wall?
Any insight would be appreciated.

UPDATE:
As requested here is the picture of the side of the mirror and how it looks.
Is it feasible to put French cleats on this?

I would use a standard picture wire technique. Either one span for two wall anchors, or if that would show above the frame, use two shorter ones.
Purchase a frame hanging kit, which would include the screw-on eyelets, or just put screws into the frame and wire to those. You might have to experiment a bit to find out how much slack is needed in the wire.

Photo and more info from Home Depot
If you find that the frame vibrates against the wall when doors are closed, etc., a few felt pads would help.


Tolerances when installing toilet The new toilet I'm installing has a side to side rock(pre wax ring test) of between 1/16" and 1/8".  Is the wax ring sufficient to overcome this gap?  A level indicates the left side of the toilet as I face it is where the shim would need to be placed in order to stop the rocking and have the toilet remain level.

Install the wax ring pressing firmly all the way around the toilet. Use your level again. You can add wedges on one side by sliding them in gently. I would use more than one for stability. Don't slide them in too far or you will break the wax seal. Once you get them where you need them, tighten up the floor bolts. To finish, cut the excess from the wedges and caulk around the base.


How can we allow wind to pass through but prevents outsiders from seeing into I lived in an apartment. The wind feels good. However, we only feel the wind when we open the door.

We want to allow the wind to pass through but we do not want to allow others to see inside our apartment.

How do we solve this problem?

Why not hang a bi-fold louver door on the inside. You would hinge it on the opposite side of the door jamb from the existing door. Then, when you open your regular door, you slide the louvered door into the opening and use a hook latch to keep it closed.

 Links are examples only, and not an endorsement of any product or source.


Charging a battery with a solar panel I want to light a cabin.

I have the following:

75w 12V Coleman solar panel (two bare wire ends)
Large car battery from a Jeep
Even larger (boat?) battery - an Optima Yellowtop 34/78
50/10/2A 12V battery charger
100w AC/DC car inverter

My cabin will be unoccupied most of the time, so my thinking was to use the solar panel to trickle-charge the battery(-ies) over the week, and then use the batteries to power the lighting - either LED or incandescent with the inverter.

Budget is minimal so although LED lighting would be simple, we already have mains light bulbs so perhaps using the inverter is an option to avoid having to purchase LED strips.

What are my next steps to charge the battery from the solar panel? What can I use, and do I need anything else?

This isn't one of those games where the goal is to use only this bag of parts, right?

Charge the battery with the solar panel

Simply connecting a solar panel to a battery will not do what you want.  It will overcharge and wreck the battery.   You need a charge controller between panel and battery.  This is a keystone product that will make or break your build.

Good ones are hard to find. Generally the ones sold at chain/big-box retail stores are foreign dreck, often with reputable brand names slapped on them. I prefer using a low-end controller from a well-reputed company in the solar business like Morningstar.  Unfortunately many of these are specialty products, so you just have to read up on solar-power forums and places like that to see who's regarded as the best.

From there, it's a simple affair to connect solar panel to charge controller, and charge controller to battery.

A good charge controller will not need you to throw switches or change wires.

Hook up your loads

Since your goal is lighting, get 12V lights. The point is to use 12V lighting throughout, run straight off the battery.  Don't even think of running an inverter to run 120V lighting, that's just crazy.

Off-grid power is too precious to use anything but LEDs for lighting. Nothing else is efficient enough. You don't want to double your battery and solar just to run CFLs, or 7x your battery and solar to run incandescents.  That's just crazy.  No, LEDs are not ugly light (more on that). Yes, the government forcing swirly CFLs is unfair, but LED is also winning fair-and-square because it's better.

You can get 12V LED lighting in all sorts of shapes and sizes:

Kitchen lighting such as much of IKEA's
"LED strips"
automotive style 1156 bulbs
off-road/driving floodlights (often too blue)
12V "RV" screw-in bulbs (not recommended, someone will try using them on 120VAC)

Be careful with your choice of color temperature and CRI when buying LEDs.  A lot of the early or cheap LEDs had poor CRI and harsh color temperatures, and they got a bit of a reputation.  These days you can get any CRI or color temperature you want.

CRI is Color Rendering Index, or how good the light looks to humans; aim for 80 or up (out of 100).  Color temperature is how "blue" the light is. The traditional warm incandescent lighting is 2700-3000K (kelvin, weird unit, I know). 4100K is office fluorescent lights. 5100K is a cloudy day, blue-sky is 6500, and that sounds great when you're buying it, but it looks awful at night.  Try to have all your LEDs be about the same color temperature.

Other loads

Make a very serious effort to find 12V versions of anything else you want to run. These days a lot of flatscreen TVs are 12V friendly.  Boaters, RVers, tiny-house and VanLife people have good sources.

Inverting to make 120V involves a serious amount of energy loss. Even an inverter sitting idle has a fairly high power consumption.

You can't run them 24x7 or they'll destroy your battery.  In fact, don't neatly install one.  Leave it something you temporarily hook up in a tangled mess, so you'll remember to unhook it and put it away.

Don't overwork the battery

Both your batteries are lead-acid type. That particular type has a serious problem: it *really, really does not like being deep-cycled.**  Deep-cycle lead-acids, like your Optima yellowtops, do better -- but they still will be destroyed by deep cycling, just will get more cycles before they do (on the upper range of the numbers I'm about to give).

If you drain it dead, you'll get 5-30 cycles before battery death
If you drain to 50%, maybe 20-200 cycles
if only 25% DOD (using 25% of capacity) many hundreds of cycles
15% DOD thousands of cycles.

Factor this against the fact that lead-acid batteries typically fail anyway after 5-7 years. The upshot is, depending on your usage, you may need a larger battery for this system to make sense.  Or...

Other battery types

You may think "Wait, my laptop/iPad/phone doesn't have that problem!"  Correct. But before you start salvaging 18650's out of laptop batteries, lithiums have a different problem: spectacular battery fires.  To avoid that, you need to build battery packs carefully and include a protection circuit - many people are doing this for off-grid / home-power.  There are lots of instructionals out there, some not so safe.

There are more traditional battery types such as the famous NiFe "Edison battery" or its brothers NiCd or NiMH.  But you're not going to find those on the cheap.


Is an ungrounded outlet for a gas stove a safety hazard? House was built in the 50's and there is a 3 prong outlet but no ground wire. I've tested it best of my knowledge, the metal casing is not ground either.  2 black and white wires. Basically, am I going to kill myself cooking dinner one day?

Model# NX58H5600SS

Your best bet, from a safety perspective, is to provide GFCI protection to the circuit.   You then label the 3-prong outlet "GFCI Protected - No Equipment Ground".  That will bring it up to code and render it safe.

The GFCI device can be at the breaker or anywhere appropriate to protect as much of the circuit as you want to protect.


Will live power plug dropped into swimming pool kill the swimmer? Dropping a live power plug on extension cord into a swimming pool is certainly not a great idea. However I wonder if doing so would kill the swimmer in the pool? I've been searching the internet for some sound explanation, not only yes / no without reasoning.

I'm asking because I was doing some work with power tools around the pool over the weekend and the extension lead cable dropped into the pool. Not the plug, just the cable, so nothing happened. And there were no people in the pool anyway. But it got me thinking what would happened if I immersed the plug?

If it's RCD protected (known as GFCI in the US I think) I assume it would immediately trip because from Live roughly 1/2 of the current would go to Ground and 1/2 to Neutral and RCD would kick in. That should protect the swimmers, right?

However what if there was no RCD / GFCI?

I think the electrical current would again go mostly from Live to Ground + Neutral as these are only millimeters away. Some of it may ground through the concrete and plaster pool floor and walls. Also there may be some water grounding through the pump, filter, salinator, etc.

And what about the swimmer? Would he get electrocuted while swimming? He may be more conductive than the water around (blood being more salty than the pool water), that indeed plays against him. On the other hand he's not grounded as long as he keeps floating.

Does it matter if he touches the walls?
Does it matter how far from the submerged power plug he swims?

I'm not looking for an advice saying that I shouldn't immerse power plug into the pool, I know that :) This is a what if and why that question.

Water and power don't go together. Could it be lethal? The answer is yes.

A similar problem occurs at marinas and boat docks, I believe the last I read at least 5 people a year die each year in the US from stray currents causing involuntary muscle spasms leading to drowning.

Water breaks down the skin resistance and this makes us more susceptible to shock. Water is not a good conductor and distilled water is actually an insulator so while the electrons are trying to find their way back to the source, a body coming in contact with ground becomes a faster way back resulting in a severe shock and possibly electrocution. This problem in the stray currents is not usually line voltage, but a cord end in the water would be line voltage - 120v in the US, 240 on your side of the pond would be worse.

I believe your RCDs are set at 30ma with your feet on the ground this sounds safe to me, but in the water the effects can be worse because muscle spasms. On dry land the slight spasms many times remove you from the danger but in the water you can't get away and when you contact a grounded surface trying to get out the shock gets worse. In the US our GFCI devices trip at less than 6ma, all 120v outdoor outlets including ones around pools are required to be protected for this reason. Hope that helps.


Can I install laminate flooring over linoleum which is torn? I have a small hallway/entryway with cheap linoleum. (Approximately 8 ft by 3 ft.) Part of it is torn, exposing the concrete floor underneath.

I have enough laminate (simulated wood) flooring left over from finishing another room and would like to replace the linoleum. A friend says I can go right over the top of the linoleum and that the difference in height from the concrete to the linoleum wouldn't matter. Further, the linoleum is supposed to be very difficult to remove. (I haven't tried yet.)

Because it's torn, exposing concrete, I am thinking it shouldn't be that hard to remove. Am I wasting my time trying to remove it, or should I follow my friend's advice and install the laminate flooring over the top of it?

(This question is related: Should I remove old linoleum when replacing a linoleum floor?)

Either way will work. My first impression would be to try to remove the old lino, especially since there is so little of it.  If it turns out it too difficult, then simply remove all the loose lino, lay down your foam underlayment and go right over the whole mess.  Good luck.


How do I fix my trim that wasn’t sanded well Trim that was painted was not sanded well and now we have bumps on the painted trim, how do I fix this?!

I'll take a different tack and assume you're referring to the bumps where the fastener holes were patched. My fix at this point would be to make sure that the paint is thoroughly dry so that it sands well. Then take a random orbit sander and go over those areas again. If you tilt the sander just slightly so as to apply pressure on one edge of the pad  you can sand a fairly small area fairly quickly. You'll have to completely repaint, of course, including any primer coat you may have done before.


Egress Doors vs Sprinklers Good day, I am just beginning to learn about egress in detail.  For example say I have a (150 by 40 foot building, a basic warehouse) with exit doors on each end.  Once a distance of "X" is exceeded you need to add sprinklers.  If I add extra doors along the long walls "here and there", since now exits are much closer, can I eliminate a sprinklered system?  It seems more cost effective, and no sprinkler maintenance/repair work to constantly be done over time?
Thanks for any input you have.
Matthew
Thanks, good advice from you all !!! I was just trying to get a "handle" of the concept use or not use, for "basic" UBC type rules.  As mentioned, I am just jumping into the game and have no experience yet on Fire sprinkler systems, so I am gathering info so I can create a Pros and Cons checklist of "all things to consider".  As I start to learn what's what.
All info above is great!  Thank you !!!  The idea of of cost savings/consequences from choosing (yes or No) in construction costs, maintenance upkeep costs, ongoing inspection testing over time costs, etc."

I did not think about insurance costs, or if they come into play?
It's more of a gated industrial complex area (all our property), 1/2 of our buildings are sprinklered 1/2 are not.
The concept I was using to see what the financial construction differences would be, was for a basic empty building This concept was just a building to park cars and trucks in to keep them safe and out of the weather.  I figured as mentioned above 150 by 40 (Arbitrary choice) was big enough to see cost differences.  I think travel distances greatly come into play? so instead of doors just on the ends as I have seen, I am playing with the Idea to see what happens if I add 3 or four doors along each long side of the building.  Changing the exit distance from center at 75 feet to about 30 feet?  I don't know yet if this even makes a difference... still learning.
Again, thanks for your advice!
Matthew

There are three types of fire sprinkler systems: 1) Illegal and uncertified , 2) legal and certified, 3) Approved residential.

Fire sprinklers are not installed randomly. They are based on number of occupants, size of facility, etc. You can install sprinklers, but if they’re not certified (installed with certain size head, proper distance from wall, proper size pipe, etc.,) then they are just dead weight that will require larger roof joists AND will not help insurance rates, etc.

Fire Sprinkler systems properly designed provide a safe exit for tenants and can protect the building in case of an emergency. However, the hidden costs is upsizing the entire roof structure, providing a larger waterline to the building (usually a 4” minimum) and extending it back to the nearest 4” branch line, (which is usually located at a fire hydrant.) If you add future walls, then it needs to be redesigned because the walls could block sprinkler heads.

Fire Sprinkler systems are now required in all residential buildings with 3 or more units. However, that can be modified with the installation of fire walls (2 layers of drywall on both sides of the party wall). In addition, Residential Fire Sprinkler systems can be extended from nearby waterlines WITHIN the building, like kitchens, bathrooms, etc.

In addition, sprinklers are required if you don’t have openings every 50’ on two sides of the building. (Firemen like to squirt water in those openings.)
Most people don’t realize there is little to no cost savings on insurance. Whatever you save, they’ll charge you extra for water damage. Be careful.
Also, remember that Fire Sprinkler systems protect PROPERTY while additional egress doors protect LIVES.
If you want to do both, I’d suggest smoke detectors with extra alarms. They’re easy to install and easy to relocate when remodeling. They provide an EARLY warning system so both the tenants and building can be saved.


Are the gray wires in my switch boxes neutrals? I’m trying to install new smart switches (box and switch oics included) where some old timer switches are currently installed. The new switches require a neutral wire and ground. Is the bundle of gray wires in the box the neutral wires and the bare (albeit with paint or drywall on them) wire the ground? If so, since my current switches don’t use a neutral or ground, can I just unravel any of the neutral and ground strands and use them in the new switches? Thank you for any help.

The grey wires need to stay bundled together as do the copper ground wires - you can't just pull one out and use it.  In order to use these bundles, you will have to add a small length of wire (of the same type and color) to the bundles (commonly referred to as a pigtail) and attach that to your new switch.  When adding a wire to the bundle, it's best to use a new wire nut fastener, and make sure that it is rated for the number and size of conductors being bundled.

Also, with the smart switch, the "live" and "load" wire position matters, but on the old switch it does not, so you might not know which is which.  Live is the wire that is always hot and load is the wire that goes up to the light fixture.


Which cable/conduit should I use to run a new 240 volt line for an oven? I'm in the middle of a kitchen remodel and have hit a slight snag and need some advice on how to proceed. I'm moving the oven into an island, which requires moving the 240 line used for the oven.
The original plan was to relocate the current 240 line into the utility room and then run a new line from there to the oven, and splice these connections in a junction box. However this plan is not panning out as the old 240 line is aluminum, not copper, and is only 2 hots and shared ground/neutral rather then the R/B/W/G 4-wire copper that is commonly used today. Mixing aluminum and copper is not a good idea, so rather than proceed with this plan I'd like to look at alternatives.
Option 1
Run a new 240 line from the breaker box to the location needed for the island. This is what I'd like to do, but I'm unsure of the type of wire and conduit to use. Here is a picture of the back of the house, with breaker box, with the red line being an idea of where to run conduit for this wire:

My questions are, which conduit do I use; EMT or PVC (such. 80 of course)? And which wire do I use? This wire will run right in-between the floor joists when it enters the house, so individual wires probably won't work, so what insulated wire should I use? UF is the only option, right? This will be a 40 amp circuit, so I was thinking 6 gauge, just for overkill.
Option 2
Since I've already got the new copper wire ran from the basement utility room to the island location, I could just run individual THWN through conduit from the breaker box straight down and in to the utility room and then splice this in a junction box to the wire I already ran. At least in this case I'm splicing copper to copper which makes me less nervous. But the individual wires need to be in conduit inside the house as well, correct? How do I handle the area from where the wires enter the house until they hit the junction box (about 4-5 feet maybe)?
Also, here is a shot of the area where the line would come in to the utility room. You can see the new NM 6-3 wire right next to the old aluminum wire there on the right, with the outside of the house being on the left. The original plan was to just splice those two together...

So that's where I'm at. Any and all help/advice is greatly appreciated.

Of the options you are considering, I'd think option 2 makes more sense, and 4-5 feet of conduit - in most cases the conduit will just be continuous from the junction box right through the wall, no particular fuss "as it enters the house" - Come down the wall, put on an LB, drill a hole in the wall, insert conduit, connect to junction box, connect to LB; done. This might be aided by drilling at least a pilot hole from the inside out to make lining it all up easier. Also pick up some duct seal (gray putty, in the electrical aisle) to pack the wires as they leave the LB.

If the wires are entering via an existing conduit, you just need to connect a new conduit to the box that conduit terminates in, and your junction box.

EMT or PVC is six on the one hand, half a dozen the other. I use metal aboveground and PVC below, mostly.


Should I use a plastic moisture barrier underneath a new deck to help prevent rot? Our deck was 12 yrs old a lot of rot and we have torn it out.

My husband is thinking of putting a plastic moisture barrier underneath the new deck. The deck is on a slope and consists of an upper deck with a lower deck around an above-ground pool. He doesn’t think there will be pooling underneath because of the slope.

He also wants to put tar paper in between the floor joist and the deck boards and will bind it down on the floor joists.

What do you think?

I would not do the plastic vapor barrier as it will not do much to help. The area under the deck is open to the outside air and that air will dominate the moisture content of the air under the deck. In a crawlspace under a house, the air moisture can easily be dominated by the soil moisture and is one reason that a vapor barrier is used.

The tar paper over the joists and under the decking is a VERY GOOD idea and it is one of the best things that can be done to prevent decay of the joists. Use pressure treated wood of course for the joists and other framing. Wood rot likes moisture, especially standing water or nearly saturated wet conditions, and this occurs at joints such as where the wood deck boards bear on the joists and is also most exposed to the weather but not directly exposed to the air to allow it to dry out well.

You can also treat any cuts into the pressure treated wood with liquid rot prevention treatment, as decay occurs faster at the end grain, and the manufacturer applied pressure treatment is greatest on the surface and decreases towards the center of the boards (the cut is into an area with less treatment). It's been a while so I don't have a brand to recommend, however the manufacturer or supplier of the pressure treated wood can make a recommendation.


Create a constant 5 mm gap between decking and side panels I have some decking for which I've built the frame, and the main "floor" decking already but haven't done the sides for yet.  The decking goes right up to the edges of the subframe that it sits on.

For the sides, i'm going to screw some more decking boards horizontally onto the side of the sub frame.  However, I'd like there to be a 5mm gap between the decking top and the side, to allow for some expansion, and also to allow for a consistent flat surface for the boards on the side.

How i was thinking i might achieve this is by putting a 5mm plastic strip between the boards and the frame, where i'm screwing it in.  (I was thinking plastic just for ease of cutting it up into the required size) I would then glue the strips to the board, in line with where the screws would go, before putting it onto the frame and screwing it on.

Does this seem like a sensible approach?  Does anyone know of a product like this?  Or a simpler way to do it with some cheap material?

EDIT - i just thought of one solution:  buy a bag of nuts and bolts (or just nuts if they can be bought without the bolts) where the nuts are 5mm thick.  This should be cheap and easy.  Then, yuse the nuts as spacers.  Ideally i would screw through the middle of each nut, but this might be tricky to manage.

I've always just held the decking back from the skirt (which is fastened tight to framing) to create a gap, but this obviously results in an undrained channel. I can see the benefit of your plan for allowing small tree debris and other dirt to drop out.

Rip some 5mm strips of your decking material from scrap and cut them just shorter than the height of the skirt (so they don't show). Skip the glue (too slow and messy) and just tack them on at 16" intervals (or in line with your joists) with small galvanized nails. Screw on your skirt boards and be happy.

One thing to keep in mind, though: Unless you don't fasten your decking to the rim joist, expansion pushes the framing also, making your gap useless. In my experience, decking doesn't move enough to warrant such a gap. It may be nice to have it for aesthetic reasons, though. Sometimes flush butt joints are ugly.


what do these HVAC levers do? New homeowner of a 1944 house here. My AC is assaulting some of my house and is barely leaking out of the vents in other rooms. Particularly one bedroom is not getting any cooling. I took off the vent and can't feel any obstructions.

I found some strange levers on the ceiling in my basement on the ducts that come from the boiler unit and they are turned all which ways:

I tried having someone stand near various vents and turning them all which ways, but she couldn't really tell an effect for most of them. The one labeled MBR definitely controls the master bedroom and when I turn it the airflow drops out of the bedroom, but it doesn't show up in the other two bedrooms.

What direction should these levers be in? Is it "closed or not closed" or is it finer grained than that? How can I deterministically tell what these do?

Those levers control a flap inside the duct.  If the handle is parallel with the duct, it is fully open.  If it is perpendicular to the duct, it's fully closed.  And you can set it anywhere in between to fine tune the flow.

If you have an area that you never use, you can close it off to save on the utility bills.  But don't completely close it because you want some amount of air circulation so it doesn't get musty.  You can also manipulate what is fully open and what is partially open to do more work in selected areas.  As Ed Beal points out, some systems are designed around one part of the house getting more flow than another, like a 60/40 split, and that mix being seasonally adjusted.

However, the heating and cooling system is designed around exchanging heat with a certain volume of air moving through it.  If you block significant air flow so less total air than intended is moving through the air handler, the system's operation will be less than optimal.  You could even stress the equipment if you block too much.

Sometimes, the system isn't well designed, and a room far from the air handler just doesn't get a lot of air flow.  It can be helpful to add a small vent fan in that room to pull more air.  I've used a little add-on fan like this and it helped a bit:


How to change the bulbs in this hanging light fixture? There is an UN-removable circular plastic part stacked to the glass ribs that is smaller than the diameter created by the bulbs inside.  Therefore the lantern cannot slide off over the bulbs,  Nor can I reach up from underneath.

I am about to call a contractor just to change a bulb.

What kind of lantern is this? Any ideas?

How do I change the bulbs in this fixture?

Here's one possibility.  The lantern may attach between the cover (the octagonal part at the top) and the fixture (the glass bits etc.).  See this manual for a very similar if not identical fixture.

If that's the case, then either like that manual suggests there will be a couple of "decorative" nuts hidden that attach the two, or it's possible the fixture screws into the cover itself (less likely with a squareish shape, but who knows what could be under that).  If the latter is the case, we're not talking a bell jar type screw, but one where it screws maybe a half turn from an "open" position to a "closed" position.

Decorative nuts can be hard to spot, since they're intended to be hidden, but there's likely 2 or possibly 3 - so see if there's some different thing either on opposite sides or in a triangle that might be hiding nuts.  I see something that looks like it could be a nut on the left side of the picture.


Can standard receptacles be installed downstream of water-resistant GFCI receptacles? Since “WR” receptacles are required on exterior of residences, can I still install standard receptacles on the load side?

There are two different issues involved here:

GFCI electrical protection required for outdoor receptacles
WR physical protection required for outdoor receptacles

The key is that the GFCI can be provided:

Breaker - protects entire circuit
Outdoor receptacle - protecting just that receptacle
Outdoor receptacle - protecting that receptacle and any following receptacles (whether indoor or outdoor)
Indoor receptacle - protecting that receptacle and any following receptacles (whether indoor or outdoor)

What is your actual sequence of receptacles, lights or other devices from breaker on out? Even though the "sequence" is technically a "tree", very often you have one string of cables connected (via pigtails or devices) - essentially one long sequence of devices.
There is a big advantage to putting the GFCI protection indoors.  While WR will help quite a bit, nothing beats "inside a temperature controlled dry environment".
If this is a new installation (as opposed to replacement/upgrade) then try and plan your wiring so that you have an indoor receptacle prior to the first outdoor receptacle. Fit a GFCI at the last indoor receptacle and wire the outdoor receptacle from the LOAD connections. This will also work if this is a replacement/upgrade situation and there happens to be an indoor receptacle prior to the first outdoor receptacle.
If there are no indoor receptacles then you can either add one - but that would be extra work, use a GFCI breaker (not always an option, depending on the existing breaker panel) or install a WR GFCI receptacle. If you install a WR GFCI receptacle and it is the only receptacle on the circuit that needs protection (i.e., the receptacles following it are indoors and not in laundry room, garage, etc.) then you can use LOAD for the following receptacles or you can pigtail the wires going to the following receptacles to the LINE side. That doesn't provide GFCI protection, which means that a GFCI trip on the outdoor receptacle won't affect the other receptacles.
The one thing you almost always do NOT want to do is to install additional GFCI receptacles in one circuit. That costs more without providing additional protection. Either use standard on LOAD (protected) or standard pigtailed to LINE (not protected, but perfectly code compliant for many locations).


Can PEX be installed in sections? I have an older house with lots of pinhole leaks in the copper pipes.  From what I have been told, you have to replace the pipes, copper or PEX or maybe something else.  I am trying to avoid the ~$10k to do this, not that it is not worth that or that people shouldn't be paid, but it is a lot for me.
Can I replace the copper a little bit at time, maybe one bathroom, a kitchen and a hammer arrestor to stuff, etc.?  Do I have to go in full throttle with manifold and do it all at once?  I'm concerned on some of it because copper comes out of the water tank, and I don't know if I can mix things up down the line, or if I have to start at the tank with PEX, then I have the Pressure/expansion tank.

You can do it a bit at a time.
Of course, any bits that are leaking that you don't replace will continue to leak until you replace them.
You can (or could when I was shopping, it was some years back) beat the price of a manifold with a handful of Tees and Valves. Pex does not require the use of a manifold, though the idea of using individual home runs of relatively inexpensive tubing rather than branch lines  splitting up to feed various fixtures may still have merit.
Where possible, try to treat PEX as PEX, not as rigid pipe. For very tight bends where you have no other way, you might need an elbow. Anywhere you have space, just bend the tube - it's cheaper and it flows better and it's one less spot to leak. Know and respect the minimum bend radius of the tubing you use (look up the manufacturer's specifications.)
In my local area, the piping within 3 (linear pipe) feet of the water heater has to be metallic (one of the changes they make to the IPC code which they base the local code off of.) You may not have that or a similar requirement - if you do, and if your water is eating copper, you might want to use stainless steel, which seems to be easy and affordable on the internet but gets the blank stare response at the hardware store. I would not suggest using galvanized iron pipe, based on every galvanized iron water pipe I have ever disassembled.


Extend Roof for Patio Cover I have a corner patio area that I want to cover by extending the current roof. The side is 14.5' long and 9.5' wide. The slope is along the 9.5' side.

I want to extend the roof line marked with blue to match the rest of the roof on that side.

One contractor told me that it wasn't code to do it like I wanted while another said he could do it.

Is it OK to extend the roof? I am in California.

Are there any plans that show something this? I can find many that show a ledger (San Diego County Patio Cover Plans) but none that attach to the roof in a corner.

I agree with Ed Beal. But yes, there are 2 ways to do this & they're equal in strength, for what's planning to be done. However, get a Permit from the Building Dept., so they can approve or correct the design, fasteners & supporting post(s) dimensions & footings. Plus, they can record that the patio was converted to a porch.

1st way is to do ledgers on both fasciae into structural members. Typically you'd pre-build the new structure so the short rafters are end screwed or nailed through the blue-line's ledger & the long lower beam & top ledger are through the side ledger (rafter). Also, use joist hanger type connectors to ensure nothing can pull away from each other.

2nd way is really the proper way & is likely what the one contractor was talking about. You'd remove both fasciae & screw or nail directly into the structure. For the slope side this is much less important. But, the blue-line top would have the new rafters cantilevered or sistered onto the home's existing rafters. This is much more secure & even lets you re-use both fasciae.


Replace a cross brace with knee braces? I'm currently in the process of designing a watch tower and was wondering if i can replace my cross braces in my current design with simple knee braces.

Cross brace:

Knee brace:

This saves some space and looks a bit better imho. But would it give the same strength as cross braces?

Note that both braces have mortise and tenon connections.

The overal structure is about 4 meters high and 2 by 2 meter width.

Thanks for the idea's!

Yes, if...

The means by which you fasten the ends of the knee braces to your structure is adequate. It must be very rigid so no slipping or flexing can occur. There will be substantial shear and tension forces at play. Your mortises should fit snugly.
The posts in your structure are rigid enough. They'll carry a significant amount of bending force due to the longer torque arm that the shorter braces create. Just how much depends on the ratios of braced to unbraced length you go with. I probably wouldn't do less than 1:3.


Converting to a 3-way switch with a 2 wire cable I've got a light downstairs with the switch upstairs. I want to add a switch downstairs. I have access to the light's wiring and can add the switch easily there. I don't want to rip up the drywall though to put a 3-wire cable in.

Is there any way to use a single pole/2 wire switch in a 3-way setup?

This is a box I currently have access to and could wire the near-by light switch (I've got an unused one very close). I've verified that one cable goes to the light and the other to the switch.

Best way would be to use a 'smart' switch of some sort. There are many on the market. Some are wireless (radio frequency), some use signals on the powerline. These switches require hot and neutral.

The downstairs one would be wired as a normal switch and it would directly control the light. The upstairs one would just be configured to control the other switch, and the two conductors would carry hot and neutral.


How to run HVAC vent into cold room, below a supporting beam? A previous owner put a small addition on the house and the little room is not well heated.  (I have forced air HVAC.)  One wall of the small addition is shared with a larger room.  On the side of the shared wall is a sheet metal plenum 8"x8" in cross section that brings HVAC to the larger room and a foyer.  I want to open a vent from the plenum in the larger room into the small, colder room.  Here is the problem.

The plenum is right next to a supporting beam, so I need to run a path for the air around the beam.  There is no easy way to get into the crawl space above the two rooms in question.  So, I need to run the path below the beam.

My question: Do I need to build a sheet metal duct or can I just make a path for the HVAC air using plasterboard?

Thx.

If the addition that you mention has 3 side walls and a ceiling, heating and cooling this room from the same furnace as the rest of the house is nearly impossible. The 4 surfaces exposed to the weather will loose heat in the winter and gain heat in the summer at a faster rate than the rest of the house. If this is the way the addition was built, then a separate heating and cooling unit or the existing system should have been zoned to provide it's own temperature control. Adding too much air supply will cause large temperature swings in the addition. As far as giving advice on running the duct, I would have to be there to see the actual space and items you mention. And "no" I would not use plaster board for a duct. At this point, I would add it's own heat/cool system or better yet have a professional in your area give their advice.


Bird sleeping and eating soffit. How to make sure it is not coming back? I found this morning a bird (Northern Flicker?) sleeping and eating my house (see picture). The bird is able to hang there and put his head in one of the hole. I suppose the bird do that to get some warm air.

The problem is that the bird has caused significant damage. How can I make sure that bird doesn't come back?

The slightly scruffy plumage and a flash of red on the tail but not on the head makes me think it is a juvenile red-shafted flicker - do you happen to be in the west of North America? - so it may not have quite figured out what a tree is yet.

First, you'll want to repair the damage and re-paint. Take the opportunity to check for insect boreholes as that will need to be taken care of too.

Then, various sites, e.g. www.birds.cornell.edu and There is a woodpecker pecking on my house! Why is it doing that? How can I make it stop?, recommend plastic netting to cover the area in question.

Other methods are suggested, but I would think that black netting would be aesthetically the least intrusive unless you want to go to the effort of applying aluminium sheet and painting that to match.

It might be that scaring it off every time you see it would suffice to put it off returning, but you're going to have to get up there to repair the damage anyway, if only to deter carpenter bees and such.


How to anchor railings into concrete correctly Where I live the most popular way to anchor railings or fence into concrete is a method that I cannot find any reference about it on the web.
A 7mm hole is drilled into concrete and then a 8mm steel rebar without any coating is inserted into the hole with a hammer. Then the railing is welded on site with the rebar.This always works no failures.
The other less common way that is not preferred due to being hard to do and more expensive is with bolts with a flange.
Which way should I prefer for anchoring a long railing?

There are several anchoring system for attaching to concrete or brick masonry. My favorite is a screw type anchor called tapcons. You need a hammer drill and a normal drill or impact driver to sink the concrete screws. The dill bit is included in the box of screws usually. Drill and prime the hole to remove excess dust. Then sink the screws directly in the holes. It cuts the grooves into the concrete when sinking.
There are also drop in anchors, redhead brand... with the hammer drill make your hole the correct dia. for the drop in anchor. Drill deep enough so the top is just below the surface. Then you have a drive tool that will flare the anchor securely in the hole. Afterwards the anchor will accept a normal threaded screw of the proper size. Remember to use weather resistant outdoor screws.
For widow shutters drill 1/4 in holes into morter joints an use plastic insert anchors. Then attach threaded screws thru the shutter into the plastic anchor


Is softwood appropriate for furniture squares on a hardwood cabinet? I'm building some cabinets out of 3/4" plywood, and I'd like to use 2x2" (nominal) stock as furniture squares.  These squares will be on the interior only; it's not visually necessary for the interior wood to match the wood of the piece.

I'm planning on using a setup like this, except I'll be using 18 gauge brads instead.

Checking at my local lumberyard, it looks like this 2x2" stock is very pricey.

Would it be acceptable to use pine or poplar from Home Depot for these squares instead?  The prices look much more tolerable.

Anything else I should consider?

My suggestion is to dump the use of the 18 gauge brads. There is absolutely no reason to use anything bigger than 3/4" x 3/4" material for this type of internal joint block. Use flat head wood screws placed into pre-drilled countersunk clearance holes in these glue blocks. Then apply glue to the block faces where it meets the cabinet sides and install the screws.

It is OK to use any type of material you want for this type of glue block but I have found from practical experience that soft woods like pine are too prone to splitting when using as described above. Oak is great as it glues very well but poplar would be acceptable.


Is a 6 foot 5 inch ceiling height ok for a basement bathroom? When I had my house built, we had a bathroom roughed in for a future bathroom in the basement.  Where they roughed in the bathroom is right below the heat and cold air ducts, which is below a sunken living room, so at that point my ceiling would be at 6' 5".  Other places would be 7' 3" due to the support beam and 8' to the joists where the sunken living room is not.

Will a 6' 3 ceiling be ok?  I should mention that it will only be a 3' by 5' section.

The Code ( ICC R305.1 ) states that habitable rooms shall be 7’ high and bathrooms shall be a minimum of 6’-8”.

However, there are 5 Exceptions:

Exceptions:

For rooms with sloped ceilings, the required floor area of the room shall have a ceiling height of not less than 5 feet (1524 mm) and not less than 50 percent of the required floor area shall have a ceiling height of not less than 7 feet (2134 mm).
Not more than 75 percent of the floor area of a bathroom or toilet room is permitted to have a sloped ceiling less than 7 feet (2134 mm) in height, provided an area of 21 inches by 24 inches (534 mm by 610 mm) in front of toilets and lavatories has a minimum of 6 feet, 4 inches (1931 mm) in height, measured from the finished floor. An area of 24 inches by 30 inches (610 mm by 762 mm) in front of and inside a tub or shower shall have a minimum of 6 feet, 4 inches (1931 mm) in height, measured from the standing surface of the fixture.
Beams, girders, ducts or other obstructions in basements containing habitable space shall be permitted to project to within 6 feet 4 inches (1931 mm) of the finished floor.
Beams and girders spaced not less than 4 feet (1219 mm) on center may project not more than 6 inches (152 mm) below the required ceiling height.
Conversion of existing nonhabitable spaces, such as a basement or attic, to habitable space, shall provide a minimum 6 feet, 8 inches (2032 mm) ceiling height for flat ceilings or the portion required under Exception 1 of this section.


Is it a problem if a bookcase isn’t fully touching the floor? IKEA assemblers have screwed a large bookcase (180cm height x 160cm width x 40cm depth) into my wall where the top is 10mm from the wall and the base is 17mm from from wall, meaning the bookcase doesn’t sit squarely on the floor and the outer edge is lifted by around 3-4mm. Should I be worried? Should I be worried the screws in the wall or the bookcase gets damaged?

I quite commonly install shims to support the front of (brand-agnostic) bookcases so they are leaning towards the wall, not away from it. Should be trivial to get a pack of shims  (thin wooden wedges - narrow wooden shingles) and properly support the front of this bookcase as installed.


Building stairs: do I just put finished treads and risers on top of stringers? or do I use a layer of OSB first? I'm going to rebuild a 6-step stairway in my house.
Doing stringers calculations right now  - but I'm not 100% sure if I supposed to use a layer of OSB on top of stringers prior to finished treads?

Like in this video here I'm seeing that stairs have a layer of OSB.

But in this video here guy seems to install finished treads right onto stringers.

Which is correct?

OSB is used for one of two reasons in my area:

just builder's grade prepackaged stairs.  I can order a set of stairs for a couple hundred and have them installed in a basement in 2 hours by getting OSB (I never do this but could).
in a cheaply built home these could be used as is and carpeted.

I would personally never leave the OSB under the treads unless it would seriously mess something else up.  The caveat is if you are using MDF treads, might as well leave the OSB.  OSB is just crap and will certainly not take spills and moisture like a solid piece of wood.

Also I would worry that the "give" of the OSB would lead to squeaky stairs.   For instance if I left it and used MDF I would just glue down the MDF everywhere on top.  If using solid wood I would want to screw them into the risers. I wouldn't want the OSB sandwiched in the middle since I wouldn't trust this to be stable and even.


thermostat causing heating element to click on and off repeatedly I have an electric heater central air/heat system with a standard thermostat.  I have replaced the thermostat with no change (that was some time ago), so I believe it's not the thermostat causing the problem.

I put the left dial obviously on "Heat" and the right dial on either Auto or On.  For Auto it doesn't come on (fan or heat).  For On, the fan runs, but the heating element clicks on and off about every 3 seconds.

Make: Frigidaire
Model: B3BM-042K-B

Does anyone know what this problem is?  Also, is there some way I can override for now and just make the heating element turn on to warm up the house?  Thank you

-- EDIT/UPDATE #1 --

I have removed the access plate and there are 6 basic components that I can see:
 1. Two-element slide-in panel - top back.  Two large black and two large red wires coming out
 2. Single-element slide-in panel - bottom back.  One large black and red each.
 3. Contactor (?) Left front - where the thermostat wires lead into
 4. Transformer (?) Left back
 5. Circuit breakers - front center
 6. Blower motor (below everything) - 3 wires lead into it.

--- EDIT/UPDATE #2 --

OK, so on the blower motor is the diagram for everything that is NOT on the front panel, including the blower relay and the 24VAC transformer.  The diagram and the blower relay part number are shown in these photographs:

and, the relay..

I initially misread the symptoms -- if the fan is indeed running properly with the system ON, then your system is cycling on its high limits.  I'd check for air obstructions (such as bad ducts or a dirty/too-tight filter) or a sluggish fan motor.  You can also temporarily jumper the high limits for testing purposes, DO NOT LEAVE THE SYSTEM UNATTENDED when you do this, and keep an ABC or BC dry chemical extinguisher handy in case it does start to smolder.

As to the fan issue, that's an issue with the NC side of the fan relay -- it can be bypassed by setting your thermostat from "gas" or "fossil" mode to "electric" mode, where the thermostat is responsible for calling for both fan and heat instead of letting the furnace call for the fan.

If the symptoms were what I thought they were, with the fan and the heat cycling together, than they'd sound like a faulty connection at the C (0V/return) end of the air handler's blower relay -- the return from both heater contactor coils goes to the blower relay return end instead of returning directly to the C (0V) end of the transformer.  When the G (fan) line is off, the connection between the grey C wire from the heat kit connector and the rest of the grey wires is not made, causing the heat to not turn on at all as the contactor does not energize.  When the G (fan) line is on, the operation of the blower relay causes the dodgy connection to make for a short period of time before it comes undone again, and this cycle repeats itself as long as the blower relay is on.

The "click" you are hearing is most likely the contactor itself, and that's normal -- the short cycling is the problem.  And yes, you can safely jump R to W and/or G on your unit -- that won't hurt it, as that's what the thermostat's contacts do anyway.  As to troubleshooting the problem, I'd try measuring the voltage between the grey wire coming from the heat kit connector on your unit and the grey wire at the 24VAC transformer.  It should be very close to 0V at all times; if it reads near 24VAC, then the connection at the blower relay isn't working.

P.S. your air handler is really a Nordyne -- a wiring diagram for a similar unit can be found here.


How to fix smashed wires in washing machine? I believe the motor capacitor with its bracket fell down and pinched two wires going to the motor. I spliced them back with two blue wire nuts. The motor works again.

However, this made me thinking, can I leave this as permanent solution or is there disaster going to happen if wire nuts come off (there were 2 14 or 16 awg wires that were rejoined)? Should I get Wago connectors instead? Solder? Crimp? Or change the whole harness? What's the best practice?

The wire nuts will be fine. I do not like push in wago connectors but love lever locks. In high vibration equipment sometimes I will lock the wire nuts with some electrical tape but if properly installed with 2 twists of the wire I have not had them come loose , I just like the idea that the tape water proofs the connection.


Wall outlet trips circuit breaker This is a normal 15A 125V wall outlet in my dining room. It consists of 2 black hot wires, 2 white neutral wires, and a bare copper ground wire. Here is the problem. If I wire all 4 wires to the 4 side screws on the receptacle, the circuit breaker for this section trips. If I just wire one hot and one neutral to either the top or bottom, there is no problem. The ground wire is always connected. What is the problem here and how can i fix it? Thanks.

There are three typical reasons to have two black/white/ground cables going into an ordinary duplex receptacle:

1 - Separate circuit for top and bottom to get more power - i.e., 15A on each outlet instead of 15A for the pair together. In this situation the receptacle would have the tabs broken off, cables supplying power coming from two different circuits, possibly sharing a neutral as a multi-wire branch circuit (MWBC) or possibly just two entirely separate circuits. Connecting both cables to a new outlet with the tabs in place would trip the breaker as described. However, the pictures you posted of the old receptacle clearly shows the tab (at least one side) intact.

2 - One outlet on a switch and one "always on". This is often done to have a light plugged in and controlled with a switch while still having some power always on for other devices. In this case typically, but not always, the power would all come from one circuit. The tabs would be broken off. The result, if you connected a new duplex outlet without breaking off the tabs would typically be that both outlets would be always on and the switch would be ineffective - but the breaker would not trip. There is also a possibility that a switch loop could be messed up here, causing part of the problem.

3 - One cable "in" and one cable "out". This is very common. You have a chain of receptacles, each with two cables, except for the last one. If that's the case, the preferred method (as I have learned recently) is to pigtail and only use one pair of screws on the receptacle, but using both one set of screws for each cable, with the tabs in place, would work just fine. But that would not explain the breaker tripping, and you would also have other receptacles or lights or something not working any more.

Take a look at the old outlet and the new outlet. The new outlet has a connection tab on each side between each pair of screws. If the same tab on the old outlet was broken off then the old outlet was fed either by two separate circuits or one receptacle was switched. If that is the case then you can either use one set of wires and cap (wire nut) off the other set of wires, or you can break off the tabs from the new outlet and wire one pair to the top and one to the bottom.

However, if this is the situation then:

If there were two circuits then you should have TWO breakers that need to be turned off to get both circuits turned off, not one. If you really only needed to turn one off then there is something else going on. If you really needed to turn off two breakers and didn't realize it, then you are very lucky.
The wires should be in clear pairs. (I believe you have confirmed that with the later pictures). If it is not 100% clear which white goes with which black then STOP. If the two circuits are a multi-wire branch circuit then the neutrals are shared and it doesn't matter. But if they are two totally separate circuits then this matters a lot as the neutral and hot have to match.

After all of that, I am a bit baffled. A tester to check voltage would really be helpful here. There could be hot/neutral swapped somewhere along the line (dangerous, but would explain the problem) or something else.

Also, as Harper noted, the backstabs are a very bad thing. I don't think they are the problem here (except perhaps why the original outlet went bad) but they are frequently a source of problems. But with my understanding of the nature of the backstab problems, that wouldn't explain the problem you are having with the two cables tripping. In any case, do NOT use backstabs on any new receptacles, and if you disconnect any backstab wires, reconnect them only to the screw terminals.

The key thing now is to figure out whether both cables are hot or not. If they are both hot then you should only be using one with tabs in place. If only one is hot then you need to figure out where the other one goes to check for problems at the other end.


Home-made joint for a top window I have some sort of artisanal, metal, top oriented, window that essentially serves as a light well (but the room is almost completey dark, the main door is covered by a curtain because my girl friend don't like the fact she can be seen from people outside, even if the door isn't connected directly to a street).

This window, which occasionaly leaks water when it rains a lot, is just plainly put down on this metal architecture, which is rusted despite its paint.

Apparently, before we moved in the apartment something like 8 months ago, somebody seems to have removed the joint, which would been quite big or flexible.

What kind of joint do I have to buy, or is there some way I could craft one (I know I can't possibly craft one, but I can still do something now before I buy it).

Here is the window:

If you're refering to the sort of caulk-like stuff that runs along the edge of the glass, it's called 'window glazing putty', sometimes 'window glazing compound'.

You can find sites online that cover how to re-glaze a window; you may want to remove the glazing from the rest of the window so you can get a clean edge all the way around, and a matching color:

http://www.hereandthere.org/oldhouse/windows-glazing-steps.html (has pictures)
http://www.naturalhandyman.com/iip/infwindows/infgla.html (also covers removing old glazing)


Bathroom light switch inoperative, but fan swith okay My light switch in the bathroom just stopped working, but the switch right next to it for the vent is okay. The light switch turns on an array of six bulbs and I checked them and they seem fine. All other electrical switches in the house work. I opened up and looked in the housing and nothing seems out of he ordinary. Any ideas what could be going on?

Old style standard switches have two screws on the right side, visible if you remove the cover plate. You don't have to remove or even loosen the switch. When the switch is OFF only one screw is hot, but when the switch is ON both are hot. If you have a voltmeter you can check for 120 V at each screw relative to a ground. If you don't have a receptacle nearby, you can get a ground by plugging an extension cord into a convenient receptacle and then using the ground in the plug end. If the switch is not making contact internally when it is turned ON, then there would be 120 V to ground (or neutral) only on one screw.

If you have a 3-way switch or one of the new powered switches, it's more complicated.


Can I use a clamp meter to identify wires running to overhead fan? I have this mess of wires in a junction box of a stucco house (built 30 years ago).  Couple of these are going to the overhead fan in the room.  Will a simple clamp meter help me identify the relevant wires?

If by "clamp meter" you mean a non-contact AC Ammeter, and if the circuit can be loaded enough to trigger the reading.  Yes, you should be able to isolate the circuit using such a meter.  (Keep in mind that this type of meter only registers AC current so you must have current flowing for it to read.)

On a related note, however, that box looks to be severely overloaded.  You may want to consider upgrading it as this may be unsafe.


why using self-tapping screws? I am just wondering what the advantage of self-tapping screws would be as compared to normal screws. Does it fasten more strongly? I know, with most self-tapping screws, pre-drilling can be skipped. Is this the only advantage? Or, is there any other advantage?

Not having to pre-drill is the benefit, and that's actually a huge benefit in terms of time and labor.

If you're pre-drilling anyways, then there's no real benefit.


Digital TV pixelation of picture at Manchester using Winter Hill I believe our closest transmitter is Winter Hill. Lately, our digital TV has been playing with severe pixelation and sound cracking up. Now, our so called "qualified" electrician fitted the socket plate for us. Looks like the type you see on the back of the TV. It's as loose as anything. What should I replace it with?

Also if this doesn't fix it what can I do before we call the engineer? Our LG smart TV is saying the strength of the signal is 80% but the quality is 0% most of the time, but it fluctuates.

I moved the LED TV to the other room which doesn't use a face plate. It's a direct connection from the aerial. This works absolutely fine. It appears this particular engineer knows what he's doing which is good. The signal quality status according to the tv is also MILES better. It has a strength meter built into one of the menus.

I can only assume The issue is with the faceplate. It's the connection on the faceplate that's loose and always has been loose from day one. The faceplate is fixed onto the wall properly. I hear F connectors are better for digital TV.  Would the following be better?
http://www.toolstation.com/shop/Electrical/TV+Satellite/Screened+Socket+Single+Ftype/d190/sd3084/p70967

Digital TV, unlike analog, tends to be all-or-nothing. If you've got strong enough signal you get perfect rendering; if you don't you get the kinds of symptoms you've described and the only fix is to get stronger signal (better antenna, possibly an external RF booster amp, switch to a set that has better amps internally, or give up on over-the-air).