Finish a wall with uneven stud surfaces I'm remodeling my bathroom.  It was originally plaster so the stud work wasn't exactly spot on.

I installed a new tub and plan on tiling so I had to get the walls squared.  I married 2x4's next to the existing studs and the picture shows the difference.

The new stud behind the behind the concrete board is the new surface level.  The stud next to it is loose fit to highlight the difference to the rest of the wall to the right.

The new wall surface is almost 2in forward at the top and is almost flush at the bottom.

I have no idea how to finish the wall here.  Do I need to marry more squaring studs and shims all the way across the wall?  Is that going to make the window frame there look goofy set in new wall surface?

If it were my bathroom I would finish the wall with framing the way you have started. I perhaps would rip the 2X so it is tapered so I would not use so much wood. After that is done and drywall is up I would remove the 1/4 round at the window jamb and replace it with a jamb extension that would meet the face of the new wall. I would also "tweak" the dimensions of the jamb extensions so the taper is not as drastic and let the differences form the wall face get hidden by the trim.

In my opinion, it is much less noticeable to put the difference in the tweaked window jamb than have it where it is now.


Why are many shower hoses "explosion proof"? I noticed that many shower hoses are advertised as "explosion proof". Since I have never seen a shower head with a tap on it, I'd think the hose has to withstand only a fraction of the pressure that the regular plumbing would be required to withstand. Off course it has to be allot more flexible, but "explosion proof" seems to me quite an exaggeration.

Even if a shower head clogs up to the extent that the pipe would burst, it would not be called an explosion would it? My guess is that this is a marketing thing that has been copied by different brands and merely means that the pipe will not bust in the way a balloon would.

Is there any rational reason or circumstance where one should prefer an "explosion proof" hose instead of one that has no mention on the package of being "explosion proof"?

I suspect you're seeing the result of poorly-translated product descriptions from China and elsewhere. For example:

  Advantages: Withdrawing life greatly improved. Should not damage the leaking. The inner tube using the nylon braided package EPDM more resistant wound.

Honory99 1.5m Pull-type Copper Core Explosion-proof Shower Hose

This product would probably be called "burst-resistant" or something similar if described by a native English speaker.

ALL YOUR BASE ARE BELONG TO US!


How can I plug the gap between a dishwasher and kitchen skirting board? So we have a mouse problem, and our landlords are pretty worthless when it comes to solving it. They're coming from underneath our kitchen units, which are all raised about six inches, with wooden skirting board in front of them. I've closed two small (2x2 inches, ish) gaps with thick cardboard and white threaded tape, but I'm unable to do the same with the dishwasher since the door needs to be able to open. Currently, we're shoving a towel in there whenever the dishwasher is closed, and removing it whenever we need to open it. It's inconvenient. Is there a better solution? Something that would fill the hole, but stretch, expand, or unfold when the dishwasher is opened?

It's not the interior holes you need to deal with...it's the external ones. They're getting in the house somewhere/somehow and that's what you need to block.

The simplest way to do that is find the holes, and stuff them with stainless steel wool. The rodents will not want to chew through that.

Plugging the interior holes/gaps won't do much. They'll just eventually chew a new hole elsewhere.


How do I patch this hole in my vinyl window frame? Not sure what the previous homeowner was thinking when he drilled this hole, but what would be the best material to patch it with?

As you can see in the picture, it's a purely aesthetic fix but I'm remodeling the room and I'm obsessed with details like this.

You could try vinyl plugs that can be found in hardware/home improvement stores. The plugs come in various diameters. If there isn't one for the hole's size, you may have to drill it larger to the size of the plug so that it will fit.

Also found this kit, may be this will be an alternative option.


Name of this two pronged female DC power supply plug (looks like a pair of rectangular glasses) Here's a YouTube video showing the plug. I'm referring to the plug that goes into the device, of course. Not the normal AC plug on the power supply unit itself.

I'm considering buying a device that uses an AC/DC power supply (the device in the video, in fact). However, the plug at the end of the power supply's cord is a little unusual and if something happens to the supply, I don't want it to render the device useless.

So I'm looking for either the possibility of buying a similar power supply, or an adapter which I could connect to a regular supply. But I don't know what this plug is called so I can't even search for it.

I found a few listings for this plug that refer to this plug as a "Waeco Fridge Adapter".  It looks like the plug is used for 12vdc fridge and other thermoelectric cooling devices.  I'm not going to post a link because most of them are eBay listings that will expire soon, but that name should help you a lot.

I found this link on Amazon that might last a little longer, but it doesn't give a technical name for it either.

Looks like a good generic search term is "polarized 2 pin 12V DC plug for electric cooler boxes".


Insulate the frame of a door to stop odor outside while closed This is an old wooden door and I am trying to keep the smell outside of it, I share the house with other people who fry very often.

I am thinking to get some foam strips for the frame and something to cover the bottom. This is the part I am more concerned about, I looked on the web but most hints I found are just to stop the cold outside.

Suggestions?

Stopping the cold from coming in is a matter of stopping outside air from getting in.  Stopping air flow will also prevent odors from coming in, so most of the guides you see for "weatherproofing" will apply to odor reduction.

Note that a strong odor is much more noticeable than a little bit of cold air, so when following the guides, be as precise and thorough as possible to stop as much air as you can.


What dual function CAFCI+GFCI breaker fits an older Murray Breaker Box? I have a LC240PC Murray breaker box (probably around year 1995).
I found what I believe is the breaker I'm looking for here:
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Murray-20-Amp-AFCI-GFCI-Dual-Function-Circuit-Breaker-MP120DFP/205488021
But that one is discontinued and it says the replacement is this:
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Siemens-20-Amp-1-Pole-Dual-Function-CAFCI-GFCI-Plug-On-Neutral-Circuit-Breaker-Q120DFNP/312276201
However, the correct one (first link) has a pigtail to plug into the neutral bar, and the replacement one (second link) does not (it says it is for "Plug On load centers".  I believe that my box is not the Plug-On style, so I would need the pigtail.
Is there a different replacement breaker (Dual function CAFCI+GFCI)that is still an active product that has the pigtail?

PON (Plug On Neutral) panels are a relatively new development. Given the date of your panel there's virtually no chance its a PON panel. You'll need to find a breaker with a pigtail.


How do I secure a toilet bowl to a tile floor? The bathroom in my house was redone right before I moved in. After moving in, I noticed the toilet is loose. It seems to only stay in place due to it's sheer weight, and it has quite a lot of jostle whenever it's sat on. The floor in the bathroom is ceramic tile.

How can I safely secure the toilet to the floor without risking ruining the title? Also, are there any plumbing issues to be corncerned about?

If tightening the bolts on the toilet doesn't work, you may have a cracked flange underneath the toilet. You don't mention how much it moves but if it's a lot, I would recommend pulling up the toilet (make sure to plug the sewer hole with a towel!) and making sure everything still looks okay underneath, including the flange and wax seal. A badly rocking toilet can lead to a leaky wax seal. If nothing is broken try to determine if the floor is just sloped or something that can be fixed with a shim or something to level out the floor.

If the toilet isn't moving that much, you can slide a metal or plastic shim underneath from the outside.

Just be aware that a lot of plumbers consider a rocking toilet to be a precursor to a leaking toilet so if it's been rocking for awhile you might want to take a look underneath just to be safe.


How can I prevent mineral build-up from my water? I'm not sure whether my house receives really hard water, or water that has a lot of junk or sediment in it, but I am constantly having to soak my faucet spreaders and shower heads.  Recently, I noticed that a number of the jets in my dishwasher are clogged with some build-up as well.

How can I prevent these minerals from entering my house in the first place?  Do I need to put a water filter, or water softener, or both, on the outside of my house?  If so, how would I do so?

Sounds like classic symptoms of hard water. Others:

Spotty dishes, clothes that don't seem to get clean without using a lot of detergent.
Soap doesn't get very "sudsy" when you get it wet.
Soap scum on your bathtub.
Buildup of mineral-like crust on shower-heads.
Water softener heating element failure.

You are very likely going to need a water softener to solve the problem.

Diagnosing:
Most hardware stores sell kits to test your water hardness that are very easy to DIY. Some stores that sell water softeners even have free test strips next to the water softener display.

Also, if you are not put off by a big sales pitch. Companies like Culligan will generally do a free water evaluation for you so they have an in to sell you their products/services.


Mortise lock conversion from key to privacy? I just bought a house from the 1920s and all the interior doors are mortise locks with skeleton keys. I would like to change some from key to privacy with a thumbturn.  Is there a way to simply convert or do I have to replace the mortise lock to a privacy lock first?  My doors do not have backplates/trim plates and the wife doesn't want to add them to the door, but through my research it doesn't look like I can just buy a thumbturn and insert it. Just want to make sure I'm not missing other options. TIA!

I've done that for a bathroom recently. I replaced the locks of several doors entirely with this lock (fit like a charm). For the thumbturn, I purchased this plate and thumbturn kit. It required a bit of 'macgyvering' but it turned out well.

I had to combine the thumbturn provided in that kit with the key provided by the lock. The thumbturn provides a handle, a square 'arm' with a hole in it, and a pin which connects the thumbturn and the 'arm'. Luckily the shaft of the key fits in the hole of the thumbturn; by cutting off the handle of the key (to appropriate length) and drilling a hole in the shaft you essentially swap the 'arm' provided with a functioning key. Photo illustrates the result:

The pin portion of this thumbturn contraption is hidden behind the plate provided with the thumb turn. Result works and looks great.


Condensor went, HVAC guy is blaming electrician, is this possible? My brand new HVAC unit, the condensor died.  The unit has a sticker that says the following:

  Minimum Circuit Ampacity 32 amps
  Max Fuse / Breaker 50

The electrician ran a 8 gauge wire with a 40 amp breaker to the ac.  The HVAC guy is telling me it should have been a 50 amp circuit with a 6 gauge wire.

The HVAC guy has replaced the condensor, the electrician has replaced the 40 amp breaker with a 50 amp, but did not run a 6 gauge line.

The HVAC guy wants $750 for his work on replacing the condensor on the brand new unit he installed.

So I guess my questions are:

Is this even possible for the condensor to burn out due to the lack of electric to it?
Was the electrician clearly at fault, or should the unit have worked on a 40AMP breaker?
Is the HVAC guy at any fault for not checking the electrical runs before installing the unit?
Is the run of 50amp breaker on a 8 gauge wire safe/sufficient/proper?

I'm in the middle of a finger pointing game and I am the one get stuck with the bills here. Thanks for any help!

Per the National Electric Code (assuming you are in the US), #8 is for up to 40A, the Minimum Circuit Ampacity (MCA) was 32A, so there was no issue with the wire size he initially selected. The MCA rating is based on the 125% factors already, so you do NOT need to do them again if you already have that number available to you on the nameplate.

Bottom line, the HVAC guy is just trying to dodge responsibility for a defective product.

Also, a "buzzing" sound would not be coming from the breaker unless it was loose. That sound was likely the result of a failed starting capacitor.


How should I connect a grounding wire from a device to this box? I'm replacing this simple 2-connector light switch with a 4-wire dimmer. The 2 new wires present on the dimmer are neutral and ground, and only neutral has an obvious home. The box has no visible ground wires. Can I safely ground the dimmer to a box screw or leave the dimmer ground wire disconnected?

That wiring is AC cable, modern AC cable. I can clearly see the bonding strip that makes the sheathing a grounding conductor. So since a grounding means exists you must use it.

With switches, simply screwing them to a grounded metallic box grounds them, as opposed to a receptacle which would need to be a self-grounding type. So technically, just installing the switch would be adequate, but since there is a ground wire from the dimmer I would connect it to the box.


Hot to ground is 120v but hot to neutral is 90v See Diagram

I have a switch that controls a light as seen in this diagram. There is no neutral at the switch, instead, it picks that up from somewhere else. In the light receptacle it pigtails into the light and continues to the garage.

I measure 120v between the source hot and ground, and 120v when the switch is on between the hot lead and ground. In the light box, with the light disconnected I get 19v from neutral to ground. with or without the light, I get 90v between the hot to neutral.

In the garage, the outlets read out 120v and everything connected to them seem fine (work).

What is the right way to diagnose this? Any ideas why I'd be getting 20v in the neutral?

Basically the neutral has current trying to return back the the transformer and is dropping voltage due to how a neutral is simply a series circuit.

When the source hot passes thru the light (as a parallel circuit), it continues out the neutral without dropping voltage.

The problem with this circuit is the neutral and hot do not originate in the same junction box and is very confusing not only DIY's but also electricians, not to mention a Code violation.


Splicing wall plates at doors and windows? 2x6 construction, exterior load bearing walls.

Recently started trying to splice long walls with the end stud landing half on first wall plate and half on second wall plate so the stud joining the two plates has 3/4" bearing on each end. I end nail the one wall with the stud then stand the second wall, tap it into the splicing stud, and toenail that one.

Now say a 16' wall plate ends roughly center of a window or door that will have a header, and cripples/jacks if it's a window. Is this kosher? How do you join the top plate if it's it a door and bottom plate if it's a window? I can't see standing the wall with half the header sticking out flopping in the breeze (it won't flop but it will only be supported by the one side of the king stud and trimmer) this seems like a bad idea.

Is there an efficient way to frame where you stop a wall plate before the window or door? I don't see a way around the other system here where you double down on your studs and nail those two studs together to splice the wall and maintain full strength but narrow up the stud cavity space.

You mentioned the obvious solution in your question. Just build the wall in different segment lengths to avoid windows and doors.

Another option is to simply set the head er after the two wall segments are stood up.

Don't overthink it. Just do what seems convenient at the time. All the pieces end up in the same places anyway.


air conditioner venting pipe functionality Today I found the venting pipe of air conditioner pump out hot air out of my house. I wonder if it will cause energy leak. If it's hot air, is it better to pump it inside my house?

No, it is not better to pump the hot air into your house. The vent is outside for a reason and by-code because it will also expel condensate (ie water vapor condenses out of the air when the pump compresses air.)

If you are worried at all about 'energy leaks' then ensure the drain pipe has an escutcheon and it seals tightly to the exterior wall so that drafts/cooling loss don't run up your power bill.  You can use a paintable, water-tight, exterior caulk to seal the escutcheon to the wall, if necessary.


When replacing carpet, can you re-use the tackless strips? I need to replace some carpet. Thee carpet was installed over a concrete slab, so the tackless strips were fastened down with concrete nails. The tackless strips seem to be in decent enough condition. Do I have to replace them? This would be more of a hassle then it would be if I was dealing with a wood subfloor due to the necessity of sinking new nails into a 40 year-old slab.

Certainly, if they're in "decent enough condition". Which means they aren't showing any signs of mold and are still well fastened. And that the 'tacks' will still grab the new carpet properly (I've never seen any so mangled that this was a problem).

Personal advice: whatever reason you took the old carpet out, will be the same reason you'll have to again. -You like oak, Jimmy? I'm a tile guy myself...


Hot Water Pipes in Multistory House The short version of this question is how can I reduce or eliminate the noise my plumbing makes when I run hot water in the two bathrooms on the 2nd floor?

Background: 20 year old two story house with basement. Water supply and heater (along with a inline whole house filter) are in the basement. Original plumbing is copper, some new add-ons in the basement (a 1/2 bath, wet bar, and laundry) are plumbed with blue and red plastic tubes, I think this is called PEX.

When I turn on any sink or bath to hot - I hear the pipes expanding... quietly at first (tick tick tick, tock!) then louder (tang, tang, tang, BANG) until the water is running at supply temp.

On a side note - after our offer to purchase was accepted and paperwork was put through the bank, the sellers (nice honest folks, downsizing their empty nest) had to have a plumber come in and fix a leak in the wet wall that goes to the second floor. Assumptions are - if it continues to bang like this, I'll have another leak... some day.

None of the plumbing is accessible in the wet wall or second floor without destroying drywall walls and ceilings in the first floor... what options do I have?

When installing PEX, there are clamps that are supposed to be used to attach it to framing. There are also gaskets for when the PEX passes through openings and such. These are nothing special other than made out of a smooth plastic to allow the expanding/contracting PEX to more smoothly slide.

Sounds like these weren't used, or a few are too tight, or maybe the PEX is just rubbing a little bit next to a structural element.

Is it something to worry about? Probably not.


Repair the overflow drain under a Corian sink where the tube and box has come unglued My bathroom has a Corian sink that uses a tube for the overflow drain.   Unlike most overflow drains, this one is not molded into the sink itself.  The sink is 20 years old.   The box at the end of the tube appears to have been glued onto the under side of the sink, but now the glue is old and it has come off.

Should I remove the glue from the old box, or buy a new box?   I can remove the box from the tube, it is just held there with friction and some ridges.   Do they sell the boxes?   If not, how should I remove the old glue?

When re-attaching it, what adhesive should I use?   I'm thinking of using clear silicone.  Is that a good choice?

I ended up using a utility knife to cut off the old glue then I washed the part.   I also cleaned the underside of the sink and sanded old glue off.  It turned out pretty well:

I used clear silicone (applied with a caulking gun) as the adhesive:

Because the silicone doesn't adhere very strongly, I followed the advice to find a way to put pressure on it.   I cut a wedge that can go between the overflow and the cabinet:

This overflow drain is in the front of my sink, although I have another similar sink where the overflow is in the back.   In this case because the overflow is in the front, I figured out how to remove the front panel of the cabinet to make access easier.   Here it is installed with the silicone and the wedge:

I used a screw from the outside of the cabinet to hold the wedge in place.   The front of the cabinet ends up covering up the screw, so it isn't even visible once everything is back together.

I then added some more silicone around the outside, connected the tube, and put the front of the cabinet back.

So far it is working for minor overflow problems.   I can splash water down there.

I tried filling up the sink up above the overflow and it isn't perfect in that case.     The overflow drain doesn't take water as fast as the faucet can put it in the sink, so eventually the sink will overflow.    I didn't glue the top of the overflow because it looks like it isn't meant to be glued there.  Because the water level can get high, that means that water eventually comes out the top of the overflow into the inside of the cabinet.

I think I have repaired this the best that I can, but it appears to be a very poorly designed overflow system.


How do I repair this broken pipe? We just bought a house and while digging in the yard using a pick axe, I broke a pipe. Per my research, I need to put a joint there. The broken part is right next to the joint, so not sure how can I fix this.

The pipe probably takes the rainwater. Since its summer I think I'm ok for a couple of months.

Looks like a piece of drain tile, hopefully not a sewer line!  What you will need to do is uncover a couple of feet of the line.  Cut the pipe back beyond the coupling, then put in a coupling, a short length of pipe to a second coupling.  So you will have two couplings with a short piece of pipe between them.


What size grounding wire for a main lug? I am replacing an undersized 35 amp main lug, so the panel, conductors and breaker in the main panel are all being replaced.

The new panel will be 125 amp rated, the new conductors will be #3 THHN, with an ampacity rating of 115, which will be protected by a 100 amp 2 pole breaker in the main panel.

What size does the grounding conductor leading back to the main panel need to be?

This calculator seems to indicate I need a #8 copper conductor, but I'm not sure this is the correct table for me to use.

This project must be done to code for Arapahoe county Colorado (2017 NEC)

It actually depends on whether the ground is going to be installed ahead of the main breaker or if it is installed after the main. Most of the contractors I know will install a #6 simply because it is less expensive to stock one size than two and it covers everything up to a 200A main. So I would go with a #6. 2014 NEC reference Tables 250.102(C)(1) and Table 250.122.

Use extreme caution when working around panelboards. I recommend DIYers make sure the panel is disconnected from all power sources before performing any work.

Hope this helps.


How can I send a signal to a home server when the doorbell is pressed? I want to attach a device that can send a signal over wireless to my server when the door bell is pressed. I'm assuming the device would tap into the wiring for the door bell, so that when pressed, the voltage triggers the relay on the wifi device to send the signal. Does anyone know of a device that can do this or lead me to a guide on how to create such a thing?

This is the start of my home automation project. I have looked at many "off-the-shelf" products and there has yet to be anything that can be a complete system with the devices I have or want to buy. A lot of it is "you need to buy this for that to work".

Doorbells generally run on 16-20 volts AC power.
You can detect events using a microcontroller as seen here:

https://electronics.stackexchange.com/questions/96136/how-to-sense-24v-ac-thermostat-with-a-5v-microcontroller

Some computers (Intel Edison, Raspberry Pi) both run linux and have GPIO inputs; otherwise you'll have to rig up a microcontroller and attach it to a home automation pc.


led dimmer lamp retrofit I'd like to retrofit an existing lamp with a dimmer dial built in to support dimmable LEDS. It does not seem like I can easily remove the dimmer or, even if I could, find an LED dimmer that will fit the same location.

It seems like there must exist a small electronic device that can be added to the dimmer circuit such that the LED dimmer can be controlled directly from the old potentiometer. I'm lacking the vocabulary to find what I'm looking for on the internet. Can I connect an LED dimmer driver to the old dimmer? What else is there to look out for?

Dimmers of the type that go inside lamps (are we talking a halogen torchiere here?) are commodity components, and generally do not take a neutral.

One option is to go with low voltage (12-24V) LEDs e.g. LED strips, and use the technology used to dim those -- PWM.  You may be able to find a PWM dimmer with a rheostat input, and  relocate the rheostat (or one of equivalent value) to the standard location.  This kind of hacking and experimentation is much more appropriate with low voltage lighting, where the risk of electrical shock is off the table.


Can I cover receptacles with solid metal cover without removing receptacle? I have a few outlets that I don't want to be used by my kids. They are teens and the baby proof solutions will not work. I really don't want them to use it, not by accident, not because they forgot, or were lazy or any other reason!

I know I can remove the receptacles, cap the wires and put a solid cover over it. But I don't want to do that as someone might eventually need them.

So can I cover them without removing receptacles? I see it as no different than putting plastic baby proof plugs, only more teen proof. But want to make sure I don't miss something obvious (except better parenting skills) and do not inadvertently violate some electric code.

Thanks

Locking Receptacle Cover
Use something like this locking cover:

It has a hole for a padlock. Lock it when you're away. Unlock when you need it.
This particular one (and many others) specifically weatherproof for outdoor use since that is a common application - prevent your neighbor from using your electricity - but it will work fine indoors too.
This is also an in-use cover. So you could have a device plugged in even while this is locked. For example, you could have an appliance that should stay plugged in while keeping the other receptacle of the duplex from being used.


What type of window is this? I have a window in my bedroom that moves up and down with a sort of helical rail.
Its become stuck and in doing a web search on how to get it moving I realized I have no idea what its called.
What type of window is this?

Your window type is "double hung" the corkscrew type rod is part of the mechanism called the ballast.
This link will show info on replacement part info.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bwtn4o80S-w


How to figure out router bit radius I want to match the existing radius on my stairs trim, but I'm unsure what size rounding over bit I need to get. I measured the arc of the radius the best I could with a flexible tape measure and it's about 9/16". I did the math and that equates to a 0.6" radius, which is close to 5/8". Perhaps I'm not measuring correctly. Is there a common radius for 3/4" board?

First, setup a lamp shinning on the rounded edge.

Get two rulers, place one perpendicular the vertical side of the stair and the other perpendicular the horizontal side.  Then line rulers up flush to each other, say at the 4” mark, you should be able to get a measurement of where the gap starts (from both directions).  That’s the radius!

The idea is you are making a small carpenters square (image below), so you see the radius of the circle.  The light shinning from behind should make it easier to see where the gap between a ruler and the stair starts.


Securely attaching a 4-ft 4"x4" lumber to concrete? How can I attach/bolt a 4 ft treated 4x4 to concrete so it stands up securely?

If a picture is worth a thousand words
Here is a 4K word answer


How can I get eave rafters cut flush? This may seem like a silly question, but I removed two old facia boards.  The beams butted against them are all uneven.  I've tried an orbital sander but can't seem to get it to sand evenly to flush.  The one in the photo I had to cut because of rot.  It's particularly bad as I had to cut it with a sawsall.

Any advice or suggestions would be awesome!  I'm new to working with wood.

There are many ways to do this and which of them to choose depends on many things including what tools are available and the skill of the person using the tools.

Back when I was a carpenter I would choose to use a reciprocating saw but this takes a decent level of skill to use to both get a good cut and also not hurt yourself. Upside, will cut through nails.

Alternately, you could use a good pull saw and do it by hand. This is more effort and slower, but the slowness will work in your favor because it will allow you to focus more on the cut than the tool. Downside, any nails will ruin the saw.


Gas Regulator Replacement We had our gas company come and  or utility room for gas leaks and recommended that I have the gas regulator replaced. I matched up the numbers and ordered it and would like to replace it. Is there anything I should consider before doing it? The unit is a Maxitrol 325-3 and the replacement is a Maxitrol 325-3L

Just use usual common sense, you know the properties of natural gas.
Always use 2 tools when loosening or tightening fittings or connections.
Do not re-use any lines that have a flare type end.
Try to keep adapters like reducers or gender-changers to a minimum.


Should I change all floors or only one? I have two different type of flooring on my second floor. I have almost 30 sqm with dry pine flooring (four rooms), and 8 sqm with vinyl (one room). The pine planks are not nailed to the floor, I can lift the planks with my fingers.

I have two alternatives, as far as I can see.

Change the vinyl to pine flooring.
Change all floors to engineered hardwood flooring

I have been "the helping hand" when laying EHF once, but other than that I have no experience.

My question is:

What would require the least effort / be simplest? I would need to sand and oil the existing pine floor if I decide to keep it. I guess it would take quite some time on 30 sqm floor to make it look nice.

If this is what you mean by parquet, I don't suggest it. If water ever penetrates (which it will if spilled on) this floor is over with. That real wood you have there is gorgeous. Refinish it by sanding, stain if you want and varnish it with a lamb's wool mop, using oil-based products. Replace the vinyl with as close a match as possible (same plank width, thickness, grain structure and color) and do it all in one shot. Sand a piece of your wood and take it to the store to match it. If it doesn't look 100% alike, or even if it is a completely different type, a threshold at the parting line will make it 'all better now'. If you don't have access to professional flooring equipment, I suggest getting a random orbit sander, it will be worth every penny for this job.


How do I fix a squeaky/whiny ceiling fan? I have a four year old Monte Carlo ceiling fan, similar to this now-discontinued model 5OBR52BSD-L in style.  It has a light that points up towards the ceiling and another towards the floor.  The fan is making a whiny, almost squeaky noise, on all 3 speed settings.

How do I fix this?  With some good ol' WD-40 and luck?

Seems to me that it would depend on where the squeak is coming from.

If it;s inside the mechanism, or somewhere where parts of the fan are rubbing tegether then some WD-40 would probably fix it right up, but if the whole mounting is wobbling and causing the mount to rub against the junction box then you might try tightening the mounting hardware or shimmiing it out with something to make the mounting tighter.


Safely drilling into a stone fireplace? I have a stone fireplace in a cabin that I'd like to mount a television screen on. While I’d love to pay someone a reasonable fee to do so, the cabin is in a location where contractors are few and far between, and those I have spoken with are booking work six months out. I’d prefer to not wait that long.
Here's the fireplace:

Regarding the mounting itself, I’m hoping to line up the holes of the mount at a position where I only have to drill through the grout, but it’s possible I will have to drill through the rock itself. Since this was a fire burning fireplace before it was gas, I believe there will be brick behind the rock/grout.
I'm probably going to actually mount a square of wood to the actual stone part and then screw the mount to this block of wood...that way I can be a little more flexible in where I put holes in the stone/grout.
If I understand what I’ve researched so far, I should be able to drill through this by purchasing a hammer drill with a special bit. After drilling, I should be able to mount it securely using mollies (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Molly_(fastener)).
Assuming the above is accurate:

What sort of drill bit do I need for this job?
Since I don’t have a hammer drill, I plan to purchase one. The cheapest I’ve found locally is this Craftsman (https://www.craftsman.com/products/7-amp-1-2-in-hammer-drill). Would this be sufficient to get the job done?
Are any special mollies required, or should I be able to purchase the largest which will fit through the mount’s holes?
Any other concerns I should know about, or suggestions you have?

Thanks so much in advance!!!

You'll need some quality masonry drill bits or some diamond core bits depending on the size of the holes you'll be drilling.
The hammer drill you picked out will do the job, just take your time, let the drill do the work.
You do not want to use molly anchors. They are for drywall or plaster hollow walls. Personally, I'd be using lag shields, 3/16", and lag screws. Their length depends on the size wood panel.
Drill into the stone, not the mortar. The mortar will crumble with the anchors.
And for God's sake, wear safety goggles!!!


Where should I NOT use a GFCI or AFCI? There is a lot of information out there about the benefits of GFCI and AFCI and the places where they must or should be used. But are there any circumstances where you're better off without them? If I won a free box of dual-function GFCI/AFCI breakers, would there be any reason not to use one for every circuit in my house?

For all new construction residential dwellings the answer is not too complicated.

For older homes with existing wiring the answer is not as easy.  A qualified electrician would need to assess the wiring conditions and even then only by trail and error could they determine if ARC-fault protection would be able to work.  In some cases using an ARC-Fault receptacle downstream may be an option, whereas a complete rewire of the existing branch circuit may be needed.

I've elaborated on the answer breaking it up into residential and commerical establishments for educational purposes.

Residential AFCI Requirements

All habitable rooms that contain 120 volt 15 or 20 Amp branch circuits require ARC-fault protection. This includes kitchens, family rooms, dining rooms, living rooms, parlors, libraries, dens, bedrooms, sunrooms, recreation rooms, closets, hallways, laundry areas, or similar rooms or areas.
Exceptions:

Bathrooms, unfinished basements, garages, and outdoors.
Fire alarm system installed in accordance with 760.41( B) or 760.121( B) is installed in RMC, IMC, EMT, or steel-sheathed cable, Type AC or Type MC, meeting the requirements of 250.118, with metal outlet and junction boxes, AFCI protection shall be permitted to be omitted. (This is mainly in condominiums and not so much in traditional houses.)
Existing installations are not required to be updated with ARC-fault protection unless modification to the wiring is done.

Exception: AFCI protection shall not be required where the extension of the existing conductors is not more than 1.8 m (6 ft) and does not include any additional outlets or devices.

Residential GFCI Requirements

All 125-volt, single-phase, 15- and 20-ampere receptacles installed in bathrooms, even if the receptacle is part of the bathroom lights, or if you have a washing machine in the bathroom it too requires GFCI protection.
Garages, sheds, and accessory buildings located at or below grade.
All outdoor receptacles.
All crawl space receptacles.
All unfinished basements.
All kitchen countertop areas.
All dishwashers.
All pool motors,  spas, and pumps
All receptacles within 6' of any sink.
All boathouses
All laundry areas
Exceptions:

A receptacle supplying only a permanently installed fire alarm or burglar alarm system shall not be required to have GFCI protection.
Receptacles that are not readily accessible and are supplied by a branch circuit dedicated to electric snow-melting, deicing, or pipeline and vessel heating equipment shall be permitted to be installed in accordance with 426.28 or 427.22, as applicable.
Receptacles installed for disposals and trash compactors are not required to be protected by GFCIs. A receptacle( s) installed behind a refrigerator is installed to supply that appliance, not the countertop, and is not covered by the kitchen countertop GFCI requirement.

Commercial ARC-fault Requirements

Dormitory units are required to have ARC-fault protection.

Commercial GFCI Requirements

All 125-volt, single-phase, 15- and 20-ampere receptacles installed in bathrooms, kitchens, rooftops and outdoors, 6' from a sink, indoor wet locations, locker rooms, garages, service bays, and similar areas.
All vending machines.
All pool motors, spas, and pumps.
All electric drinking fountains.
Exceptions:

In industrial laboratories, receptacles used to supply equipment where removal of power would introduce a greater hazard shall be permitted to be installed without GFCI protection.
For receptacles located in patient bed locations of general care or critical care areas of health care facilities other than those covered under 210.8( B)( 1), GFCI protection shall not be required.
Receptacles that are not readily accessible and are supplied by a branch circuit dedicated to electric snow-melting, deicing, or pipeline and vessel heating equipment shall be permitted to be installed in accordance with 426.28 or 427.22, as applicable.
In industrial establishments only, where the conditions of maintenance and supervision ensure that only qualified personnel are involved, an assured equipment grounding conductor program as specified in 590.6( B)( 2) shall be permitted for only those receptacle outlets used to supply equipment that would create a greater hazard if power is interrupted or having a design that is not compatible with GFCI protection.


What is the insulation in this hot water jacket? Taking apart an old water heater and found this jacket - ripped to shreds, probably by the cat. Is it likely this contains asbestos or is it fibreglass?

Here is a video

Thanks.

It's very likely fiberglass since that's what's been used in water heaters for many years.  You didn't specify how old it is and if it's "ancient" there does exist that possibility.  If in doubt, get it tested and properly disposed of by a licensed abatement contractor.

I suspect, however, that old is 10-15 years which is "forever" in water heater years and in that case there will be no asbestos.


I have two switches for one light. One is a dimmer switch and other is single pole switch Dimmer operates light but if the single pole is off the dimmer switch doesn't operate. The problem is the single pole light switch has only one black and white wire connected inside. No other wires in box.
The dimmer has two wires in box. Two blacks connected to switch and two whites married. Is this fixable without running any other wires through wall?

You need smart switches. Period.

A smart switch can handle this problem easily. Anything else will require busting up drywall and laying new cable - possibly /4 cable to the switch loop owing to needing to support both a 3-way and provide neutral. Let's sidestep that, eh?

Why would anyone wire it this way? My guess is, the now-dimmer location started out only as a place to tap power for the light, and the switch loop was meant to be the only switch.

Use a smart switch with smart 3-way capability and wireless remote

You put the smart (dimmer) switch at the current dimmer location (with neutral). The line up to the lamp becomes switched-hot and neutral.  That means the switch loop to the other switch is pretty useless.  That is why you need a wireless battery powered remote which matches to the smart switch. Generally these look exactly like wall switches or dimmers, but can be mounted to the wall with sticky tape.

Selecting particular models is off-topic here, so I leave it to you to find an a) smart b) dimmer that c) accepts wireless remote and d) talks to whatever WiFi scheme you are interested in.  Don't buy mail order; make sure the part that touches mains power has a UL listing, CSA, ETL or other NTRL.  CE is not one, and is the mark of cheap Cheese junk that you are not allowed to use in mains wiring.  CCC, FCC and RoHS are also used to fool you.

Or, use a smart module in the lamp box

In this case, you can use the wiring in and out of the lamp as always-hot and neutral.  That can power any wired smart switch of your choice coughInsteoncough, provided the switches can communicate with the module via powerline or wireless signaling,


How can I remove residue left after removing aluminum foil from my windows? Let's see whether this is a question for DIY or for Chemistry.

I put up aluminium foil on my windows for a few days, to test whether it was a good way to avoid the heating by the morning sun. I put it up on the inside, by wetting the glass with plain tap water and letting the foil cling to the glass. Some of the windows were done with water + a bit of dish washing soap; there was not a big difference in the result. The foil was applied with its shiny face to the glass.

After 5 days, I removed the foil (easily, as expected) to discover that the glass was patterned according to the imperfections in the way the foil had been applied. For example, if the foil got wrinkled while applying it, that was visible in the glass. Furthermore, the foil itself has a very slightly embossed pattern; this pattern has been transferred to the glass too, in patches.

The patterns have appeared in all windows, no matter whether I used plain water or water with dish washing soap.

Thinking the pattern had to be related to water hardness, I tried wetting them with vinegar. No result at all. There were also tries with window cleaner, rubbing alcohol, washing soda. No effect.

Assuming that the pattern is caused by some aluminium salt/oxide/whatever, finally I tried with caustic soda, hoping it would react with the aluminium. It worked, mostly: there are still some patches where you can see the foil pattern in the glass if there is light reflecting from just the right angle.

My question is: what else can I try to remove those last patches? The options I can think of are a stronger solution of caustic soda, or bleach, which also attacks aluminium.

For reference, the caustic soda solution I have used up to now was 1 litre of water + 3 tbsp caustic soda. According to the packaging, 1 litre + 2 tbsp is used for drain opening. I'm hesitant to go stronger because supposedly at some point the glass will get etched.

Also interesting: some of the window panes were much easier to clean than others, even if the foil was applied in exactly the same way.

Bonus points if anyone knows what actually got deposited in the glass. If this happens with tap water, I wonder how can this be used for food...

Sodium hydroxide or the main chemical in draino will dissolve aluminum. The green coating on the pellets is aluminum when in contact with water it causes a boiling effect , but I would use razor blades. Years ago when tinting windows was big we had to get the windows perfectly clean or bubbles in the tint showed. We used Windex and razor blades then a final wipe with a micro fiber cloth. The Windex or other window cleaner actually created a lubricant effect and the blades lasted longer but when debris are shaved off it helped to float the dirt and residue off the glass.


Contractor vented bathroom vents in attic, now I have mold. Is he accountable? A few years ago I bought a home. The inspector found mold in the attic and pointed out that the upstairs bathrooms did not have vents. I remediated the mold and had an electrician install vents that would vent to the outside.

Now it's 3 years later and I am selling my house. The inspector comes over and there is mold in the attic, and he does some digging in the insulation of the attic and sees that the vents don't actually go anywhere....they vent right into the attic!

I now need to have this mold remidiated AGAIN. Is the contractor in the wrong? Should I pursue having him pay me for the remediation as well as have him fix the fans so that they vent to the outside?

What other steps could I take?

-Edit-
This is Southern New Hampshire, USA.

-Further Edit-
I found this link which explains it's a code violation. Does that strengthen my case?
In what year did venting bathroom exhaust out of the house become a code requirement?

Venting to the attic is never correct, and was not good 'workmanship' even before the 2006 IRC cycle.  Even if you asked a contractor to vent to the attic, they should have refused, or made you sign a waiver.

Your first step is to research the contractor claims process in your state.
Your second step is to contact the contractor and explain what happened.
Your third step is to contact the bonding company of the contractor: they have teeth, if need be.

You paid to have fans routed to the outside: the contractor should be liable to finish the job as specified, and to pay any consequential damages for failing to do so.


What happens if CT ratio entered wrong in 3phase meter I have HT connection with PREMIER 300 - SECURE METER,
CT operated at 5:2.5. But in the meter, the ratio is showing 1 instead of 0.5.
My question is whether the ratio matters or not.

If your meter is assuming one ratio, and it's actually a different ratio, then the meter will read incorrectly.


How much more paint does a paint sprayer use than a roller? I am going to be painting the inside of my 2-story home except for the bedrooms, so I have a fairly large area to cover.  How much more paint would a paint sprayer use, compared to using paint rollers?  We are considering using Sherman Williams paint and don't want our expenses to get out of hand.

I have used a sprayer to paint my house before we moved in. While I can't qualify how much more paint I used, it did feel like I used more compared to rolling, but I think part of that is because it goes so quick and I may have been painting over the same areas more than I would have with a roller.

One thing to note though, when I sprayed my home, there was nothing in it. No flooring, window treatments, etc.  Spraying, no matter how careful, will leave some atomized paint in the air, which will eventually hit the floor or whatever else you don't want to have paint on it. Be prepared to mask, tape, and tarp everything you don't want painted that can't be removed from the room. You will want a mask and a respirator of some kind (you probably don't need anything fancy). The mask I used had a roll of film built in it so that I could get a "clean view" when too much paint got on it. That was especially handy when doing the ceilings.

Personally, now that I have moved in, I would roll instead of spray.


How deep should my sump be? Our home (with basement, built in 1999) has a sump pump that was installed by the previous owner.  In our area, runoff from melting snow in the spring or when the neighbors leave for a weekend with their sprinklers on usually when we see water there.
The sump is about two feet deep, and the float is adjusted such that there can be 18" or so of standing water in the sump before the pump turns on.  It isn't uncommon for there to be 12" of water in the sump for a week at a time, without the pump running.  I don't know if the depth of this sump was determined by calculation or solely by what was in stock at Home Depot that weekend.

Is this a situation where making the sump deeper would have a benefit?

Part of me wants to dig that sucker much deeper, so that the water level is as far below the basement slab as possible.  If I'm seeing water so close to the bottom of the slab in this one spot, that means it's very close to the bottom of the slab in most of the basement, right?

On the other hand digging the sump deeper, aside from the work, means that the pump might be running more than required, and perhaps cycling more often than needed.

What would you do?

I would not want to see 12 inches of standing water close to the slab grade in a sump pit. My first thought would be to see if you could adjust the float of the pump to turn on much sooner and keep the level down to maybe 4 to 6 inches. There should be an upper and lower level set on the pump.  it would be helpful to know the make and model of the pump so we could check the specs and see if it can be easily adjusted. Keeping water standing so close to your slab can saturate your floor and cause weeping through spider cracks. I'd prefer to see the level at or below the level of the drain tile where it enters the pit.


Can holey metal furring channels be reused? I have some 10'- and 6'-long 25 gauge metal furring channels (hat channels) that have been used to hang drywall.  I want to reuse them instead of getting new ones.  There are about 10 screw holes per 4' of channel length.  When I reuse it, I plan on adding 10 more holes per 4' of length.  I don't think perforating the metal this much will reduce its integrity, but I just want to be sure.

Assuming the base material hasn't been somehow deformed, buckled, creased, etc., adding several small screw holes to the existing ones will not materially effect the channel's suitability for it's intended purpose.

However, if you are improving someone else's property, and they are expecting new material in their work, using salvaged material would be quite sleazy. If this your own property, you will have no difficulties.


Securing NM wiring on the electrical panel back board - Multi-cable staple Would much appreciate your input on whether -

It's NEC 2017 approved to use the below (or similar) multi cable staple when securing NM cable within 12" of the service panel, by attaching the cable staple to the back board and putting the cables into the staple.  I.e.: Can I just use that staple before routing the cable to the joists above instead of the typical white plastic staples that can usually only do 1 to 2 12/2 cables?
Id just cut off that little piece that usually goes around the 2x4 so it's flat against the back board, and use both the nail and the screw.
If not, and there is no way to secure the cables within 12" above the panel, what else do folks use to the side of it to staple many cables to the back board?

Do the NM cables have to be within a conduit when coming out of the service panel, on their way to the staple, and out of the staple on their way up to the joists (about a foot above the panel backboard)?  I've been reading some and am all turned around on the whole conduit requirement.

Those multi cable clamps are listed so they can be used I have used the 2 slot 4 cable a few times without issues from inspectors, the only issue with more than 4 they may call it bundling but the listing info shows 8 so it should be ok.
You will need a clamp entering / leaving the service panel some are listed for 2 cables I don’t know of any listed for more than 2, I love the plastic “insider” brand clamps they snap in pull the cable in and are done no screws or locknuts to mess with.
If you are talking about exposed romex we usually put a nipple in to protect the cables to a height of 8’ coming out of a nipple you do need to clamp or staple the cable as it comes out not inside.  I think that hit your questions.


Replacing oven broil element. Will this replacement work? My broil element has never worked in my oven. I moved into this house 11 years ago, and the oven is probably the original one with the house (it's an olive green tappan electric!).  I finally decided to look at why the broiler didn't work and the element was clearly toasted.  A multimeter showed no continuity.
I looked around online and found a replacement element, and it looks identical to the one I removed (minus the burned out part) and checked it with a multimeter also (29 ohms) so I thought I was good to go, except they have different connectors.  Here is the original:

And here is the replacement:

I am okay soldering and putting new ends on wires.  Would I be okay changing the connector on the wires?  Would they need any kind of ceramic coating for being in an oven?
Also the wires connecting to the element look tired.  I don't necessarily want to replace the oven right now as we are saving to redo the whole kitchen and don't know what kind we want to go with.  Are these okay?  Should I take the oven out and replace the wires from the back?  Thanks for anyone and everyone's help.

I would be looking for high temperature female spade fittings similar the one below that fits onto your heating element and crimp them on to your wires. My advice would be to take your element into an appliance repair store and get the fittings there so you get the right type and size. You will probably have to buy a crimping tool unless you can talk the guy into letting you borrow his.
You could also remove the wires from the back and have the appliance guy crimp the fitting on the wires and them reinstall them in your oven... just remember how to hook them back up.


What is the name of ducting I am looking for if they even make it? I am looking for something like this but with an additional hole.

Do they make this part, and if so what would it be called?

Don't know about ducts specifically, but that shaped joint is usually called a cross in other problem domains.

http://xmzxl.en.alibaba.com/product/299354123-210434489/Cross_joint.html


Attaching a concrete coffee table top to reclaimed oak sleeper legs with a high moisture content hopefully the heading is succint enough. I am about to cast a 44" by 21" gfc concrete coffee table top that will be 1 1/2" thick. I want to rest it onto some green (40% moisture) sleeper legs that are resting on their length at either end.

Whilst i appreciate the weight will reduce the table top moving i want to make sure that it cant slip too far.

I dont want to glue due to wood movement and the horrendous weight so was wondering if placing dowels within the concrete and and using a forstner bit of a larger diameter in the wood would suffice and allow for any potential wood movement. I was also thinking of pushing the legs a few mm into the concrete for the first half hour of the cure to create an impression.

The table will be used inside and i am located in the UK where we have a reasonably high atmospheric moisture content although the central heating will be kicking in soon.

Any alternatives would be very much appreciated, many thanks!

Why not bolt on some brackets? At 1 1/2" thick dfrc you can drill the piece and screw some brackets on with concrete screws.
Your probably better off putting the wood in the house for a week or two to lose some of the moisture before assembly.


How to tighten sink faucet? I have a double-bowl, stainless steel kitchen sink mounted to a granite countertop, with a faucet with a pull-out spray head (pictured).

The faucet is no longer tightly mounted, so it wobbles back and forth. I'd like to tighten it. Unfortunately, it's not obvious to me how to tighten it. Here's a picture of the underside:

There aren't any obvious screws. All I can guess is that the nut around that brass threaded pipe is how to tighten it? Is tightening that the right way to go? And do you think I can get it tight enough just with that? Or should I expect to have to do something extra (plumber's putty?)?

the nut around that brass threaded pipe is how to tighten it? Is tightening that the right way to go?

YES and YES

  do you think I can get it tight enough just with that? Or should I expect to have to do something extra (plumber's putty?)

YES and NO - you should go ahead and try tightening it up with the nut, it should work. Those types of faucets normally have a gasket under the upper portion and no plumbers putty is required.

NOTE- it will likely be difficult to tighten that nut, most of those types of faucets come with a manufacturer-supplied special tool to reach up and tighten the nut with. If you don't have that tool then you will need to improvise.


How to address diverter pipe length issue during shower remodel? I am in the early stages of replacing my bathtub and re-tiling the surrounding walls.  During demolition, I discovered that the home-builder used 2 layers of wallboard for the original tiled shower surround: the deepest layer is just normal sheetrock that you'd find anywhere else in the house, and the outer layer is the green-papered variant that you'd hope to see used for a shower installation.

My best guess as to why there are two layers is the depth of the existing bullnose tile pieces; they appear to be designed to wrap around the edge of the greenboard.  And, in fact that is exactly what the contractor did.

I think that means that the person who installed the plumbing positioned the valve body (and sized the diverter pipe) with the expectation of there being two layers of wallboard.  But my new tile selection does not use deep bullnose end pieces.  Consequently, I think that now if I were to just use one layer of Hardiebacker or Densshield in my remodel, as I had planned, that I would end up with a larger space between the back of my valve knob & the escutcheon (which might not be so bad,) and also a gap between my downspout/diverter and the new tile (which would look ugly, and allow water to get inside the wall).

For the diverter pipe, I guess I have the option of having someone sweat the male threads off the end, and cut off a piece equal in length to the width of (greenboard + sheetrock - densshield).   Should I do that, or just duplicate the use of two layers of wallboard?  (Note that my new tile will have flat bullnose trim, so if I did two layers, I'd have to extend the outer layer all the way to the exterior corner (not shown) and also all the way to the ceiling.)

Note that the bent diverter pipe is soldered in to the valve body.

Adjusting the length of the tub spout pipe will be way easier than changing your entire shower enclosure and tile plan.

The method you use when you shorten the pipe (and how much you shorten it) will depend on the type of tub spout you will install (different spouts have different pipe-attachment arrangements, not all of them thread on like your old one did) and where your finished wall surface ends up being.

I highly recommend that you do not cut the spout pipe until you are done tiling, so you can ensure the proper pipe length.

P.S.- some spouts just slide on and use a gasket to seal; they are more forgiving when it comes to pipe length:


How to secure a wooden box (tunnel) in a wall? I'm going to fit a cat flap in a brick wall. My intention is to drill out a square hole through the wall. Then create a wooden (MDF) tunnel to fit inside this. On one end of the tunnel, I will attach an extra piece of wood with the cat flap fitted.

My question is this How do I secure that wooden tunnel into the brick-work?

Obviously the drilling is going to leave a messy edge, which I intend to tidy up with cement and/or filler, but I can't see that these are going to get much purchase on the MDF. I can imagine, one good kick to the outer face would send the whole structure flying into the house.

First, I recommend against MDF. Yes, it has a great smooth surface, but it just doesn't have much structural strength. I would recommend plywood, maybe 1/2 or 3/4 inches thick.

If it were plywood, I would say put a plywood "collar" on each end of the tunnel, with screws from inside the edge of the tunnel into the plywood ring around it. If you have one on either end, this locks the tunnel in place, and even if someone gave it a good kick, it should stay in place. However, with MDF, you don't have that much strength, so you may need some other way of attaching the "collar". Hope this helps.


Venting a finished attic 5 year old house - finished attic.  Permanent stairs, carpet, heat, ceilings, drywall - completely finished.  The insulation is spray foam (open cell) directly on the underside of the roof deck (min - R19) and on the inside of the exterior walls.  There was ridge vent originally installed, but sealed up with spray foam (closed cell).   What I am trying to explain here is that the entire attic is within the building envelope - with the exception of a sloped ceiling, it looks like any other room in the house.  I had the building envelope tested (blower door test) and there was very minimal air leakage anywhere in the house and what was detected was remediated.

There are knee walls and a dropped ceiling after the underside of the roof joists pass 9' (roof peak is at 13'), but these are just studs and drywall - no isulation.  The spaces they create are still inside the building envelope (insulation is on the exterior walls only).  The space behind the knee walls are accessible via access panels (used for storage) and there is no appreciable temperature difference in summer or winter in these spaces.  The area above the ceiling is closed off and I cannot measure.

The problem is, the attic gets really hot in the summer.  I can feel a temperature gradient as I walk up the stairs and have measured the bedrooms on the floor below at 75 (at the ceiling) and the attic ceiling at 85 degrees.  My thought is to get a bathroom exhaust (or 3) inthe ceiling and vent the space that way.  Any pros / cons / other suggestions?

The attic is 800 sq ft and the finished space 5600 cu ft.

Spaces are inside or outside, never both at the same time!

What you need is not venting as this attic is conditioned space -- it's inside the house control envelope, in other words.  What you have is likely an issue with improper ductwork that isn't returning hot air from the attic efficiently -- the temperature buildup is caused by a combination of stack effects (hot air rises) and the inability to get this hot air back down to the air conditioner to be cooled.  If there are returns from the upper attic down to the HVAC system, check to make sure they are not closed off by a damper, and that the HVAC system is properly sized for the load as per Manual J.  (HVAC sizing is like Goldilocks -- not too big, and not too small, but just right for the house you have.)


Leaky newly installed PVC drainage pipe I am pretty bad doing handy work. Anyways, I decided to add a water drainage to my concrete flat roof. I had mocked up all the pipes and finally waited for a sunny day to remove it all and glue all the elbows, Ts and connectors with clear PVC cement. Today after I got home from work it had rained recently and noticed that it was leaking. I can't isolate from which connection exactly it is leaking from, yet.

Aside from having to cut everything and doing it over and or hiring somebody, what can you guys recommend? Bear in mind that this is on an area exposed to the elements.

If it rains and there is still daylight left, I'll try to post a video.

Get a long sweep PVC elbow, and you'll save yourself having to make junctions on either side of the flawed regular elbow.  Or, caulk it and hope.


matching paint color over different wall coverings I removed wallpaper from one wall due to moisture but am leaving it up on the other three walls since the removal damaged the wall and the wallpaper is still adhering well. I am now trying to find paint and I like the color on drywall but not over wallpaper.I used kilz but it did not change the fact the color over wallpaper was so much lighter. How do I get paint to match over both?

You need to hit all the walls with Kilz until they are consistent.  The purpose of primer is to make dissimilar underlying surfaces similar so the paint goes on equally.

That is not the job of paint.  You can do it with many coats, but why? Primer is cheaper than paint.  Also, the paint chips that you picked your colors from are exemplars of your paint over white, not whatever colors you are covering up.

If you're saying "primer isn't getting the job done", what you're really saying is "I'm not willing to use enough coats of primer to get the job done, and I somehow want that to work out anyway."


Water pump and inverter I'm using a 2500 watt inverter with a regular car battery to power a vacation house with no city electricity or water, all my appliances work just fine except the water pump, the manual of the pump says 1500 watts at start and 750 watts afterwards, my fridge works fine, even the vacuum cleaner with 2000 watts works fine but as soon as I plug in the water pump the inverter cuts off, any advice on how to get the pump working would be appreciated,

The fridge motor is probably smaller than you think, the vacuum motor is a universal (AC/DC) motor so it inherently soft starts. The pump motor is likely a standard AC single phase motor and has too much inrush current for your inverter. When they say 1500W at start and 750W running, that's "marketing" speak because they don't want to scare people off. Starting an AC motor results in the inrush current being 500-600% of FLC for a second or two. But the power factor is very very low (i.e. .2 or less), so if you express it in "watts" the number looks better because W = A x V x PF. So 750W is about 1HP and at 115V single phase, that's about 16A FLC. That means at startup it can surge to 96A, but if the PF is 0.13, the W will be 1500 which LOOKS better than saying the starting current is 96A. For a utility connection it's irrelevant but for something powered by an inverter, it's too much and the inverter has a crowbar circuit that shuts it down to avoid damaging the transistors. Your best option (besides the generator one) quite honestly is going to be to get a different pump, either one powered by a DC motor that you run directly off of the battery (look for "solar pumps") or one that uses it's own inverter because that will come with soft starting. Or get a MUCH bigger inverter.


Can a grounding issue with newly installed light fixtures cause a short circuit/blown fuse? I have installed three lights (60 Watt Bulbs) on the same line (wire) connected to one light switch.   The fuse blew when I hit the switch.  I’ve connected all of the white to white and black to black.  I believe the problem may be with the ground.  I’ve grounded each light fixture.  I believe that I was just supposed to pig tail the ground to the ground in each light fixtures and only affix the actual ground wire in the switch box to the green ground nut.  Is that correct?  An informed response would be greatly appreciated!

Unless you connected a hot to ground, it probably is not related to the ground.  Without seeing some pictures or diagrams, my best guess is that one of your white wires is actually a hot (and someone didn't mark it as so), so by connecting the whites (which are supposed to be neutral) together, you've created a short.

Sometimes with switches, when the power comes into the ceiling box first, there will be one cable to the switch from the ceiling box. In this configuration you will find a black and white wire, but both are actually hot since the switch only interrupts the hot wire.  Take a look at the switch wiring - are both wires black, or is one black and one white? If one black and one white, then one of your white wires is actually hot and should not be connected to the rest of the white (neutral) wires.

I would start by disconnecting your work, verifying the fuse doesn't blow in this configuration and then start connecting the lights back up at one at a time.

Remember that electricity is dangerous and there's nothing wrong with calling an electrician if you are in over your head!


How to calculate the requirements of a concrete slab? Want to put three 40foot shipping containers on concrete slab.  Presume I need to dig out and level the area, then fill with some gravel/sand?  But not clear what depth of gravel and what depth of concrete.  Assume to be reinforcing the slab with rebar and/or other as appropriate.  Presuming maybe 15 ton max for each container.

Assuming your containers are 10’ wide x 40’ long and weigh 15 tons, that creates a bearing load of:

30,000 lbs. / 10’ x 40’ = 75 lbs. per square foot (DEAD LOAD).

Add 50 lbs. per square foot LIVE LOAD (40 is minimum Code requirement for residential construction).

So, TOTAL LOAD is 75 + 50 = 125 lbs. per square foot.

A 4” concrete slab can easily support 125 lbs. per square foot without rebar, but you’ll need “control joints” or the slab will crack. OR, you can add reinforcing steel. This reinforcing steel is called “temperature steel” and is not used for spanning soft spots, etc. I’d use #4 rebar at 12” on center each way in a 4” slab. (I don’t like wire mesh.) I’d also try to keep the slab as “square” as possible. No jogs, etc., because it will crack at the jog.

However, if the containers are going to be used as “habitable space”, you’ll need to install perimeter footings down below the frost line. Depending where you live, the frost line can be anywhere from 12” down to 48”...or deeper if you’re at the North Pole.

Yes, concrete slabs are usually installed on moisture barriers (to keep ground water from coming up through the slab) and on a gravel base (to even soft spots out which cause differential settlement). The size, type and depth of gravel will depend on your location.

If you’re located on a hillside, (you say you have to level the site,) make sure ground water is diverted around your site.

If your soil is mush, like where I live, you can’t use this type of construction (slab on-grade construction). You’ll need to install piers or piling and design a “structural” slab to span from pier to pier.


Why would a 120v circuit work without a neutral? My home has a relatively typical (in America) 100 amp 240v feed accomplished via three conductors - two 120v "hot" wires and one neutral.  This gives me my 240v circuits (the two hots) and my 120v circuits (one of the hots plus the neutral).

Recently my neighbor severed two of those feeder wires while digging a trench.  The two severed wires were one of the two hots and the neutral.  Therefore, my home was only receiving one 120v hot wire and nothing else.

Doing an inventory of my home, I discovered the following:

None of the dedicated 240v appliances worked at all (oven, HVAC, table saw, etc)
Some of the standard 120v outlets and lights worked perfectly (and verified as stable with a multimeter)
Some of the standard outlets and lights fluctuated with voltages ranging from 0v to 60v (rising and falling; not static).

My questions are:

How did those 120v outlets work at all, much less perfectly, when there was no neutral?  How was there any circuit with only one hot and no "return path"?
Why did some of the 120v circuits exhibit a varying voltage between 0v and 60v?  What could cause that?

It's using the earth as a return path

You really don't want to do that.  Dirt doesn't conduct electricity very well.

Your neutral is bonded to ground in your main panel.  The power company's transformer also bonds neutral to ground at the pole, and all your neighbors have neutral-ground bonds like yours.   The current is trying to return to source (neutral) via your ground rod, wet dirt between your homes or the transformer pole, their ground rods, and back to neutral.

You're measuring it and saying your hot is varying 0-60 volts.  No.  Hot isn't damaged, so it's exactly where it belongs at 120V.   Neutral has come UP to 60-120 volts!  And ground has come with it!  Because neutral is using your neutral-ground bond in the main panel, and lifting ground.   Which means your neutrals and equipment grounding conductor is floating 60-120 V above actual proper earth.  That's a good way to electrocute somebody because it means the grounded bodies of appliances or grounded equipment are also floating up to 60-120V!

Shut this off right now until it can be fixed.


How can I level and finish a slanted deck that was enclosed? Hello everyone I am new to this so I apologize if I seem a little slow mentally.

I have a 104 yr old home that at one point had a deck that was completely enclosed. my issue is that the floor was built at a slope for run off but was never corrected after the room was built. the floor itself is 3/4 tounge and groove. So here is the other issue. I only have about a 1/4 of an inch to work with at most on top of the sloped subfloor at the threshold. to be honest I believe the finished floor and the sub floor were meant to be the same in this room. I would like some suggestions on how to not only level the floor but also be able to add a finished floor on top of it.

Basically you build a new deck on top of it:

In your situation, I'd cut long triangles to use as sleepers, opposed to the shim technique shown here. Subfloor it with 3/4" plywood. Finish with your desired floor covering.

Use a table saw to rip 2x4's; having one end zero inches and the other 2". Install them directly above the existing joists, drilling pockets from the top down if needed, for screws.

Blocking between the joists is advised.

The finished floor will be slightly higher than the adjacent one (that's what thresholds are for), take into account the clearance for any doors that open out, onto it.

If the height discrepancy or if clearance is an issue, you're looking at having to gut the decking. This would enable you to sister to the old joists and bring it up to level, while keeping a low profile.


Is it safe to use pressure-treated wood for a workbench in my shed? I have some leftover PT wood from building a platform for my shed.  I'd like to use it to build a frame for a worktable that I can place inside that shed.

It will stay dry in the shed, but the shed has poor ventilation (it's basically a gigantic Rubbermaid container) and can get quite hot in the summer sun.

I plan to build the top of the table with some leftover resin/sawdust planking, so I am not worried about direct contact with the PT wood.  Should I be concerned about outgassing of noxious fumes in my stuffy shed?

Offgassing has never really been a concern with treated lumber. Direct skin contact and ingestion were concerns with CCA treatment, and to a lesser degree with the products that have replaced it.

As long as you're not spending a lot of time in contact with wet wood, and as long as your pets and family members aren't gnawing on it, I wouldn't be concerned.


difficulty of replacing bathroom fan I have a fan in one of the bathrooms of a 1930s house and there's a relatively low ceiling. The fan seems to work ok and it's in pretty decent shape(seems to be from 2013), but I think we need a bit more power as we're getting excessive condensation on the ceiling. If my wife and I shower back to back it looks like our ceiling has a leak. I can't seem to find this model (see below pictures) - ideally I'd like to be able to swap out the motor if possible (seems like the path of least resistance). I am decently handy with electrical work (and rapidly gaining more experience in this old house) and can generally figure things out using the good old scientific method. Am I getting in over my head here or is this worth doing myself? Also would that gap cause any problems? Would it help if I use a different paint on the ceiling? I assume it's a standard flat-white ceiling paint, but not sure.

Most consumer-grade fans are not designed for upgrades. My recommendation is to look for a better fan. The 2 key things to look for are:

Airflow - typically measured in CFM - higher is better
Sound - measured in decibels or sone - lower is better


How to safely connect a gas insert to flexible steel? With the cold weather coming, we'd like to install a gas insert that we bought a while ago. The gas outlet that's in the fireplace in shown in the picture below.
To replace this part would require disassembling the fireplace, opening up the wall, removing the baseboard and making an access whole in a recently installed hardwood floor.
Is there another safe way to make a connection the this hose?

Is there another safe way to make a connection the this hose?

NO there is not a SAFE way to use the damaged line in your photo.
A gas supply line has fittings pressed onto to it that are engineered for Flammable, dangerous, gas under pressure.
You need a new supply line.

To replace this part would require disassembling the fireplace,
opening up the wall, removing the baseboard and making an access whole
in a recently installed hardwood floor.

WHY? There has to be access to the other end where the the line is connected to a shut off valve, NO?


Air compressor air filter and oil change My Makita MAC2400 has been serving great almost a decade now. Recently I started wondering about the volume of air it has intaken over the year and that it all went through the air filter, which I have never changed. So I opened the filter housing and it didn't look too terrible:

Is it necessary to replace this filter occasionally and does mine look overdue? Here is the compressor:

Also, how frequently should the oil be changed? Unlike most small compressors, this one is lubed for quieter operation.

Compressors do need to have the oil changed usually based on hours of operation. Since it has been 10 years I would change the oil. The filter is hard to see in the photo. I usually blow air on my filters to clean them if working in dusty areas, Sawdust blows out easily dirt tends to build up. Shine a light in the filter can you see the light on the other side? If no time to replace. Maybe you will get another 10 years but I would change the oil a bit more often.


Jaws of Vernier Caliper What are the important things to consider when jaws are used instead of the knife-edge for measuring internal dimensions?

The “inside jaws” are a bit tougher to use than outside.
first they have to be in the hole both straight and at the widest point (for a round hole). I usually wiggle mine back and forth and let them “find” the maximum diameter of a round hole.
If a square shape I measure at 1 end to maintain the position or measure a specific distance away from the end on both edges to make the measurement. In this case I am looking for the smallest distance.
So for round I am looking for the largest distance and square the smallest.
This tells me my measurement is true as long as the holes are round or square in the methods outlined.
To clean calipers a piece of paper is usually enough clamp on the paper and slide out was the way a machinist taught me to clean the outside jaws. I haven’t had a problem with the inside jaws because they are close to knife edges I guess.


Light Switch Wiring Issue I have just received a set of light switches but have been unable to fit them because the small screw in the COM connector doesn't screw far enough to grip the live wire.  I'm sure it must be something I am misunderstanding.  Anyone offer any suggestions please?

Congrats on including a picture unprompted! You'd be shocked at how many people don't do that...
I presume you've stuck the wire in the plastic hole and have tightened the screw down only to discover that it doesn't touch the wire, much less hold it tightly. That's a good sign you're attempting to wire it incorrectly.
Back the screw out almost all the way. You'll see the little brass plate dropping down to create a gap. If the screw comes toward the screwdriver and the plate doesn't move, push down/wiggle on the screw until it pops loose. Now, put the wire above the brass plate and tighten the screw. That will pull the plate up and squeeze the wire in tight. This method applies, of course, to all the screw on connections, not just the COM wire.
Your switch should come with some instructions that include torque specs. You really should tighten the screw to the spec torque. If it's too loose, the wire can wiggle loose over time as the entire switch assembly moves every time you flip the switch. That looseness can begin to cause arcing and arcing can cause fires. If you can't find the torque specs on the switch itself or on the packaging/instructions, there should be some "generic" specs available online for your jurisdiction (assuming somewhere in the UK based on the "made in UK" labeling).


Can I caulk the corner between stone countertop and stone backsplash? Since I purchased this home a few months ago, we've noticed water from the sink can sit in this corner and possibly grow fungus or just leave mineral residue when it dries. We have tried to keep it brushed out as we figure out what to do with it.
Note that the edge against the painted wall (green arrow in photo) does appear to have silicone caulk while the edge I'm asking about (red arrow) has nothing.
I want to apply clear silicone caulk but

I've never had stone countertops before and I'm not sure what kind of stone this is either and
I've had countertops where is corner is missing caulk near the sink, but this corner has zero caulk all the way across two walls

Is it OK to silicone this edge between the counter stone and backsplash stone?

Some general input here as I install granite counters weekly.

No way the granite is bound to each other
trim piece probably has silicone (I hope) binding it to the wall
you don't have to have silicone on dry areas.   If someone spills a cup of soda on that counter, some will seep behind trim but it is pretty minimal (I have tested for fun).   The trim piece is cut with laser and the top of counter is sanded flat so these pieces while somewhat pourous are pretty water tight... but all it takes is a small divot and liquid pours in... and obviously this widely varies on type of granite.   Yours is darker and has lower veins so I would guess it is pretty water tight.
but it would be normal during install to caulk there.   I am not sure what the other guys are on here suggesting white or colors.   All kitchens and baths get clear silicone - that's it.   White, grey, black, whatever... it stains and colors fade in spots over time.   Clear will last the longest and almost impossible to stain.
make your silicone as thin as possible to cover the crack.   If you go up 1/4" and out a 1/4" and have a huge bead of caulk, even if it looks good it won't last as long as every time you wipe the counters you will put pressure on it.   If you can barely see the caulk that is optimal.


Prevent glue from oozing out of the tube When applying glue (be it wood glue, plastic glue, or superglue) from a metal tube, I very often find that the glue keeps oozing out of the nozzle even when I'm no longer squeezing the tube, even if held upright. Sometimes, I can stop it by gently pressing the sides of the tube to make it more circular in cross-section, increasing its inner volume. However, that is not always possible, nor does it always help.

What is causing this behaviour, and how can I stop it, or prevent it starting in the first place?

When you squeeze a tube or bottle you are increasing the pressure on the inside of the container, and the material inside the tube is forced out.  For thicker materials like glue or sealant, it takes some time and more pressure to make its way out of the tube.

For plastic bottles and tubes, when you release pressure with your hand, the container springs back to something close to the original shape and there is no more pressure in the tube.  However, with a metal tube (or similar, rigid material), the tube will attempt to keep its new shape.  The metal will continue to apply pressure to the material in the tube and the material will drip or ooze out.

The common solution is to only squeeze a small portion of the tube, and realize that the product will not come out immediately.  Squeeze a little, then wait.  However, even when you are careful, you might get more product than you wanted and trying to squeeze the sides of the tube to make the shape more of a cylinder is a good technique.

The easiest way to "squeeze a small portion" is to squeeze from the bottom.  When you squeeze the middle, you are deforming the entire side of the tube.  When you squeeze a little at the bottom and flatten the tube as you go the pressure you apply is very localized.


What type of outdoor breaker/disconnect for two buildings? I am going to be building a larger garage. I am looking to put a 200amp service in the building. I had the power company come out and check my feeder lines and confirm that I had sufficient service for this. For my plan they say everything is okay on their side. They will be replacing my meter with a new one when I begin this project and with that I have to have a disconnect/breaker under the meter can. They also said that with the meter I can run the 200 amp service in the house and the 200 amp service in the garage off this can.

So what I am trying to figure out (since there were not much help) is what type of disconnect/breaker box can I use below the meter can to feed both buildings? I would prefer to have a breaker set up one for each (house & garage) but not necessary. Main goal is to be able to run 4/0-4/0-4/0-2/0 to both service panels. I dot particularly want to have the meter can, a disconnect, then two other boxes mounted on this pole.

I hope all this makes sense. Any help would be appreciated.

If you have an item/part number that would be amazing. I have a Lowe’s, Home Depot, and Menards close.

Again, thanks for the help.

Well, you didn't say what your service is.  Whether it's 320 Class service (400A; 320A continuous) or whether it'll be 200A.  Your breaker requirements will be slightly different depending.

But what you're looking for is straightforward enough: It's called a Meter-main.  Some of them are simply a meter and a main breaker - in separate compartments so the power company can stick their seal on their side.

Some of them get more sophisticated, and give you a meter, a main breaker and 2-8 breaker spaces on the downline side of the main breaker.

For a Class 320 service, I'm not sure how meter-mains handle it; I've never seen a 400A breaker; they usually provision 400A service by splitting it to two 200A main panels.  So sadly, you may wind up with 3 boxes in that case.  Think about if you want any power here at this location; if so, look at a meter-main with extra spaces for one of the circuits.

Fork it

If your service is 200A, there is nothing wrong with fitting dual lugs (or splitting with Polaris connectors) and sending full 200A to both house and shop that they effectively share.  The split is after the main breaker, of course.

By the way, your wire only has to handle 83% of the breakered value, so only 166A. 4/0 Aluminum will be just fine.  (DO NOT use copper for long feeder like this; it's a total waste of money and the lugs on both ends are aluminum, so you'll create a dissimilar metal problem.)  What's even sadder is when people spend a fortune on copper, and then chintz out on conduit, ground wires or panel spaces.   2 years later, they're back going "panel is full" and the photo shows they could have fit a much larger panel for $40 more, and they wasted $700 on copper feeder. Talk about false economies!


How many circuits do I need and can I bundle wires in the wall? I'm looking into running new electrical circuits to my attic and second floor. The attic is two bedrooms + a small bathroom, the second floor is four bedrooms + another bathroom. I'd like some advice on how many circuits to run. My thought is one lighting and one outlet circuit for each bathroom. Then one lighting and one outlet circuit for each floor. So a total of eight circuits. Probably all 20amp.

I can access the second floor by fishing down from the crawl space next to the attic rooms. The house was built in 1911 so the walls are nice big open cavities, which seems to make fishing wires a bit easier, but I'm still going to need to open the walls and I want to avoid that as much as possible. Is there any limitations on how close I can run wires. A little googling suggested I could only "bundle" two or three 12/2 cables together, but I could not find any NEC reference for this. If I do bundle three cables together, how far apart must the next bundle be?

I may be limited into only bringing up two bundles (easily) through my walls. If I can only bring six circuits up to the attic how should I break up those circuits? i.e. should I put the bathroom lights on the same circuit as the rest of the floor? or break it up some other way?

I'd agree with Keshlam, ask the local inspector about that specifically.  It sounds to me like you don't plan on taking out a permit, which I would probably recommend, it gives you peace of mind knowing the job is done right, it's not very expensive, and you can tell the future homeowner when you sell that it was inspected and done to code.

As for circuit design, you said 6 circuits could be a limitation?  Then what I'd think about doing is:

Both bathroom lights on one circuit
Bathroom GFCI Receptacle
Bathroom GFCI Receptacle
Largest and Smallest bedroom Receptacles
Two other bedroom receptacles
All bedroom lights (Assuming they don't exceed 12 fixtures)

You probably won't want to have all the lights from one floor on one circuit, as if that circuit ever trips, you'll be in the dark with no supplementary light to guide you.


Refrigerator quits cooling (lights/freezer work) & 24 hr unplugged only fixes it for < 2 weeks Our garage refrigerator (Kenmore with the freezer on the bottom) started not cooling in late July. The lights kept working & the freezer kept working, but the top part (the refrigerator section) stopped cooling and the temp adjustment buttons stopped working for the refrigerator section too. We unplugged it for 24 hours & when we plugged it back in, it started working just fine again... until about 2 weeks later when it happened again. This time while it was unplugged, we cleaned & vacuumed under it and behind it really well and when we plugged it back in we made sure it was pulled out a ways from the wall. Again, it fixed the issue and worked fine for maybe another week or so, but then it happened again! So repeated the process and it did the same thing again yesterday!  We have had this (bought it used) refrigerator for about 1.5 years and it has always worked perfectly up until the end of July. Any idea what could be causing this problem???

My guess is it is not defrosting properly or a fan has failed. I go with not defrosting because of the 2 week cycle
a failed fan it would probably not cool well at all. If not defrosting it takes time for the frost to build to the point of limiting the air flow. The display not properly functioning may point to some type of control board failure. It may be repairable and if you search online with the model number you will probably find the correct board for your model. Some of the sites that sponsor repair parts can be quite useful I have fixed stoves and dryers many times with parts from these sites.


Existing 40 amp breaker with a 50 amp range spec? I have a 40 amp breaker for the range receptacle, but the new range specifies a 50 amp circuit.

Can I just have a 50 amp breaker installed or will it require rewiring?

In general, no. Installing a 50A breaker on wiring only designed to support 40A is dangerous and can result in a house fire. 40A circuits need #8 copper wire, whereas 50A circuits need #6 copper.

It's possible, although very unlikely, that the wiring used in the circuit is #6 and thus could support 50A (maybe somebody was planning for the future), but for some reason a 40A breaker was used. The only way to know for sure is to open it up and look at the wiring. The size and other specs should be printed on the sheath; as isherwood mentioned, you're looking for AWG #8 or something similar.

In the more likely case that the existing wiring is #8, you'll either need to pull new #6 wire or get a different (lower-powered) stove that will work with the existing 40A receptacle.


Can I run a ground wire along the outside of conduit? I have a sub panel on back of house. From main in garage is three wire.  2 hot one neutral.  NO GROUND WIRE.  Sub has a single bar used as neutral and grounds.  Its bonded to case (Screw in).  I will add a ground only bar, a ground to earth rod and wire them together.  I cannot get the snake all the way through the conduit to pull a ground wire.

Can I run a separate ground wire alongside the conduit to the sub?

===========================================================================

Update/clarifications:

Thank you Speters.  ArchonOSX, I understand there should be a common ground back to the main, I do not have that. Currently (pre-existing),  I have a 3wire 50 amp gfci breaker for a spa in this SUB.   Its the only circuit. I was advised to Isolate the neutral bar and add a ground bar, bonding it to earth;  Where new circuits utilize the ground bar. In this config would I be protected and no SUB/main panel metal become  energized if a short occurred?

Absolutely, you can run a separate ground - they have allowed this for a long time and have recently liberalized the rules on retrofitting grounds to practically everything else.   So if you have other outlets that could also use a ground, food for thought.

The grounds do not need to follow the same route as the original wiring.  They do need to be thick enough for their purpose.  Also, other circuits can share a ground wire, as long as they originate from the same panel.

Should you do it? Absolutely!  The problem is, right now you have the NEMA 10 problem.  Normally if a neutral wire breaks, the neutral wire is pulled up toward 120V because power has nowhere to return, but we don't care because the grounding system still protects us.  Now,  if ground is also the same wire (like in NEMA 10), it too will be pulled up toward 120V - and now things which are supposed to be grounded will instead shock you!  Including switch plate screws, metal chassis of equipment, and of course, the metal chassis of your subpanel, which you will be opening directly when you realize there's a problem.  Touch that and a water pipe, and blammo!


What cabling should I run for LED panels with a 0v-10v dimmer? Just bought an '80s house with a finished basement with 4 overhead neons. I;d like to replace them with 4 dimmable LED panels. I found some "Commercial Electric" 2' x 4' pairs (2 panels per box) at HD and bought two sets (a total of 4 panels).
First thing I learned is that I would need a 0v-10v dimmer/switch. I went with a Leviton DS710-01z, one of the recommended ones by the LED mfr.
So, I've had pretty good luck mounting the panels and I'm ready to start wiring.
The dimmer has 4 wires out and a ground...2 (black and white) 14AWG line voltage (120v) and 2 (gray and purple) 18AWG Low Voltage and the ground. If I'm going to run 4 connecting cables from the dimmer to the 4 panels, could I do 4 runs of 14/4 cable with ground? Or should I be running 4 runs of 14/2 for the line voltage and ground, then another 4 runs of low-voltage wire for the 0v-10v?
By the way, as I'm wiring all of this stuff parallel, might I be overloading the Leviton dimmer? (by using 4 panel). I couldn't find any indicators on the Leviton as to whether or not it had limitations?
So thanks in advance, I'll really look forward to your help here!

I would use 1 run to the fixture then daisy chain them just like any other install.  The low voltage can run in the same cable because all the conductors are insulated for 600v so that would be code compliant. Make sure when you connect your 0-10 you connect them all the same. reversing 1 can damage that one and prevent the lights from going full power (a short takes mine down to ~10% light output) took a while to figure this out as the apprentice only mis wired the last 2 of 20.
All the lights came on at a low level 1 fixture damaged 1 ok. The damaged one no longer was dimmable but works at full power so we put in an area we did not vary the lighting.


How do I drain a small retaining wall built for flowers? I have one of these in front of my house. From what I could see the previous owner was not very smart when he built this, it is sloped toward the house and moreover this is on the north side of the house, it gets sun light for a 1-2 hours in the afternoon so not only that it is not very practical for flowers (he put some shrubs there that are struggling to survive) but it seems to retain water (I can see some moss building up there)

Question: after I slope this correctly by adding more dirt how do I drain this? Do I need to drain it at the upper level or should I build something that is dug in and drain it at the base level (the grass level in the picture)

Thanks  lot

It's un-mortared blocks. No particular effort beyond that should be required, unless it's lined with plastic that needs holes poked in it. Every joint between blocks is a drainage point.