What is the cheapest/laziest way to touch up discolored hardwood? I rent, so the amount of money and labor I am looking to invest in my floors is small. That said, there are a number of spots where the hardwood has a sort of "dead" look that I wouldn't mind touching up if there is a straightforward way to improve the situation. The floors don't have to look new (clearly that is not going to happen), but maybe these spots can be less visible than they are now. Is there a relatively simple approach?
Related question: even the parts of the floor that aren't discolored are pretty beat up. Any recommended products for just improving the overall shine and appearance?

Get a sanding block and sand those spots to see if you can remove those stains. Then get some Polyurethane, you'll have to match the sheen, and put on three or four coats.


Can I add a 240v outlet inline with a sub-panel supply circuit? I have a 30 amp 2 pole breaker in my main panel (in garage) that supplies a sub panel in my small workshop (back yard) ~ 100 ft run 4 wire 10GA. for 15 amp outlets.

In order to add this 30 amp circuit, I had to replace several of my 15 amp singles with 15 amp tandem breakers to make room.

I would like to add a 240v outlet near my main breaker panel in the garage for a welder.  Can I add this inline with the sub panel circuit, or would it have to have it's own 2 pole breaker too?

Thank you,
Aaron

You need another subpanel

Being out of breaker spaces is an intolerable situation.  This invites all sorts of problems - you might balk on installing AFCI breakers because they won't fit; you might inadvertently move an old MWBC onto a tandem and burn your house down.

So what you really need to do is install a subpanel right next to your main panel and start moving circuits over to that.  This time, get a large panel.  No one has ever written a post on SE saying how they're having problems because they have too many panel spaces.  Get a 30-40 space minimum. The moment of buying a service panel is the worst possible time to suddenly develop an urge to save $40.

I recommend looking at panels of good quality (not bottom shelf big box store dreck) for which GFCI and AFCI are affordable (not CH or QO).

Then, it becomes super easy.

As you observed, this question would be a no-brainer if you had the spare panel spaces.  Either put this new breaker in the new panel, or move enough 120V circuits to the new panel and put it in the old panel.


Ductless Mini Split heat pump not cooling / heating outside of room I have a wall mounted mini split (Fujitsu 9,000 BTU) installed in my bedroom over my bed, intended to heat and cool my upstairs (there has no suitable location in the hallway).  It is a standard sized bedroom, and the heat pump does an excellent job cooling and heating the room (I can get the room down to 60F on a hot day).  However, here is the issue - the cooled or heated air will not leave the room.  The doorway is about 10 feet away and you can feel it blowing if you stand in the threshold, but the airflow makes a dead stop there.  I have tried pointing the air at different heights and even tried putting a fan in the door way to push it along, but nothing seems to work (heat seems to flow a bit better than the AC air).  The installer has ensured me that the heat pump has plenty power for the job and it is an air pressure issue??  Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Consider the flow of air to be similar to the flow of water (because it is)

You are trying to force air from one room into another through a large open space.  The problem is, you're not actually creating any pressure differential.  The air in your room is being moved around by the unit but not being pressurized.  The unit in your room creates a low pressure point and a high pressure point and the air moves around the room stirring up the air and creating an equalization of temperatures within the room.

So the air in your room is blown towards the door at an extremely low pressure.  The air in your hallway is stationary (for the most part) and at the same pressure as the air in your room.  There's really no force behind the air in your room to dislodge the air in the hall, and the air in the hall also has nowhere to go.

Forced air systems work because they have both air outputs and air returns - the returns serve to carry air needing heating/cooling back but doing so also creates that critical pressure differential needed for air to move from room to room.

Otherwise it's like the picture above  the air sits next to each other, mixing only very slowly.


What is the difference between a lacquer polish and a varnish I have got this bottle of wood polish (an Indian brand called sheenlac). I also later got Varnish (PU). Are both required to be applied after sanding or just the wood polish would do ?

Wood polish is usually an oil, wax, or oil and wax treatment. Waxes include carnauba, parrafin, beeswav etc.; oils could be tung oil, linseed oil, mineral oil, petroleum oils, or oils from animal fats. Polishes help protect wood but are different from varnish. Varnish (whether natural or synthetic) create a fairly hard and durable surface coating, which could then be maintained by periodically applying a polish.


How can I store a paint roller for a second coat? It's my first time using paint rollers, and I have a problem. How do I store a paint roller cover for 2 hours so that I can use it for a second coat?

Wrap the roller in aluminium foil. Or in cling film. I've stored rollers this way for 2 weeks, though you do risk it getting a bit dry and crusty at the edges for that sort of longer period. For 2 hours you'll be fine.

The point of wrapping it is to stop air getting to (or getting away from) the paint that's on the roller. Solvent paint (i.e. most paint) dries by evaporating the solvent into the air - if there's no air it can't easily evaporate.

(If you're in the US, feel free to use aluminum foil or saran wrap instead...)


How to identify the C terminal on my HVAC As you can see I have a Y G W R/2 C/3 D/1 terminals on my HVAC. I am planning to change my thermostat to one that requires a c line. There are 2 spare lines available, however I am not sure which is the C terminal. This is a forced air heating (gas) cooling(electric) system. I am guessing that its the C/3 terminal. Any help would be appreciated.

Your guess is correct

The C/3 terminal on your control board is indeed the C terminal you should hook your spare (blue) wire up to.  How do I know that? Well, your compressor contactor's coil needs to be hooked between Y and C, like a lightbulb connected from switched-hot to neutral with the thermostat from R to Y taking the place of the lightswitch going from always-hot to switched-hot, and we can identify the wire running off to the compressor from the Y terminal (its the other wire connected to the Y terminal, given that the thermostat is wired to it as well), so we know that the other wire coming from that compressor cable must land on the C terminal.


Add bracing to I-Joist I am trying to build a non-load bearing wall parallel to the I-joist in my basement.  I know that I need to add bracing to span the gap between the wall and the joist, but I am slightly confused as to where to nail it.  Most places had suggested to face nail through the I-joist and then toe nail the brace to the rim joist.  But this is not level.  This is what I was thinking of doing.  Does this make sense?  Can I use screws on the the rim boards instead of nails?

End nailing into the brace will not be a useful and strong joint. Instead do something like the following where the brace is made of 2x lumber. Notch it as shown and set on edge and toe nailed from each side. Much stronger.


Water in basement from basement door concrete crack In my basement I get some water seepage that I believe comes from a crack in the concrete steps/framing underneath the cellar doors.
Interior 1
Interior 2
Exterior
On the outside, there is nothing really above it to shelter it from rainfall, there's a gutter but it is not going to catch any rain going over that part of the roof. Everything directly above the basement doors and the little corner exterior spot is uncovered.
I feel like patching up the crack and getting something to divert the water off that part of the ground would help. I would like to know if that is suitable, or what trade deals with this.

Broken gutter?
By the look of the outside wall, more water is landing there than the trivial amount from rain coming down there.  Go out and look during a heavy rain.  I bet the gutter is overflowing.
The whole bare dirt area along the edge of your house looks too low to me.  And why are there no plants?
@SteveSh advice is good: build it up.  You could build it up with dirt from the immediately adjacent lawn which will lower that area and encourage water to move away from the house.  Cut off the sod with a spade then put it back after you get your dirt.   Or fill that area with concrete and put a little shed on it; between basement access and hose is a good place to keep outside tools.
Once built up you could put pavers or square concrete tile along the edge of your house, sloped slightly to encourage water to run off.  That can be a good look too.


Plastic central heating pipe - cover up in built-in cupboard I have a built in cupboard which has plastic water pipes travelling vertically up the inside (supplying a small radiator in the loft). I want to cover them up because they're ugly, awkward and also have flaky paint coming off them, but I don't know if I need to do anything special to prevent condensation, or if I need to consider anything else.

I was planning on boxing them up with a couple of battens attached the to wall and some plywood. There are no taps or anything so I'm not planning on making this accessible in the future. I'm then going to fit shelves in the cupboard over them.

Is there anything I should be considering here? Things that come to my mind are condensation - is that a problem? Insulation - is it work having that foam stuff around them? Access - is there a reason I should make it more accessible? Anything else?

Many thanks,
James

If they are heating pipes just box them in. You shouldn't have any issues with condensation. Just be careful not to nail/screw through them.


Rogue "flushing' water pipe I live in the ground floor flat of a converted Victorian House and have recently come across a rogue pipe that shoots water out sporadically into an external drain kind of like a toilet flush swoosh sound, but the water is clean. I have no idea where this is from or what it could be - Can anyone shed some light?
It is a white plastic pipe that comes from under the house (there is a basement, but it is tanked). I initially thought that it was noise from an upstairs toilet of a flat above, but saw it pump out with my own eyes today ( and subsequently make the drain at the side of the house overflow!)
I hope someone can help - thanks

If this pipe is just above ground level and is spewing clean water out onto the ground (or is otherwise unchecked), it is more than likely coming from a sump. This sump could be from a drain tile or the A/C drain. If you have access to the basement, this can easily be determined by tracing the pipe back from where it goes through the wall/structure, unless it is all behind sheetrock.

(NOTE: I didn't see Tester101 and Fiasco Labs comments prior to writing this. I'm basically agreeing with them.)


Can I use 2.5v bulbs in a holiday light string designed for 5v bulbs? I've got a lighting fixture that says it wants 5v .6w bulbs.  literally every one burned out, so he two spares aren't enough.  All the other ones I see now are 2.5 V.  Can I swap these in?  My guess is yes - they'll just draw whatever current makes sense, and since they're lower voltage won't generate more heat.  Just want to make sure, for safety reasons.

My guess is yes - they'll just draw whatever current makes sense, and since they're lower voltage won't generate more heat.

No, that's not how it works.
Bulbs that are made for 2.5V can't be supplied with 5V, they'll draw twice as much power and burn very bright, but will probably burn out very quickly.
If you underpowered the bulbs - used a 2.5V power supply on 5V lights - that would likely just make them glow dim - but they'd probably last a long time.


Can I repair a luggage caster housing with Sugru? Something got stuck around the fixed axle of my suitcase caster,  causing the caster to stop rotating around it. The axle itself ended up rotating and wearing away at the housing.

I managed to clear the majority of the blockage, but because the housing is worn away, the caster now rubs against the top side of the housing.

Can I use Sugru to pad the worn out section of the housing? It's the only thing I have even vaguely suited to the job. How else could I repair it?

It's unlikely that suguru will be durable enough for your requirements. It's a flexible material, but not a high-wear sort of product.

On the other hand, if the hand-moldable aspect of suguru fits your needs, you may find that hand-moldable plastic will work better. It's poly-type plastic, relatively slippery but quite strong when cool.

I've used the stuff for various projects in the past. The instructions suggest to put a baggie of pellets in hot water and when they change from opaque to clear, form in place to create the desired object. I'm impatient and discovered that one can build a tiny tin foil tray and use a hot air gun. This method saves time and creates incredibly hot plastic which burns skin. It's the timing that matters, as one can begin to use the plastic once it is completely clear and not burn one's skin as easily.

The above link points to Michaels' stores, while a similar product can be found on Amazon as well as many other locations on the 'net.


Repaint moldy porch chairs We have wooden porch chairs that were supposed to be painted with outdoor paint but they have succumbed to some sort of mold.  To repaint these would I have to sand/strip all of the existing paint & mold off?  Is there a way to just prime the chairs and then paint over it all without fear of bleeding?

Images of chairs:  http://imgur.com/a/puRnz

Note: I've tried removing the mold with every means I could think of (cleaners, bleaches, etc). It only comes off with severe abrasion to the point where the paint is coming off with it

When I've had to re-stain decks or chairs etc with a little mold on them I've always used a bleach solution.  Mix a little bleach with some water and apply it to the mold (spray bottle, or brush).  The bleach will kill the mold quickly (just let it sit there).  Then lightly sand the mold off (just to get rid of the moldy texture) and re-paint.

Good luck


3 way dimmer switch - need help Installing a new 3 way dimmer switch - on the back of it there is the green grounding wire, the white neutral wire, 2 'traveler' outlets and 1 line/load outlet.  However, the wiring when I removed the switch has 1 wire (it was white but wrapped in black electrical tape), and then another black and red wire (which I assume are the 2 traveler wires) and the ground wire which I connected to the green wire from the dimmer switch....so I only have 3 other wires, but 4 more connections on the dimmer switch...

Neutral
Ordinary switches don't need neutral. Many (but not all) dimmers, timers, smart switches, motion detectors, etc. need neutral. There are some exceptions that:

Leak a little current through the circuit when "off" - works fine with incandescent but often not very well with LEDs
Use ground - permitted for very low current in limited circumstances. But you can't just "use ground instead of neutral"
Battery backup

but a lot of devices now need neutral and hot in the box, so that they can complete a circuit to power the switch itself even when the lights are off. Because of that, code now requires neutral to be available (or easily added via conduit, but the cables you described are not a conduit installation). But older houses often don't have neutral in switch boxes.
Based on your description, you have either 2 travelers + hot (i.e., first switch in the group, so hot comes in from the panel and travelers go out to the 2nd switch) or 2 travelers + switched hot (i.e., last switch in the group, so travelers come in from another switch and switched hot goes out to the fixture). But in any case, it doesn't sound like you have neutral available.
Take a look at the other 3-way switch. You may have better luck there - i.e., 2 cables - one to this switch and another either to the panel or to the fixture. There are a few different possibilities, including:

Panel -> Switch 1 -> Switch 2 -> Fixture

and

Panel -> Fixture -> Switch 1 -> Switch 2

and depending on a number of factors, you may or may not have neutral available in the other switch box. If you do, then install the dimmer there. If you don't, then you have to do some rewiring to make this work. You can't just add a neutral wire - you have to replace (e.g., 2 wire + ground with 3 wire + ground, or 3 wire + ground with 4 wire + ground) entire cables.


How can I mount a clock on tiles? My father likes to have a clock in our bathroom. Currently, it looks like this:

As you can see the clock is already damaged because we need to move it all the time when we want to open the window. I would like to mount it on the wall, but we have tiles there and cannot drill a hole there.

The clock has the usual "hole" to mount it on the wall with a nail:

I would like to have something like TESA powerstrips which holds very good, but with a knob on it so that we can easily put the clock on the wall and remove it if the battery runs out. How is something like that called?

You should be able to find a suitable self stick hook of some sort that can hold up the clock. With proper pre-cleaning of the smooth tile surface I would expect a good brand of self stick to stay adhered for a long time.

Some folks have suggested energizing the self stick glue on this type of product by painting on a layer of clear nail polish varnish before before sticking it up to the wall. If you do this make sure to let it dry well before using the hook to hold up the clock.

Note that if the hook style is a bit to long to accomodate the mounting feature on the back of the clock it is easy to cut off part of the hook tip.


How to eliminate a small voltage in a home AC lighting circuit I have a strange problem with a domestic circuit.

I live in Belgium and in some old areas with old electrical installations the AC supply provided has a hot "live" and "neutral" wire (as opposed to neutral being held to ground). Both are at around half the standard voltate (240v). (I'll refer to them as "live" and "neutral" though, even though both are actually half-live).

Unfortunately, this allows a small current to flow in, for example, a lighting circuit even when switched off. I believe this is because the switch only breaks one of the wires and there is enough capacitance in the circuit to allow a small AC current to continue flowing through the non-broken wire. In addition, a small current may be induced as there are two parallel "live" wires due to there being two-sway switching.

The problem is that this small voltage is sufficient to illuminate an LED, so it is impossible to switch off.

My question is how it might be possible to easily dampen the small voltage? I can't install a switch that breaks both "live" and "neutral" as there is only one switched wire available and for that I believe I would need another.

So I am looking for some device that is commercially available (in Europe) that could be safely (and legally) attached to the cable somewhere and that would not in itself draw a lot of power.

I have heard that a Zener diode or a capacitor might be used, but I have no idea which might be best or what specification should be used.

Side note: The matter of the non-ground neutral wire generates a lot of interest but isn't that relevant to the question. For whatever reason, there is a voltage in the lighting circuit. A quote from the power company:

  The 230 V network represents 88 % of the cable lengths.  These cables
  have 3 wires for the 3 phases. You get 230 V single-phase power by
  connecting across two phases.

Additional information: I get the problem in two different rooms, a bedroom and a bathroom. The glow is only faint, so it must be a small voltage. Both rooms have standard manual switches (new ones). Both are LED lamps multi-bulb units with 6 and 3 bulbs of the G9 type. Only the bedroom is two-way. I actually have some G9 bulbs that don't glow and some that do, but the ones that don't are unbranded and don't really go with the lamp. I tried ordering various replacements, but they all glow.

I have other LED bulbs around the house (the standard-sized ones) and I don't get any glow.

The center ground is a red herring

It has nothing to do with your lighting issue.  The only other possible explanation is a combinatioj of two things: A) a seriously defective grounding electrode system/neutral-ground equipoetntial bond; and also a ground fault in some your equipment.

If your lights are screw-in or snap-in types, most likely they only have two terminals - such as the two pins on a GU connector, or the center and threads of a screw-in.  If the bulb only has 2 terminals, it cannot interact with ground. So the odd ground is not causing the lighting issue.

It's your switch

99% of the time, the LEDs that won't extinguish, that's because your switch is not a switch.  I bet incandescents work fine, or if it's a multi-lamp fixture, the problem goes away if one of the bulbs is incandescent.

The problem is that you have an "active switch" - it is a dimmer, lighted switch, motion sensor or smart switch that is a powered device and needs power to run its own stuff.  A plain switch normally doesn't have access to ground, heck, doesn't even have access to neutral, which is the proper way for a device to power itself (between hot and neutral). So when these active switches are made for retrofit, they can't power themselves conventionally because neutral may not be present in the switch box.

Even if the switch gets ground for safety, it should not interact with it electrically.

So they use a trick of incandescent bulbs.  An incandescent which is off is basically a dead short.  That changes when the bulb warms up.  ** Anyway, the trick is that the powered device leaks a tiny amount of current through the incandescent bulb - too little to light it, but enough to power the device.  Effectively the device is "in series with" the bulb.

This falls apart with CFLs and LEDs.  They have electronic switching power supplies, which Do Not Like weird mini-currents running through them, and they do unpredictable things.  Some LEDs are able to simply allow the current through, and due to their efficiency it is enough to light them.

Change that obsolete switch out to either a plain switch or a modern one made for LED.

** When you read a relay spec and it has a much lower number for "tungsten", it is referring to that "inrush current" you get from that dead-short load as the incandescent is warming up. This differs from the "ballast" or "HID" number, which refers to the very-high-voltage inductive kick you get from a tranformer based ballast when you shut off the light. Generally, that’s what you use a snubber for, across the relay contacts to discharge that kick.


Refrigerator water supply valve Can anyone tell me WHY all of the 'delivery' instructions say that the shutoff has to be within 6' of the refrigerator or they will not hook it up? And I mean the literature states they will not even leave it.

I intend to finish the basement - later. That means I can't 'hide' a shutoff valve in a ceiling. My only option is a laundry room which would place the shutoff approx 10' from the floor penetration. I do not want to put it behind the refrigerator or build it into the wall for logical reasons. The simplicity of connecting a braided line from a shutoff in the overhead laundry room is where it's at. They sell 20' braided water kits but you would never ever need one if shutoff was within 6'. Doesn't make sense.

I just haven't been able to find an explanation for the six foot "rule" anywhere. And since I can't seem to access the UPC online, I'm at a loss.

It’s something put in by the underwriters to limit insurance liability for manufacturing defects the shut off needs to be readily accessible to turn off before it can do too much damage

Just tell them you don’t intend to hook it up to water your just using the fridge and freezer then how you hook it up is on you


Is silicone caulk an appropriate sealant for keeping smoke out? I livery in an old apartment building with neighbors who smoke. I am pretty confident that I have found where the smoke is getting into my apartment:a recessed closet that shared a very thin wall with a matching closet in their apartment. There are thin gaps along the top and bottom of this thin wall.

I have some silicone based caulk laying around and it matches the color of the closet. Is this an appropriate sealant for keeping smoke out?

Any caulk will seal an area. I would refrain from using silicone, since it does not take paint.

A decent grade painters caulk will do you very well and can be painted too when the color scheme needs to change. If you want, it is also available in clear. Typically it goes on white, then dries clear, and is water cleanup, another advantage of painters caulk over silicone.

Silicone does have its place, here is not one of them.


How can a circuit be designed with a switched live connected to multiple PIR motion sensors? [UK] If you want a light or generic circuit to be switched by multiple PIR sensors, how is this best achieved? For instance you might have 4 sensors on the corners of your house and if any of them detect something, the circuit goes live.
I've seen how to do it for 2 sensors but can't figure out how to extrapolate for a variable number, other than adding an extra live in parallel for each switch(!).
I have seen a question talking about this for the US and while electricity is the same there, the way things are done is subtly different so I would like a UK-specific answer.
Is there a way that lets you add multiple PIRs flexibly once cables are already installed?

I answered your core question here. Just go into photoshop and copy-paste as many more sensors and lights as you please.  Go read it, but let me re-color that for UK.

The only trick is going to be UK wire and cable.  You need 3 wires:

Always-hot to supply sensors
Switched-hot for sensors to send power to lamps
Neutral for everybody.

So you need 3-core + earth cable.  But while North American /3+gnd cable accommodates neutral, I note that common UK 3-core+earth cable does not.  You need a light-blue neutral.  Your 3-core appears to be black brown gray.  I don't know if you're allowed to get light-blue tape and re-mark the gray wire to be neutral, or whether you need to source special 3-core that has a blue wire.


Is schedule 80 electrical conduit appropriate for 4/0 4/0 2/0 wire? I am using 2-1/2" schedule 80 electrical conduit because it is being run along/under my property's dirt access road. From the research I have done and reading fill charts it looks like I can use either schedule 40 or 80 in 2-1/2". I just want to make sure it will meet requirements for fill without any question. Or, do I really need schedule 80?

According to table C.9 referenced in this answer, 2-1/2" Schedule 80 can handle up to 5 x 4/0 conductors, so you're fine even for a full hot/hot/neutral/ground (and ground definitely doesn't need to be as big).
Actually, it isn't exactly like that. 4/0-4/0-4/0-2/0 cable probably takes a bit more than the individual wires, but is relatively round (which helps) and I found plenty of references to running it through 2" conduit, so 2-1/2" gives you a little more room to work with.


Adjust a refrigerator on the floor My refrigerator stands on the floor unevenly. Its slant is small but enough to make the motor produce unpleasant noises. If I manually tilt the refrigerator a little bit, the noise disappears.

Unfortunately the refrigerator's 'legs' are not adjustable. I tried putting various pieces of plywood under corners. It helps a bit, but finding the right thickness of such piles is hard, and so far I failed to achieve a satisfactory position of the fridge.

What could I use to gradually adjust the vertical position of a large heavy box which is the refrigerator? Some kind of miniature jack screw?

The distance from the floor is about 1/4".

Easy, cheap option would be to use shims.

These are most often used to plumb door jambs, but of course have a ton of uses in construction.

Once you put them in and figure out how far they have to go, mark them and then you can take them out and cut off the excess (either with a hand saw or by scoring with a knife).


What type and size of wood should I use to make a form for concrete? I am a complete beginner and need to lay a concrete slab for my new cabin (about 18 ft by 16 ft in size).
I'm planning to lay a slab 6in thick.
I'm wondering if there's any particular type of wood I should use to make the form for a concrete slab?
I'm in the UK so constrained by whats commonly available here.

Normally, you'd want to use any type of straight 2"x 8" planks. Why 8" instead of 6"? Because the 6" is really about 5.5" and if plans call for 6" slab, the 6" planks would be too small. You'll have to trench a little to get the planks down to 6" above grade. You'll want to get some rebar and drive it in every 3 feet or so to strengthen the frame. You'll also need steel mesh or rebar under the concrete for strength and to prevent cracking. Depending on who's doing the work, you might want to break it down to smaller pours instead of one large one which would be about 5.3 cu yards.
Depending on what's available in your area, you might be able to rent the forms from a large home store.


What should I consider when selecting an air compressor for the garage? I was thinking to buy an air compressor and place it in my garage. I hate to look for change when i am at the gas station and i usually end up spending more than usual as some idiot has parked his car right in front of the air pump. I have no idea if this is actually doable or not. What kind of brand or qualities i should look for.

Can someone please throw some light on this? What kind of air compressor should i look for?

Also it will be great if the compressor runs on Electric.

You don't really need an "air compressor" in the sense that you don't need something that has a tank and is designed for use with tools.  All you really need is sometimes called a "tire inflator", obviously it is actually an air compressor but it is very different from those listed by Jeff's answer.

I have seen two basic types.

There are 12V versions that are designed to simply plug into the cigarette lighter outlet in your car.  This is nice because you can refill the tires anywhere.  When I had a slow leak in my tire I put this thing in the trunk and drove to work, then before leaving work I would top off the tire again.  It worked fine for the day or two until I could get to the shop for a new tire.  Usually these are pretty cheap.

The other version is designed to plug into a household receptacle. These seem to be a little more expensive than the 12V versions.

Sometimes you can find these types of tire inflators with standalone battery jumpers attached so you can also use it to jump your car.  I would skip that feature unless you think you would actually use it.


How can I modify a flooring transition so that perfectly fits the two surfaces? I have several instances where two different types of flooring are bordering one another and almost always they are not even (e.g. 1/4" offset, give or take).  A typical example is commercial flooring tiles on one side and regular ceramic tile on the other side or commercial flooring tile on one side and hardwood on the other.

Is it possible to modify a store-bought transition so that it exactly matches the offset?  E.g. take an aluminum top of the divider and then add a different number or padding/shimming strips on either side to reflect the offset.

Sure it is. This most commonly occurs between rooms, so the "door threshold" is often tasked with the job. In most cases it simply adds a third level slightly above both - depending on the design it may overlap, or it may emerge vertically (overlap is better for lousy workmanship - emerging vertically requires that the flooring end or be cut precisely, or it looks sloppy.)

An honest and substantial threshold looks 9 times better than a chintzy narrow piece of aluminum or plastic trim where someone chose to run two types of flooring together and not consider the transition; but that's an opinion (mine.)

For your "calibrated transition" make it from wood as an overlap, and cut the rabbet on the high side deeper (think about it until that makes sense.)

The "vertical" type is most commonly seen as marble or granite thresholds anywhere from 2" to 6" or more wide. Cut out the appropriate section of floor precisely, plunk in some mortar, check the height, add or remove mortar, fine adjust with a rubber mallet, let the mortar set.


Can I use a UPS as a Voltage Stabilizer? I need a voltage stabilizer for my refrigerator. Can I use a UPS for this?

I own an APC Back-UPS marked "Output: 230V~, 2.6A, 50/60Hz...". The label on the fridge says "220V/50Hz". Can I use this UPS as a voltage stabilizer for the fridge?

Update: Strangely, the label behind the fridge says 85W, 220V and 1A.

An "online" UPS is what you need. These have circuitry that converts the line voltage (which is probably bad in your case) to DC, and then recreates the AC at its output. Without this, your UPS will often switch to battery power, allowing its batteries to discharge during use. This switching of non-online UPS will also create blips in the power output that can damage the motors in the fridge.

You also need to make sure that the UPS creates a good-quality sine wave output. Cheaper UPS will create a square wave, or a very unsmooth AC waveform. Not having a smooth sine wave output will cause damage to the motors in the fridge.

The amount of power you need is a minimum of the volts multiplied by the current of your fridge, 230 times the current that it draws. Your UPS is rated in Volt-Amps (VA), which is a slightly different quantity. It has to do with the apparent power used by your load. Modern devices will have an apparent power very close to their real power, though older devices (especially motors) will require much more apparent power than their "real power", so I'd suggest over-sizing your UPS by 20-30% for this.

In addition, motors often will have a large "in-rush" current when they first start up. This can easily be double the power required once the motor is up and running.  Perhaps the 1 A already factors in this inrush current, since 90 W is less than 0.5 A at 220V.

With your UPS providing 600 VA, and your fridge needing (1.0*220)=220 W, your UPS can likely supply sufficient power. The concern are if it will damage your fridge's motors, and   if the battery has enough capacity to last out the voltage swings.


What are my options for replacing or upgrading my window screens? I've just bought a house that has older wooden-framed windows. The windows themselves appear to be fine, but the screens for these windows are simple aluminum frames that use the small spring-loaded pegs that fit into holes in the window frame to hold them in. As a result, the screen doesn't have anything close to a flush fit around the edges, so insects are able to crawl in.

I've noticed in some newer houses with vinyl windows that some of the screens sit in a track of sorts so that they can be raised and lowered, and as a result there's no place for insects to get around the edges. Is there any way to get a better-fitting screen for my existing wooden windows? Perhaps a screen uni

What you are looking for is called a Combination Storm/Screen Window, and most hardware stores can order exactly what you want or you can pick through the selection at The Home Depot: Window Screens is a wide variety of combination storm window/screens to pick from.


Can I remove the fresh air supply that is attached next to my furnace? It looks like my gas furnace is already vented but I'm not sure. There are two white pipes from the top of the furnace that are vented outside. The furnace is a Trane XR90. We have cold winter climate in Canada

The gas hot water heater has a black pvc pipe to the outside.

All fuel burning devices need an air supply.  In the case of direct vent appliances, there is an air intake to be plumbed to the outdoors as well as an exhaust pipe.  This assures that the appliance is not drawing air into the house through windows, doors, etc. defeating weatherization and sealing.  The combustion chamber in DV appliances is closed and isolated from the room.  Even a direct vent fireplace is completely enclosed to allow no air to enter from—or exit to—the room.

Direct venting is still largely the exception rather than the rule, though DV is gaining favor with many people who prefer higher energy and cost efficiency, so much new construction is now using DV.

A 1950s gas water heater has an air intake, but it simply draws air from its surroundings.

That water heater does not appear to be direct vent, so a general air supply for it is needed and the "floating beanstalk" air tube is a reasonable way to achieve ventilation—removing it would be "bad".

It occurs to me to try to decrease the chilling effect the intake causes for the room by moving it closer to the water heater, and maybe even "boxing it off" somewhat.  However, if the outdoor air is very cold, like below -30°C/-22°F, and there is a lot of airflow, such an arrangement could damage the plumbing and tank by freezing water in the pipes, etc.


How can I remove the residue that is building up in PEX tubing? I have a pex plumbing system that has been slowly clogging / losing pressure.  Our sulphur treatment system injects peroxide into the pressure tank then flows upstairs to the filter system.  The oxidizing process creates a white film (from the chemical reaction).  And this seems to be getting thicker over the years.  Anyways I believe this is the source of the problem.  I am curious if there is an easy way to clean the inside of the pex tubing out between the pressure tank and filter?  Was thinking of running vinegar through the chemical feeder line - and letting it dissolve in the lines.  Not sure if that is a good idea or not.  Any thoughts?

Nobody knows how to clean PEX tubing, because it's a plastic pipe. On your side I will think about repiping all your the clogged lines. PEX tubing prices have become close to nothing.


Removing stuck kitchen faucet Trying to remove Grohe single hole faucet. There’s no obvious nut to remove, the C washer might be threaded on but it can’t turn with the pipes blocking the twist and it won’t twist independent of threaded pipe anyway. What am I not seeing? [![enter image description here]

[1]: https://i.stack.imgur.com/AhW84.jpg

I believe that this style of faucet is tightened from the top. The faucet will be held on to the monoblock with a grub screw somewhere on the tap (probably requires a small hex key to loosen).

The faucet should then lift away revealing the fixing that you loosen to remove the c-clamp below.

Edit: Following your edit to add the picture from above, looks like my initial suspicion was wrong. Does it have a pull out nozzle?


E12 led smart bulbs don't work in ceiling fan I tried replacing two e12 bulbs with led e12 smart bulbs but with both leds the lights don't turn on with the wall switch or smart phone.

Here's the weird part. If I put one incandescent bulb in together with an led smart bulb then the led will work with the switch and smart phone.

I realize I can't mix these bulbs, but does anyone have an explanation for why the leds wont work together in the fan?

This is a common problem.  It's due to some sort of "powered switch" (i.e. a switch that's more than a switch) powering itself by leaking power through the bulbs. Works great on incandescents because an unlit incandescent is nearly a dead short. For LEDs it just makes them go crazy.

Anyway, the cure is to either a) leave one incandescent in, or b) wire in a paralleled device such as a Lutron LUT-MLC which emulates the incandescent light effect.


Do all conductors on a 20-amp circuit need to be 12 AWG? I'm rewiring a bathroom, and will install a GFCI receptacle on a 20 amp circuit breaker (dedicated to the bathroom only).  I am also going to have a fan and vanity light on the same circuit, downstream of the GFCI outlet (the fan is above the tub, thus requiring GFCI protection).  Question: downstream of the GFCI outlet, am I required to continue to use 12 AWG cable for the rest of the circuit, or can I switch to 14 AWG?  A code citation would be most helpful along with any rationale for why this allowed/not allowed, whether this is a good idea/ terrible idea, etc.

Yes, all conductors protected by a 20 ampere circuit breaker must be at least 12 AWG copper. There are a few exceptions and loop holes, but none of them apply to your situation.

  National Electrical Code 2014

  Chapter 2 Wiring and Protection

  Article 240 Overcurrent Protection

  240.4 Protection of Conductors. Conductors, other than
  flexible cords, flexible cables, and fixture wires, shall be
  protected against overcurrent in accordance with their ampacities
  specified in 310.15, unless otherwise permitted or
  required in 240.4(A) through (G).

  (D) Small Conductors. Unless specifically permitted in
  240.4(E) or (G), the overcurrent protection shall not exceed
  that required by (D)(1) through (D)(7) after any correction
  factors for ambient temperature and number of conductors
  have been applied.

  (5) 12 AWG Copper. 20 amperes

The rationale here, is that 12 AWG copper conductors are rated for 20 amperes, whereas 14 AWG copper conductors are only rated for 15 amperes.  So if you put 20 amperes through a 14 AWG conductor, the conductor could heat to dangerous levels.

That would make it a terrible idea to use 14 AWG copper conductors, on a circuit protected by a 20 ampere circuit breaker.


Is it possible to cut a larger opening in this window / serving hatch of this pool house? I'm curious if it is possible to cut a taller opening in this pool house or if that would create structural issues supporting the roof

From the inside you can see I would remove the 3 stubby studs and the 2x4 below it, leaving the 2x4 above that sits under the 4x4s that hold the roof. I'd add longer 2x4s to the left and right.

Longer view of it:

From the front you can see I would need to cut into the exterior trim but also a 2x8. That's my biggest concern. Does that act as a header to distribute the load or are the horizontal 4x4s already doing that? Could I add a 4x4 to the corner for additional support (like the far corners where the bar-top is)?

Yes, you can but you will need to properly support the structure above the new opening.

As you can see, there is a header in place now fashioned of two 2x4s with blocking.  This is not a particularly strong support but I doubt there is much to support beyond the roof itself.

Doing what you are proposing with the lines on the photo, however, leaves no room for anything but that one 2x4 which is probably not enough support.

You could probably get at least as much support as you have now with a couple of 2x4s and a plywood spacer between then.  You'd lose a bit of opening height from what you've drawn but it would be close.


Control home's electricity sockets via PC I'd like to control some of my home's electricity sockets via my PC.
I was thinking about WiFi sockets (couldn't find any product for that), or sockets which are controlled by the electric network (like x10 - though I need for 220v).
Can you think of something to help me?

X10 works, but is a pretty bad protocol. It is very slow and limited, and is susceptible to noise and interference (often mistaking noise for actual commands, causing lights to turn on/off on their own).

Z-Wave provides similar capabilites, but is much newer and uses RF signals to communicate. There are a huge variety of products and lots of stuff for UK (some stores I found on Google -- no endorsement: Z-wave products UK, UK Automation)

UPB is another technology, though it doesn't appear to be available in Europe.

Insteon is a fairly popular one in North America, and although they've been talking for a few years about introducing it to Europe, it doesn't appear they have yet.

All of these (including X10) have ways to communicate with them from a PC, and from there you're limited only by your imagination and programming abilities. I have an Insteon setup in my basement home theater, which is controlled by a PC (and via the PC, can also be controlled from a simple iPod interface, my Aastra VoIP phones, or infrared remotes). Next house I will probably do UPB though (specifically, Simply Automated products), simply because the switches are a lot more powerful, and their software is miles ahead of Insteon, albeit also harder to use**.

  ** Insteon is dumbed-down a bit to make it easier, but of course sacrifices some flexibility by doing so. My biggest gripe is you can't set up a scene that turns some things on, and others off (such as my "movie" scene does); the best workaround is to dim to 1%, which keeps my halogen pot lights still very dimly lit, and wasting power.


How can I thicken Acid Stain myself? I have been doing a lot of decorative concrete around my house, and I have yet to find a masking tape or caulking or anything that can hold the acid stain where I want it.  I finally found something that I think will work, it's a gel that makes the stain thicker and keeps it in place.  This way you can just paint it where you want it.  The problem is that it is not sold in the colors that I want.  So, does anyone know what I could add to an acid stain to make it thicker like that?

Quick Google search turns up Modello Gel-lo

  Modello Gel-lo is a thickening agent for  liquid coloring mediums such
  as acid and water-based stains for concrete. The addition of Modello
  Gel-lo allows for more controlled color application and helps to
  reduce "wicking" of the stains under the edges of the Modello
  patterns.

And Stain Mule™.

  Stain Mule will thicken both acid stains and water based colorants.
  When color placement control is necessary, the Mule is your product.


How to remove faucet spray hose I am trying to replace my kitchen faucet and don’t know how to unscrew the spray hose. The ring is getting caught on the spray hose nut and I can’t pull the faucet out. Which is the nut to remove In the attached picture? I also assuming I go counterclockwise on it.

It's hard to tell from the picture but there should be three copper tubing extensions coming down from the faucet under the sink. Two are water supply lines - hot and cold - and the other supplies the water to the sprayer. Sometimes these hose are attached to the copper extensions by quick-connect clips sometimes by threaded connections. It appears that yours are threaded. Be sure to turn off the water to both the hot and cold supply lines before disconnecting anything.
You should be able to remove the lines from the copper extensions with a couple of properly sized open-end or adjustable wrenches. The threaded nuts will turn in a counter-clockwise direction (lefty loosey - righty tighty). Hold one wrench on the copper nut and the other on the chrome piece with the flat sides. Turn the chrome nut counter-clockwise when looking up. After you get them off you should be able to slide the ring over all three copper extensions - that's why they are staggered with different lengths. You may also need to remove the weight on the sprayer hose if you have one. They usually just unclip with a little pressure.


Free standing planter fence I'm in Ohio, USA for reference. I have some old chain link fence that I would like to remove and replace with a free standing planter fence. I'm curious what sort of problems I might encounter with the following design.

The base:
I would remove the current fence, dig up a foot of dirt the entire width and run and replace the dirt with crushed/compacted gravel.

The structure:
The structure would be 20" wide and be 9' by 12.75' in an L shape (corner of my lot). The structure would be 4"x4" PT pine on the entire perimeter on top of the gravel. The 4"x4" framework would extend up 5' with some vertical supports and a horizontal member (2"x4") for fence board attachment. From the exterior, it would look like a privacy fence.

The planter:
On the inside, box planters would be built with cedar (will be used for herbs and veg) into the structure at a 4' height and be 12" in depth the full width (minus framing) and filled with dirt; I would drill holes in to allow sufficient drainage. Below the boxes would be "finished" to look like fence, but would be able to be opened for storage. If I do a good enough job, it would look like a raised planter box with a fence underneath it and behind it (since the exterior fencing would be 6').

I think the strength and weight would be sufficient that anything less than a tornado are not going to affect it and since it is not using shallow posts sunk into the ground, I wouldn't expect heaving to be an issue. Obviously, deep posts would secure it into place better, but I was thinking it would last much longer built on top of a substrate that didn't allow water/earth to sit against the wood.

Am I overthinking this? Are there any considerations I have completely glossed over?

8' long on one leg, 10' long on the other, both 6' tall, resting "on top of the gravel", not anchored into the ground?  The walls will act like giant sails in the wind with the ends leaning over or flapping in the breeze until a strong enough wind breaks the fence.  You should dig the holes and sink 4x4's as you would regular fence posts, cementing them in for support.


Can natural gas go stale in the pipe? Any natural gas experts out there?

Any time I am away from home for two days or longer, my stove takes 30 seconds to light. After that it works fine day after day after day!

Another similar problem is with my high eff modulating / condensing boiler every year at first fire-up.  The boiler fails with error for no ignition once or twice, then lights but woofs for 30 to 40 seconds. Then it ignites normally every time all winter.

I cannot find any reason posted anywhere but I theorize that the NG in the line goes stale rather quickly (two days) leaving useless gas in the pipe.

ANY other suggestions?

The short answer is no, natural gas does not go bad in any reasonable amount of time.

I wonder if you have a slow leak somewhere that is letting gas out, or air/moisture in.


How should I remove tiles and backer board from my bathroom? I have a pink tiled bathroom and want to remove them.  The tiles come up fairly easy but some do not and the backer board is intact mostly. What is the best way to remove the tiles and backer board if I have to?  This is around a jetted tub and the tile job was not done by a professional.

If you are removing the backer board, protect the tub (tape plastic over it and perhaps also use something like moving blankets or cardboard to pad it against impact) and use a crowbar and/or sledgehammer (with care not to go through the other side of the wall nor to damage the tub) to gain access for the crowbar to pry the backer-board off the studs. Or break it next to the studs, and then break what's left off the screws (if it was screwed in place), and then locking pliers to get the screws out.

If the backer board is not defective, and you are not removing the wall itself, consider the same sort of tub protection and using a wide, flat chisel to break off the stubborn tiles, followed by a "rubbing brick" to clean off the remaining thinset.


Internal latch plate stuck in latch bore? I am trying to replace my interior door knobs and am really struggling to remove the latch in my bathroom door. The latch plate (which goes  into the latch bore) was painted over so I assumed that’s why it wouldn't budge.
I was able to disassemble the latch while it was still in the door and remove it that way, however the latch plate is still stuck in the latch bore and possibly still a part of the latch.
I’ve tried to remove it with pliers but have just managed to bend or break everything I can manage to grab onto.
Is there any way to remove this?
Is it possible that this is built into or glued into the door?
Am I going to need to replace the whole door?

Door bolts are installed from the outside, so you'd remove it from the outside.
Cut the paint around the trim ring or plate on the edge of the door to prevent tearing, then tap the bolt out from inside the large bore.


16" center bracket to 24" center framing I'm installing a tankless water heater (150lbs static load, 10" deep)

I only have one option for installation and it is a 2x3 framed wall with 24" centers.

The Top bracket is designed to mount on top of a horizontal crossmember with screws penetrating the cross member in four locations and the studs in two. The bottom bracket requires a cross member as well but it just bolts to the cross member.

My question is this.  What is the best way to install this right (without rebuilding the wall). Double jack studs would work if the actual dimensions were 2x3, which they are not.  Should I just add another stud inside and work off of that?

The other answer given so far describes a solution where the tankless water heater is being installed in an area where the studs are open and not covered. There are instances where the studs are not open and may be covered with drywall (a.k.a. sheet rock). It this instance the installation of extra studs or cross blocking is not so easy and other methods are called for. I will describe two options:

You can cover the entire wall area where the brackets will be attached with a piece of 3/4" plywood. This may actually need to extend beyond the end of the bracket if the existing studs in the wall are farther away from the bracket mounting points. Secure the plywood to the wall surface using screws through the plywood and into the existing studding structure. Then mount the bracketing to the plywood. With proper size pilot holes for the screws the plywood does a really good job of holding the screws.
An alternative solution would be to mount two horizontal 2x4s or 2x6s flat on the wall centered vertically where the tankless heater brackets will be located. These cross members are attached with screws at each existing stud location. They may have to extend longer than the width of the bracketing if the next stud is further over from the mounting location. Once the cross members are secured the bracketing can be screwed into the cross members.

Note: Either of these schemes can also be used on a wall that has open studs. In fact applying one of these techniques could even be easier to install than extra studs and blocking between existing studding.


Why does my range breaker deliver 120 volts instead of 240? I'm in Calgary Alberta and I added 2 afci breakers and 1 15amp breaker to my circuit as we are developing our basement. I moved 1 40amp range breaker and now I'm not getting 240v across the black and red. I do get 120v from white to red and white to black but 0v from black to red. I even tried a new breaker and still nothing.

Any thoughts?

Thanks.

Wild guess while we wait for details... You may have one of the rare panel brands that allows a dual breaker to be installed with both sides on the same leg of the panel. Try moving the breaker up or down one slot.


120 volt wiring problem I have a wiring problem after replacing an outside outlet.   I checked my wires with a multimeter,  Hot is 121v, the common shows good and ground is good.
When I place a plug in 3 light tester it indicates wiring is correct. I show 121v with meter on hot and common.  Also on hot and ground. But, nothing works. Not even a 5w night light.this line goes through a GFI outlet. Which tests good, and when tripped also shuts off new outlet.
What am I missing?

Sounds like a high resistance connection somewhere. Try plugging in both the 3-light tester and a light to the outlet. I expect that then, the tester will indicate something wrong. If all of the lights go out, the problem is on the hot. If it shows an open neutral, then the problem is on the neutral.
I’d suggest you remove the outlet and check all of the connections. Also, if you are using the back-stabs, you should switch to the screw connections instead. These are much more reliable.


How do I remove this old metal ceiling junction box? There is this metal bar over this junction box which also holds a light fixture.

There is also 4 BX cables connected to it in which I am trying to upgrade the existing light fixture attached to it and use a Romex cable to power recessed lights.

Do I need to upgrade this junction box if I need to add a romex cable?

Does anyone know what this type of box is called? I am trying to research it but do not know.

This looks like it's an old school ceiling box. Note how the metal rod appears to attach to the box on top. It looks like these were attached from below (the bar bends and appears to go under the joist). They still sell a similar product today, with a bar that goes between the joists to hold a junction box.

As noted elsewhere, your best bet is to put a box nearby to lower the number of wires, then run only the needed wires into the box. I've done that myself and it helps a great deal when you have a box stuffed with wires.

If you're determined to remove it, I would cut the drywall back and see if you can detach it from below. Because it looks to be flush with the ceiling drywall, it's impractical to cut using anything but some sort of rotary tool (which would be a massive fire risk). Replacing a section of ceiling would be the least intrusive method of doing it.


2 shower heads and 1 rain head...low flow I hope someone can help because I'm truly lost here since I'm not a plumber.

We just had our house built and it was completed just 3 months ago.  We have a 50 gallon electric water heater and it seems to be functioning as it should.

Our sinks, toilets and children's shower function properly as does the dishwasher and pot filler.

We have a larger shower in the master bathroom that is not doing so great.  This shower has 2 separate shower heads on opposite walls and a rain head in the middle.  When I run one shower head the flow is great but if I use both shower heads or one shower head and the rain head then my flow is bad.  The shower has a 3 way diverter.  The plumbing was done entirely with PEX and I believe 1/2" was used.

I called a couple of plumbers that I know and both told me similar things that are far beyond the scope of my comprehension.  I was told that the inlet port could be too small; the plumber may not have put in some sort of balancing loop and finally that the size of my feeder line may be too small and may need to be replaced with a 3/4" line.  The only way I would know this for sure is to tear into my new wall and I really don't want to do that.  Is there an alternative to identifying the cause of this issue?  Could I not simply remove my shower head screw on a pressure gauge and measure from that point?

Please help...I'm pretty desperate here.

Thanks and sorry to be so long winded,
Mike and Jennifer

You have 3 shower heads on 1, 1/2" supply line The demand is higher than the 1/2" can supply. The size of the valves also makes a difference with high flow shower heads. Both the supply line and possibly the valve will need to be increased in size for full pressure with all 3 heads turned on. A booster pump or increase in pressure may be another option.


How can I eliminate home shaking caused by vibration from heavy traffic/poor road condition? I need your help!  I own a house near a state road (trucks, buses are allowed) near Philadelphia.  With the bad snow years the past few years, our road condition deteriorated but not so badly (little bumps), but badly enough to shake/vibrate my home when big trucks/buses go by (about 45 miles per hour).  I'm trying to find a way to perhaps dig the backyard about 6ft (1-2ft wide), and pour in concrete or something that can dampen the vibration (person from Lowe's said this).  Is there anything I can do?  FYI: distance to my home from the street is about 100 - 150ft (our backyard).  I'm willing to spend the money as long as I can eliminate this vibration coming from the state road through the ground.

Things I have done already:

I spoke to the local police station if they can lower the speed limit.  They said "No."
I put 2 tons of rocks against the fence (to the state road) to push down the ground to dampen the vibration coming from the traffic through the ground.  It didn't do much (slight improvement).

Your advice will be appreciated!  FYI: My home is shown here in blue dot next to the state road (Lancaster Ave).

I posted this to one person, but thought it can benefit more folks.

What I did (digging 6ft x 90ft inground trench, and pouring sand to fill it) didn't work. I ended up wasting $15K...My home still shakes, and I'm out of ideas... If it worked, I was going to put up some photos of all the work, but what a bummer (so if you are having a similar issue - don't dig!). I followed the research work by someone in Canada who I liked the idea of, but oh well. Asked the township to resurface the road and stuff. They'll do it over this summer, and I'm hoping that can do the trick. Below is the picture right before sand was poured in.

since its very difficult to decouple a home from its surrounding substrates, and sound propagation would otherwise just continue, you probably wont be able to do it unless you lift the house and isolate it from the earth.  berms, walls, and other physical barriers would have to be carefully designed, and probably be massively heavy to have any effect - all costly and invasive.

however, you have another option but it might be expensive.  you can have a sound engineer design an active acoustical damper for your home.  basically it uses large subwoofers to blast sound waves through your foundation (or at least at your foundation from the interior of the home).  the subs are triggered by sensors on the foundation walls and out in the yard and are all controlled by a computer.  essentially when a vibration comes in, it blasts the opposite waveform and cancels it out.  the issue is going to be finding someone to do it.  i was part of a job fifteen years ago that had something like this designed and installed for a site for a large optical telescope, and it worked amazingly well.  but i have no idea where you would start to look for the right guys to do it.  maybe your local college physics or engineering department?


What is a suitable mortar when repointing a wall made of soft red brick? I am about to re-point the front of my Victorian (1895) house which has soft red bricks.

Is a 4:1 ratio of sand to cement suitable?
I have read that cement can force the moisture though the bricks and cause issues, and therefore some people suggest lime instead of cement.

What colour sand is most common for the mortar in this case?

Do people tend to use red sand, or a dye of some sort?

Please don't let a cement based mortar go anywhere near your house! Definitely use a lime based mortar. I won't get into specifics as it's very location dependent, but a quick google search of the options available in your area should find a nearby supplier. Usually either a tubbed putty or a bagged powder mixed with sand or if you're lucky, a complete pre-mixed mortar ready to use from the tub after a mixing to liven it up.
A basic lime:course sand mix would be around 1 lime to 3 sand. Sometimes a little stronger 1:2.5 or so.
The sand needs to be clean and well graded, not too many large stones/grit. I sieve my locally available sand as it's mostly a little too coarse for the fine joints I encounter.
It's a big subject though, with more than a few do's and don'ts. Firstly make sure the joints are actually ready for re-pointing. If you need to rake out lots of mortar to get a nice deep joint then maybe it can wait a few years (cracks excepted).
Secondly, clean out the joints and moisten them well before packing in the dryish mortar. Keep the finished pointing protected and damp for a week or more. Slower the better.
There is some good stuff on the thisoldhouse dot com website.


Swapping out circuit board on York AC? I have a York AC unit where the circuit board is shot, so I bought a replacement circuit board (same model). The model number for the board is 031-00251C.

Pictures of old circuit board: http://imgur.com/gallery/0efD1/new

I'm considering replacing this myself, but have no experience. Any tips? Yes, I'll make sure the power is off first. Is there anything I should know ahead of time or how I should get started?

First, be wary of the two big capacitors.  One is the large "beer-can"-shaped component against the inside wall of the enclosure, and the other is the smaller, silver oval-shaped can right next to it.  These can hold electrical charge, and could hurt you.  You'll want make sure that they're discharged.

Once you unplug the unit, wait a few minutes for the caps to discharge on their own.  Then, get a piece of insulated wire, or pliers with insulated handles, and short out the two terminals on the top of the cap.  It may make a good spark, which is why you're doing it!  Better to spark through the wire than through you :)

There's a third cap on the pcb (big silver unit with a wire coming out either end), you should probably discharge this one, too.

The white connector up top will be easy.  Generally you just grab all the cables together and pull it out.  There may be a latching mechanism holding things together that's not visible in the photo.

At the bottom of PCB (going by picture orientation), look at the black and brown wires that are connected to the board.  The are using "quick disconnects", which can get to be fairly tight.  Grab the connector (not the wire), and rock it back and forth (the long way) as you pull on it.  Needle-nosed pliers might help.

Those wires have wire nuts on them too, but I would leave them alone.  Once you are finished, give each wire coming from the wire nuts a firm tug, to make sure they haven't loosened up.

Oh, and I recommend marking the wires before you disconnect them.  You can make small tags on the wires using masking tape.

Should be pretty straight-forward.  Good luck!


What should I do about shingles that are stuck to the sheathing? I'm so pleased to find this diy.stackexchange.

I'm in the middle of replacing a small roof above an entry-way.  It is an area of about 100 square feet (9.3 square meters).  The top layer of shingles were completely worn out and came off easily.  The bottom layer is stuck as if with glue to the sheathing.  It seems as though instead of tar paper, the original roofer just spread actual tar instead of using tar paper (or the tar paper degraded and fused with everything around it).  I was able to pry up the parts of this bottom layer that overlapped other shingles and get most of the nails out, but the stuck parts are better fastened to the sheathing than they are to themselves.  In other words, they aren't coming off.  I would like advice for how to proceed among these four options:

Just put new shingles on top of what is left of the bottom layer of shingles
lay out tar paper or felt over what is left of the bottom layer of shingles and then shingles.
take the next several weeks to slowly scrape this tarry, shingle-shaped goop off my roof with, I don't know, a blow dryer and a cheese slicer?
I guess pulling up the sheathing itself is an option, though it is beyond my skills, I think

Here is what I ended up doing:

The entire roof had an ice and water shield that was sticking the shingles.  This guy's write-up about his roof closely mirrors my situation in that it was south facing, low slope, and old.

After deciding to just lay shingles onto the remaining old shingles, I noticed that the sun warmed up the substance to the point where it was relatively easy to peel off the stuck shingles with the roofer's spade.  So I got the old shingles off, put down felt and applied new roof.  Thanks!


Separate furnace & a/c units on same breaker Long story short: with both units on one breaker, each one is kicking on one after the other to try to reach one temperature. I have turned the a/c disconnect at the outside box, and the a/c is still kicking on. Replaced the thermostat and it is set on heat and auto fan, just in case it was defective, and that still didn't help. What is another way I can shut the a/c down since I can't flip the breaker off either, or then I would lose the furnace too.

This is a broken thermostat, miswired furnace, or normal operation that you are mistaking for something else.

The fact that they're both on the same circuit breaker has nothing to do with it.

Shutoff switches positively deny power to the A/C condenser unit.  It is impossible for the A/C to function with the switch pulled.   On the other hand, how would you know? What you hear inside is the interior fan, which may run in conditions other than A/C.

Most typical forced air furnaces in the US use the same fan for both heat and A/C.

It should be literally impossible for the thermostat to command heat and command A/C a short time later by itself.  Most 'stats require you to throw a switch to run A/C or heat...  even smart stats like the Nest are modal and require you to switch it manually or on a timer.


Is this lighting fixture safe? I just got a second hand fluorescent light ceiling fixture. Very pristine condition externally, both the fixture and the external electronics. Certification marks are in place, and it's manufactured by a known and trusted manufacturer.
I was just detaching the small plug from the end of the cord, when I noticed that the inside of the plastic plug case has a small lichtenberg figure, e.g. a singed lightning mark. It's a surface mark that hasn't corroded or greyed out the inside of the case in a general sense, it's more like some lightning lines about the strength of a lead pencil mark. No detectable smell. No flickering or buzzing of the light when I tested for a short while. The wires seemed to be connected alright. By the looks of it, the mark is not one of subsequent sparks but a one time phenomenon.
Is this normal or should I worry?

It's not a sign of any sparking or other high-energy phenomena (as it would melt the plastic). It's merely dirt accumulating on the plastic in curious pattern. You can wipe it off or ignore. It's not an electrical issue, it's rather property of the material.


Getting Best Signal With RG6 I have recently "cut-the-cord" and have dropped my TV service through my provider, so the only need for a RG6 cable is my cable internet service.  My set-up is that the "orange" cable that leads from the pole to my house connects to a 6-way splitter like this:

Cables run all through the home, but the only one that matters is the ONE cable that connects to the modem.  My question is, will I see a difference if I continue to use the 6-way splitter, or if I change to what I'll call a "coupler" like the image below:

Will I see any increase in modem signal/internet performance etc etc if I switch to the "coupler"?

As long as you are getting an acceptable signal level at the router, replacing the six-way splitter with a coupler won't accomplish much. You can tell via a speed test, which is readily available on the web. However, reliability will be improved by replacement.

If you install the coupler, save the splitter for possible future applications


Can I put this new switch (3 wires) in my switchbox (2 wires)? So I purchased a fancy new programmable light switch. It has 3 wires
coming out of it: load (blue), neutral (white), line (black).

I opened the face plate on my current switch to take it out, and it has
only two (black) wires going to it. Behind the switch itself, I don't
see any ground (ie. exposed copper) wires.

However, I think I possibly see the neutral lines, I see 3 white wires
going into a red terminator cap (not sure if that is the correct term
for it).

My questions: (1) Is it possible for me to replace my old switch with this
new one? (2) If so, how should I wire the new switch?

FWIW, this switch will be controlling our outdoor porch light.

Here is a picture of the old switch, the new switch, and what's inside my switch box:

I think you can assume the white wires are the neutral associated with the line hot. Just make a 6" long pigtail of white #12 or #14 according to the gauge of the other wire and insert the stripped end into the wire nut with the other whites. The other end goes to the neutral terminal of the switch.


Where to get a fireplace door retaining clip I have glass doors on my wood burning fireplace. The doors don't want to stay fully closed and I think the reason why is that the clips that hold them in have deteriorated over the years.

I've looked at the big box stores to try and find new hardware like the attached but I'm not having any luck. The way they fit is that they sit toward the top of the door. A screw goes through the clip from the inside of the door and then a brass knob acts as the nut on the outside of the door. The curved part you can see in the side profile is what is supposed to catch the top of the door frame to hold the door closed.

Does anybody know if this type of clip has a specific name or where I can order a couple?

Pictures of the clip and how it engages with the door frame:

Some of the responses got me thinking along the lines of something else I could use in place of the original.

It turns out that the Hilman clamp fasteners that are in the hardware section at some big box hardware stores are about the right size and shape and with a little bending do the job perfectly.

Thanks to everyone who took the time to help. Your responses got me thinking along the right lines to find something that would work to hold the doors close while still looking OK.


How can I repair my two sloping concrete slabs? I have a home I'm working on that has been in the family for a while. I have  two slabs ,one where the original home was built and another where it was added on.

The two slabs run the entire length of the backside of the home and butt up against each other. The add on section is level up until about the last 10 feet where it slops down (facing back) The original slab also have issues but it more of a hill and valley affect on the same 10 ft or so.

At the highest and lowest I would say there is at least 2" rise from the valley but it is a gradual rise.

Any ideas on a fix for something this bad?

If the slabs are stable and not moving (caused by poor compaction, sub surface drainage, or plate tectonics), commercial floor leveling (gypcrete is the most flexible and most economic in most areas) would quickly get you flat.

Some considerations will be:

Door clearances
Need to extend floor drains upwards
Stair rises affected
Need to clear out everything


Is there a type of cement that can be used to glue tiles to a wall? My father told me there is a kind of cement which also acts as glue. This would be very useful for me to put back the tiles above my washbasin.

Is there really a cement that can glue tiles to the wall?

That's not actually "cement as glue", that's a cement-based compound modified with various trade secret components for better plasticity and adhesion. It's usually called "thin-set mortar" and it's widely widespread.

Since we likely live in different regions I'd rather not recommend any brand to you - you have your local brands.


Prevent drywallers from cutting wires New boxes, wires, outlets and drywall. How do I keep the drywallers from rotozipping through the wires in the boxes? I've already had to deal with that before.

We gutted our house after the great flood and I'm now replacing EVERY outlet and half the wiring. Water damage, 70s house, bad previous workmanship, updated code, etc. I have an electrician through my contractor that will supervise/check my work and install a new panel.  I'll ask him the same question when he gets here, but wanted other opinions. I'll be doing the "grunt" work of running wires, replacing fixtures, boxes, outlets, and such.

The way you insure that wires are left in good order when they are done, is that you do not pay the drywallers in full. If you hold off on paying them in full and wires need to repaired, the amount of the repairs will come off the amount owed to the drywallers.


How can I remove paint from this window's aluminum track? I recently purchased a house that has several layers of paint on the windows' aluminum tracks. (Wow! One bad paint job).

What's the best way to remove the paint, so that the windows will open and close easily?

Paint thinner, a rag, and some elbow grease.


How to figure out max Watt rating for transfer switch? We bought a home with a transfer switch installed (seems old, can't find any documentation for it anywhere on the internet). I'm trying to buy an appropriate generator, but am not sure how high of a Watt rating I can go with. The label on the switch says that the generator should be capable of delivering not more than "1000 A., rms symmetrical, 250 VAC". FWIW, it's a 30 Amp switch, 125/250V, with 10 15 Amp max circuits and its made by GenTran. Thanks in advance.

TLDR: Any Honda generator will be safe, but if the gen is larger than about 7200W it will need a 30A breaker on the supply socket.  You will probably want all of 7000W based on the loads you named so far, but what loads you serve with this is up to you. Clever choices could reduce generator need.

The switch's labeling says 30A capacity.  That looks like a NEMA 14-30 inlet which again is 30A.

30A x 240V = 7200 watts.

This thing is a subpanel without a main breaker, and that requires a breaker on its supply (supplies).  Amp-changing (50A-30A) cheater cords are illegal, so this  30A inlet plugs into a 30A outlet on the generator. That outlet must have a 30A breaker on it to protect the power cable to this panel, and this panel itself.

As long as the generator provides 30A protection, it can be any size, even 1000A. That's a bit of poetic license. You won't find generators that big on the market, any 240KW generator would make 480 3-phase or higher and use transformers to provision 120/240 loads.

A <=7200W generator is fine. The generator's inability to supply more than 30A will suffice as overcurrent protection: those won't need a supply breaker.  Note Honda is remarketing this panel, they make small consumer tier generators and any of those would suit.

Each of the 10 circuits has a 15A breaker, so even if it's a 20A circuit it is protected at 15A in this thing. However the wire from the main to this panel is not protected at 15A as it should be, so change out those supply breakers to 15A.

You don't seem to be clear on which circuits are powered through this subpanel.  That's kind of a problem.  Not only should you know... It should be your decision.  The loads you choose largely decide how much generator you need.

The choices made so far are fairly piggy (the microwave is a fat load to be sure, and the water heater is humongous unless it's gas), necessitating a large generator.  A thoughtful person could make make careful, compromise choices and reduce the needed generator size considerably.


How can I prevent this ice build up on my driveway/walkway? My house faces North. I have down spouts on all four corners of the house.

My challenge is that in the late winter/ early spring, the sun melts the snow off the roof and comes down the downspouts.

On the South side of the house, it's warm enough that the water flows away, and when it doesn't there's no one walking there.

On the North side of the house, it's in the shade. When the water hits the ground/concrete of the driveway/walkway it basically freezes instantly. The North East corner is OK, because no one walks there. However, on the North west corner (where the * is in the picture below), we get a huge buildup of ice there.

The treatment so far has been mechanical (chipping ice away) and chemical (salt). As it's summer now, it's a good opportunity to fix it permanently.

I've had straight extensions on that downspout to extend the flow somewhere better, but:

It tends to get stepped on by letter/paper carriers
I can't angle it enough to make a real difference without directing it onto the neighbour's walkway
If there's any buildup of snow at the bottom, it tends to back the water up into the extension and turns it into an ice log.

I've thought about adding a catch basin or running it down the yard underground in a weeping-tile pipe. But on both cases, I'm afraid of it also becoming a block of ice as well.

Any thoughts on away around this?

I'm not a professional, and I have very little experience. But:

Could you adjust the slope of your gutter?

Currently, rain rolls north off the roof, gets to the gutter, half goes east and half goes west. If you lower the north-east corner of the gutter (and gently slope the whole gutter toward it) a majority of the rain would head down the east spout instead of onto your driveway.


electric main rings of the house How do I know if my two floor house has one or two electric rings, one downstairs and one upstairs, or just one for all the house.

You should be able to tell from the number and size (rating) of the fuses/trip switches in the consumer unit.

The mains circuit should have a higher rating than the lighting - 30A/32A (UK/EU) vs 10A/15A for the lighting. So you should have 2 32A circuits, 2 15A and a separate 32A with thicker 6 mm core wire for an electric cooker or shower.

Source

To test which is which turn off any sensitive equipment (computers etc.) and plug in a desk lamp to one of the sockets. Remove a fuse or flip the switch. Then test to see if the light works. Repeat for all the sockets until you've identified which are connected to this circuit.

Repeat for the other fuse/breaker.

If in doubt consult an electrician.


Radiator leaking from valve-less end The radiator in my living room is slowly leaking from one of its ends; curiously it's not the end connected to the inlet or outlet pipe, nor the one where the vent valve is, but the fourth one. Pictures here: https://imgur.com/a/GSTERWl . It is leaking from the bottom-left end, where you can see the red container and and some corrosion in the pictures of the detail (with and without that plastic cap that seems to be there only for looks).
I suppose that the only long-term solution is replacing it, especially because of the corrosion. However, is there a temporary fix that can let me carry on for a few months/years without immediate danger? For the moment the leak is only a very slow drip; I put a container and after days there are only a few drops that do not even cover the bottom. I could even think about leaving it this way, if there is no risk of it suddenly flooding my floor without warnings.
The house is fairly recent (2008).

This is really a bad spot to be leaking considering that it's only about 12 years old. It's leaking where an attachment fitting is welded to the tank and with the amount of corrosion around it, a temporary fix isn't a good idea. It's rusted all the way around and it could start leaking a lot more without any warning since there is pressure in those pipes. You really need to think about getting that replaced.


How are Clopay Intellicore garage door R-values so high? Clopay's garage doors with their proprietary "Intellicore" polyurethane foam insulation claim R-values as high as 20.4 in a 2" thick door, or R-10.2 per inch.

State-of-the-art spray polyurethane insulation has an initial R-value up to 6.7 per inch, or about 65% of what Clopay claims (in a best-case scenario).

Clopay's technology is proprietary, but how is such a high R-value even technically possible for a polyurethane foam?

EDIT 1:

I realize that there are other elements besides foam in the door, but their cross section illustration (top of page) depicts polyurethane foam injected into a steel shell. The steel certainly does not increase the R-value, so the R-value apparently comes solely from the foam.

EDIT 2:

Some context for posterity: I'm considering building my own insulated garage door, and through some research I found that Clopay appears to lead the market in garage door R-values. Trying to see if (and how) I can get anywhere close to their R-values.

Note the fine print in the chart: "Calculated door R-Value is in accordance with DSAMA TDS-163".  Here is DSAMA TDS-163.

From the PDF:

  Refer to Figure 1. A typical insulated door has an exterior surface, interior surface, and an insulating core
  material. Also present is the insulating effect of air on a vertical surface, termed “air film”. Each of these
  elements has a unique R-value that added together create the door section R-Value.
  Rsection = Rair films + Routside surface + Rinsulation +Rinside surface

So the 20.4 value includes not only the 2" of foam, but the R values from the outside surface, inside surface, and some air films that are assumed not to be moving.  I expect you're correct that the foam alone would provide a value more in line with the typical 6-7 R/inch you're used to.


How to get rid of fleas in an apartment with carpeted floors? Long story short...we came home after 5 days away with our 1.5 year old and noticed that the wherever the cat slept or lounged there was cat hair and little particles that looked like black pepper.

A quick internet search pointed to fleas. My wife bought a flea collar for the kitty (~$50 for a time release collar good for 8 months...that hurt the wallet) and a flea comb.

She proceeded to comb 40-50 fleas off of kitty. (Awhile ago I noticed spots on kitty's neck that were scabbed over. I should have guessed that it was probably from scratching.)

I also saw a flea on the carpet and then it sprang away.

My question is, what is the cheapest, safest and most efficient way to get rid of these suckers. Is there a permanent solution? I have a 1.5 year old so I'm concerned with using chemicals.

When I lived in an apartment, we had a problem with fleas once (due to a neglectful pet owner in the building).  Getting rid of the problem was no small feat, and took a lot of work over a few days.

I started by laundering all bedding, clothing, and basically anything fabric that was washable.  Next I rented a steam cleaner, to clean the carpets. You can call in the pros for this if you don't want to do it yourself.  The final step was to spray the entire carpet; paying special attention to the edges and corners, with Adams™ Flea & Tick Home Spray. Other brands exist, this was just the one I chose which worked for me.

When using any chemical spray, make sure you have adequate ventilation. Try to avoid skin contact with chemical sprays as well. My wife had a bad reaction to the spray, where her feet swelled up quite a bit.

If you're in an apartment building; where the source of the infestation could be coming from other tenants, you'll also have to treat the other units.  If you don't remove the infestation from the entire building, you'll likely see the fleas return to your apartment.  Any outdoor pets in the building should also be treated, not only to combat the flea infestation but also for the health of the animal.


What types of communication cables can pass through electrical conduit? Originally asked at Network Engineering

What types of communication cables can pass through electrical conduit?

I believe that optical fiber is the only one possible. However, I'm not sure.

I'm trying to make a home project where I have wifi APs interconnected by some wire. The type of wire can vary, but I'd prefer to have the lowest priced tech. Also, would prefer to have all wires hidden, so this is why I'm considering to use electrical conduit.

You just can't do it.  There are only two exceptions where you can intermix comms and mains voltage in a conduit.

Fiber-optic cable, where the cable is entirely non-conductive, is acceptable with mains
SCADA controls where the interlink is related to the mains equipment, or to be more precise, where all of the low-voltage wiring remains entirely contained within Class I wiring methods, e.g. power-rated conduit, and that means not coming out to a socket and continuing onward with non-mains-rated cable, i.e. ethernet is Right Out.  Examples:

3-way retrofit smart switches, where the switches re-task the existing mains /3+ground cable to be always-hot, neutral, and a comms wire.
Powerline monitoring and load-usage devices such as Sense, EnergyCurb, etc. These live entirely inside the service panel, and their signal lines (current transformers) are wired entirely inside mains wiring methods.  This is a great example of how there isn't any Ethernet port on the side of your service panel (huge no-no!!), instead WiFi is used, which provides the mandatory isolation.  Essentially this whole data network "lives at live voltage" and is contained thusly.
Commercial RR7 lighting installations, where 24VAC signals throw relays to operate lighting.
Industrial SCADA, where the controllers sit on mains power, and the interconnect is via an Ethernet/Canbus/whatever thrown into the mains conduit or raceway, and the equipment is designed to accommodate this method.  If the SCADA equipment has an Ethernet port to the "outside world", that port is built isolated and is UL-listed to that effect.

I am assuming you are dealing with equipment that takes a lot of power, like a server rack.  If you are only hauling AC power in that conduit to feed a "wall wart" power supply that's low voltage and <55W, then forget AC -- haul the low voltage.  An obvious method is PoE (Power Over Ethernet).  However you can do this with any low-voltage load, just carefully mind your voltage drop and feel free to dip into the mains electrical parts bin for the fat wires you may need.  For instance, if you need #10 wire, then use readily available, cheap, stranded white THHN, and use it for both low-voltage + and -.  (tape the ends of the wires red and black to designate polarity etc.  You are allowed to re-tape individual wires to different purposes in conduit when it's low-voltage wiring.)

If you just can't haul low voltage, yet your load is <40W, the other super sneaky way to haul low voltage while still having mains at both ends, is use two 40W thermostat transformers back-to-back, so the transmission through the low-voltage conduit happens at 24VAC.


Pro T705 thermostat: heat kicks on when it drops below 64.5 despite it being set to kick on at 60 I have a Pro T705 thermostat.
At night, I have it set to only heat when the temperature drops below 60 degrees F. I have the wake up temperature set to 73 degrees.
I have a Netamo system in the same room which tracks the actual temperature real-time. It's within 5 feet of the thermostat and at roughly the same height on the wall.
The heat is consistently coming on when the temperature drops below 64.5 degrees and it continues to heat to 73.

I've checked the temperature schedules. I've checked the times.
The only other thing I can guess is that it's because of the "swing" settings - that the difference between the lowest temp point and the heat setting is too wide.
Could it be the swing settings or is there something else going on?
UPDATE======
Experimented last night to see if the answer of it being "adaptive intelligent recovery" was correct. Adjusted the wake up time to hours later, kept the setting to only heat when the temperature drops below 60 degrees F.
Confirmed that heat didn't kick on when it dropped below 64.5 and the wake up heat setting was well in the future.

It's probably "adaptive intelligent recovery".  That is, the thermostat learns about the building's heat loss and capacity of the heating system.   So if you want the wake up temp at 73  by 8:00 AM, the tstat "learns" that it takes 2 hours (just an example) to get there, so it turns the heating system on at 6:00.  From your graph (impressive, BTW), it doesn't seem like it's turning the system on during the night, only in the early morning to get to temp by the time you set as "wake up" temp. What you might be seeing is the space just hadn't cooled down to 60 before it was "time to turn on the system" to get you to your 73 degree set point by when you wanted it.


Floor Level for 6x24 tile I am in the process of installing wood like tiles and I was wondering if my floor is level to install those tiles. right now if I use 72" beam box level, it is having 1/8" of uneven floor. So how can I make sure if my floor is ok to install 6"x24" tiles. How to check the floor for leveling.

Thank you,
Nishant Balwan

level isn't as important as flat. ⅛" will not affect the appearance of the tile if you use thin set to install. just use a large tooth comb and feel the edges of your tile as you set them. settle high tile with gentle pressure and expect some clean up in the joints. the wood look is forgiving of small irregularities


2 breakers connected together I have two 20 amp breakers connected together with nothing else connected to those breakers. I have not had the electricity turned on but I am wondering why this was a done and what would happen if the electric was turned on and these two Breakers was still connected together?

I am going to presume that you mean the handles of the breakers are tied together.

This is the older method of creating a 2 pole, 240 volt circuit or a multiwire branch circuit.

If nothing is connected to them then nothing will happen when you turn them on.


Wire and Conduit for Indoor Sub Panel with Outdoor Main Panel Through Attic My main panel is outdoors on one end of my house.  Planning to add a sub panel for very occasional welder use, electric car charging, and future expansion in the garage on the other side of the house.

By far the easiest path would be outdoors from the main panel along the wall (that side of the house is obscured from view, luckily) up to the attic.  Into the house at the attic, across the attic and down the garage wall.

Is it sane to run individual conductors through liquid tight non metallic conduit for this?  Would the conduit need to be continuous through the attic?  Total run will be about 75 feet.  Is there a better solution?  I assume 3-3-3-5 SER is not viable since it can't be installed in conduit and I assume this will have to be in the outdoor exposed section.

As a side note, not sure if I can use the 75 degree chart or 60.  The wire plus the breaker on the main panel and the connections sub panel determine this?  If 75 degree, I could run 4 awg for an 85 degree breaker?  That seems adequate.  What size ground and conduit?  If I have to use 60 degree, I'll go with 3 awg, and I believe 1" conduit and 5 awg ground?

You must use the 60 degree column if your feeder is < 100A.  The 75C column is allowable if the feeder >= 100A, and all the other conditions for 75C are met, which they usually are.

Using 310.15B7 (#4Cu) is out of the question.  That table is for service not feeders.  Yours does not supply the entire facility, so no go. If you want to use #4Cu you must breaker 70A, since you don't get the 100A bump.

Keep in mind attic temperatures require a temperature compensation if they're high.  It's also good to think about voltage drop if your distance >=120 feet, but don't think too much about it - base it on actual daily load, not breaker trip, and never put 3% into a voltage drop calc.

It's legal to run cable in conduit, it's just really masochistic.  The stuff is so stiff that you will have a bear of a time manhandling it, and realistically will probably have to call an electrician to do it.

Also masochistic is spending on copper for anything this large. Copper is a semi-precious metal. Aluminum AA-8000 is a fantastic choice but you will need #1Al.  Aluminum requires slightly larger conduit but the savings in wire easily pays for it.   I only use copper on very short runs.  If you heard something about aluminum being bad, what is true does not apply here.

There are several ways to do it.

conduit all the way, and individual THWN or XHHW wires in conduit.
conduit up the wall only, wet-location cable continuously the whole way including through the conduit.
conduit up the wall only to a junction box, individual wires in the conduit, then a splice to dry-location cable.  The splice will be fairly expensive due to the very large junction box required and Polaris connectors, may cost more than just running conduit the whole way.

I see no reason for liquidtight conduit.  You will still need to use outdoor rated wire or cable.  The one place it might help is keeping water out of the breaker panel if you top exit.  I strongly prefer to bottom exit for obvious reasons, but that will be quite a large radius turn.


ceiling cracks-spider web cracks Hi, there’s such spider web cracks in our second floor room. Who should I ask for to fix this problem? It looks serious.

Any reputable contractor or handyman will be able to make the repair. It may be worth having them investigate further as to why the cracks are occurring.
You'll want to mention to them when they appeared and if they have increased in size recently.
If they haven't just appeared and if you live in a seismic area the repair is a matter of securing the loose sections with screws aand covering the cracks with Spackle.