Replacing stacked gas washer/dryer igniter I have a GE stacked gas washer/dryer #GTUP270GM4WW trying to replace the igniter,Took off front panel and can't get my hand in there let alone a screwdriver to get at the screw holding it in.I see nothing to remove to make more room. It's looking like I have to take the whole side off just to replace one little part. Any help would be appreciated

For most every dryer you will need to remove panels and the drum to access the burner assembly. For stacked units, you should go ahead and "unstack" it; that is, remove the top dryer from the washer. Then you would normally open the door and look at the upper door-seal area to remove a couple screws that hold down the top. Remove the top to access the screws holding on the front panel. Remove the front panel and the drum to access internal parts.

If you have not done this before you should do more research or hire someone, as there are specific steps for removing and reinstalling the drive belt and drum. Not saying you can't do it; just saying that there is not room in this forum for a complete description of all the steps. There are lots of videos and info on-line, search "GE dryer drum removal".


What would cause my washing machine to stop at the rinse cycle and smell? My wash machine fills with water and washes just fine.  Then, when it is supposed to empty at the rinse cycle, it stops.  There is a slight burning odor.  If I wait a half hour I can start it back up.  I would like to replace the broken part but I am not sure what it could be.  It seems that something is overheating and causing the smell, and once it cools the cycle will continue.  The lid switch works just fine.  If I try to advance the knob manually, it just makes a quiet buzzing sound until I turn the machine back off.  Any ideas what it could be?

It sounds and smells like the pump that purges the water from the tank has failed. This could be due to bad windings on the motor, motor damaged due to excessive surges on the power line (perhaps lightening while the washer was running) or some object getting down into the pump and jamming it up so the motor overheats.

If the tank drains normally after the unit has been allowed to cool down then the problem may be in the timer unit that sequences the wash / rinse cycles. These timer units (particularly on older units before everything went electronic) also have a low power motor that can burn out.

The timing sequence controller in a washer also controls relay contacts and high power switch contacts that turn the motors and pumps on and off. Sometimes these contacts go bad and start to spark and burn. It is possible for the contacts to weld together and prevent the proper sequencing of the timer past a certain point in the cycle.

In either case of the issues involving the timer it usually requires replacement of the timer unit. This can get relatively expensive to repair so it is worthwhile to evaluate the age and condition of your existing unit so you can make an intellegent choice between repair and replacement of the unit.


What radio antenna connector is required? (FM/AM) I need to hook up a coaxial antenna cable from my FM antenna to my stereo. The stereo is actually an RV (recreational vehicle) unit because it fit into a very tight space in my house (wall mounted, limited depth) so maybe has a different connector than what you'd normally find.

The cable right now is just a bare coax cable that I need to add ends to. The antenna end is a normal male coax connector, but what the stereo end needs is unclear...

The manual doesn't say anything in detail about what type of connector is needed for the antenna cable. This is the diagram from the manual:

It literally says nothing at all about the connector.

This is a photo of the actual connector on the stereo:

(sorry that's not as clear as I'd like, its hard to get the camera in there without disassembling things).

I assume this is some kind of standard connector, but I'm not familiar with this type of thing to know any details. Its a Jensen stereo.

This is a "Motorola" type connector. These have been around in automotive radios since nearly the beginning of auto radios which were introduced by Motorola. Motorola is basically gone but their connector lives on. I've also heard them called "auto antenna" connectors.

I'm sure there are some different ones on the market but this style is by far the most common.

According to Wikipedia they are also called DIN41585:

Motorola Connector


How do I finish a pine wood floor so that it can be waxed? My house has pine floors in the kitchen and upstairs, and its finish has almost entirely rubbed off, and is now showing bare wood. I'm interested in applying a wax (or maybe oil?) finish on it (mostly so that scratches can be buffed out).

How do I prepare the floor and what sorts of products do I use? Is it common to lacquer, shellac, or oil (Tung? Linseed?) the floors before waxing them? Does it make a difference if I use a paste wax versus a liquid wax?

I know that polyurethane would be the toughest and most water resistant finish, but I'm worried about it getting lots of scratches that cannot be easily removed. What would the most durable finish be for the kitchen that I could spot-repair (with, for example, wax)?

So, my current plan is to apply a few coats coats of tung oil, and then wax the floor. I'm not sure if applying shellac in between is a good idea (or not).

A trip to the hire shop is in order. One floor sander and an edge sander. A selection of medium and fine grit belts-the hire shop will probably credit you for unused materials. Get all the windows open and wipe the floor over with isopropyl alcohol to remove as much old wax as possible, this will save a lot of clogging of the sanding medium. First sand across the grain, do all the edges with medium then fine grit, finally fine grit along the grain. Dampen the whole floor with water, leave for a leisurely lunch, return, fine sand the edges, then along the grain with the floor sander. Clean up really well, ensure you vacuum clean all the joints and cracks. Apply a coat of sanding sealer and leave overnight. In the morning use a hand sanding pad and very fine grit and remove all the 'nibs'...you will have some! Apply a second fine coat of sanding sealer. Leave overnight or better still a couple of days. Apply the first floor wax layer with a 'scotchbrite' pad or similar (this will de-nib the floor as well) in a very thin coat-not forcing wax into the joins. Buff,leave a couple of days, repeat at least three times. Note that for the kitchen a better finish will be to apply four or five coats of tung oil over a couple of weeks which will not show water spots as readily as wax, as always, when applying oil or wax a little many times gives the best finish.


GFCI circuit for hot tub tripping after move Good day,
We had a fully functional hot tub in our garage (don't ask).

We moved it outside on to a patio of cement patio blocks.

I tapped off the sub panel in the garage that the tube used to be hooked to.
I ran 80' of #6-4 wire out to another GFCI sub panel outside the house within sight of the tub.

When I energize the breakers they both pop

I have confirmed that the common and ground are only bonded in the main panel.

If I separate them in the main panel everything works but you can get bit if you touch the water while your barefooted.

I'm attaching a diagram of what I have wired.

MyWiringDiagram

I'm stumped, I need some ideas please.!

The correct answer is to call an electrician.....and get rid of that second GFCI.  If you are on a forum wondering why you are getting shocked when touching the water, you really shouldn't be doing that electrical youself. Call a professional and have it done right.


Second Opinion on Tiling We are having a bathroom tiled   but we're not quite happy with the result so far. The grout lines look uneven, the tile cuts aren't very clean and there's quite a lot of lippage and the walls are way off plumb.
I'm happy to give the trades person the benefit of the doubt for walls he hasn't prepared but two of them are his work from scratch.
Could someone please look at the pictures (it's quite hard to capture these things on photos) and give us a second opinion before we bring this up with the builder?

Full size pictures: https://photos.app.goo.gl/n42aAqbpmtZMaSU38

This appears to be very shoddy workmanship. I can't tell a lot about how plumb the walls may or may not be but the wallboard has to be done properly in order to get good results once the tile is applied. However, it doesn't appear the tiler is very knowledgeable or skilled with properly installing tile. He/she should be using spacers between all of those tiles in order to control the gap between tiles. That's tiling 101.
It's always a good idea for jobs of this type to get referrals. Don't just accept the lowest bid.
IMO - I think the job needs to be redone.


Will insulating my attic make a noticeable difference? I'm renting a house that was never originally intended to be occupied full-time. The house is of a cinder block type construction with no insulation in or on the blocks. The attic has some insulation, but only at an R-value of 9. I'm fortunate that I have free natural gas on the property for heating - so heating isn't an issue. However, in the summer the house is unbearably hot and difficult to air-condition with two portable AC units (the windows are an unusual size and won't allow for a standard window unit.)

Edit: I'm in climate zone 6a in central West Virginia. The attic currently has a ventilation fan that I ran around the clock last summer.

Would increasing the insulation in the attic likely make a noticeable difference in cooling the structure in the summer?

Yes it will make a noticeable difference, but I'd be hard-pressed to do that on a place I was renting. With free natural gas, I'd be tempted to get a NG generator and run bigger A/Cs. I'm surprised you need AC that bad in central WV. I grew up in southern WV w/o AC--and never really needed it up in the mountains... Good luck.


House wide 24v dc on single extra conductor? Is it feasible to provide a house wide 24v DC supply that uses mains neutral or ground for the -ve side?
Edit: I removed reference to "NEUTRAL OR ground" because risks, and RCDs, per answers.
Where I am AC is 230v, and and 3-core TPS is normal.  If I could get a single 24v  at each power outlet, then I can put fairly cheap USB-C Power Delivery points for 5v to 20v DC at each outlet.
But can i use 4-core single phase for this, or do I need to use a separate DC pair?  Are there risks beyond the obvious ones (like accidentally bridging the 24v +DC and AC live!)?

Generally speaking, you can't mix high voltage (120, 240 and above) with low voltage (definition varies, but 24V is definitely low voltage). This means you can't use part of a high voltage cable for low voltage DC, and it also means you can't mix and match low & high voltage individual wires in conduit.
Part of this is the obvious "accidentally bridging the 24v +DC and AC live" safety problem, and there are other reasons as well.
As far as the specific question of neutral or ground as the other 1/2 of the circuit. No, you can't do that. Along with any other safety issues, the wires have fundamentally different uses:

"Ground" in DC circuits refers to a return path for the circuit. The "ground wire" in a mains AC circuit (the green or bare wire) is not normally used to carry current, except during a fault situation. Loading it up with 24V DC is therefore not a good idea.
Neutral in AC circuits is logically like ground in DC circuits, but it actually carries just as much current and the AC variation thereof. So some of the time that DC current would (theoretically) be opposite the AC current in the neutral (i.e., bringing it closer to 0) and some of the time it would be in the same direction (more current than normal). In any case, it won't work and it isn't allowed.


When to repair engineered floor truss damaged by cut? While using my circular to cut away rotted subfloor sheathing, I accidentally cut a thin kerf notch into the flat 2x4 top of my engineered floor truss joists. The cut is about 1/2 inch and very thin. How much risk am I assuming if I ignore this? There will be concrete and tile over this subfloor. See attached photo. That edge was made by my circular saw which I assume was set to incorrect depth.

Well, it doesn't matter how thick it is, but it does matter how deep it is. If you've only cut one or two trusses, and it's no more than 1/2" deep, I don't think you have a problem. It's extremely unlikely that it'll cause failure of the floor system in any substantial way.

However, since you have fairly easy access, I'd attach a repair member to the underside of that board, fastening it with construction adhesive and 3" gold screws (through the subfloor where necessary). Make it as long as can comfortably be fit in the space available.


What can be done to mitigate risk when buying a very old home? Im looking to buy a house and I have found a house that I really like and want to buy. There are a couple issues though. While the house cosmetically looks awesome because it has been entirely renovated recently, I am a bit worried that there could be hidden problems because the house is 125 years old.

What is the risk that such an old house can have need for serious repairs in near future despite a reputable/good inspector saying that the house is in good shape? What can be done to mitigate that risk?

It seems there are a handful of steps you could take:

Make sure you understand typical protections built into the home buying process in the US. Generally, the things that can be major health hazards (radon, lead paint, asbestos) can or should be handled as part of the purchase. At the least, if you have a bank involved to write you a mortgage, they will almost certainly require these items to be tested for and mitigated.
Make sure you understand the renovations that already happened, if possible. How did the prior owner make decisions about what to do? Were they just concerned with cosmetics, or were there updates made to the home's infrastructure as well?
Make sure you understand your home inspector's process. Home inspectors are licensed by state in the US and are essentially required to follow standards on what they inspect and how they report their findings. That said, there's a lot of variability (as with any skilled trade) so it pays to research before choosing an inspector, and then make sure you're present during the inspection and understand what they're checking and why.
Have a trusted general contractor do a separate inspection based on providing an estimate to correct issues the home inspector finds. Be present for this inspection and ask them if they see anything else. Generally, contractors won't want to literally play the role of inspector, but if you have a friendly relationship with a contractor who is willing to walk through the house with you, that can be valuable.
Have a specialized pest inspector do a pest inspection. Old homes can be easy targets for rats, ants, and other pests that can do major damage.
Take out a third party home warranty. Many people would put these one step above "snake oil" in terms of the value they provide, but if your ultimate goal is elimination of risk, that's what these policies are for. That said, taking out such a policy on an old home is going to be a pricey affair.
If the home was built in an identifiable style and time frame in an area with lots of similar homes from the same time frame, try community-sourcing feedback (via social media community groups, or asking people you know in the community, or other means you have available) on what other local homeowners have had to deal with. Maybe all these homes have similar roofs that tend to fail in a certain way, or none of them had insulation in the walls, or the wiring or plumbing has a certain typical problem, or whatever.

As a frame challenge, the uncertainty you're expressing may be a good reason to purchase a new(er) home that may still be under a builder's warranty. Or, accept that the constant need for work is part of the "charm" of owning an older home.


Replacing drywall panels: butt or tapered edge? When re-opening walls for plumbing, electrical changes I elected to remove whole drywall panels, when replacing these with new panels should I present a tapered edge to the previously finished edge?  Or does it now count as a "butt edge" and should I cut the drywall for a butt-to-butt edge?

I'm reading that it's more difficult to finish a taper-to-butt seam.

In one case the paper tape came up easily, should I do elsewhere?

I'll be hiring a taper/mudder to re-finish these seams.

Finishing a taper to butt seam is no more difficult than any other seam. Don't worry about it. (Especially if you've got a pro doing it.)

Any paper that lifts should be removed.


How do I identify and repair this drywall damage? I'm working on repainting my walls in my house. To prep for it, I removed the base trim from my walls (I'm gonna put in new ones too).
Somehow, when removing the trim, part of the wall started peeling off with it and exposing the inner part.
I'm thinking that I peeled off part of the paper to the drywall but I'm not sure. The surface is grainy and crumbles easily when I run it. Honestly, I don't even know the name of that stuff. (This house was built in 1977, plaster maybe?)
How can I fix this?

I ran into a very similar scenario, where upon removing the base trim, a portion of the paint began to peel. I think the original paint was applied directly to the drywall with no primer, though I may be mistaken. What resulted was the paper layers that surround the gypsum of the drywall began to peel off with the paint.

A / B) You can see where the layers of paper separated from the gypsum core from removing the nails holding the molding
C) A section of paint that was stuck to the molding took one or more layers of the paper off exposing a brown inner layer of paper.
This actually occurred second to a different wall where I had removed the hanging cabinets (Water leaking from the bathroom above ruined the ceiling, and I removed the cabinets to investigate the extend of the damage through the wall). On removing these, there was a noticeable exposure from where the cabinets had been painted around. Removing the paint took most every layer of paper off, completely exposing the white gypsum core of the drywall. There were also sections that still had some of the brown paper on the outside of the drywall. I attempted to use a primer/sealer on this, but the result was that the paper absorbed the moisture and looked very bad. The final solution was to rip out all of the existing drywall and replace it.
It was a learning experience for me (first time home owner) in having to replace that wall, but the final result was very good.
The base molding removed on a separate wall of the same room (pictured above) appeared to have the same issue, where the paint sealed it to the cabinetry. On removing the cabinets I had to be careful about being delicate to not peel much of the drywall paper off. There were a couple areas that I was not able to avoid, and my solution was to try applying a very very thin coat of joint compound, allowing it to dry, and repeating the process as needed until the wall was evenly coated. From there I painted with a primer/sealer before applying the final coat of paint.
It was certainly not perfect, as indicated in the 2nd picture, but I know this area will be covered by cabinetry so I was willing to let it slide.


Wiring multispeed PSC motor from ceiling fan I disassembled a ceiling fan to replace seized bearings. Unfortunately the pics I took to aid re-assembly are no longer accessible and the fan is an '80s era no-brand which I can't find any info for online. I have determined this is a PSC motor with a 3-wire speed control (L-->off / L-->A / L-->B / L-->A+B), a DPDT reverse switch and a single non-polarized capacitor. The motor has 5 colored leads (red, black, grey, green, brown) and I measured resistance as follows: Black-Red=30Red-Grey=60Black-Grey=90 I'm doing my best to understand it but I'm still a little confused about how to re-connect it all. I made a diagram and took the liberty of numbering all the leads in order to aid discussion. Any help would be much appreciated - thanks!

I came up with a solution so I'm going to to go ahead and post it in case anyone else should happen upon this and find it useful.I added the 1-in, 2-out, 4-position speed switch into the diagram. The switch works by taking one input and routing it thusly:[1:  (off) | 2:A | 3:B | 4:A+B] and in this way controls speed by energizing either one part, 2 parts, or all 3 parts of the run (inner) winding (see diagram to help make sense of this).
I found conflicting information about achieving reverse (some sources said switch the polarity of the run winding, some said the start winding); I went with the start winding (the outer one) and it worked. Lastly, I found the capacitor was to be inserted in the start winding and that was straightforward enough.
With the AC input I made red Hot and blue Neutral; however it doesn't appear to me it would make any difference, other than that one way the reverse switch is up for clockwise rotation and the other it is up for counterclockwise rotation.


Ok to connect a 1.5" sump pump outlet tube to 2" discharge line using a no-hub fitting? My new sump pump is pre-plumbed with 1.5" PVC, but my existing discharge line is 2". Is there any problem with connecting the 1.5" pump outlet to the 2" discharge line using a flexible Fernco coupling on the vertical section of the line? The check valve will be below the Fernco connection point, right at the base of the pump.
Update: I installed the new sump pump with the flexible 1.5" to 2" fernco coupling, and it's working like a charm. Thanks for the answers.

That will work fine.  What you want to avoid is reducing from say 2" to 1.5" as this can cause things to get stuck and block the flow.
But you should be good to go with a 1.5" opening up to a 2".


What is the best way to get superglue off a Corian countertop? My kids and I have spilled superglue onto a Corian countertop in our kitchen, I've heard you can buff out scratches and such from these, but I'd rather avoid scraping and buffing if possible.  Is there another way to get superglue off these?

--UPDATE
The debonder didn't work, so maybe not CA based glue, will try the razor blade, but has to be when the wife is away...

What type of superglue? If it's CA-based, then this debonder will work on it. I'm not sure how it will do on Corian though. My guess is that if the glue didn't react with the countertop, then the debonder won't either. (Mostly I've used it for debonding balsa wood and/or carbon fiber.) I'd definitely try it out on a small scale first, and if it doesn't hurt the countertop, then go for it.

If that doesn't work, then my next plan of action would be scraping it off and buffing.


Should I add a return vent to a pantry that doesn't have an a/c vent? I recently added a door to close off a walk in pantry room.  It doesn't have an a/c vent to bring cool air into it.  I didn't realize how hot the room would get.  The pantry shares a wall with the a/c inside unit.  Would adding a return air vent in the wall under the a/c unit encourage cool air into the room?  The new air vent would open up into the same area where the other a/c return vents are,  There is about 1.5 inches open at the bottom of the door.  Is that enough?

I don't think you want to rely on encouraging cold air into the room.
I have a walk-in closet that had the same problem and I solved it with a through the wall fan similar to the one below. Mount it between a room with AC and the pantry. Cold air will blow into the pantry and the space under the door will act as a return.


What things to watch for when installing sewer line in the basement under 15" concrete slab I am going through a major renovation in my house which involves excavating 7'6" basement and pouring seismically strong 15" slab as a floor.
The house is pretty high on the hill and something like 50' from the property line. I have a sewer line currently going under floor joists and in the middle of the space that will become a basement. So it will be above one's head after basement is done. In future, I want to consider getting a small powder room (toilet + sink) in that basement. So I decided that I want to reroute the sewer line under the slab using trenches excavated for drainage. Those trenches will be something like 6'-7' below the grade line.
Since we are on a small hill, per measurements, there should be enough slope for this sewer and lateral to be below the slab.
I will have plumber to do it but what are the things that I should look especially carefully considering that the entire house drain will go through this line and that fixing it may be ridiculously expensive?
Should I require specific access boxes installed at every join of the pipe? If so what is the recommended size and kind?
How should I evaluate the quality of all connections? I think pressure test is required anyway.

Use 4" - don't cheap out and use 3" because you can technically get away with it. That will instantly limit likely problems, and costs very little to do up front. Small lines (sink drain, vents, buried traps) are required to be at least 2" diameter under concrete IIRC.
Unless you have some absurdly torturous path in mind, a cleanout every 50 feet is generally adequate. If you are going to make absurd corners, more cleanouts may be advisable, but not making absurd corners is more advisable. You certainly don't need one every 10 feet, and providing the required access to them every 10 feet might screw up your basement plans anyway.
Remember to allow for future finish when roughing in your powder room access - we've had a few questions come by where the fixture rough-in was spaced from the unfinished wall, and there wasn't enough space when the wall was finished and a few inches were lost in the finishing. Also remember that vents are needed as well as drains. Much easier to put them in from the start than to try and retrofit after concrete is poured.


How to remove ice maker from Miele / Liebherr freezer? I have a Miele KFN 8701 SE freezer (also known as a Liebherr freezer) which has an ice-maker which has failed.

A plastic part has come free, and also what looks like a temperature sensor:

This is the front view. It seems to sit on a holding bracket from above, and there appear to be lugs that would let it drop down if I could move it forwards a centimetre or so. However it doesn't seem to want to move.

There is a single screw that I can see, which I don't seem to be able to undo (there isn't much room for a screwdriver). However I'm not sure whether this is holding the thing in place or not. It looks to be a fair way from the mounting brackets.

If I could remove it, I might be able to repair it, or just leave it out and make ice cubes the old-fashioned way.

Does anyone know how to remove this thing?

I worked it out after watching a YouTube Video about the Liebherr CS 2061 Ice maker Tray replacement. Apparently my Miele freezer is a Liebherr freezer re-badged.

How to remove

There are two retaining lugs in the middle (from the point of view of front to back).

(Ice maker is upside down in this photo and the next one).

These engage against two moveable lugs at the top of the freezer, circled:

Use a couple of chopsticks or screwdrivers to push both lugs up simultaneously, whilst pulling the ice-maker towards you (having two people might help). When the lugs release it should slide out forwards.

There is a control cable on top, prise the rubber covering aside, and then slide the connector upwards. Then the ice-maker can be completely removed.

The (outside) screw visible in the second picture is not relevant to removing the ice-maker. It holds the motor in place.

To replace

Re-attach the control cable, and then slide the ice-maker firmly back into place. The lugs should snap back into position to retain it.


Adding strongback bracing to an existing floor truss I just bought a house built around 2006. The floor has a ~32' span supported by 24" deep trusses on 19.2" centers. The trusses do not have strongback bracing installed (well there is a 2x4 nailed face down into the bottom chord, but that doesn't count). As a result there is some bounce when you go across it at a brisk walk. I plan to install 2 strongbacks at ~10' spacing. My question is how can I get the strongbacks into place? I have had a couple of thoughts but am unsure which one will provide the best performance. Trusses are a standard 24" truss web with no HVAC openings

Remove some siding and cut a hole in the rimboard and run the longest 2x6s I can get, and affix them to the verticals. Patch and seal the rimboard, patch and seal the wrap, replace siding and done.

Run ~6' ~2x6 sections up into the truss from the inside, lap them between trusses on the inside with a 19.2" 2x6, then run long (8' probably) 6" sections of more flexible OSB along the other side of the vertical to reinforce the connection (?) screwing it into the laps and the verticals.

Anyone dealt with this situation and have any thoughts?

I've built quite a few homes with floor trusses, and we didn't always have the foresight or opportunity to lay in strongbacks during the truss set. Have you tried getting longer 2x6 boards in there? You might be surprised how much they flex. I'd bet you can get 16-footers in there without much issue.
I'd start with that. Just don't let your grip slip and smack yourself in the chin. Once you have one in place, use it up against the top chords as a slider for the next ones.
Otherwise, you're onto something with the OSB. As you probably know, OSB is what makes up the vertical component of TJI joists, meaning it has plenty of strength on that axis to act as a strongback. You could rip 8-10" widths from 1/2"x8' sheets, flex them into place, and stagger the butt joints of two layers by two trusses. I have confidence that this would do at least as well as 2x6 lumber.
Actually, 7/16"x10' OSB is commonly available. If you shortened them to 115.2" you'd span one more joist.
FYI, such strongbacks are usually set against the top chord. By keeping them tight in all cases you ensure a flat floor. (Even engineered trusses can have some crown or wiggle to them.) If you have the option I'd move your ducts down and do that. It might help to have them temporarily out of the way anyway. Otherwise it probably doesn't matter much at this point.


supplying 240V power to a hardwired heater -OR- a 240V receptacle So I currently have a hard-wired 240V heater in my garage:

Though I don't use the heater often, I'd like to have the option to use it so my thought was I could have a 3-way switch that would switch on power to one or the other, never both.  Is this possible?
The 240V heater is on a 30amp breaker and is rated for 30amps so I'm pretty sure the wiring from heater to panel is to code.
In the photo you can see there is a switch to optionally cut off power to the heater and I thought that this could be replaced with a 3-way switch that could either be off, power hard-wired heater, or power a 240V EVSE receptacle that would have to be branched off of the box.  For the receptacle, I was thinking since my charger can be optioned with a NEMA 6-30 plug, that a NEMA 6-30 receptacle would be correct since there's only 3 wires from panel to heater (to my understanding a NEMA 14-30 would require a fourth wire to be run from panel to box).

Simplest option would be to change the heater input to cord&plug, and put the receptacle required on the wall, and plug in one, or the other.
For a fair amount of money as switches go, you can get a 30A rated DPDT (douple pole double throw) center-off switch that does what you ask. The one I could find was in the "very beefy standard switch" look and may be similar to what you have (Presumably DPST) if it's properly rated for the load. The one I found was rated for motor load disconnect use.
You may also be able to find that function in a "gray box on the wall with a big handle" format, but I struck out (I found plenty of disconnect switches, which are single-throw and don't do what you need.)
If you want to completely overcomplicate it (but it might actually cost less) there is the "use a contactor relay" method mentioned in comments. It strikes me as overcomplicated, and it might also be code-dubious as you'd be assembling a system from recognized parts (we hope - beware of Amazon, etc. for this sort of product,) rather than using a directly listed product.


Why are there planks above the heaters? Just moved in a new house. All heaters have a plank (same width and depth as the heater) 10cm above them. Please see the picture below:

I conjecture it's for preventing some of the heat to go directly up and stay a bit in the room at middle height.

Is that correct?

Our old apartment had this.   I asked the landlord why, and he simply stated that if it wasn't there, all the vertical space above the heater would be wasted.  Now there's a shelf there.   I found it handy to place hats and gloves there during the winter to dry them off faster.


Nailing a joist hanger to ledger with concrete behind So I've got a 2x10 Ledger attached to a concrete wall. I have a double 2x10 joist that needs to connect to the ledger. I have a joist hanger for this but the installation requirements say to use 16d nails (which are typically 3 1/2" long) to connect to the ledger. How can I do that if the ledger is only 1 1/2" thick? Will the nail go into the concrete? Are there shorter nails?

Joist hangers resist loads in shear, not withdrawal. While a 16d is more common, full resistance is developed in a 2x.

Simpson Strong-Tie makes a short nail that is 1 1/2” long x 9 ga. diameter.

Oh, and be sure to order the nails treated (galvanized) or stainless steel based on the type of pressure treated ledger.


What are the wires in this old switch box? Summary
I'm trying to replace a broken adjustable switch fixture in my house. I'd like to replace the switch myself. However, I am a total novice, so I am reluctant to proceed without understanding what I'm seeing. Unfortunately, the wiring in this (old?) switch box does not seem to match any diagrams I can find. So, I'd greatly appreciate any explanations as to what the different wires are in this switch box.
Details
The house is old, built in 1939. Some of the old cables are metallic sheath. The box for the switch is metal. This adjustable switch was functional, but the mechanical parts of the switch broke. That's why it is being replaced.
The current (broken) switch fixture has two wires connected to it. As Image 1 shows below, there are three wires on the top right, and two wires on the top left.
There are two wires connected to the old adjustable light fixture. A reddish wire connects directly from the top right of the box to the right of the old fixture. (Image 1.) My guess is that this is the live line in. (Q1 - does this seem right?)
On the left of the old switch fixture, a whitish wire seems to connect via a cap to BOTH a wire from the top right and top left of the box. (Image 1.) The white wire seems like it must be the load out, but I'm confused why it connects to two wires, which seem to go in both directions out of the box. All the diagrams I have seen just show the load out as one wire. (Q2 - what are these two wires connected to the white wire on the old light fixture?)

Image 2 shows three additional wires that are capped together, and do not appear connected to the old light fixture. One of these wires comes from the top right of the box. Another comes from the top left. The last appears to connect somehow to the bottom of the box. I assume these are neutral wires, or maybe ground wires. However, I haven't seen any diagrams that have three wires for either purpose. (Q3 - what are these wires?)

Bonus Question: I want to connect a new single-pole fixture to this box. It has connections for live, load, and ground. Where would I connect each? My current guess is that I would just replace the connections to what I assume are the current live and load. For the ground, could I connect to the screw in the back of the box?
Thanks for your help with this novice's question.

This is a pretty typical install
This is about what you'd expect to see in a situation where power is brought to the switch first, then carried to the light along with the switched (dimmed, in your case) hot for the fixture.  The wire junction with the white pigtail to the dimmer sticking out of it is that always-hot power I mentioned, while the reddish wire is the switched/dimmed hot going off to the chandelier, and the wire junction that does not connect to the dimmer is neutral.
So, your new dimmer should just be able to be wired up with the existing pigtail on one hot screw and the reddish wire on the other hot screw, provided it doesn't have any smarts, of course.  Grounding is done through the screws mounting the dimmer's yoke in this case, since the box is sort-of-grounded through metal cable armor from the looks of things.


How do I bleed baseboard radiators without a bleeder valve? I recently bought a newly remodeled 1950's era house about two months ago. It has a Weil Mclain fuel oil boiler that provides heat to four different zones (loops) in the house. Each zone has a couple of new baseboard radiators (the style that mount to the wall and run the whole distance of the wall). The system works well, except for the zone that covers the master bedroom, which pings very loudly.

In the past with similar systems there has been a bleed valve by each baseboard radiator. However, there are no bleed valves on any of the radiators. Is there another common style of heating system with bleed valves in other locations? Or is there another mechanism of bleeding the individual zones that I'm missing?

Other than looking for hidden bleeders (i.e. I have one where the baseboard cover needs to be removed to reveal the bleeder) and bleeding any bleeders that you can find, you may need to swear at whoever put in the new radiators and retrofit bleeders where they are missing.

There is often an automatic bleeder/vent on or just after (in which case it's often on a big cast iron "air separator" that may have an expansion tank hung off its bottom) the boiler, since in theory any dissolved air will be most prone to come out of solution where it's hottest - if that becomes clogged or otherwise inoperable (they don't last overly long) air may migrate elsewhere more than it would if that was working. Sometimes people see a dribble from these and close down the cap on the "tire fill valve" rather than replacing them - which renders them inoperable. I think it's bad practice to depend on that for bleeding the whole system.

Given how anemic circulator pumps are when faced with air bubbles, the only other way of getting that loop clear would be to open the boiler fill and open a drain on that loop, so that the fill water can push the bubble through to the drain - but then you have new water in the system, and some air will come out of that.


Clothes hanger trolley DIY I want to create my own clothes hanger trolley with these objectives:

I don't care how it looks, its for temporary use in fact and all I really care is that its 1) sturdy, 2) cheap, 3) easy to build.

I'm visualizing it like this:

The bikini belongs to my new girlfriend that I am sure to land once I've completed it.

I thought of using black PVC pipe for the bars on top, and I'm not sure what to use for the parts on the side, and I don't know how I should best join them together.

How can I complete this little project w/ the objectives above?

I have seen a similar item made completely out of pvc pipe, with the pipes joined together with pvc cement. You make a couple of rectangles (instead of triangles) of pvc for the bottom of each side, say 1 ft high by 2ft wide. Then from the top middle of each rectangle (the 2ft long side), have a tee in the middle to a pipe going up, and then the topbar between the ends of these uprights. Of course, if you have the scrap wood already on hand, that is probably cheaper. You can still use a pvc top piece, just cut a hole in the wood to fit and put a bolt through the pvc on either side of the end piece to keep it in position.
Hope this helps.


Why is my bathroom fan buzzing and humming when I first turn it on? It is strange, the bathroom fan is buzzing and humming when I first turn it on. After a few minutes, it starts up normally.

Why is it doing this?

Sticky old oil in the bearings. After buzzing (and probably turning very slowly) for a while, the motor heats up enough for the oil to liquify, and then it runs normally.

Try fresh oil if the bearings have a place to apply oil, or consider a new fan. This is a common problem with old fans.


Who should I call to look at clothes washer that fills with water after it has drained? Who do you call to fix this problem, a plumber or the Whirlpool guy? Water backs into the forum after it has trained.  it takes a while after the drum is empty.

Call an appliance repairman.  Likely a check valve on the drain line has failed.


Replacing outlet; found one white wire hot. How to connect? I am replacing a worn outlet.
Upon removing faceplate & receptacle, I discovered 3 romex feeds into single box.
Each has 3 wires: 1 black, 1 white, 1 copper
As I understand it, usually black=hot, white=neutral & copper=ground.

Testing with a non-contact voltage tester:
 - one black wire is hot
 - one white wire is hot
(both coming out of the same romex)
 - no other wires are hot

All grounds are combined to a pigtail with the  pigtail lead going to the ground screw on the outlet.

All three white wires were connected to old outlet silver side; all 3 black wires were connected to outlet brass side.

The new outlet (just your basic, generic outlet) has screw-type connectors, not backstab (actually it looks like there could be backstab openings, but the gauge would have to be super small - existing wire will not fit):  it has two brass screws for the hot leads, two silver for the neutral, one green for ground.

I've considered a few connection options:

Connect the black hot lead to the top brass screw; wirenut the other two non-hot black wires with a pigtail & connect the pigtail to the bottom brass screw. Connect the hot white wire to the top silver screw, wirenut & pigtail as with the black.

or-

Wirenut all three black wires with a pigtail, run the pigtail to the top brass screw; repeat for white running to the top white screw.

or -

Hot black to top brass, wirenut the other two w/pigtail to bottom brass screw; one of the NON-hot white wires to top silver, wirenut one hot & one non-hot white w/pigtail to bottom silver.

I'm hesitant 'cuz of the one white lead being hot.

Thoughts?

Thanks in advance for advice, guidance, direction, assistance...or just the number of a good therapist...;-)

I would go with # 2 "Wirenut all three black wires with a pigtail, run the pigtail to the top brass screw; repeat for white running to the top white screw."

That has the advantage over the other methods that if you ever need to replace the outlet again, you can turn off power, remove the outlet, cap the pigtails and turn power back on so that the rest of the circuit has power until you replace the outlet.

However, as you already know, you need to figure out why one of the white wires (which should be neutral) is showing hot. There are two possibilities:

It is  an actual hot wire. That would be very strange, unless it turns out that this outlet is switched (and then actually a switched hot). But if that's the case then the original configuration doesn't make much sense.
It is actually a neutral and is NOT hot, but really a false positive. This can happen if you are using an overly sensitive non-contact tester. A good non-contact tester should be able to distinguish between the neutral and the hot. However, if it is a little too sensitive then it may show the neutral as hot due to induced current over the length of the cable. So the question then is: How are you determining it is hot? If it is using a non-contact tester, then get a multitester and see what voltage reading you get between that white wire and the other wires - black hot should show ~ 120, other whites and grounds should show ~ 0.


can cylindrical and mortise locks be keyed alike? I am about to buy a patio door and a side entry door. They are from different manufacturers; both come without handle trim (no lever, rosette, etc) but with locksets - one cylindrical and one mortise. I would like to use the same key to open both - can a locksmith re-key them to be alike? If so, would both have to be re-keyed or is it possible to re-key one to match the other?

As long as you can remove the cylinders, the locks can be rekeyed. However, if the locks are from different manufacturers (Schlage, kwikset, Yale, etc.), the cylinders or more may have to be replaced.  When purchasing the doors, ask if you have the option of which brand lock is installed. Try to get locks from the same manufacturer, if possible. If you can, match the brand to the existing doors in the home, then you can have all the locks keyed to use a single key.

If the locks are both from the same manufacturer, they should be able to be keyed to use the same key. This could mean rekeying both (if it's a new home, and you're changing all the locks), or just rekeying one (adding a lock to an existing home).


Switches in other bedrooms turning on different lights after I put new light up I recently put up a light in my bedroom but the switches in other rooms now turn on different lights, there are 9 wires altogether coming through the ceiling, 3 earth which are connected together, 3 red (live) which are together, 2 neutral which are together connected to the neutral on the light and a switch live which is connected with the live on to my new light. I have searched and Googled everything and nothing has worked. Please help.

Note:  I'm in the US, so I apologize if I get any vocabulary wrong.

I'm going to describe the picture you posted in your question because I believe you might not know exactly what each wire is doing.  I will number them left to right, 1-8 (not counting grounds/earth).

Wires 1-3:  Neutrals are not switched, so they can all be tied together.  Neutrals and hots should never be connected, and grounds should also be separate.  Wire 1 goes to the fixture, wire 2 is coming "in" from the breaker panel and wire 3 carries on the neutral to the next box (probably another light).

Wire 4:  This is the "live" wire coming in from the breaker panel.  It is energizing the screw terminal block and supplying power to wire 5 and 6.

Wire 5: Gets power from wire 4 and carries it on to the next box.

Wire 6: Gets power from 4 and carries it to the switch.

Wire 7: This is colored as a neutral, but wrapped with brown tape in the diagram to show that it is doing the job of a hot wire.  This is a live wire coming back from the switch.  It is live when the switch is on.  These two wires for the switch are known as a "switch loop" and is one of the only times (the only time?) it's acceptable for a neutral colored wire to be used as a hot.

Wire 8: Bonded to wire 7 and providing power to the lamp when the switch is on.

Now, if you confused any of the "in", "out" or "switch" wires, you could have strange results.  With the hot wires disconnected from the screws and the power on, the only hot with voltage should be the IN cable.  With the power off, you can check for continuity between the black and white wires of the SWITCH cable.  There should be continuity with the switch on, and no connection with the switch off.  The remaining cable that has no power and is not related to the switch will be the OUT cable.


how to replace surface conduit for a two-wire lighting circuit? I have an old house with unswitched knob-and-tube running to a ceiling fixture. Previous owners ran surface conduit to a wall switch and to a second light fixture over the sink; none of this was grounded, needless to say. I recently had to replace part of the ceiling, so I took the opportunity to remove the surface conduit:

I Installed metal boxes with extensions for the original fixture and the one over the sink (I used expandable joist hangers to mount them)
Ran shielded metal cable above the ceiling to connect the fixtures, and down the wall to a newly-mounted metal switch box
Carefully routed the knob-and-tube wires through separate holes in the top of the box, secured them, flagged the neutral with white tape, then wired them to the fixtures and switch with wire nuts. (They originally just poked right through the ceiling and a surface plate)

I thought to route a three-wire lead up to the switch from the floor, but I still would have been left with a live knob-and-tube circuit in the ceiling. There are other fixtures upstream of the kitchen lights, so I couldn't just kill the whole circuit or easily terminate it upstream.

I'm pretty sure this is not to code, but it was the least disruptive method I could come up with. The wires are typically brittle, but they are essentially in the same position they have always been and connected the same way.

Here are my questions:

is this considered an extension of the circuit? I did not add fixtures or outlets. I only replaced wiring that was itself installed after the knob-and-tube.
What should I do with the ground wire? As it is, the wire sheaths, switch, and all three boxes are bonded together with the ground wires but don't connect to anything. Should I leave them unconnected, or otherwise signal that they aren't actually grounded? (This would be obvious in the main fixture box but not in the other fixture box or wall box.)

Thanks in advance.

First, is actual neutral present in the switch box?  That's a requirement now, so if it's a switch loop you'll need to re-run it with /3 cable.

Now the purpose of grounding is to

return natural electricity (lightning, ESD doorknob zaps) to its source (earth via the grounding electrode system), and
return artificial-electricity fault current to its source (via the equipotential bond to neutral back at the transformer).

You've created an island of ground. All it'll do is distribute ESD and fault currents to other places in the island.  I talk about the badness of that here.

Easy to fix: Retrofit ground to connect your island to your house's grounding system. In 2014 they liberalized the rules to make it much easier. More on how to do that, here.

To answer your questions:

I agree, this is wire repair, not expansion of the circuit.
Grounds should be run home as I describe.

Also, whatever circuit(s) are still on knob & tube, slap an AFCI breaker on them. This will trip on any wire arcing, which is the usual problem people worry about with K&T.


Subpanel Vs. 220v-240v NEMA 14-50 Thank you in advance for your advice!

My project is to install a 220v-240v NEMA 14-50 outlet at my house’ s attached garage, which is nearly 65 ft/one way, from the house’ s main electrical panel / newer 4 wires 200amp installation, Grounding is done via 2 ground rods+to the copper main water line.  The panel’ s current highest load is a 2-pole 40amp / HVAC, the house is under 1900 sq. ft.

I had access to left-over wires; THWN-2 THHN AWG #8 & AWG #6, so From the main electrical panel thru the attic, I utilized the left over AWG #8 (2hot+1Neutral) and AWG #6 (Ground), via EMT & flex conduit secured to the rafters / 4 ft intervals.

However, rather than sticking to the original plan and finishing with a NEMA 14-50 outlet at the attached garage to conclude the project by installing a 2-pole 40amp circuit breaker at the main electrical panel, I am considering to utilize the pulled wires along with a freebie panel, Cutler Hammer BR816L125RP rated at 125amp,  and turn it into a sub panel at the attached garage’s area, and then install a NEMA 14-50 outlet / fed with a 2-pole 40amp circuit breaker at the sub panel.  Given that the freebie panel is equipped with only one Bar, I will isolate Neutral from Ground by installing a Ground Bar and connecting ground wire to it / AWG #6.

The reason for the subpanel installation is to maximize the use of the AWG #6 & #8 wires that I have greatly appreciated pulling thru the flex conduit and account for possible future modification, as well as to install couple service outlets in the garage area near the planned subpanel’ s area without having to pull wires thru the finished garage walls from other service outlets.

Given the above information, including the AWG #6 & #8 wires’ length; What is the maximum breaker size that I can utilize at the main electrical panel to feed the garage’ s subpanel, i.e can I install a 50amp or 60amp 2-pole , or even higher rated circuit breaker? While still installing NEMA 14-50 outlet / fed with a 2-pole 40amp circuit breaker at the sub panel

Appreciate your expertise and honest opinion!

Breakers protect WIRE and #8 conductors allow you to use a 40A breaker in the Main panel to feed the sub-panel. That's your only limiting factor here. It makes no difference what the PANEL is rated for so long as it is more than adequate for a 40A circuit, which is is. So get off of that side track.

In the sub panel, you can put whatever else you want in there that is 40A or less. But if your NEMA 14-50 outlet has something plugged into it that is drawing 40A, and you use something else from that sub-panel that pulls any more, the breaker in the Main panel will trip to protect those conductors, so be aware of what you use in that garage.

The tricky part is that a 14-50 outlet is good for 50A, not 40 A, so if you needed that receptacle (i.e. a Tesla charger), ostensibly it means it likely could draw more than 40A which would be a problem for your circuit. If you really needed a 50A circuit, you needed #6 conductors all around.

Edit: Sorry, I was thinking building wire like NM, which is used from the 60C column, you said you have THHN in conduit, so it is good for 50A, not 40A. So you can use a 50A breaker in the Main panel.


how to find out if wall is plaster, wood or drywall? I want to install blinds in my kitchen.

However, I can't figure out if the wall is wood or plaster.

I need to know this before starting to drill because the holding mechanism for the blinds, it can't take screws with the plastic caps. The screw holes are too narrow to fit the screws inside the plastic.

So how do I find out if the wall is wood or plaster or dry wall or something.

Remove an outlet or switch plate and look at what the edges of the wall are. It should be immediately obvious if they're wood paneling or something. Otherwise, it'll be plaster or drywall. Drywall will have straight edges and a chalky core, while plaster is more organic-looking and flowing, and will have wooden supports behind it.

Regardless, it's actually irrelevant for the task at hand. Your blinds should be screwed into something structural, like a wall stud, and not the wall finish material. There should be a stud up against the edge of the window, right underneath the finish material, so if you drill deep enough, you'll hit it.


Sub Panel grounding questions... wire size, how-to's So, I just found out on my first question that I am gonna need a 4th (ground wire) out to my sub panel. Was told by my buddy I only needed three, but evidently that is incorrect. So here goes.

panel is 100 amps currently have 3 - 4/0 wires running out to it.

1 - Sub panel is 230 ft away. what size ground wire do i need?

2 - So, the neutral and ground wires are hooked up to separate bars in the sub panel (unlike the main house panel), but where do the neutral and ground wires going back to the main panel hook up? if they both hook up to the neutral/ground bars in the main panel then what exactly is the purpose of having two wires going back instead of one?

3 - with the addition of the ground wire going back to the main panel, do I still need to have a ground stake outside the shop at the sub panel.

Thanks in advance. You guys are great!

Conduit is your friend here

As a general rule, using direct bury cable for an outdoor feeder is penny-wise and pound-foolish due to the cost of digging it up and replacing it when an upgrade is desired (a trencher rental + labor) compared to the cost of installing conduit (Schedule 80 PVC, or sometimes rigid metal conduit even) to begin with.  A 2" Schedule 80 PVC conduit between the buildings provides sufficient space at 742mm2 for 3 4/0 Al XHHW-2 conductors (at about 525mm2 total) and a 6AWG bare copper ground (which adds another 13mm2, to make for a total of 538mm2), while if you really want to go for broke, you could use 3" for easy pulling and extra expansion room (not that you'd need more than about 100-125A to an outbuilding, that is).

If you can't afford to do anything but stick with the cable...

If your only option is sticking with the cable you have, though, then what you can do is wrap a ground wire in with the cable as you lay it, as the NEC 300.3(B) requirements allow multiple individual conductors or cables in the same trench to be used as part of the same circuit:

  (B) Conductors of the Same Circuit. All conductors of the
  same circuit and, where used, the grounded conductor and all
  equipment grounding conductors and bonding conductors
  shall be contained within the same raceway, auxiliary gutter,
  cable tray, cablebus assembly, trench, cable, or cord, unless
  otherwise permitted in accordance with 300.3(B)(1)through
  (B)(4).

In particular, you'll need a 6 AWG bare copper ground wire for this, instead of the 8 AWG normally called for by a 100A circuit, due to the 250.122(B) size increase (which works out to a a size increase of about 1.6x over the base size from the table):

  (B) Increased in Size. Where ungrounded conductors are
  increased in size from the minimum size that has sufficient
  ampacity for the intended installation, wire-type equipment
  grounding conductors, where installed, shall be increased in
  size proportionately, according to the circular mil area of the
  ungrounded conductors.

You will need separate ground and neutral bars in the subpanel, no matter what

As a result of running a separate ground wire back to the main panel, you will need to have separate ground and neutral bars in the subpanel, with all the ground wires landing on the ground bars and all the neutral wires landing on the neutral bars.  Note that unless your panel shipped with extra ground bars factory installed, you will need to go to a local electrical supply house and buy a set that is appropriate for the make of your panel, or order the correct manufacturer's part online.

Furthermore, you will need to pull the (green) bonding screw or strap out of the subpanel and toss it, as it will not be needed -- neutral only meets ground at the main panel, as long as a separately derived systems is not sticking its nose into the tent, which only happens if you have a distribution transformer somewhere downstream of the main panel, or with certain generator configurations.

And you will also need that ground stake at the shed, as well

You will need some more of that 6AWG bare copper to connect the ground stakes (two of them, 8' deep and 8' apart) at the shed to the ground bar at the shed panel.  This provides a path for stray natural electricity to get back to the earth, while the ground wire between the main panel and the subpanel provides a path for wayward utility electricity to get back to the utility.


A guest pushed in my shower wall tile. How can I fix it? Some guests stayed over at our house a couple days ago and one accidentally leaned a little on the shower wall. Leaving behind a gap between what seems to be the drywall or backing and the actual tile!

Now we’re not up to the idea of spend hundreds on tearing it down and replacing it. So is replacing it necessary or can we just fill in the cracks with grout filler or cement? Is this an option.

So you have two options here

Whistle past the graveyard and caulk it up good. It will fail at some point, but maybe not today? (I don't really suggest doing this)
Rip it down and fix it. Because you should never be able to do this to shower tile. You have serious issues. My bet is they didn't put the backer board up correctly (or support it with, say wood behind it) and just tiled straight to back board as a quick fix. 1/4" backer board would break this easily AND in the way you show.


Repairing a rip in my hvac vent A small section of canvas fabric connects the duct coming out of my furnace to the rest of the house. I noticed that there's quite a large rip in this fabric.

 Would it be best to use standard foil tape to repair the rip, even though it'd be adhering to fabric and not metal? Is there another, better option?

You'll have a hard time getting foil tape to bond there, I think, and that component is designed to be flexible, partly for noise abatement. Foil would probably fail before long.

I'd cut a patch of heavy fabric (maybe marine vinyl) and bond it with a flexible adhesive--maybe 100% silicone. Clean the area and let it dry thoroughly first. Silicone would be set up enough to use in a couple hours. If there isn't too much movement when the furnace is running, the heat will speed things along. You could temporarily pad the patch with some soft foam or cloth secured with tape to hold the patch in place.

If the fabric is sound, and it's just a seam that has let loose, a little needlework might do as well.


How does polarization and/or grounding of outlets affect time for breakers to trip? I'm trying to understand all the differences between newer and older receptacles.

Newer ones tend to be polarized and many receptacles and wires come with grounding conductors. How do these technologies affect the performance of breakers as a safety feature in circuits?

I read someplace that grounding increases the speed at which a breaker trips when there is a problem like a short circuit. I'm not sure that makes sense to me. If there's a short circuit and no ground, the conductor would heat up/increase in amperage, tripping a breaker. If there's a short circuit and ground, most excess amperage would safely find its way out of the circuit through ground, reducing the chance that stray amperage would cause damage someplace, but not necessarily 'tripping a breaker faster'.

I'm still learning about the benefits of polarizing receptacles so I can't comment much on how I'd expect those to affect breakers tripping.

When you talk about the safety function of "breakers", one generally expects to be talking about overcurrent protection.  There is also ground-fault (residual current) protection in GFCI/RCD+overcurrent combo breakers, and there is arc-fault protection in AFCI+overcurrent combo breakers.

There are several kinds of safety at work here.

Polarization

Is generally about life safety.  The general idea is that of the two conductors, hot and neutral, one of them is fairly near earth potential because neutral is pegged to earth in the main service.  You are unlikely to be shocked if you get between neutral and earth, as there'll only be a volt or two of difference there.

Therefore on a polarized machine, the "hot" part of the machine is made innermost - the least likely for you to come in contact with.

This will not make overcurrent protection more likely to trip. If a faulty polarized machine came in contact with a well-grounded feature like a water pipe, the part coming into contact is more likely to be at neutral potential, which will not make overcurrent protection trip.

It may make GFCI protection trip, and the arcing could cause AFCI to trip.

Grounding/Earthing

This is about both life safety and fire prevention.

The idea of grounding is that if the machine has an internal problem, and "hot" goes somewhere it should not be going, the first place it will go is the grounded surfaces/chassis/etc.  This impacts life safety because the "hot" goes to ground instead of via a human to another ground.  Electricity takes all paths in proportion to their conductivity (1/resistance), and the ground provides a very, very good path which should carry virtually all of the current.

So yes, ground gives a very good path for a faulting device to trip the overcurrent device. You were told correctly.

It impacts fire protection because if it flows enough current to start a fire, the current will be efficiently carried back to the main panel and through the neutral-ground bonding back to source (neutral), allowing high currents to flow, which the breaker will detect and overcurrent trip. In other words, the goal is to turn a ground fault into a bolted ground fault and assure a trip.  Without this grounding, a much lesser amount of current could flow, not assuring a trip.

A GFCI breaker will trip on even a very small leakage current.  Again, ground helps even a small current find its way back, to assure that the GFCI will trip.  By giving current a path to arc against, this also helps an AFCI trip.


Is there a trick to make an electric screw driver with adjustable torque from a nonadjustable drill? I have an electric drill  without a feature to adjust its torque. Because too many bolts and screws to fasten as quickly as possible, I need an electric screwdriver.

Using a screwdriver bit directly connected to the drill is very risky because the excessive torque might damage the screw head, etc.

Question

Is there any trick to solve this problem with at most $30?

You could use a drywall screw adapter:

This one is for drywall. It does not limit torque, instead there is a clutch inside which disengages when the metal "tube" around the screwdriver bit in the center hits the workpiece, and that prevents screwing all the way through the drywall. It works pretty well, with reasonable accuracy. You can also change the drill bit, so it is not limited to drywall screws.

If you have a zillion drywall screws to install, rent one of these.

I think you can also buy torque limiters for your drill. That will probably be expensive.

Note standard AC mains powered electric drills aren't well suited as electric screwdrivers, because they generally use triac phase angle dimmers which have about zero control at low speed, also they're way too powerful and have lots of rotational inertia which means it's almost impossible to stop when needed. Battery powered drills are much better, the trigger has much better torque control usually.

EDIT Here's a neat video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2R7klA7Cc80

Cheaper models don't have a clutch so they just make the bit cam out of the screw, which works with Philips (drywall) bits which are designed for this, but destroys other bits (PZ, Square) pretty quick... that's inconvenient. The one in the video has a clutch, that's what makes a "bbrtttt" noise when it disengages. So it would work with PZ bit wood screws, which is quite convenient for OSB floor panels...


(How) Can I use existing stapled electrical wire to fish new wire? I nicked an electrical cable while doing a plumbing repair and so need to fix it. I previously asked about repairing the damage in place, but there are receptacles 6-10 feet away on either side of the damaged wire, so it may not be too difficult to just pull new wire. Most of the wire is run horizontally through the studs, which is great, but it will at least be stapled at both boxes (and possibly more). The horizontal run is ~18" up from the floor, while the receptacles are ~6". There is also an inside corner the wire is run through. Wire is 12/2.

Is it possible to use the existing wire to fish the new wire, even though the existing wire is stapled? Would I need to open up the wall to remove the staples?

I found a related question, but that pertains to telephone wires which sometimes use different staples than electrical wires.

In my (limited) experience, it's not possible. However there may exist some experts who can do this but - of course - it all depends on the staples and wire and the situation in general.

You could try just yanking really really hard and hoping that the staple pulls out or breaks, but when I tried this it only ruined the jacket around the old wire and the staple remained in place, blocking the new wire which could not pass through the staple because of how it was bundled to the end of the old wire. Again, there might exist a clever trick I'm not aware of that could get the new wire through the staple but it seems pretty impossible to me.

I would start thinking about alternative ways of running a wire to connect the receptacles. Are there baseboards? You could hide them in there. Is there a crawlspace above or bellow this room? If not, you just may have to do some cut some holes in the wall and repair them.

Maybe try guessing where the staples are and cut a hole in the wall there. If you get lucky, pull out the staples. Keep doing that unill all the staples are found and removed, then use the old wire to pull the new wire through. Best case scenario, you only have two holes to repair instead of 20. Good luck!


Wall mounted dial thermostat I recently bought a wall thermostat I broke the plastic front on the box to remove
The  thermostat as I tried to pull it out    of the box the dial came off in my hand and I do not know where it should be positioned for the right position for the dial to be put at the right degree on the spline of he thermostat can any one help
Thanks terry.

There should be a notch, slot, groove, or other marking on the shaft. Which should align with a similar marking on the knob.

If not... Simply turn the shaft to one of the extremes (all the way up or down), then install the knob to indicate the appropriate setting.


Unidentified pipe and smelly water trickling under slab into basement floor drain Our house is in Toronto, Canada and was built in the late 1960's.  We have lived here 5 years and currently rent out the basement suite.  A few days ago, our tenants complained of a sewer smell throughout the appartment.  Apparently it has been progressively getting worse over the course of the last week and a half.  It was very noticeable when I went down to investigate.  The smell appears to be coming from the laundry sink, the floor drain, or both.  Both drains have a noticeable sewer odour if you smell them from a foot away.  I cleaned out the P-trap for the laundry sink and ran some fresh water into it yesterday.  This seems to have improved the overall situation as the larger suite no longer smells, or maybe it is just a fluctuation as apparently there are ok days and bad.

However, the floor drain is baffling.  It is filled with water and now that I think about it, it was filled with water when I looked at it a few years ago.  This time I noticed that there is a pipe, maybe 3/8" in diameter running under the slab into the drain.  There is also a steady trickle of water flowing from the hole beside this pipe, basically under the slab, into the floor drain.  I have no idea what this 3/8" pipe would be, why it would be located where it is, or what the source of the trickling water is.

Perhaps the 3/8" pipe carries domestic water and it has burst, resulting in the trickling water (though I have no idea why a domestic water line would be located there).  Or, maybe the trickling water is ground water that has found its way into the hole made for this pipe, which happens to run into the floor drain.  I have no idea.

I can't clear the floor drain of water fast enough (with a sponge) to look deep into it, but the water level remains relatively consistent - never overflowing the drain.  I can't tell if the water level is maintained by the trickling water source, or if it is coming back up through the main floor drain piping.  When I feel inside the pipe, I can tell that the floor drain piping heads toward the stack a about 4 feet away, but I can't tell if it has a P-trap.  I also sopped up some of the trickling water and found that it had a slight, but noticeable sewer odour.  I feel like the floor drain is the source of the larger odour problem our tenants are having.

Does anyone have any idea what could be going on with our basement floor drain?  What could the 3/8" pipe be?  What could be the source of the trickling water?  The water may have been trickling like this below the drain cover for years for all I know.

I have attached a few photos for reference.  Thanks in advance for any help/advice!

The 3/8” pipe is a “primer” for the sewer line. We use primers when we’re afraid the “P-trap” will dry-out and allow smells to infiltrate up through the sewer line and into the house.

The 3/8” line is a little large, (we use 1/4” where I live) and it’s connected to a cold water line by a sink, toilet, etc. close to the drain. If you can determine where it’s connected, you could put a valve on it and slow the water flow...being careful not to turn it down too much and allow the drain to dry out.

The smell could be from wet/damp soil around the drain and seeping into the house through cracks between the drain and concrete.


Extending plumbing vent horizontally I am planning to finish the basement and have some questions regarding the plumbing.

The builder already have the bathroom rough in but the location is at middle of the basement. I want to have the bathroom located in a corner. This rough in vent is the only one that I believe that I can use, unless I go with "wet vent" method.

Unfortunately this pipe is about 20 feet to the corner. So my question is: is it OK to extend this pipe 20 feet horizontally the connect it to bathroom toilet, shower and sink?

I am also planning to move the laundry room to the basement. In order to use the vent pipe, the branch to the laundry will have to go up to the ceiling first, the go down. Is it OK?

| vent
|      |---------------------------------+
+------|                                 |-> laundry
+ -----------+
             |
             |----------> bathroom

Consider an Air Admittance Valve, rather than a traditional vent, in this situation.  The downside is these are mechanical devices that in theory can fail.  The upside is reduced sewer venting to the atmosphere and less pipe.

Buy a quality one: there are $3 models that are not the same thing.  Look for a series of certifications for this task and expect to spend at least $30.

A vent that goes up and then down is not OK.  AAV's are approved in the International Plumbing Code, and the USA National Plumbing Code.


(SOLVED) What is a whining, high pitch sound coming from my furnace when heat kicks in EDIT: SOLVED. IT WAS THE FLEX CONNECTOR. THANKS EVERYONE. My gas furnace makes a high-pitched whining sound when the burners turn on (when I can see fire). A repair man came and told me it may be that the “flex connector hose” that goes from the gas line to the furnace. He said the flex connector is 1/4 inch when the gas line is 1/2, creating a bottle neck, stifling the system from getting enough gas. Could that possibly lead to a high pitch noise that is always present when burners are on and on occasions can be heard anywhere in my small home?

It's unlikely that going from a larger pipe to a smaller pipe (which is essentially what the flex hose is) would cause that. However, the repair man may have meant that the flex hose was undersized for the gas line inside the furnace, which would make more sense. Expanding flow could certainly cause the noise, but to really figure out what's causing it you'll need a mechanic's stethoscope. They're pretty cheap, but you may even be able to get one as a loaner tool from an auto parts store.


Is my subpanel wiring safe and correct? I have checked existing wiring to a pole barn and would like to know if it is correct.  There is a heavy 3-wire run between a service disconnect box and pole barn, 2 wires hooked on a double breaker, (1 on each pole) at the service disconnect box and neutral wire to neutral buss.

At the pole barn the 2 hots are connected at the main breaker at top of box with the neutral to the neutral bus bar. There is also a ground wire from the ground bus to a ground rod just outside (about 6 feet ). The distance between the two boxes is about 170 feet.

I would like to know if this a safe hookup. Thank you. Mark

If the barn has its own main service

If the power company is supplying an electric meter that powers only this structure, then you're sympatico.  This panel is a main service and this is the normal way to wire that.

However since this is the home improvement forum, I assume a home is involved.

If the barn is fed off a main panel in another building

Like the windmill said to the small child: "I'm not a huge fan."

You're in a no-win situation with your grounding.

The principles

Grounding serves at least two purposes: To dissipate ESD and lightning strikes back to the earth, and to return hot-ground fault currents back to source with enough current to trip the breaker (50-100 amps).  If the latter doesn't happen, the fault will try to "light up" the grounding system and shock people (0.1 amps kills).

A grounding rod was never even imagined to return fault currents.  It just can't.  Dirt is an unreliable conductor, which is why they don't use it for wire. Dirt can flow 0.1 amps, but 50 amps is not gonna happen.  It's good for grounding ESD and lightning, and for pegging neutral to earth potential to make a non-isolated system.

Second, if the neutral wire breaks, you have a classic "open neutral" problem: the 120V loads are not equal, and they pull neutral toward one pole or the other... the effect of this is to make neutral hot.

Here are your choices, Sophie

One choice is to tie neutral to ground. This will assure that a hot-ground fault trips your local breaker.  However, an "open neutral" electrifies all your grounds. Every bit of conduit, all the switch plate cover screws, all equipment chassis, even the subpanel door!  The grounding rod will valiantly try to return this current via the dirt, but it can't win.

The other choice is to wire it as an isolated system and intentionally isolate ground from neutral.  Except it's not an isolated system, is it?  Neutral is pegged to ground back at the main house, and by the power company on the pole.  Yes, now an open neutral will not shock you.  But hot-ground fault will! It will pull the grounding system back up toward 120V without flowing enough current for a breaker trip... so you're getting shocked again!  You can't win.

The right way

It's perfectly safe and legal to retrofit a ground.  Hit the hardware store and get some copper (can't be aluminum) and run it back to the house and tie it to the main panel there.  It doesn't need to follow the same path, just needs to use a legal wiring method.

I note that #2 ground wire costs nearly a buck a foot and needs to be buried 12".  So does Rigid conduit, which can be buried only 6" deep.  I also note that the metal shell of rigid conduit is itself a legal grounding path.


Capped wires in old switch box--mains power or switch loop? I have an old switch box that has a single cable coming into it with a black wire and a white wire. I've confirmed with a voltage tester that the black wire is hot. Before installing an electronic remote switch, I want to make sure that the white wire is a neutral.

My doubt comes because my house has a number of switches that are set up as a switch loop, where a single cable comes into the box, and one of the conductors is always hot (usually fed by power coming into the fixture) and the other conductor is used as a switched hot. In this old switch box, I'm wondering whether the cable is an abandoned switch loop where the always hot conductor is still connected but the switched hot doesn't connect to a load.

Is there a way to test this?  I believe that measuring hot to neutral on a multimeter should give 120V, correct?  What would measuring hot to switched hot give?  I'm just looking for a way to safely and definitively confirm that the non-hot wire is a neutral on the same circuit as the hot wire.

Short answer, check for continuity between White and Ground.

If you have 120V between White and Black, and White is tied to Ground (check for close to 0 ohms resistance from white to ground), then White is neutral, Black is Hot.

There are some miswired options that may be in play (ie switched neutral), but hopefully this was wired by someone who knows what they are doing.

To answer your other questions:
I believe that measuring hot to neutral on a multimeter should give 120V, correct?
Correct

What would measuring hot to switched hot give?
120V, assuming that there is a functional light bulb or functioning device plugged into the switched socket.  If not, then you would read 0v, or some floating voltage much less than 120V.


Can I put small nails through plexiglass? I would like to attach a 1/8" thick piece of plexiglass to the front of a bookcase.  (It will be open at the top and will be used to house a hamster, so no hinges are needed.)

Can I use small nails?

Should I drill a very fine pilot hole?

If the nail idea is no good, then should I use a special adhesive, or should I use screws?

I do not have clamps and I do not have any special drill bits.  If you want me to buy a special drill bit that doesn't cost more than $15 and that's available at Lowe's or Home Depot I'm game.

Edit:

I followed the recommendations and it worked great.  Very fine bit first, dipped in the dish soap.  Went partway into the wood too.  Then switched to a slightly larger bit and didn't go into the wood.  (Particle board, actually.)  The fine nails (1 1/4 " long) went in nice and straight thanks to the partial pilot hole.  Used a slow speed and didn't push much.  Operated drill while removing the drill from the hole.  Made sure not to overhammer the nails.

I left the outer backing film on, to reinforce.

Tip: to remove the inner backing film, I rolled it up with a heavy cardboard mailing tube (borrowed from hamster).

Comments: the plexiglass didn't slide around even though I didn't have clamps.  The drill bit never got hot but I did periodically dip it in the dish soap and I had the sense this was helpful.

Conclusion: faster and easier than it would have been with screws.

Fine nails are fine. But you do need to drill a clearance hole the full diameter of the nail shaft through the plastic. You may want to drill a smaller pilot hole at least partway into the wood to reduce the chance of splitting.

Any standard drill bit will do, but go very slowly to avoid melting the plastic as you drill.

Drill bits tend to walk on plastic, so you may want to put a piece of masking tape over each area to be drilled, which will give a bit of grip to avoid the slide.

Screws would also be fine (and a bit stronger; maybe overkill), but the same pilot hole rules apply.


How can I get my shower tiles really clean? My shower tiles in my apartment are kind of nasty, and I've tried spraying them with Clorox Bleach Foamer and also Tilex:Mold & Mildew and then scrubbing with a magic eraser thing.  I can try scrubbing longer/harder, but are there any tricks or techniques to make these shower tiles really clean?  (Notice the sort of stained tiles in the picture.)

Click photo for full size

The staining looks like it is from water damage. My guess is it is behind the glaze that coats the face of the tile.  Unfortunetly there is no way to repair this type of damage short of replacing the tile. I have typically seen this on tiles that were cut and improperly grouted. Sealing the grout may prevent it from getting worse or showing up on other tiles.


Is this mold? Is it dangerous mold? My elderly parents live in a condo.

They saw a leak in the attic crawl space a few weeks ago.  I went to take a look myself.

Referencing these posts, it sure seems like mold to my untrained eye.

https://diy.stackexchange.com/questions/126501/is-this-mold-picture-taken-after-treating-with-bleach
https://diy.stackexchange.com/questions/127678/is-this-mold-mildew-or-just-dirt

The +FRONT+ roof slope crawl space looks like this:

The +REAR+ roof slope crawl space looks much cleaner than the front:

Questions:

Is the first photo mold?
Is it dangerous mold?
Is it dangerous down to the lower living levels?

Aren't home owners associations generally responsible for things like roof leaking?

Looks like a total roof rebuild to me, but this is my amateur opinion.

The first photo could well be mold. Testing will confirm/deny. As to danger, the answer is, 'probably, yes, it presents a hazard to occupants'. There are lots of variables to consider, though.

It is very common for HOAs to be responsible for roofing, but you need to contact theirs to see. A paper trail is very important in matters like this.

A mold remediation specialist can weigh in on the rebuild versus rehabilitate question, but my instinct says that you'd want to strip off and replace the affected sheathing.


Bedroom light switching also switching bedroom walk-in cupbaord light I've just replaced the ceiling rose/pendant in my main bedroom. Although the bedroom light is "working" i.e. turning the bedroom light on/off by its switch, this switch is now also switching the bedroom walk-in wardrobe light which is on a separate switch. Switching the walk-in wardrobe switch also turns off the bedroom light switch. There is clearly some kind of dual switching going on but cannot understand how this could be happening as everything looks like it is wired correctly in the ceiling rose. (Caveat the blue switched/live black sleeve did fall off while doing this so cannot be sure it is wired the same, but given that the bedroom switch is turning the bedroom light on/off....)

The bedroom ceiling rose has three twin and earth lighting cables entering, one obviously from the previous light in the circuit on the same floor, the bedroom light switch cable and the third i'm assuming to the end light in the circuit which is the walk-in wardrobe light.

Any ideas on what could be happening?
Thanks

Any ideas on what could be happening?

You mistook a neutral for switched live

  the blue switched/live black sleeve did fall off while doing this so cannot be sure it is wired the same

Looking at your photo if wired correctly you should have something like

 N-----N----N      L----L----L    SL---SL
 Lamp  in   out    in   out  sw   sw   lamp

Instead you have something like

 (N)----SL----(N)    L----L----L    N---(SL)
 Lamp   sw    out    in   out  sw   in  lamp

The lamp lights because you have reversed its N and L connections and AC bulbs don't care which is N and which L

  Switching the walk-in wardrobe switch also turns off the bedroom light switch.

Well, we don't know if the wardrobe is before ("in") or after ("out") the room light. Miswiring the room light as above will affect the availability of neutral at subsequent lights.

There may be some combination of miswiring that accounts for the symptoms you report (though some aspects are not clear from your description)

The solution is to undo all the blue connections in the rose, keep all the blues separate and positively identify every wire (or more specifically, which of the three thicker blues is actually switched-live). You can do this using a suitable voltage tester


is this video representative of good technique for working with gas pipe https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vEdaICxZnug
Curious if you can 'horse' on the pipe that much and its ok.  More specifically, when he is tightening the pipe back together, he is moving the existing section alot.   Is that ok to not break the seals on the other side of that pipe ?
Also is that an appropriate amount of dope? Seems to be too much.
Thanks.

Ok I watched the video, union's usually have a valve in front of them.  I am not sure what that gained other than showing the proper way to support the pipe (2 wrenches) to prevent the one side from unscrewing, did he over tighten it looked fine to me, as far as the dope he used I could not see if that was gas rated.
Can you use two much dope? Not really it is just a waste of $ and did you notice he wiped off most of the excess. I will also put my shutoff valve before the drip leg , the pipe hanging down and capped close to the point of use.
The drip leg is There to catch debris and moisture that is a really short one but some places don’t have lots of issues.  Being able to shut off the gas and clean the drip leg was a big deal at my last home we had a high moisture content due to our location on the line.
That video looked appropriate to me other than the union not having a shutoff and the same with the drip leg.


How to stop 2nd floor toilet from bubbling when 3rd floor toilet is flushed? I have a building with 3 floors (1 unit in each floor). When I flush the 3rd floor toilet, bubbles come out of the second floor toilet.

How do I stop 2nd floor floor toilet from bubbling? In general, is it not recommended that you combine drain stacks for bathrooms on different floors?

Here are some details about my house/plumbing:

My house has a basement, ground floor, 2nd floor, and 3rd floor (attic).
The toilet in the ground floor has a ventless drain vent with a STUDOR valve at the end of the vent
The ground floor toilet flushes without any issues, and drains properly
It seems to me that what is happening is when the 3rd floor toilet flushes, the volume of air in the 3 story length drain pipe needs to go somewhere, and it is venting out through the ground floor toilet. Before, that air was going directly into sewer, but now that we added the ground floor drain to it (in the basement), the air is venting through the ground floor toilet. Does this sound correct?

Besides creating a new drain stack for the ground floor bathroom, is there a way to exhaust the air from the 3rd floor drain somewhere?

Thank you for your help!

To be it sounds like the back flow preventer on multi story building is partially blocked open. Or a venting issue. The easiest is to check the main vent stack and make sure it is clear. I have found main vent stacks that had construction cloth covers blocked with spider Webb’s enough to cause problems, in another case a dead squirrel, and several others bird nests and dead birds in the vent pipe. I would check the cap and make sure the vent is clear first, I could not believe spider webs could cause a problem but did on a 3 story above 2 below grade building.


is it safe to use a microwave with the outside glass missing? The outer glass on our microwave shattered recently. The part can no longer be purchased. Two related questions:

Is it still safe to operate?
Can the shattered glass be replaced with plexiglass? It won't look as good, but it'll be an improvement.

DANGER, WILL ROBINSON
The glass doesn't stop the microwaves. The mesh does.
However, without that glass in place, the chance of something else going wrong - e.g., that foil coming off or some other part coming loose, is drastically increased.
As far as replacing with plastic, I definitely don't recommend it. I'm not against plastic for certain repairs - e.g., quick fix for a broken taillight cover. But for a microwave oven door where the risks are really high if something goes wrong, absolutely not.
This falls into the "what you don't know can really hurt you" category. Unlike a conventional oven (just "heat", which you can feel as it melts the plastic you put in there, producing toxic fumes, etc.), with a microwave oven you could undergo serious bodily injury and not know it is happening until it is too late.
No. Just no.


How can I remove a stone fireplace that is attached to drywall? I wish to remove a fireplace and the mantle above it. Can I just pry it off portions at a time or is there a better way?

Those stones are just facing and can be knocked out with chisel/hammer combo.  The shelf might need a sledge hammer or a lot of whacks with hammer.


Solar AC Disconnect - Fused or UnFused? I'm installing a solar panel system with microinverters on each panel.  An AC disconnect must be installed outside.

I've learned that AC disconnects can be fused or unfused. - the unfused variety basically being a large power switch.  I will have a breaker in my panel for the AC circuit feed, so I'm wondering if there is any reason to have a fused AC disconnect. Seems to me that the breaker should meet the requirement to protect the circuit from overcurrent.

Does an AC disconnect for a solar power system have to include a fuse/breaker, or can I rely on the panel breaker to meet that requirement?

You don't need a fuse here

The solar disconnect is only needed so the utility can shut down your solar system if it goes awry without having to fumble around in your breaker box or incur the risks of pulling your meter "hot".  As a result, a non-fused disconnect is A-OK here, as the breaker in the panel + the inherent limits of the solar source will protect the wiring from short-circuit or overcurrent.


Floor-Based Electrical outlet type Is there any requirement that mandates a residential floor-installed electrical receptacle to be a GFCI type, when said location is in a dining area, NOT located in the bathroom, kitchen, laundry / NOT near water source? Thank you!

No, this receptacle doesn't have to be GFCI protected

The primary clause that requires GFCI protection in residential kitchens only applies to kitchen countertop receptacles (there's also a GFCI requirement for dishwashers, but that's a different thing):

  (6) Kitchens — where the receptacles are installed to serve
  the countertop surfaces

However, it does need to be installed correctly

The problem with a receptacle in the floor, though, is that putting a regular box and receptacle in the floor yields a hazardous installation (due to crud getting into the receptacle), and is prohibited by 314.27(B), which requires a listed floor box and matching faceplate be used instead:

  (B) Floor Boxes. Boxes listed specifically for this application
  shall be used for receptacles located in the floor.

So, you need to make sure the box is listed and labeled as a floor box -- these will generally have a distinctive faceplate that has flip-open covers over the receptacles themselves.


What happens when you can't make something code-legal? I suppose this is a bit more general, but I would like to know how inspectors and jurisdictions have handled cases where there's nothing that can be done to bring something up to code.

As an example, I have a bathroom that's 4x7'. Pretty much everything about bathrooms has the width at 5' minimum, so there's one problem already. The bigger issue is that in order to place a sink, toilet, and shower, I have to violate the regulations around one of them because of where the door (and a window) are placed. I can't install a shower that inscribed a 30" circle because then I'd have no space left for a toilet (which should have a 30" total width clearance), especially if I wanted to give it appropriate clearance in front of it.

I could go on, but what tends to happen in these types of situations? Does it become a case of, "Well, you did the best you could do"?

Depending on the circumstances, the Permit Issuing Authority will either forbid the construction or grant a written "variance" from the rule. Sometimes a variance will have stipulations.

As an example, in my area the electrical service for a new or remodeled residence must be buried. In my case, the nearest available power service was on a pole that already had the maximum number of underground feeds. I received a "variance" in the form of a stamp on my blueprints from the city inspector.


Okay to shift toilet a couple of inches? My toilet is set in a corner and is not square to the walls, so that when sitting on it, one’s left knee almost touches the wall-mounted TP dispenser. I can’t relocate the entire toilet, but shifting it slightly so the tank is parallel to the back wall and perpendicular to the side wall would help...even if just a little. It is NOT bolted to the floor. Truly, about an inch and a half is all that’s needed. I’m a senior lady and can physically manage this, just don’t want to create an issue that’d require a plumber. Thanks for your help.

Unless your toilet is a fully self contained unit, such as chamber pot, it will be connected to plumbing. There will be the water line that brings water to fill the flush tank and then there will be the large diameter drain pipe that comes up through the floor and seals with the bottom of the toilet stool.

An arbitrary movement of the toilet unit will involve these plumbing connections so either you or a plumber will have to deal with the changes.

There is one specific thing that may be possible that would minimize the overall amount of plumbing impact. If you were to plan to simply rotate the toilet stool directly in line with the centerline of the drain pipe connection in the floor then all that would be needed there is a cleaning of the bottom of the stool and flange. You would then seat the toilet on a new wax ring or other new fangled rubber seal.

Rotating as described above will change the position where the water fill line engages the bottom of the flush tank. It that is currently plumbed with a rigid fixed position pipe then it will need to be redone. Replacing with a flexible stainless steel braid jacketed connection hose would make reconnection easy.


DIY lamp post using 4x4 pressure treated wood? I would like to build several lamp posts for my backyard. To cut costs I am considering dadoing a channel down the middle of a 4x4 for the wiring, and covering up the dado with "ornamental" wood tacked to all four sides. Does anyone have any experience creating lamp posts such as this or see a down side that I am missing? I cannot fine any plans or ideas on the web for such a project.

Any guidance or help would be appreciated!

It may be easier to make a post out of two 2x4's where you can use a router to cut in a V groove down the center of the face of each piece. The two V grooves facing each other would make a channel down the middle of the post.

You may want to consider the use of a PVC conduit in the channel to eliminate the possibility of rusting.

An easier procedure than cutting a the V groove would be to build your lamp posts out of four 2x4s like shown below (end view). This would result in a nice sturdy post that was 5" square with a 2" square hole down the center for the conduit. And if this was constructed from pressure treated lumber before it fully dried it will likely hold its shape as it dried out.