Why doesn't my furnace fan run in cool mode? Ok, the blower unit will run on heat and fan on. However when I switch to auto and cool the blower unit doesn't run. When I have the blower in the "on" position it will run until I switch the thermostat to cool. As soon as the unit outside comes on, then the blower shuts off and the outside unit keeps running. The blower will work on the heat setting also. I've never seen this happen like this. It is a Lennox brand outside unit and inside blower unit.

What could be the problem?

The blower motor works on heat, That means your problem is in the ac unit or the thermostat

To determine if it's the thermostat you can use a couple bypass methods since the thermostat is just a bunch of hidden switches that eventually go bad, Run a piece of wire from the R terminal to the W terminal, that says you want heat on to the furnace without a switch, Then run that same wire from the RC terminal to the Y terminal, that's the method for your ac unit, if it kicked on then it's your thermostat, if it didn't then make sure you have 24 volts coming to your thermostat from the ac unit, if the ac unit don't have a transformer then you need a jumper wire from RC to R in your thermostat

Look in your ac units panel and make sure the switch is getting 24 volts on the both of the small wires and that there aren't any bugs stuck in the contacts, you should be getting 240 in and 240 out on the switch when it calls for cool air... also make sure to check the run capacitor, shut off the power, disconnecg the wires, touch the terminals with a metal screwdriver and a rubber handle to discharge it, then test it, herm to fan and herm to C for compressor, you do not want any under voltage at all, that would cause a higher amperage call when your fan is running at lower rpms

Also if you notice any bulging or oil on the capacitor unit itself that means it's bad.


stair tread molding/nosing options I'm a homeowner and renovating my 100 year old house.

The old pine stair treads are broken in several places and extremely ugly, and so they must be replaced. We also decided to open up the staircase, cut out the closed skirtboard and now the new stair treads will be longer and extend past the wall.

I went to HD yesterday and bought the new stair treads - we went with the pine. (Although I found the "made in china" tag only after cross cutting them to length, grrrr)

The treads are made up of 3 or 4 edge-glued 1x4s (true 1" thick) with a pine veneer glued on top and a bullnose routed into the front edge (I think it's a 9/16" radius).

I began cutting the treads to length and it occurred to me that I'm going to have to do something to exposed ends that stick out of the wall - either cut a matching bullnose into them or attach a piece of molding instead. (This is also known as the nosing I think).

Question is: should I cut a matching bullnose into the ends of the treads that will be exposed, or glue/nail on a piece of molding. The former will mean that the end-grain will exposed and this does not stain well. The later means that I will have to a fair amount of more work and I'm wondering if it's worth it.

This illustrate the piece of trim I'm talking about:

I can actually make the molding myself from the waste that I cut off the treads when cutting them to length - and it won't be edge grain either. I'll need to route a matching roundover into the flat edges though.

Problem is it's a lot more work, the joint between the tread and nosing will not be very strong unless I cut a tongue and groove joint into it or something (even more work), will require the cross cuts to be perfectly straight yet my table saw is too small so I've been using a hand-held circular saw which is not perfect.

UPDATE: The job is done and it looks great! Here's how I did it: http://dannix.net/lib/abode/stairs

Thank you!

That bit of decorative bullnose on the end is called a 'return'.  If you haven't cut up all the treads you can return (no pun intended) some of them and buy treads with them already present.  They cost about 4× as much, but you can buy them.

Cheapest thing to do would be to use a router with a bullnose bit on the overhanging edge to create the return.

You can go for using the bullnose from the waste.  You've already got the material, and it's certainly going to match what you already have.  it will require you to make a small miter cut on the outside edge of the stair, with another crosscut from the back to the endpoint of that miter cut.

Personally?  If you haven't got the router, I'd go for buying the return molding on its own.  It's only about $5 per 13" piece at the Big Orange Box (i.e. Home Depot) or eBay


Latch locks when door handle pulled down Had our front door repainted (simply took off hinges and then replaced).  Now, when you open the door by pulling handle down the latch stays stuck such that you can't open it from the other side.  You have to pull up on the handle to release it and then the door can again be opened.  Any thoughts?

Are you sure the handle wasn't removed?  It's certainly a slight misalignment so that the latch is binding.  It could be that when it was rehung the door shifted slightly, or same thing with the handle being removed and replaced.  Either way, I'd loosen the handle enough that you can shift it very slightly but have it hold the position while you test it.  When you find a position that eliminates the binding (which I bet you do), retighten it.  If this doesn't seem to be the problem, let me know.


Is a porch temporarily roofed with just tar paper likely to be damaged by rain? General Contractor has been hired to build a wrap around porch onto our house. He has most of the construction completed (decking, columns, soffits, etc) but still has not shingled the roof.  It’s just plywood and tar paper. We have had lots of rain. Will this be a problem in the future and why has he not shingled it yet?

As long as the tar paper doesn’t get ripped up it will be fine. Even if the paper or felt is damaged it can be repaired or replaced and a little water on the plywood won’t be a problem long term.


Does the ground wire need to be continuous through the termination block? I need to re-route where the ground wire goes through the exterior wall. From the panel, it is run continuous through a termination block (picture below), through the exterior wall, then out to the ground rod. Can I cut the wire here to re-route, then connect it back to the termination block? Or does it need to remain continuous? I can of course disconnect it from the panel but it would be much faster/easier to just cut it here.

The ground has to be continuous, code allows splicing with non removable splices that are rated for grounding.
There are many splices out there but not all are listed for grounding make sure the splice you get is listed for grounding.
The second thing is the proper compression tool. I have had inspectors that wanted “stamped” marks from the compression tool proving the correct tool was used, I haven’t had that issue for many years but be aware it could be and make sure you have enough wire to redo the splice if the inspector calls you on it (both the splice or the compression tool used).
You can not use terminal blocks from the electrode(s) the grounding wire can only be spliced with non removable means as compression or cad welding.


Thinnest screed over the water heating floor I installed a water heating floor system with 17 mm pipes and studded panels.

This is how a studded panel with a pipe looks like:

It has 52 mm height (the polystyrene has 30 mm).

Now I want to add a screed over the heating floor system and I'm looking for the lightest solution that doesn't load the slab too much. The screed should uniform the pipe temperature and assure a solid base for the finishes.

The screed should be:

floating
compatible with the heating floor system

enough elasticity
a good heating conductor

thin
light
resistant
ready to add wood flooring or the ceramic tiles (depending on the room) on it

Until now I analyzed some classical solutions like:

normal cement-sand screed => 132 kg/m2

at least 45 mm over the pipes (=> ~60 mm in fact)
density 2200 kg/m3

anhydrite screed => 100 kg/m2

at least 35 mm over the pipes (=> ~50 mm in fact)
density 2000 kg/m3

perlite screed => 66 kg/m2

at least 45 mm over the pipes (=> ~60 mm in fact)
density 1100 kg/m3
bad heat conductor

Do you have any better suggestion?

It would be nice if I could mitigate the thickness of the screed over the pipes to at most 25 mm.

We have underfloor heating, pipes like you describe with a 50mm screed of light concrete, well cement, surrounding and covering the pipes and heavy tiles (12mm thick) as the final floor surface.

The heat transfer is fine but the response is slow - but we designed for that as the floor stores heat to be gently released as we also have the sun heating it during the day in winter.


Light fixture earthing wires Hi, I'm having some difficulty trying to wire up this light in my house.

I'm living in Germany in an old building and the existing light only has two wires coming from in which are the brown and blue ones, as you can see from the picture.

Now the new light I've bought also has the yellow and green wires, which I presume are the earthing cables?

Does anyone have any ideas how to get around the problem of missing the earthing cable?

I apologise if this is a stupid question but I'm clueless with electrics.

Thanks in advance

Over here in the Netherlands we have the same problem.
Simply connect the Neutral and switch wire to the armature and if no earth wire is available leave the one from the armature disconnected.

Most probably you have earth fault detection breakers in the switchboard.

That is the case if you find a small button on the breaker.
Most probably you can find also the remark of 0,03A or 30 mA.

In such cases the breaker trips if there is a defect resulting in more than 30 mA difference in current from the line to the neutral.


Should the main circuit breaker be AFCI, CAFCI or just standard? Let's say all the other breakers in the panel are standard (i.e. not ACFI). Would it help to have the main breaker AFCI or CAFCI?

Conversely, let's say the other breakers are all CAFCI. Can I use a standard main breaker?

My concern is to have the best security+convenience mix. In special, I don't want a water flood in the basement bathroom to trip the main and loose my refrigerated food or become unable to open the garage.

What does the code says about that?

Ground fault detection

Your idea is not weird.  The European practice is to have a whole house master GFCI (their term is RCD), but there are a few key differences.

European homes' current demand is much lower than ours, because their voltage is double and their houses are less "electric".
Their GFCI has a high 30ma trip threshold, which is good for protecting houses from burning down, but inadequate for life safety.  A 6 or 8 milliamp trip is ideal for life safety, but if a whole house had that trip, it would have too many nuisance trips from tiny leaks adding up.

Arcing fault detection

AFCI needs to be per branch circuit. It depends on detecting the "sound" of arcing on the lines, and if it's protecting too many circuits, the sound is too dampened to hear.

Arcing literally is a sound; in fact it's the same "crinkle crunch" sound you hear when hooking up speakers or sticking headphones in a plug. If you hooked plain, dumb speakers wound for 120/230V mains power, you'd be blasted out by the normal 50/60Hz "hum". If you added a notch filter to block that, you'd literally hear line noise and arcing.  This is easily analyzed by a 1990s era DSP.

Contemplate GFCIs for small subpanels

One cost-saver is to have the GFCI serve (or be the main breaker of) a small subpanel.  However you don't want that serving too many circuits, or you'll have the European problem of minuscule ground faults stacking to cause nuisance trips.

You would not be able to do this strategy with AFCI breakers, because 2-pole AFCI breakers of large amperage are not made.

An alternative to AFCI protection is to run the entire circuit in metal conduit. The metal conduit conducts heat very well, so it distributes the heat from series arc faulting, preventing it from concentrating in one space enough to start a fire.  As for parallel (shorting) arc faults, the metal conduit carries large amounts of current back to the breaker, assuring a trip.  Since such a failure is also a ground fault, it will trip a GFCI quite a bit sooner.


How to replace fan fixture for a flat LED light fixture? I removed a fan from the ceiling and noticed this pole in the picture below. I'm wondering what to do with this if I want to install a flat back LED light fixture. Should I cut it or is there a cover I can use?

Remove the four drywall screws in the existing bracket and remove it. Then see about removing the pipe, it might just be part of the bracket. If there is an electrical box up there you can mount the led  fixture. If not, you'll have to install one. Was the fan controlled by a wall switch or a pull chain?


How do I properly insulate an attic ceiling? I'm considering insulating my attic ceiling using a foam kit.
Doing a bit of research tells me that air sealing and proper ventilation are key

I live in Long Island NY and currently have about R-19.
The house is 2400 sqft and the attic floor is 20' x 26' = 530 sqft.
I've not measured the attic ceiling square footage, but its about a 45 degree angle, so I know its going to be more sqft than 530 sqft. The house does have soffits and a ridge vent.

I know I should put baffles before spraying any foam, but I don't know what to do about that ridge vent. How do I ensure the air going into the baffles goes out the ridge vents? I've not heard of a material to get that would connect the baffles to the ridge vent.

My goal is to insulate the attic ceiling since we want to keep the attic floor for storage.
I'm considering doing this myself since the quote I received was $6400 and there's no way I can afford that now or in the near future.

If you are foaming the attic ceiling, you're converting the attic to conditioned space. If you do this, you must cover up the ridge, eave and gable vents (or any other vent, for that matter)

Here is an information link on the subject:

http://inspectapedia.com/interiors/atticcond8.htm


Should I paint wood in a roof that is not directly exposed to the outside? I'm currently in the process of replacing the roof of a room. This room was originally a balcony, so has never been part of the main house. The roof that was removed had wood beams with wood strips/planks on top of the beams, and a cement sheet on top of that.

I'm located in Bombay, India, where we get the monsoons. These are basically really, really heavy rains for a few months of the year, approx June through September. So, any roof needs to be pretty effectively waterproof. The roof described above was leaking quite badly and had some problems with mice getting in there, so had to be replaced.

When reconstructing the new ceiling, I left the wooden beams alone, and replaced the wood strips/planks. Then I put a aluminum sheet over that. On top of that goes thin strips of wood, like 1 1/2 inches vs 1 inches in width/thickness as a frame for ceiling clay tiles (I think they are clay). The tiles are quite heavy, so they just get placed into the wooden frame, not attached. Supposedly all the wood is teak, though that is hard to check. To summarize, the structure is:

ceiling tiles
=============
thin wooden frame for clay ceiling tiles
========================================
aluminum sheet
==============
wooden strips/planks
====================
wooden beams
============

Just to be clear, I'm not actually doing any of this; there are people doing it for me. So, I guess this is not really a suitable question for a DIY site. :-)

My question is whether it makes sense to paint the thin wooden pieces of wood that constitute the frame for the tiles for water protection. The people who are doing it for me say it is not necessary, since the wooden tile frame won't come into direct contact with water, as the tiles are on top of it. The underlying wooden frame isn't getting painted either, but that makes more sense to me, since it is under the aluminum. However, the frame for the tiles is closer to potential water exposure.

So, does it make sense to paint wood in such a situation? More generally, how much does painting wood help to protect it from water/moisture in general?

You can seal the wood after it is framed.  Do you need to?  No.  Would the framing last longer?  Probably.  Does it make sense to do this?

if you like to spend a little extra money on frivolous things...
if you feel like that there is no one monitoring the house during parts of the year.  Obviously it had access to moisture because it was a balcony.  So maybe a monsoon could hit the room hard and no one is checking on the house for a few months.  Maybe this helps the framing last longer after decades of use and many unmonitored monsoons.
if this is an indoor/outdoor room


How to calculate therms usage from oil usage? The Nest thermostat states I heated my home for 155 hours in November.
I estimate thats approx 100 gallons of oil used.
It got me wondering if I converted to natural gas, how much would that be?

Unfortunately, I'm unable to find a calculator to go from gallons of oil used to therms. Or hours of heat to therms.

I'm not looking for someone to do the conversion for me.
Just interested in the formula to calculate this.

Not sure if spec matter, but here they are:

My oil burner model is KV83 (I'm told it's middle quality burner so I may change it one day)
It's supplied by a Riello burner  oil gun.
-pump pressure 145 psi
-air set 3.5
-nozzle 0.90 x 80 degrees B
-headset 1.0

Figures, just found that 1 gallon of oil equals 1.35 therms.
Another consideration is the efficiency of the unit.
From a recent energy audit in know its efficiency is 79%.

This means my 100 gallon estimate is 135 therms.
Now to try and guess what the gas bill would look like, based on their charge model is another story.


How can I replace a halogen light bulb inside this glass enclosure? I have to replace this fused lightbulb but it is being caged by the glass as seen in the photo. How do I remove the glass?

On the ones I have that are similar lifting on the metal tab at the end with a little force it pulls off. Then the lamp is pulled to the side and taken out. To re assemble put the new lamp in without touching the lamp use a tissue or the packaging material any finger oils on the lamp may cause it to get hot and explode when it is turned on. I usually will clean the protective cover and snap it back in place. Sometimes this cover can be very stiff but they are easier to snap back in place.


Should the tiny gap between exterior window trim and the window housing be caulked? I have a home with Hardie Board siding and trim. There is a tiny gap between the edge of the installed windows and the Hardie trim board ( Please see the gap where my finger is pointing in the picture below). It’s kind of hard to see in picture because the gap itself is black and blends in with the window, however, the gap is a around 1/8th to 1/16th of an inch wide and goes all the way around the window. The gap is due to the white trim not completely touching the window housing itself.

Should this gap be caulked or am I missing something? I plan on using silicone to seal that gap on the top, left, and right sides. I’d leave the bottom unsealed so it doesn’t trap moisture.

Yes for sure.   The caulk is rather important there more than anywhere else because water will run down those channels and rot out the window framing and window itself (rust if metal).

I suggest ge5020 concrete and masonry silicone ii and to do this window in clear or black.  I would not match trim color as something that light will show dirt more and you will end up with brown or grey very soon.


How can I prevent my HVAC condensate drain line from freezing? Last night, my heat (forced air) suddenly stopped.  Today, a plumber figured out that my heater is 90% efficient, produces lots of condensate, and the drain line had frozen.  We went outside and saw the drain line was about 2 feet long of 2" PVC, mounted vertically about 6 inches off the ground.  He sawed off the bottom 9 inches which had frozen, the water trickled out, and the heater started working again.

Problem solved for today... but it may freeze again, soon.  So the question is: How to fix it?

The plumber recommended rerouting the drain to use the sewer vent, despite it being against code.  But I don't want to do that.  To me, it would make more sense to insulate, heat, shorten, or widen the drain pipe so that it doesn't freeze.  It's only a trickle of water.

I'm a beginner here.  Here are my ideas.  What do you think of them?

Shorten the pipe outside, so that there's less area exposed
Widen the pipe at the end - if the ice starts at the end, from the drip, expanding it to 4" might work
Insulate or heat the pipe using heat tape or something like that (which I don't know anything about)
Something else?

Also:

Do I need to do anything to the part of the drain that's inside? The system is is my (unconditioned, tiny) attic
Is there a way to run the system in emergency mode, so that we're not all shivering, until we fix it? I read about this online but don't know how to do it

UPDATE:

I live in Central New Jersey.  The winter can get its cold spell, but nothing beyond that.
We ended up cutting off the entire run of the outside pipe.  Now there's only a spout facing directly down.  The spout is about 3 feet off the ground.
Do I have to worry about the water damaging things? The water trickles down my siding now.  It's near an external AC unit and a window well for the basement window, but it doesn't hit either one of those.  If I make it a bit longer, it will come closer to those, unless I make it much longer
Someone told me that the condensate isn't regular water, but is corrosive.  Is that true?
I have an in-house humidifier.  I shut it off for now, because I thought it would make the condensate worse.  Is that true? Can I turn it back on?

Finally I'm really a real beginner at DIY.  If I should a section of (wide?) pipe (with insulation) to it, can you recommend specific products and give me links?

Any or all of your ideas will help, it largely depends on your climate and how long of a below freezing stretch you can expect. The drain outlet is supposed to be within some distance of the ground, 18" I believe, which is why it was configured that way. In areas subject to freezing, all piping carrying water should be run as far as practical inside the heated envelope, so the drop to within some distance of ground should have been done inside. If possible, rerouting the run inside, with only a very short run outside should solve the problem.

As BMitch suggests, routing the drain through trap would comply with plumbing codes and is the best solution.

Shortening the pipe could fix the problem entirely since the water may not have time to freeze. In frigid climates though, any water outside will freeze. The high outlet could damage you outside wall finish and be an annoyance to passers by.

Widening the pipe will require more build up before blockage, so if the freeze periods are not too long, this could work. In frigid climates, it will still block up eventually.

Insulating the pipe would probably be all that's needed, it has the same effect as shortening the pipe, without wall damage. Actively heating the pipe would certainly work, but is probably only needed in extreme cases. Heat tape that wraps around the pipe and is plugged in to an outlet, with a thermostat to turn off the current above freezing is a common hardware store item in cold climates.

You only have to worry about the attic if it gets below freezing in there. Attics, though ventilated with outside air, tend to stay a fair bit warmer than the outside. I would guess that unless you have good runs of outside temperatures consistently below 0F(-18C), you shouldn't have a freezing problem in your attic.

I'm not sure, but I suspect there is not an override. A blocked drain can cause significant problems if the furnace continues to run. By shutting off the heat, it is good incentive for the owner to solve the problem.


Vapor Barrier for Wine Cellar I am building a wine cellar, we have 3 1/2" of closed foam insulation. One wine cellar company says that I do NOT need a vapor barrier because a double barrier is a recipe for condensation and mold disaster in a few years, the other one says I do need an additional vapor barrier because of the humidity in Texas.

Closed-cell foam insulation is a vapor barrier itself. If this closed-cell foam is continuous, then you shouldn't have any issues. If it is just in the cavities between wood studs, then the studs may act as thermal bridges which may result in condensation on the humid side if the studs get cold enough.


Do I need 3/4 inch plywood subfloor? I'm going to install tiger wood 3/4 inch hardwood floors in my house. The manual says you need 3/4 inch CDX plywood subfloor. I have 1/2 CDX plywood subfloor. Is the extra 1/4 inch really needed? Some people have told me it is not needed, but I want more opinions.

If you are interested in the science behind your question, the answer lies hidden in your question.  You mentioned "is the extra 1/4 inch really needed".

As do most people, you translated this in your mind to "I know how little stiffness there is in a wimpy piece of 1/4 inch plywood, so how could it really make any difference".

The stiffness of a piece of material is only determined by simple addition in a case where the two layers are free to slide against each other.  If just laid one on top of the other with no connection between them, two 1/4 inch thick pieces of plywood form a combination that is merely twice as stiff.

In the more common case of well attached or glued layers (or in this case just a thicker single sheet of plywood), doubling the thickness of a sheet MUCH more than doubles its stiffness.  The 3/4 plywood is more than twice as stiff as 1/2" plywood.


Is shutting off the water supply line to replace a refrigerator water filter normal? I'm looking into purchasing a new refrigerator. A particular Samsung model looks like a potential but I noticed an odd instruction in its manual. Regarding replacing its water filter, the first step is to shut off the water supply line.

Is this a standard requirement? Is the expectation that I shut off water coming into my house? (I don't want to have to pull the fridge out every time the filter needs changing.) I ask since with my current refrigerator, I don't need to shut off the water supply line to change a water filter.

All you need to do is have a local shut off . My state requires a valve box in the wall access behind the fridge. If you have this on the supply to the fridge it meets the requirements. With this normally ball valve turned 90 degrees and a glass of water tried to fill the pressure will be gone in 1-2 seconds.


how can i find electric short from room to fuse box? When I came home last night the wife was setting in the dark in the bedroom. Why are the two hall lights strobing I ask? She did not know, she took a nap and when she woke no power in the room. ok??? but some event had to take place. Maybe you spilled water or the dog thought the cord was a chew toy. While I began to look into this strange event, she tells me she plugged a power strip, with grounding part pulled off, into older multi plug in device. She missed and plugged one side of plug into one receptecle and the other into a different one. Claims nothing happened and lights were still on when she fell asleep when she woke no power.

This is what I know, I reset each breaker with no results. In the hall I have a light  switch at each end. If I turn on the first swith only the light nearest the switch comes on. When I turn on other switch both light up but both lights strob. Can not turn lights off in the hall way from either switches. Both blubs are the newer low watt blubs. I am assuming these lights in hall are on the same line as bedroom since this happened at the same time or so I am told. I have unplugged everything in bedroom and tripped each circuit at fuse box. Do not have any old light blubs to see if those might change what I am seeing in hall. I need a little detective insight as to what I should do to find and resolve the problem.

My approach (not an electrician, just a guy with a meter) would be to start by mapping the circuit (find all of the outlets and fixtures that are on it), then unplugging EVERYTHING that's plugged into that circuit and see if that has an effect.

Next up, I'd kill the breaker and open up the switches and take a look. See if there's evidence of burning or arcing, or if one switch feels different than the other. I'd probably disconnect both switches (safely capping all wires), then turn the breaker back on and verify (using a meter) that the voltage is reasonable at all the outlets and other fixtures, and see what happens in the bedroom.

Basically if that tells you nothing, then I'd either start pulling outlets and fixtures off the circuit (kill breaker, remove outlet, capping wires, breaker back on) until I figured out what the heck was wrong, OR I'd just call an electrician.


What type of screws would work best for hanging a projector from the ceiling? I installed a projector and a screen a few days using toggle bolts in my drywall ceiling. One of the anchors didn't open all the way up, and the screen fell. So, I searched here, and quickly came to a realization that hanging anything heavy from the drywall ceiling is a terrible idea. I took everything down, and would like to mount the projector directly to the joists.

Here's what I have in mind.

What kind of screw should I be using to secure the extra wood to the joist?
How far into the joist should it be going?
Does it matter what I use for the extra wood (pine or MDF)?
What kind of screws should I use to secure the projector to the extra wood? I can't really use bolts, since the extra wood will be flush with the ceiling.

I'm assuming your projector isn't terribly heavy, so...

2 1/2" gold construction screws should work fine to hold the board to the joists. I also like to use decking screws because of their strength and color.  They both have small enough heads that shouldn't stick out once they are tightened.  I think that larger fasteners like lag bolts just aren't warranted for this project.

The 2 1/2" screws should end up going into the joist about 1 1/4".  If you use a thicker board for support, you might want to bump up to 3" screws.  Try to get more than an 1" into the joist.

Since this is interior, and not a large span to tremendous weight, pine or MDF should be fine.  MDF will be easier to work with because it will not be warped or twisted.  I used it to mount my TV to the wall.

Any wood screw that goes into the full thickness of the mounting board should be fine to hold up the projector mount. Even if the screws are a little long, they will just poke into the drywall a bit, which will be fine. Use a screw as thick as possible based on the holes in the mount, and use as many screws as you have holes for.


Class 2 transformer wire (only) through electrical panel? Is there a way to legally run a wire through (but not terminating inside) the electrical panel carrying 9v?  US Residential, 200A panel, surface mounted on block wall.

I am installing an IotaWatt power monitor, and require two for the number of inputs. One will go on each side of the panel in a separate plastic (UL listed) box.  These boxes will each contain a voltage reference source which is simply a plug-in 9V transformer.  The boxes are fed 110V through separate conduit into a physically separated area in which an outlet is mounted (protected by GFI).

Separate current transformers (also listed) are put on each branch circuit, and half go out a 1" conduit into the low voltage side of each box.

All this is good and legit up to this point.

I want to run a wire from each low voltage box into the other carrying that 9V reference (this gives me a read on each phase, which should be identical but.. well, I'd like to measure).  Running this outside of the panel is ugly due to the physical surroundings (not hard, ugly; even worse to put it in conduit which I would prefer as this is really close to a path to get in/out of a car).

What I would like to do is come out of the 1" conduit on each side of the panel, and cross over to the other side inside the panel.  Physically it is trivial, plenty of room for wire. But my understanding is that falls into the Class 2 wiring and is not conforming.  I've read various opinions that it can be by maintaining a separation from each high voltage wire, but that's unlikely to work (I'm also unclear if that advice is correct).

Is there a conforming way to do this?  Using regular THHN perhaps (terminated back to 9V inside each low voltage box)?  Or putting it in some kind of flexible sheath that can actually run into the LV box through the 1" (there is inadequate space for regular 1/2 NM conduit to pass inside and terminate on each side and provide a path).

If relevant (I think not but) none of the low voltage wiring leaves the low voltage box to the outside world, it all stays inside (communications if via wifi).

My alternative is to put two outlets in each box, one on each phase, and four transformers, but that is not desirable due to physical space in the low voltage boxes I already mounted.  Another alternative is just to assume the voltage on each phase is identical - reasonable, what the vendor says is adequate, but a big reason for doing this is to better understand what happens in my power usage, and until you measure something it's a guess, not data.

Update 3/14/2019: To some comments, a photo of the setup may help explain. The two empty boxes will hold the Iotawatt's, they also have a divider that goes at the level of the outlet box.  The block wall is about 24" from a car normally parked in the garage, and tools and ladders are stored on the wall as well so I am trying to avoid any loose wires or devices (and these boxes are about 7' up). The metal cover hides wires exiting above and goes all the way to the ceiling. Both plugs on the outlet in the box are taken (one for power, one for that leg's 9V reference transformer).

Two long as a comment,
If you are in the US they are called legs as residential is normally a single phase feed that is center tapped or a split phase.

Don’t expect them to be identical they will be close usually within 1% unloaded but not identical depending on loading I have seen them +15% off with no way to balance due to a single intermittent large load.

You can split a duplex receptacle to have each on its own circuit this requires handle ties at minimum and can use a common neutral with current code a double pole GFCI would be needed to feed these receptacles in most locations.

You can run your control wire or low voltage through the panel if the wiring insulation is rated for the voltage (your example of THHN is 600v would comply with code)  but the reason we usually do not is because of the electrical noise generated with the 120v circuitry and the low voltage separation that you have identified.

I hope I have hit all of your points , to get better answers a single question would help.


Need neutral out at my well house but only have 220 v I have 220v to my well house but need to install a 120v convenience receptacle for maintenance tools. The feed coming from my main panel is direct burial. What can I do ?

I think the question is what can I do without running a new line?

My question is do you have a grounding wire with the 220V? Because if you don't you are going to have to ground that circuit also.

Other than that you could set a small panel, split your circuits and add a buck transformer to provide you with 120V from your 220V feeder, and your going to have to ground one secondary side of the line. If you are using an autotransformer configuration the ground should be on the isolated phase of the secondary.

If all of this is a little much experience wise, I would recommend you contact a licensed electrician.

Good luck.


Tool to help precision drill 4 holes in a wall? I need to hang up a mirror and two hangers for cloth. All of them have 4 holes each, so I fear I can't mark and drill the holes exactly in the correct places...
So I was wondering if there exist a tool to help with this? I have found a post where someone mentions a "leveler with a slider in the middle", but no mention of what it was called. Searching for "drill guide" also comes up empty in regards to walls.
The mirror is particular tricky as it is 0.5 meter x 1.5 meter, so it is quite heavy.
Question
Does anyone know of a tool that can help one make 4 holes in a brick wall exactly in their correct places?
And if such tool exist, can it support different drill sizes?

I make a template with a piece of paper or cardboard (like the box the item came in).  This makes drilling holes in a precise pattern a bit easier.  In some situations, you might transfer the pattern from your paper onto the wall using pencil / marker / spray-paint.
For the size mirror you're talking about, you might want to read about another mounting option, called a French cleat.  It involves attaching a piece of wood to the wall, and another to the item being hung up.  The two pieces fit together with a slant.  This not only makes it easier to hang the item, but also, to remove it later if you need to paint or otherwise access the wall behind it.


Consolidating two electricity meters? Today, we got the keys to our new house. I was taking meter readings, when I spotted a note directing me to a second meter. This is located at the other end of the house, in it's own cupboard, with it's own consumer board. After some enquirers, I have ascertained that both are active, although oddly being supplied by two different companies.
It is a reasonably old house (even by UK standards) and was at some point actually two small cottages, which were knocked through at some point in it's history. This, combined with the locations of the meters, makes me suspect that the two original houses may retain distinct, isolated, electrical systems.
Some questions:

Is my hunch about the two halves of the house likely to be correct? Or is there another explanation?
Are there any advantages/disadvantages to this sort of arrangement?
If we wanted to, how much work would it be to get to something simpler? E.g. going to a single meter.
Is there any good reason to have the two meters fed by different suppliers?

Thanks in advance!

1:Hunch would appear to be likely correct.
2C:Cons: Probably costs more per month to have two services. You'd have to check. There's typically a charge per service and a charge for use, at least in my part of the world, and I expect that to be similar elsewhere.
Shutting of "the power" in an emergency is not one place, but two.
Increased risks if someone less than fully knowledgeable about the weirdness in this house does any electrical work.
2P:Pros: depending how separate the two providers really are (if they use separate distribution) might be less chance of a power outage affecting both sides of the house (this does not apply if they use the same shared distribution network and are merely separate entities that put power into and sell it from the shared grid.)
3:I'd guess it might be a paperwork nightmare. You'd have to choose a utility to keep and contact both (or all three if you can and do choose a third one) to work out the details. To actually solve 1, you might need rewiring so that one meter feeds both entrance points, otherwise you might be paying for two services to the same provider.
4:Probably not, other than the implications of 3 and 2P, if 2P even applies.


Faulty dimmer lights / switch My patio lights are on a dimmer switch.  Recently when I press the switch the lights go on and then switch off immediately and stay off.  I can press the switch on and off several times and nothing happens.  If I hold the switch down the lights flicker but if I let go they switch off.  Please help

Sounds like the switch is bad.

As with anything electronic, sooner or later it fails.

Try replacing it with a standard switch to see if everything works as it should. Then you can select a new dimmer if that is the problem.

Good luck!


How should I connect the ground wires for my new light fixture? I have a question about what to do with ground wires.
I am installing a new light fixture above my dining room table.  Fixture comes with a ground wire obviously.  Main electrical wiring has the normal black and white wire AND a bare copper wire (which I’m assuming is another ground wire).
In addition it appears that my octagonal electric junction box also has a green copper ground wire attached to box with a screw, so I now have three grounding wires. Light fixture mounting bracket has the normal green screw that I should be attaching a ground wire.
Question: Is which wire do I attach to the mounting bracket ground screw AND what to do with the other grounding wires??

Having all those ground wires is common because many junction boxes are nonmetal. I'm assuming yours is. The actual ground should be the bare copper ground coming into the box with the feed. Connect that ground to the green wire attached to the box. Now the box is grounded so any brackets you attach to the box and fixtures will be grounded when assembled.
I like to ground the box with the bare copper wire attached directly to it with a 10-32 grounding screw and pigtail off that to the ground wires from the bracket and fixture. That way, there's no lose wires floating around in the box


Remote light switches for light bulbs I live in an apartment wherein one of the rooms the light switch is outside of the room, which is annoying. I would like to add 2 light switches inside the room that would be used instead of the one outside and would turn on and off the lights.

In the ceiling, I have 2 240V compact fluorescent lights that are wired in series. One thing is that I'm looking for a solution that is comprised of switches mounted on the wall, rather than a remote controller that is moved around.

What product would you suggest me to buy and use for this?

Steam technology:

You'll need to pull a bunch of cables through walls. Some of these will be 4-core.  I can say with great confidence it's illegal to do this without landlord permission.

Smart-switch technology:

This is simplicity itself.  They make smart switches which work with wireless remote switches that run on batteries, have no wires, and simply stick to the wall.  You need to reconnoiter which wires are present in the old switch box to aid in product selection.

Get facilities/landlord permission to replace a switch.  It's unlikely they'd object.
Install such a brand of smart switch in the old/former switch location.
Install 2 remotes and pair them to the smart switch.

The key to finding masters and remotes that work with each other is they will almost certainly be the same brand.

Further, you should be aware that anything from the following channels is all but guaranteed to be the unsafe, illegal junkstream of poorly made goods from Alibaba:  a) AliExpress, b) eBay, c) DealExpress, d) Banggood, and e) Amazon Marketplace (pretty much anything on Amazon, sadly).  So you can save a lot of time/confusion by avoiding these channels altogether.

Honestly your best bet is your local home improvement retailer's web site (e.g. Wickes or Menards), or actually walk in to your local lighting supply house or electrical supply.  They will seem very expensive because they sell a higher quality product that is properly safety certified, and they charge a higher markup than mail order, but they don't charge shipping.  It is worth paying them for their knowledge if your time is valuable.  Having a good relationship with an electrical supply house is invaluable when doing projects, because they will save you a fortune by steering you away from expensive mistakes.


Why does the well pump continuously draw large current? The pump is a submersible type around 100ft down. It is rated at 1.5 HP ~ 1.1 KW and is around 3 yes old. The manufacturer's spec sheet mentions a full load current of 9.2 A.

1.1KW/230 gives me a figure of 4.86A, or 6.88A.
The utility meter reports a PF 0.92

This is  single phase device with the line voltage nominally at 230V 50 HZ. At times it may be as high as 250V.

The meter mounted against the pump shows a **constant ** 11.x 9.7 A after it is powered, which I fail to understand. I can understand a starting surge upto the rated load current but not 200%.

Why is this the case?

The 1.5HP rating is the mechanical output power of the motor, not the input electrical power. The way these motors are specified is that they put out rated power at rated current and frequency when consuming the full-load amps. Your naive current calculation fails to take into account motor efficiency and power factor. In other words, the real calculation goes like this:

V * I = P / (eff * PF)

Where V is the operating voltage, I is the current, P is the rated output power, eff is efficiency, and PF is power factor. If you solve that equation for I, that is your expected current. But there is no need to go through the math, because the full load current is already listed on the nameplate as 9.2A. So if everything is working right, and the motor is putting out 1.5 HP, you would expect to see 9.2A.

Still, even though your expectation of  6 or 7A is wrong, it sounds like the motor is consuming more than the full-load current. It is unclear from your post whether this is something new, or if it has been doing this ever since it was installed.

I can think of three reasons you would draw more than rated full-load amps. Reason one is that the pump is running at a higher flow rate and lower pressure than it was designed for. (It may be counter-intuitive, but centrifugal pumps and blowers consume MORE power when there is less back pressure... they consume the least power when the back pressure is highest in the no-flow condition).

The second reason is that something is faulty either in the pump or the motor. Maybe the pump shaft is rotating in the wrong direction or a bearing has worn out.

The third reason is that the voltage is too high and the motor is simply being over-driven.

If you have the make and model of the pump, and know the total vertical head that the pump is working against, we could maybe narrow it down a bit more by comparing your operating pressure against charts in the pump datasheet. It would be good to know if the voltage was 250 at the time you measured the current.


Why aren't siding nail holes a concern with tyvek housewrap? So when you install wood siding over a tyvek house wrap, you take care to flash and seal all penetrations from plumbing, HVAC and electrical connections to make sure no water can get in... then you riddle it with nail holes when you nail the siding in place!

Why isn't there any concern about water penetration into the house through the nail holes? Does Tyvek seal itself around the nail holes? Or does nobody worry about it?

While products like Tyvek do act as a drain plane to some extent, they're not truly waterproof. They're designed to allow vapor to easily pass, and therefore they're inherently an imperfect waterproofer. They should be considered a second line of defense against flawed siding installation and occasional wind-blown water intrusion.

The flashing around windows and other penetrations has as much to do with stopping airflow as it does with stopping water. Housewrap is mostly concerned with air leakage, which can dramatically affect the energy efficiency of a building's envelope.

The bottom line is that nails in the field are less likely to be subject to water on a regular basis, and they do somewhat self-seal. Window flashing is much better at self-sealing and is used in high-risk areas. Housewrap should not be considered a substitute for proper siding drain planning. Steel and vinyl siding channels, for example, must lap properly in order to direct the flow of water outside the siding.


How to properly pipe a hydronic heating system Background:
I am installing a hydronic radiant floor heating system myself and getting all the information required is a combination of many different websites. It doesn't seem like there is an all-in-one site for what is needed.
I have an existing tankless (on-demand) water heater as the hot water supply for the house. I am looking to use a heat exchanger off of that to warm the water. I have 3 zones: upstairs master suite (1 manifold/2 loops); downstairs bedroom (1 manifold/1 loop); main living (living room 1 manifold/2 loops, kitchen&bathroom 1 manifold/2 loops).
Question
I have created this diagram on how I am planning on hooking everything up. My question is everything in the correct location? Am I missing any components? The only thing I don't have in the diagram is the electrical wiring and the thermostats. Don't assume there is anything I am installing, but just didn't put in the diagram. Everything I know is on that diagram.

This isn't an "answer"  but a caution. I have a hydronic, in floor heating system in my house and let me tell you, there is a LOT of design and engineering to do to get this right. Even the tubing layout in the floor has design criteria (pattern should be that half way thru the loop, the tubing should parallel the first part for more even heat distribution.  There are sooo many options out there. Are you providing DHW off the boiler? or is the "boiler" a water heater? You also need to do heat loss calculations to determine if the BTUs supplied by your boiler or water heater are sufficient.
You didn't say, but I would guess that your radiant floor heating system will be installed in light weight concrete?  If so, that has a lot of thermal mass.  A thermostat that isn't too bright would leave the heat on until it reaches set point, then the residual heat in the slab could easily "overshoot" the setpoint by several degrees, making the room too hot and wasting energy. So at a minimum you'd want a tstat with adaptive intelligent recovery.   But even that said, in floor radiant systems are "slow" so you can't expect to set the tstat for 60 at night and 68 during the day to be effective.
I know this is a DIY site, and you could probably do much of the install yourself, but I'd strongly suggest getting in touch with a pro for advice and design.   Many supply houses have designers on staff that will offer their services for little or no cost, as long as you buy your materials there.
There are just too many opportunities for things to go wrong here so consulting a pro for design and advice is my strong suggestion.


How can I tell where my inground sprinkler hoses are? I'm going to be building a deck next week in my backyard! I'm very excited for the project, but I'm concerned about one thing: digging the foundation holes. I have an inground sprinkler system, and I'm concerned that I'm going to hit a buried hose when I'm digging.

How am I supposed to find where the hoses are? Also, what if I start digging and find a hose.. Can I move the hose, or do I have to move the hole?

I spent a couple summers in college installing underground sprinkling, so I know a little bit about this.

Typically you will have a large valve box somewhere in your yard.  These will usually have an access hatch (or several small hatches) for maintenance, so they should be easy enough to find.  Typically a pipe will run from the water supply to the valve box.  From the valve box pipes will run out to the various sprinkler heads.

Each valve in the valve box represents a single zone.  When the sprinklers come on, a valve will open and all the sprinklers in that zone will come on at the same time.  You can tell (roughly) where the pipes will be for that zone by finding the shortest path from the valve box that connects all the sprinklers in a zone.

As long as you dig carefully, you shouldn't have too much trouble.  The pipes are usually pretty tough and are usually buried about a foot or so under the ground.  If you do run into one, you're not going to be able to move it without doing some serious trenching, so you'll most likely be stuck moving your hole instead.


A/C Unit Has Leaking, Has Ice Buildup Came home yesterday to find that the house was burning up and the thermostat had automatically switched itself to heat... in the summer! We didn't know what was going on, and assumed some sort of bizarre computer chip issue, so we turned it back to A/C on the usual temperature, and left it alone.

Went down to the basement today to find that there was water pouring out of the A/C unit. It was running at the time. We turned it off, and the water stopped. Checked the drainage line for the drip pan... it is clear and drains fine. So, I opened up the plenum to take a look at the coils. They are covered in ice, which I'm assuming is not usual.

We replace our filters regularly. Other than that, I don't know much else. Any idea what could explain all this?

Inadequate refrigerant causes the evaporator (and sometimes the condensor) to form ice or frost on the outside.

The usual fix is to have a HVAC tech repair the refrigerant leaks and recharge the system.

You can save some of the service call cost by looking for the leaks and pointing them out.  Soapy water works well applied with a spray bottle or small paintbrush.


Recirculator pump hot water I currently have the Watts Recirculating system, pump Model 500803, on my water heater with the bypass sensors located under two areas in the house. We have enjoyed it. The con on this is that the cold water now takes too much time to make it to the spigot due to the lag time for the sensor to stop the reverse flow. We are doing a remodel and I am now running a dedicated line back to the water heater from the the farthest spigot and will remove the under sink bypass sensors making it a closed system now. I was told to purchase a new pump, Grundfos Type UP15-10B5, for the return line to be mounted on the water heater cleanout spout as per instructions. Rather than spend the money on a new Groudouf pump, could I just leave the Watts pump on top of the water heater? Or move the Watts down to the spigot area. Both pumps look familiar and have same flow direction.
No photo description available.

I believe that you could use that pump as you describe pumping through a dedicated return line. For reference, this is what I did for my house. I have 3 bathrooms, so I ran a 1/2" dedicated return line from each bathroom to a point near the hot water tank. At that point, I tied all the lines together and ran that line thru the smallest bronze pump I could buy that was for domestic water. On the discharge of the pump I installed a 1/4" orfice to limit the pumps flow and from there to the bottom of the tank. I use a timer to only run the pump at specific times. This set up has worked for 20+ years. One last thing, When running the dedicated line, make sure that you install an isolation valve and a check valve to stop any reverse flow.


basement framing with metal Studs Best way to fasten them to the floor I'm planning on framing my basement with metal stud (2-1/2" x 10' 25-Gauge Drywall Interior Metal Stud).  I have XPS foam 2" attached directly to the concrete wall.  I plan to leave a 1/2"-1" air gap between the stud and the XPS and the Stud.  I will use a sill sealer under the metal track.

I'm not sure of the best way to attach the bottom plate to the concrete floor.  I was debating on using tap con screws or a power actuated ramset.  Would the nail go through the metal stud ? My guess is the metal stud will stop the head of the nail.  I've seen the nails get shot 1/4 inch into lumber before.  I would prefer the ramset for speed.  Also I'm debating if I should also apply construction adhesive since I'm using the Sill sealer.  I would have to apply it to the bottom and top not sure if it would help out.

The U-shaped metal track that goes along the concrete floor to hold the studs is typically fastened to the floor with the short concrete nails put in place with the ramset method. The vertical metal studs are then put in place and they are attached to the up turned sides of the metal track using sheet metal screws. The screws most often used are ones that self pierce the metal and thread themselves in to secure the studs.

Note that the metal track and the metal studs are rather thin and offer little or no resistance to the placement of the ramset concrete nails.


terra cotta lippage removal? We have some extremely uneven and ugly terra cotta tiles.  They're old, stained, and unevenly laid.  The grout is pitted and poorly done.

I'm wondering if there's a way to perform the lippage removal on these tiles, and just grind the hell out of this stuff?  I don't see much video coverage on it..

sorry, but you are out of luck.  terrazzo is an homogenous material, and can thus be ground.  terra cotta is heterogenous, and cannot.  if you cut a terra cotta tile in half, you will find a thin layer of glazed vitreous oxide material at the top, and then unglazed parent substrate below that.  if you grind the tiles, you will remove the glaze in a random way (terra cotta by its very nature is a very warped, uneven material, with differing surface finishes and depth of glazing).  this will result in a spotty floor that is now as porous as a sponge, and not a lot harder than brick mortar.  not a good choice for a flooring material.

rip it up or lay new tile over it.


framing in a new doorway and split out the bottom plate. now what? I framed in a new doorway on a load bearing wall.  All went well until i stupidly decided to toenail the jack stud into the bottom plate, but after I had cut out the entry from the bottom plate.  the result was a split bottom plate.  I PVA glued and clamped it back together, but will the inspector be satisfied?  is there some sort of bracket I can use to fix this?  what other options do I have?

Looks good, keep going. It will not be a problem.


How do I remove the valve stem from a kitchen sink? I have a kitchen sink that is not attached to a counter. I am trying to replace an old one to a new one. It has a two handle lever and for the life of me I can not remove the handles and the valves. They are not the screw on top handles. I've looked on line with no results.Can anyone help me?

Turn off the water supply for the faucet where you are removing the stem. Check underneath the faucet for a shut-off valve. They usually have round or oval knobs. Rotate the knob clockwise until it stops to cut off the water supply.Remove the faucet handle, if present. Use the edge of a flat-bladed screwdriver or knife to pop off the faucet screw cap, which is usually concealed as the "Hot" or "Cold" label. Remove the faucet screw with a Phillips screwdriver and lift the faucet off the tap. Other faucet handles may be held in place with a hex screw on the underside which should be unscrewed with a hex screwdriver. The handle can then be pulled off.


Newly installed Light, wiring issues. Won’t turn off I ran a new plug into my bathroom from my lights. I secured all my neutrals together and all my power together except for the lonesome black wire that’s running to the switch.
When I reinstalled my light and connected it to the wire going to the switch nothing happened but when I connected it to all the other blacks it turns on but it won’t turn off.
I know I’m missing something and it could be simple or difficult !

Wire it like this.

Note that not all white wires are neutrals. One of them is part of the switch loop. Once you have identified it, mark both ends of it with black tape or paint.
If you can't tell which white wire is the one going to the switch, it is the white wire that comes into your ceiling light junction box through the same hole, or in the same cable, as the wire you've been calling the "lonesome black wire that’s running to the switch".
If you still have trouble understanding how this circuit should work, get your library to send you a book on do-it-yourself home wiring, and read the section on switch loops.


Why would three-way switch travelers both show as hot? We have a three-way switch setup to control our living room light. Our staircase is on the far wall of our living room and one switch is downstairs while the other is at the top of the stairs. The last owner of the home 'completely rewired' the house as it used to have knob-and-tube wiring. However, we've found out since that he only did this in easily accessible areas and anywhere else that he opened the boxes at, he simply pigtailed off of the old wires to feed the new devices.

The problem with the switches was that they both seemed to act as single pole switches in series.. the upstairs switch had to be on for the downstairs switch to work. The switch upstairs was a new three-way switch connected up in that pigtail fashion. The switch downstairs, which we didn't notice until we took the cover off, was a really old three-way switch that was still connected with the original wires (appears it was never modified.) After taking it off of the lines, we were able to see that it must have been fried internally as a continuity test showed that when it was flipped one way, there would be no power to either traveler. However, if it was flipped the other, both travelers would become powered. We figured this was the problem (even though I'm not sure why it would function as it did), added a new switch in it's place, and reconnected the wires on both switches.

The switch that was upstairs was put in place downstairs and we added a new three-way upstairs (not sure entirely why, we just happened to carry it down with us) and so I'm wondering if it could have been fried as well on the inside. As I still don't get why the circuit was acting like two single pole switches. The power fed in through the downstairs switch, went up the walls to the second floor switch, and then went to the light back downstairs and finally fed it's way back to the panel (the neutrals weren't run together originally). I'm not sure where the homeowner tied the old wires to the new ones, but there are no old wires ran into the panel, so he's had to of done it somewhere.

So now, our light works as desired - both switches can cut it on or off in any layout. I gave the above information in case it helps explain any of what I'm wondering about. While we were testing it, I used a non-contact voltage tester at the upstairs switch to see which were hot to insure that we weren't having the same problem as last time. Although the switches work perfectly by visual of the living room light, every other flip of the downstairs switch was showing both travelers hot. Flip it one way and we'd have power to say the left, but flip it the other and both sides were getting powered.. as far as the voltage tester showed.

The downstairs switch would work by diverting the power from traveler to traveler, while the upstairs switch would work by picking which side to accept power from. So if both travelers are getting power, then why would either switch still work at cutting the light off? Possibly just a small amount of power bleeding through?

If it was wired with knob and tube originally, it's possible that the 3 way switch was old enough to be wired as "Carter 3-way":

Image from Popular Mechanics, October, 1971

In this setup, the load is switched between H-N (on), H-H (off), N-H (on), and N-N (off). Since the 3 ways have the load on the common terminal, the "travelers" can both test hot.

Another old 3-way setup that used to be common with knob and tube was a travelling bus or Calfiornia 3 way:

Image from http://www.electriciantalk.com/f29/threeway-nightmare-41332/index2/

I've run into this a couple times, although in all the times I've seen it the neutral was being switched.  It's possible to do the same thing with the hot being switched, in which case you can also have 2 live "travelers".

Note that the top layout hasn't met code for a long time (or the bottom with a switched neutral), but at the same time you can't assume that you won't run into them (or various other 3-way wiring patterns) in an old house.  The best way to test for non-conventional wiring like this is with a multimeter at the fixture.  Test (what should be) the hot and neutral with different combinations of switch positions and you should be able to sort out how it was wired.


In what order should I perform these renovation tasks? I've just bought a new house and I want to do a couple of improvements, I'm just not sure in what order should they be done. I'm kind of new to this stuff.

What I plan to do:

Painting the walls only (Plan to do this myself)
Installing    New blinds
Changing the carpets in the rooms
Professional Cleaning
Installing some down lights

EDIT:
 I plan to use roller blinds

I'd paint the ceiling, unless it's like new it will look out of place with fresh walls and floors.

  Installing some down lights

I'd do this first because of gravity - dirt falls down - you don't want that on brand new carpets, even the walls might get dirty so do it before the paint.  No big deal painting around recessed lighting.

  Painting
  Changing the carpets in the rooms

Paint, then carpet - obvious reasons.  It's great if you can paint on carpets that are getting torn out.  Carpet is better than dropcloths because it soaks up any paint you get on the soles of your shoes.

  Installing New blinds

I'd do this last, in fact I'd wait until the paint and carpets are in to pick out your blinds.  It makes minimal mess.  You don't want to paint around them.

  Professional Cleaning

Always clean up last, but once you paint and recarpet, what are they even going to clean?


Can a clogged toilet drain cause a tank overflow? This is less of a "how do I" question and more of a general knowledge check.

Recently I've been having trouble with an overflowing toilet.  Fortunately for me (in this situation), I'm a tenant and not a homeowner so maintenance is provided by the property managers.  However, I'm about to be a homeowner in a few months and am simply trying to understand how the fix that was implemented (augering the toilet drain) solved the problem.

First, the problem

Simply put, the toilet overflows.  I've not caught it in the act of overflowing, as it doesn't overflow immediately after flushing the toilet.  Usually, we find water on the floor and sometimes dripping through the downstairs ceiling (if it's overflowed in the night).  Water is found running out of the flush lever hole in a small stream and the water level in the tank is much higher than usual.

The "band-aid" fix

When this happens, my initial reaction is to turn off the water line to the tank and flush the toilet, which (of course) drains the tank and prevents it from refilling.  Once the tank is emptied and the water is off, the toilet seems to stop overflowing.

The maintenance fix

After stopping the leak and setting out bowls to collect the ceiling drip, I called maintenance and told them what happened, and that I suspected the float (which is a "floating cup" type, per the internet) may have a leak that slowly allows it to sink and causes the fill valve to reopen.  Their SOP is to leave a note whenever they come describing what was done, which in this case indicated that they found no problems with the toilet and that they "unclogged the drain".

The actual question

To my knowledge, the drain wasn't clogged - at least not in the usual way where the water in the bowl can't escape and flushing causes more water to enter the bowl.  Can a drain clog cause the toilet tank to overfill?  Am I just missing something obvious?

Update

I was able to get some measurements, and it appears that the overflow tube is about 0.5" higher than the hole where the flush lever attaches to the flush arm.  This would explain why the overflow tube doesn't work as intended.

My wife also reports that the toilet has not overflowed again since the maintenance person re-opened the shutoff, however she did close the shutoff again as a precaution.

Can that pipe be cut down to allow the overflow tube to work as intended?  Then, at least, if maintenance won't believe me that there's a problem with the filler valve I won't have to worry about the toilet overrunning when we're not home.

No, a clogged drain won't cause your toilet tank to overflow. Sometimes dirt can get into the fill valve and cause it not to function properly. You could try turning off the water, removing the top  black cover on the fill valve and removing guts and then turning the water back on and flush some water through it ( be sure to put something over the fill valve to prevent water from  shooting out the top) but it's normally much easier to just replace the entire valve.

As for the water level, in your case you can remove the cover on the over flow tube and cut it down so that it's lower than the flush handle hole.

Of course all of this shouldn't be done by you since it's a apartment but that would be the way to resolve the issue.


Which router bit should I use to recess a door hinge using a template I've just made my 1st template and used it to rout out a set of hinges . I was very surprised to learn that the usual approach was to use a guide bush and a straight 2 fluted bit. This involved attempting to make the template 1.65mm larger all around the template to accomodate the offset between the 16mm guide bush diameter and the 12.7mm width of the cutter. (16-12.7)/2 = 1.65mm.
   But- after researching I was getting the impression that some may be using a special router bit possibly a template profiler with top bearing (on the shank) and mortising ability. I can't find any definitive information on this and am wandering if I'm getting confused with using this bit to actually make the template or to recess the hinge following the template.
    If I can make my next template exactly the same size as the hinge then that would seem to me a lot easier and much less likely attract error.
    So - can anyone confirm whether the second method is possible and exactly which type of bit I should use?

This bit is called a "hinge mortising bit"* but it looks to be essentially like other top bearing router bit.

The one difference between this and other top-bearing router bits is that the maximum depth of cut on this one is fairly shallow, which is what you'd want if you're routing into the edge of the door to recess the hinge. This particular one comes in several depths of cut, but to me, they all appear to be to deep for a standard door hinge.

The advantage of a guide bush is that you can use any old straight cutting bit and adjust the depth independently of the guide. With the linked bit (or a similar one) you're stuck with routing to the depth of the cutters, or you have to make a template the thickness of the cutter minus the depth of the mortise you're looking for.

* Amazon.com link - no specific brand/retailer recommendation implied


Vented vs unvented crawl space I've asked this question before:

What are the pros and cons of a vented vs unvented crawl space?

However, now that I'm going to get air conditioning the question comes back again and again people seem to have different opinions.

I'm the DC area where the summers are hot and humid.

I've got 2" rigid foam insulation on the perimeter walls of my crawl space and an interior perimeter drain system covered with gravel.  I'm going to cover the dirt with 2 layers of 6 mil plastic.

Now, I've got a few bids for AC and the AC guys have different opinions on the question of conditioning the crawl space.  The guy that I may end up going with thinks that I should vent the crawl space in the summer and isolate it from the basement (my space underneath is divided: 1/2 crawlspace 1/2 basement).

However, there's this article:

http://www.buildingscience.com/documents/reports/rr-0401-conditioned-crawl-space-construction-performance-and-codes/?topic=/doctypes/researchreport

that talks against the idea.  My bidders think it's OK to condition it (small register + return at the opposite end).

FWIW, I may also add a radon exhaust fan hooked into my french drain.

Given all the above info and your experience, what decision would you make if you were in my shoes?

I don't live in a hot climate, but I do know one thing, heat rises and cold falls. i can't understand the justification of putting AC into a crawl space that is not air tight.  I answered your question a long time ago about insulating and venting the crawl, and I still stand by that advise. I can not believe the air conditioning a dirt floor crawl space is going to positively effect the temp in the house above by any measurable amount. I think it will a waste of energy and money to AC the crawl.  I COULD BE WRONG, but I'd love to hear a compelling argument for doing it.


How to extend arbor base? Our garden arbor's underground legs are completely rotted and the arbor has fallen. I wonder what's the best way to fix it. I am thinking in extending the above-ground part of the legs (which are in good state) with new wood, attach it with steel plates, and bury it again. Any other idea? There is no concrete as in fence posts, just the bare wooden legs into the ground, so I am not sure fence post menders could help. The four legs are 3-1/4in x 1-1/2in each. It is a relatively light arbor. Can be lifted by one person.

I would use "Post spikes" for this. They'll last longer than wood below ground.


which or what type water pump for car washing in remote location I want to be able to clean atvs and car in my garage at home. My garage is a couple of hundred feet from my home which has city water. Its too cost prohibitive to run water to garage for the little I would use it there. My plan is to have a 55 gallon drum in the garage to store the water and need to figure out what is the correct pump to use for adequate water delivery and pressure. It will run on 110 volts and use a 50 ft 5/8 hose with a spray nozzle. Im thinking a shallow well pump with a pressure tank but not sure what size is correct. Any input very much appreciated.

If your only objective is to wash vehicles, you may not need to get as elaborate as a well pump and storage/pressure tank. If you believe that 55 gallons is sufficient volume, it may be more cost effective to connect an inexpensive electric pressure washer to your 55 gallon drum and allow the pressure washer to provide delivery and force to the stream.

Most pressure washers will specify required volume of water in gallons per minute feed which would result in the need to measure your water flow through the hose. If it meets or exceeds the specifications, you would have few problems with accomplishing your objective.

I use an electric pressure washer on the end of a smaller hose. My house is on a well-pump system and it meets the specifications only when the pump is running, but the pressure washer continues to operate. Perhaps the specifications are conservative, or the washer reduces output, but the result is satisfactory to me.


Exceptions for support when fishing crawlspace wiring After having cut a hole in the wall to peek into the crawlspace, it seem rather feasible to relocate our 3-prong dryer receptacle to a new location by running new 4-wire cable all the way back to the main panel, by disconnecting the current 3-wire cable at the panel and at the receptacle, attaching a rope to one end and pulling it out through the other end, which would seem to be feasible since the existing 3-wire cable is unsupported as far as I can tell. The 1940's crawlspace is dry, no evidence of mold or rot.

I can't get in there to support the new 4-wire cable, but could probably figure out something to keep it off the ground.  I read elsewhere in a discussion about crawlspaces that exceptions exist allowing no support if you have to fish or snake.

Is that true? Would this apply to my crawlspace run? What is the code section? Does it change the type of 4-wire cable that is allowed?

Yes that is true.

NEC 334.30 (B) Unsupported Cables. Nonmetallic-sheathed cable shall be permitted to be unsupported where the cable:
(1) Is ﬁshed between access points through concealed spaces in ﬁnished buildings or structures and supporting is impracticable.


What is the right wire size for a 30A 220 Circuit over 40 ft? I get conflicting information, one person says 8/3, another say 10/3.  Just going to be used for space heater.

First, get Amps

You start by looking at the instructions on the heater.  If the instructions say to use a specific breaker and maybe wire size, then that's what you do, and you're done with this section.

If the instructions don't say, your next stop is the nameplate on the heater.  Either literally a nameplate, possibly behind a cover, or in the documentation.  You are looking for  either

Amperes (amps or A), a number somewhere between 20 and 32 or so. If not listed, try
Watts or W, expect a number in the 5000 to 7500 range.  You will need to divide by 240 to get Amps (I gather this is a 240V heater). Or
VA, which on a resistor based heater will be almost identical to watts. Again you divide that by 240 to get Amps.

Now derate that Amps number by multiplying it by 1.25 or 125%.  That is because it is a continuous load and runs the wires pretty hard.

For instance, if the heater was 30 amps, multiply that by 1.25 and get 37.5.

Now size your breaker and wires

Take your instructions or derated amps number and round UP to the next larger size of 30, 40 or 50.   So 37.5 becomes 40.

That will be the size of your circuit and breaker.

The minimum wire size for 30A is 10 AWG.
The minimum wire size for 40A is 8 AWG.
The minimum wire size for 50A is 6 AWG copper, or 4 AWG aluminum. Don't use aluminum smaller than 4 AWG.

You can use larger wires if you really want to.  There are some good reasons to do this, like the possibility of upgrading heaters later.   But you must stay with the breaker size determined by the need of the heater, as we did above.

Upsizing wire for long distances

Not an issue at 40'.

Over long distances, wires can have "voltage drop".  It may be desirable to limit voltage drop by using larger wire than required.  First, nobody cares about drops less than 3%, and that happens at around 120' length (round trip) on most wire sizes.  So below 120' you never have to worry about it.  Otherwise it depends what your loads can tolerate -- resistive heaters are very tolerant of voltage drop for instance; motors not so much.

You usually don't need /3 cable for heaters

/3 cable has an extra conductor, allowing 240V and also a middle neutral, making both 120V and 240V available.  Dryers and ranges need this.  Water heaters, A/C and electric heaters usually do not.  Therefore running /3 cable is a waste of money unless a) the heater says it requires it, or b) you expect in the future to fit something that would require it.

Some people believe that running /3 lets you carry more power.  That is not true unless you are dealing in 3-phase "delta", but you won't have that in a residence.


How can I estimate the maximum load on shelves on a plasterboard wall? Possible Duplicate:
  How much weight can you mount to a wall?

(Apologies for asking here whilst not a serious DIYer, but as a Stack Overflow user it seemed like the obvious place!)

I would like to add some shelves to a wall in my house, but as the wall is only plasterboard, I am aware that the shelves won't be able to take much weight.  By knocking I can only detect a wooden baton behind one end, so I suspect the other end of the shelves would just have to screw into the plasterboard with nothing behind it.

Is there a good rule of thumb for estimating how much load the shelf would be able to take (e.g. kilograms per shelf bracket or somesuch), and if so, is there any extra information I need in order to calculate it (e.g. thickness of plasterboard)?

Your wall probably is not just plasterboard.  Its much more likely that your wall has 2x4 studs (vertical boards) behind the plasterboard spaced 16" apart.

Knocking, by the way, is a remarkably unreliable method for finding studs. :)

The load bearing capacity of drywall/plaster/etc should be treated as practically nothing.  What you should do is find your studs - buy a stud-finder OR drill holes in a straight line horizontally across your wall spaced 1" apart, until you find one that is harder to drill into than the others.  Then measure 16" in both directions horizontally from that hole and drill again - and so forth to find your studs.

Once you know where the studs are, mount your shelving brackets into the studs using 3" wood screws (Pre-drilled holes please!).

Anchoring into the wood properly will ensure that your shelves will stand up to pretty much anything you'd normally see on shelves.


Fridge is leaking. Found the culprit? Every once in awhile my fridge will leak water from somewhere underneath. I took off the horizontal grill along the base of the fridge and looked underneath to find a white, plastic tray of some kind (see photo below). My fridge has an in-door (not indoor) ice & water dispenser, so maybe this is what the tray is for. I believe the tray is broken and doesn't lie perfectly horizontal, which may be why water is overflowing and spilling out the bottom.

Is there an easy way to replace this white tray? Or would the leak be coming from somewhere else?

This tray that you speak of is there to collect water made when the frig goes into defrost.  The tray is supposed to be large enough to collect all of the water without overflowing.  The water is supposed to evaporate faster than it is generated.  If the tray is cracked,  that is a problem.  If the tray does not lay flat, also a problem. If your local atmospheric humidity is particularly high and with the tray tipped as it is, problem. The water needs to evaporate faster than it is replenished and spills over the lowest point of the tray edge.


How will concrete fill in? So I am pouring some footings for a deck I am building and my current plan is to dig a hole that is 18" wide and 18" deep.  I'm then going to suspend a sonotube about 6 inches above the bottom (using a scrap wood frame).

My idea is to pour concrete in through the sonotube and have it splay out at the bottom, but once the concrete fills the bottom of the hole up to the sonotube, that it stop filling the hole.

I'm not sure if that was confusing or not, so I drew a crude picture.  The blue line is as high as I want the concrete to go in the hole.  The red "X"s should be empty space in the hole and the sonotube in the center should be filled with concrete.

My question:  If i take this approach will the concrete fill in as I have drawn in the picture, or will the concrete in the sonotube keep pouring out and fill the hole all the way to the top?

This is a reasonable concern, but not necessarily a problem. It is not uncommon to have concrete forms the way you describe. The solution depends largely on the consistency of the concrete mix. A very wet mix will run all over the place, a very dry mix will hardly flow out the end at all. This property is known as the "slump" of concrete, measured in inches. Slump value range from 1" (very thick, hard to work with) to 6"+ (very liquid).

If you are mixing the concrete yourself, aim for somewhere in the middle. If the concrete is being delivered, talk to the supplier about your use case and they should help you.


Can I run CAT5 cables parallel to low voltage (9v) power cables? The answers to this question clearly state that low voltage and high voltage cables should be kept separate; does this apply to low voltage (9v) power cables and CAT5?

The problem: I would like to extend Wi-Fi coverage in my house by using a range extender, the unit is powered by a low voltage (9v) adapter rated at 0.6A. I would like to run the cable for this unit in parallel to the CAT5 cable over a distance of approx 15m, surface mounted in PVC trunking. Will this cause any problems?

There's a decent probability that this won't work due to voltage drop from the power adapter, and not through interference:
Voltage Drop Calculator

A 15m run using 22AWG wires yields a voltage of 8 at the range extender. This may or may not be sufficient to power the extender.

Power over Ethernet devices typically use 48v to minimize the voltage drop.

Alternatively, you could use a wifi access point with a powerline ethernet adapter;  I've used this setup with great success.


Installing an Ecobee3 - Wiring Question This shows what my wiring looks like in the living room and garage. I had a Honeywell Thermostat that I want to replace with an Ecobee 3, is it possible to use the C terminal for this?

The red wire broke when I popped the Honeywell from the wall. There is also a blue wire that is unused on both ends.

I'm assuming the terminal on the end is C, though the label is blocked in the photo.

If it is marked C, then the installation is simple.

Connect the unused blue wire to the terminal marked C in the furnace/air handler.
Connect the other end of the unused blue wire to the C terminal on the thermostat.

If that is not a C terminal. Please post the make and model number of the furnace/air handler, and/or a schematic for the unit.


94V at an outlet in GFCI Circuit I am having the following problem.
A few months ago I finished my basement (1 Bedroom and 1 Bathroom).
I had an existing GFCI outlet down there to which I connected a couple more outlets, an exhaust fan in the bathroom and some LED lighting.
Everything worked just fine until 2 days ago. Nothing works anymore in the basement. Breaker did not flip.
I disconnected everything that I had connected to this one existing GFCI outlet when I finished the basement. I also took off the existing GFCI outlet to have better access to the incoming cable (source). Below you see the existing circuit (as far as I was able to find out) as well as the measured voltages in the finished basement. Like I said, I disconnected everything in the basement (back to original condition before finishing the basement) and still getting this low voltage. Too low to make anything work.
Why did that happen all the sudden and what can I do to fix it?
Thanks a lot!

Somehow you have lost the neutral to the basement outlet.  One way I have found that will often fix this is not rely on the device (switches, receptacles) to carry the power on down the circuit.  Put them all under a wire nut with a short pig tail for the device at that location.  Good Luck, P.


Basement Subfloor -- EPS + Plywood I am planning to take the 1" EPS + plywood sandwich approach to my basement subfloor (pergo on top). I've read conflicting things around the plywood -- is 1/2" ply sufficient? Do I need to do two layers of 1/2" to get to a full 1"?

I don't recommend any wood based subfloor (plywood, osb, particle board, mdf, etc.) in direct contact with your concrete basement floor without first putting down some sort of moisture barrier. I just ripped out an old OSB subfloor (glued right to the concrete floor) in my tiled basement and it had large patches of thick black mold in many places. Many laminate floors suggest use of under-layments that can act as a moisture barrier. If you ever get water in your basement you will regret a wood based subfloor down there (regardless of a moisture barrier installed or not the subfloor will retain moisture for long periods of time). Why not just use a floating floor approach with the underlayment below the pergo?


What type of lightbulb is this? I need to replace a faulty lightbulb but it's not one I've come across before. It's being used in a light fixture in my washroom above the vanity. Can anyone here identify it? I'm hoping I can order one from Amazon or my local Home Depot.
(Loonie for scale)

This is a G9 halogen bulb:

Note G9 is the name of the socket and form factor, but it says nothing about wattage. Voltage should be mains.
Yours is a G9 COB LED:

Since the original bulb uses LEDs, the fixture may not be designed to handle the heat of halogen, so it's better to replace it with a G9 LED bulb. As for wattage, check the fixture, but really you should be able to use a bit more watts like 5W instead of 2W if you want more light, it shouldn't melt... If you put a 20W halogen lamp in a 2W all-plastic LED-only fixture it will probably melt.
Get a flicker-free bulb if you can, they're easier on the eyes. If you use a dimmer, make sure it says "dimmable". Note the LED bulbs don't all have the standard length, so you might want to measure the space inside the fixture to make sure it fits. For example this one is bigger, so you'd have to check.


How can I check for electricity theft? My electrical bill is very high despite less usage.

I fear there is electrical theft used by my landlord. How can i check this?

The meter is under lock and access provided only on request. Please suggest possible ways to check it.

The only way to verify is to check the meter over a time period (at least an hour, longer is better) with everything shut off. If the meter changes, then something else is drawing power.


Can I mount a projector shelf to drywall? I need to mount a projector shelf, however finding a stud is proving impossible. Is it a terrible idea to put this shelf up on drywall and then the projector which probably weighs at least 15lbs?:

Do (or will) you have kids that will want to try to do a pull-up (or sit on) on a convenient shef?

If not, then using the proper anchors should be fine.  Many anchors will support far more than the weight you indicated (which is good, due to the leverage the shelf will place on the mounting points.

I'd look at toggle bolts instead of screws or thin plastic plug-style anchors to be sure the projector is solid.  The holes are large, but will be easily patched when you decide to move things around (eventually).


Doing a 2-Way, 2-Gang Light Switch I'm new to this kind of DIY stuff and I need help with the wiring of this light switch.
The old light switch (left picture) has L1, L2, Common in both sides.
On the new switch (right picture), it has an L1^1, L1, L2^1.
As you can see, the old switch has 3 wires, and 1 bridging(?) wire.
I've highlighted which is the off side and on side on the old one, but I can't figure out where to put these wires properly on the new switch.
Any and all help will be greatly appreciated!! Thank you

The old switch
Strictly speaking, you need to find out what those three wires are connected to. If I had to guess, though, I'd feel quite confident that the wires are as labeled here:

The bridging wire (called a "jumper" in my world) tells the tale. The power supply is the only wire that would be connected to both switches, and thus to two terminals, and thus need a jumper.
The previous sparkmonkey's choice of terminals gives one pause, but the circuit works. The gauge of the jumper is too small; it should match the load wires. And you should check that your local code allows two wires to be crushed into one terminal.
The New Switch
You should consult the documentation that came with the switch; there should be a diagram showing the purpose of each terminal. If I had to guess, though, I'd feel quite confident that the terminals are apportioned to the switches like this:

L1 is switched between L11 and L12. L2 is switched between L21 and L22.
You must connect the power wire to L1 and L2.
If you are allowed to connect two wires to one terminal, then use one jumper. Make the jumper from wire of the same gauge as the load wires. Connect the power wire and one end of the jumper to L1, and the other end of the jumper to L2.
If your electrical code forbids two wires on one terminal, then use two jumpers and a wire connector (ie. wire-nut, Marrette, Wago, etc). Connect one jumper to L1, and the other jumper to L2, then use the wire-nut to connect the free ends of the jumpers to the power wire.
In any case, connect Load 1 wire to L12 and Load 2 wire to L22.
If this does not work, the one of my guesses is wrong, and you have some diagnostic work to do. In that case post a follow-up comment and I (or someone here) will guide you through the testing process.


How to reduce noise while drilling? Unfortunately I can only drill in the late afternoon or during weekends, but my area is very quiet and I would really like to avoid driving my neighbours mad...

So is there anything I can do to make drilling (masonry) less noisy?

Not really.

Drilling is an inherently noisy activity. There may be low noise drills, but the act of rubbing hardened steel against brick at high speed will make a lot of noise. Lower speeds will reduce the noise, but you will take longer to make the hole. Using the hammer action will increase the noise, so try and avoid that if possible.

The best you can do is talk to your neighbours and explain what you are doing and when you'll be working. Ask them if there are any times they'd prefer you not to drill and try to stick to these times.

I'm assuming you're doing large scale renovations to your house - so give them an idea of how long you'll be working on the project. If they can see an end in sight, they might be more forgiving of a bit of noise and disturbance now for a quiet life later.


Should I use silicone caulk on the side of a deck ledger? I have a deck ledger attached to the rim joist (the vinyl siding was cut away), and some flashing above the ledger.  On the side of the ledger there is a gap between the end of the 2x10, and the siding.  I was going to put a j-channel trim piece on the siding:

I would then use silicone caulk to basically fill in the space between the edge of the vinyl and the ledger so water can't make it in there. Is this a good idea?

I can't seem to find much information about how to flash the end of the ledger.  One post here didn't quite cover how to fill in a 1/4 to 1/2 in gap.

Also I was going to caulk the nails on the joist hangers, they had to be 3 inches long so they went through the house wrap.

You are always going to get some water behind the vinyl siding that is what the housewrap is for.  You can caulk the sides if you want too but its not necessary. Water that makes it to the inside of the j channel will also get behind the siding.


Can I remove the drywall in the area below the door to my attached garage? The door frame in the garage is kind of in need of replacement:

Can I simply remove this whole drywall board and replace it with another one?

I think those two screws (where the green arrows are) are holding that drywall board in place. Do you think it's a good idea to simply unscrew them, remove the board, and put another one in its place?

If that's an exterior service door, you can do as you like with the drywall. Cut it out at a convenient location and replace it with BC plywood or other suitable material, or simply overlay a board. I've never seen horizontal drywall in that position before, and consider it a bad decision by the builder.

This original answer was given with little context in the question. I mistakenly assumed that this was an entry door connecting to the residence.

The drywall is probably there as a required fireblock. You should overlay plywood or other suitable material and leave the gypsum in place. Feel free to replace the drywall first if it's in bad condition, though technically the joints must be taped with at least a rough coat.


What is the appropriate fitting to connect an armored cable to this stand-alone receptacle product? I have a pre-existing #6-3 armored cable (without a separate ground conductor), as shown here:

I am replacing the range this was connected to, and would like to provide a 4-wire connection via a 14-50R by using the steel armor cladding as ground (as discussed in Can I use the metal cladding of a cable as ground for this range installation?).
For easy installation of the receptacle, I am hoping to use this product, which has a metal back with a 1 3/8" punchout. The receptacle product comes with a strain relief clamp, but I'm unsure whether it's appropriate for making a ground connection to armored cable. Is this clamp OK to use? If not, what is the right sort of clamp to use in this situation? I've included some photos of the clamp:

That is not the right clamp
The clamp/fitting you have is a two-screw type clamp designed solely for use with nonmetallic-sheathed cables (NM, UF, and perhaps SEU/SER).  Instead, you need an armored-cable fitting that fits a ¾" KO and is of the right size to accept the outside diameter of your cable; there are several styles available, but the one you're most likely to find at a hardware or big-box store looks like the Arlington Industries 8402 depicted below:


How do I paint over unpaintable silicone? So I stupidly used unpaintable silicone to seal my bedroom window... On the inside. How can I paint over this unpaintable silicone? (GE brand).

Paint over it (or to either side) and ignore the strip where the paint won't stick.

Pull it out and re-caulk with something paintable.

Try to smear paintable silicone over the top of it and hope that sticks to the stuff you have. Hard to do neatly, pulling it out and redoing is more likely to succeed, IMHO.


How do I remove Cement Board that has been screwed in and is bonded to wood subfloor with thinset? I am in the process of purchasing a townhome and I am looking to tear up the existing 12" ceramic tile that covers the entire main level... an area close to 600 sq. ft. to make way for laminate flooring. Thinset has been used to bond the tile to the cement backer board, and the backer board has been screwed to the wooden subfloor. There is also some sort of adhesive/mortar bonding the cement board to the wooden subfloor.
What tools will I need. Are there any techniques that would make it easier? Would trying to remove the cement board damage the subfloor? If so, would it be acceptable to repair damage with some sort of floor leveling compound?

Here is an idea to consider. If the tile comes off the cement board fairly easy, you could leave the cement board, scrape off the thinset and lay your foam and laminate over the cement board.  Just a thought depending on the overall thickness you need to achieve.