Understanding the wiring of 2-Pole Quad Circuit Breakers I only want to understand the concept, so you dont have to address if my panel accepts tandem breakers or a certain brand of breakers.   I will also omit any reference to ground wires for clarity.  I am in north america and have two 120v hots and one neutral coming into my panel.

Thank you for any help!

PART 1:

I want to see if i properly understand how to wire 2-Pole Quad Circuit Breakers.
Here is an example pic:

To wire this breaker, I would run three cables, lets say romex.  two of the three  would be identical - they would be 14/2 (14 gauge wire, with one hot, one neutral).

One cable of romex will go to the top 15amp breaker, and one to the bottom 15 amp breaker -- I Would attach the hot wire to the top screw, and bring the neutral to the neutral bus, and repeat the same process for the bottom, with its own hot and neutral from the second strand of romex.  These 2 now function like independent 120v, 15 amp circuit breakers.

Next, the third strand of romex.  It would need to be at least 10gauge wire because the center breaker is 30 amp.  It would also need to be 3 wire romex with two hots, and one neutral.

I would attach the two hots to the two center screws, and the neutral to the neutral bus.  Now it functions like a 240v, 30 amp double pole breaker.

Does part 1 all look correct?  If so, here are my next questions for part 2 and 3:

Part 2:

Focusing only on the 30 amp, 240v middle part:
I run the 10gauge romex to a box and i install a 30 amp 240v outlet, that has 3 slots including ground slot. i would connect the two hots, and ground.

(I just cap the neutral off with a wire nut and leave it for future expansion of more outlets down the line, or if i want to change to a four prong outlet that needs a neutral, correct?)

This outlet can now supply a device with 7,200 watts (240v x 30amps), or for safety, 80% of 7,200 watts, which is 5,760 watts.

What if instead of installing the 30amp outlet, i want to install 2 receptacles, lets say they are both 20 amp duplex outlets.

To wire them, I connect one hot wire to the gold screw of the first outlet, and the other hot to the gold screw of the second outlet.  I pigtail the neutral wire, and connect 1 pigtail each to the silver screw of outlet 1 and 2.

I believe this would be called a multi-wire branch circuit (mwbc)?

Each receptacle can safely handle 1,920 watts of power draw, which is 80% of 120v x 20amps.  So if i have two devices that both draw about 1,900 watts of continuous power, i could plug one into one receptacle, and one into the other receptacle, and they could both safely run without tripping the breaker, or overheating, is this all correct?

Ok, so if everything is correct so far, here is my final question:

Part 3

Lets say instead of the first quad breaker show, i buy this one:

Now the two outer 15amp breakers are tied together, and i assume they internally trip together.  So lets say instead of running the two separate 14/2 romex cables to these two 15 amp breakers, i now run just one 14/3 romex, and i connect one hot to the top, and one hot to the bottom, and neutral to bus.

I could now have a mwbc like the example above, except with 15 amp outlets, and each receptacle would only safely supply 1,440 watts (80% x 120v x 15amps).

Im guessing I could also then wire a single 15amp outlet rated for 240v, in a similar method to the wiring of the 30amp outlet described above?  I dont think there is any reason to do that in america, because no devices require that, or have a plug that would fit, but im just curious.

Is this all okay to do, since they will now trip together, and must be shut off together?

Thank you so much for your time!

Your understanding is correct EXCEPT you cannot put a 15A or 20A receptacle on a 30A breaker.  The 30A circuit must be wired to an outlet that is designed for 30A.  This would be a NEMA 6-30 if you don't need the neutral, or a NEMA 14-30 if you do (or the NEMA L-series locking equivalents).

There are devices factory-wired for these plug types in America.  The most common example is dryers on a NEMA 14-30 plug, but also welders, electric car chargers, and some shop machinery also use the NEMA 6 or NEMA 14 series plugs sometimes.


How can I add "smart" functionality to an old thermostat? I recently moved to an apartment, and my roommate and I were talking about how much better it would be if we had a smart thermostat. We're going to ask the landlord about an upgrade, but I thought I remembered seeing systems somewhere that allowed you to smart-ify a traditional thermostat (very technical term, I know). It's one of the ones with just an up and a down button, nothing else.

Devices exist which are basically heaters with timers, which can be mounted under a traditional thermostat to bias it toward turning the heat off sooner. By juggling the two settings, this can be made to work somewhat like a setback thermostat.

Mostly obsolete, since not very efficient, but useful in cases where the owner forbids installing a real smart thermostat.


When splitting a 240v circuit, what happens to neutral's amperage? My garage has very limited power with only one outlet that I share with 3 bathrooms and every outdoor outlet, 4 total, on a 20 amp breaker. (House hastily thrown together in 97' for your reference) I trip the GFCI outlet (only one on the circuit) constantly while trying to work. Since I have to replace multiple sections of sheetrock along what coincidentally happens to be the most direct route from my only breaker box clear across the house, now would be a phenomenal time to add an additional circuit or two.
I had an idea to run a single 4 wire (hot, hot, neutral, ground) 240v circuit with 40(+) amps and feed a subpanel where I would split it into 2 circuits of 110v at 20 amperes each. Now before I go and do something dumb, I have a few questions. I'm no stranger to electricity, in fact it happens to be my favorite skilled labor, but I am not an electrician and have no plans to stop learning especially about something so dangerous. So here it goes:

If I have two hot legs running to two individual outlets, do they share the single neutral wire?
If each leg is using all 20 amps, would a single neutral wire be forced to carry 40 amps?
Whats the best way to add a subpanel containing 2 or more circuits in addition to a 240v circuit for future tools?

Delta. stop Stop STOP!  Wiring a subpanel will not fix your problem.  Your problem is a GFCI trip, a subpanel won't help that! Fat wire and dedicated circuits won't help that! GFCI stands for Ground Fault Circuit Interruptor. You have a faulty appliance or possibly bad wiring that has a ground fault, the appliance is leaking to ground, or leaking through you and shocking you. If it's always one appliance, it's the appliance.  If any appliance causes it, look in the outlet wiring for a neutral touching ground.
If you still want to wire this subpanel, awesome. You have a serious code violation with bathroom receptacles sharing a circuit with non-bathroom receptacles and it'd be good to be rid of that, and more power in the garage is never bad.  But I want to be clear, when you finish your masterwork and plug the same tool in, it's gonna trip the new GFCI.

It depends how you wire your subpanel, but either way, you'll be fine.  North American panels have two poles or legs, as shown here.  So you are putting in a 40A subpanel, 4-wire (hot hot neutral ground) with #8 wire.  Suppose you fully load two 20A circuits, one at 20A the other at 18A.

If you put both 120V/20A breakers on the same pole (via a double-stuff breaker, or in two spaces both "black" on the linked illustration), the black hot will load to 38A, the neutral will load to 38A, and there will be no activity on the red wire.  You could load that to 40A@120V  also.

If you put them on opposite poles (via a 2-pole breaker or in 1 black and 1 red space), then you will evenly split the load.  The black wire will carry 20A, the red wire will carry 18A, and the difference of 2A will be carried on the neutral. Note that this is uses only half the capacity of your #8 40A wire. You can carry another 20A@240V.

To answer your questions:

Once your subpanel is in, you can wire 2 subcircuits with a shared neutral (aka Multi-Wire Branch Circuit or MWBC), but I don't recommend it, because it does not play well with either GFCI or AFCI.  This is largely a deprecated wiring method.

The other problem with this method is the danger of overloading neutral.  You must put both subcircuits on a 2-pole or handle-tied breaker for common trip and opposite poles, so neutral carries only difference current.  2-pole breakers are easily confused with double-stuff breakers, and if somebody "tries to save space" bymoving it to a double-stuff, it overloads neutral. /3 cable is the right way to wire the subpanel's feed, but stick with /2 for branches.

The best way is in my second example above, conscientiously putting 120V branch circuits on opposite poles to the extent possible. I would recommend using a size bump to #6 wire, because the cost differential is not large, and this bumps you to 60A capacity, enough so you won't be worrying about power for a good while.
Keep in mind you are allowed to oversubscribe a panel: if you had a 60A subpanel with twelve 20A 120V breakers evenly balanced on the panel, and also one 20A 240V, that is fine, because you are rather unlikely to max out all of them at once.  If you followed along you know we have 140A of breakers on each 60A leg.  That is fine.


How can I remove tiny dust particles from the air? As a basic prep step before I painted, I sanded some of my walls.

Later, I cleaned the area and swept up any visible dust particles.

Now however, a member of my family is having difficulty breathing when they spent any length of time in an adjoining room.

Two questions:

Can I clean the air to rid it of these seemingly invisible dust particles?
Can I buy a test kit or pay somebody to test the air for invisible dust particles that may make it difficult to breathe?

A cheap and easy solution would be to strap an air filter to a box fan and run it in the room for awhile.  I've seen several variations of the basic concept.  Here is one example:

Build a do-it-yourself air purifier for about $25


I have a Janitrol Model A42-15 and I wanti to replace the outside unit, but it takes the dreaded R22 Can you use the new refrigerant with the existing inside unit?

If so, what would be units that are compatible with my existing one?

My outside unit is a 3.5 ton unit, but I am going to need a 4 ton due to an expansion of an added room to the home.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated as I am widowed and disabled and have little money to spare, however living in Texas, air conditioning is a necessity.

If this is not a possibility, then any suggestions on which new unit to try to purchase would also be appreciated.

Thanks in advance for any assistance you may lend in my huge undertaking!

Can you use the new refrigerant with the existing inside unit?

A process called flushing is done to achieve this - the inside coils (Evaporator) AND the lines that feed the Evaporator are cleaned out with a solution - it is also done with nitrogen. The flushing not only removes old refrigerant, but also the old oil which can be detrimental to the new compressor.
There are some caveats to this as pressures of the new refrigerant will be higher and therefore you will face the possibility of a leak and then need to replace the unit.

My outside unit is a 3.5 ton unit but I am going to need a 4 ton due
to an expansion of an added room to the home.

[Do you really need to upsize your unit Sizing Calculator at this Link uses the J-Model Sizing Calculations][1]
Now here is the issue you have with upsizing your unit.
The inside unit is most likely a 3.0 / 3.5 ton evaporator and normally an orifice is what changes the performance capacity for the evaporator.
You will not be able to install a 4 ton unit and expect to have 4 ton cooling capacity EXCEPT you install an Evaporator that is capable of 4 Ton Capacity.
Also upsizing you have another issue depending on your unit and the piping originally done - you might not have the correct pipe diameter from outside to inside unit  (called a line set) - in which case the line set will need to be replaced as well. (if they don't do this - you will have issues (a higher electric bill as well as wasted money on a 4 ton unit operating at 3 ton levels).
Here is my advice:
Replace both the inside and outside units with a new unit - and also the line set going from inside to outside unit - if you spend a little more money and get a 16 seer unit - there might be tax credits available, not much but perhaps enough to Just offset the cost difference. You can also look into the utility company and see if they offer credits for more efficient units. Some units can run on Gas lines - so the possibility is the gas company might give you a break (or the furnace for that matter gas/ electric they might give you a break for using a gas furnace - perhaps even pipe it up for you (they expect a customer buying gas instead of electricity.. crafty way to get new business. sometimes the state will give you a credit for an energy efficient unit.

Depending; you could get a little or a lot, now if you only get a
little how does it sound worth it if you only get tax credits that
basically is a wash out?

Your electric bill will be lower (how much depends on how cold you keep the house and how hot it is outside) but expect at least $15/month ($150/yr) aka known as Grocery money.
A Typical 4 Ton unit from a reputable AC place will run you about $5000 to $10,000 ..  I have just replaced a complete unit   / except the line set [3.5 ton] for a property in another state the total was $5400. If I had replaced the unit here in the home I live in the price tag would have been $3500. There can be big differences so shop around.
Here is what these AC companies like to do - they like to schedule to come out (they do have good reasons for this - but more on why you should not do that up front).
That is the sales pitch and the pressure to sign on the dotted line as well as how many people you would be willing to have come out and give you an estimate of cost?
I would venture most people would have 1 or 2 come out and rarely a 3rd..
DON'T let them come out - just tell them you want to know the rough cost over the phone for replacing the entire unit Air Handler/ Evaporator , Condensing Unit and Line Set with a 4 Ton Unit. Get the rough prices and the brand and types of units - try to keep the same type of unit and SEER rating across the board with all of them.
After you get that rough phone quote (some might not be willing to rough quote - just go ok and move on) - select 3 of them that gave you a rough quote and have them come out and give you the complete written estimate from a home visit.
I called around many people would not quote anything over the phone and insisted to come out (I am sure I would have had the $8,500 to $10,000 quotes at that point) along with the sales pitch and the yes ok I will work with you and drop to $7500.. after getting my [3.5 ton] unit installed / furnace ($5400) an ac person told me I got a REALLY good deal and for what I asked for I should have been hearing $7000 and up and he was right that was what a lot of them told me.
[1]: https://www.acdirect.com/ac-package-unit-learning-center-ac-sizing-calculator


Cape Cod Insulation/Snow Melt Is the melting pattern on this roof a sign of really poor insulation in the knee walls?  Thinking about purchasing, but I don't want to spend my life fighting a poorly designed/insulated house if it's a hard fix.

It is very difficult to tell based on a photo. There are a number of factors that could indicate insulation problems and melting patterns is one of them. But it depends on the current outside temperature, sun exposure, how well the shingles absorb heat, wind conditions and how hot the interior is.

I'd say a better way to determine if there are issues is to examine at the utility bills. The seller should be able to provide them. Realistically the insulation is there mostly to keep cost of heating down so the expense should be a decent indicator of how well insulated the house is.

Another thing that will indicate poor insulation is if the room feels cold. Let's say the temperature on a thermometer in the room reads 72°F but it is not comfortable. That's another indication that the walls are poorly insulated. It happens because the heat radiated from your body is not adequately radiated back from the wall. You can also place the back of your hand on the exterior wall and quickly compare it to an interior wall. Knee wall cavities are often problematic due to confined work spaces upon construction and limited soffit ventilation.

If all the houses around have snow on the roof this one is the only one that doesn't, it's probably not well insulated.


Do I need to add plywood underlayment over plywood subfloor? I am replacing downstairs flooring that had three layers before the subfloor. Linoleum, Cement Board and Tile. All flooring had to be removed down to the subfloor due to water leak. Since the cement board was screwed it, it is causing uneven areas as the screws are pulled/removed. Should I lay 1/4" or 1/2" plywood underlayment on top of subfloor before installing LifeProof vinyl plank flooring?

If so, what do you recommend? Should I also glue this new underlayment on current subfloor and screw down as well?

The goal is to not have any transition pieces from room to room, while making sure flooring is level with no dips or valleys.

I prefer underlayment On top of sub flooring if there are a lot of bulges from the screws I would put a thin layer of spackel or self leveling cement down then the sub flooring.
If you use a pad the vinyl plank may be fine on the existing Sub floor but when redoing my houses I want it nice so I would use an underlayment.

The problem with plywood is knot holes and blows will end up showing through over time with some floors underlayment is cheaper and better for this case. Always stagger the seams don’t put any new seams over the old ones.


Non dimmable switch where dimmer switch previously was? I just found that the dimmable switch to my dining room overhead light had stopped working. I currently have 4 dimmable led bulbs in the overhead light. When the light switch (and the overhead light) was working, the LED bulbs created a slight buzz even when the dimmer was up all the way on the switch. I was wondering if I was able to replace the dimmable light switch with a simple on and off switch and if so, would that solve the buzzing problem as well?

Thank you,
Justin

First question would be, are the LED's dimmable? This would be listed on the box it came in. Second question would be, is the dimmer rated for LED's.

Changing the dimmer out for a standard switch would stop the LED's from buzzing if the LED's were not damaged by the dimmer.

Hope this helps


Flooring a concrete deck, without raising the floor (much) I bought a house with a concrete deck 14x14' in size. I'd like to install some sort of flooring on the deck, however, I am worried about two things:

The weather conditions, especially snow and rain, are likely to cause damage to the floor, so I need something that lasts, and the less maintenance the better
The floor of the deck is only 6" below the living room entrance, so I can't raise the floor much without risking flooding the house.

I've been looking at a standard wood deck, but as I understand, it requires some metal posts, then a wooden frame, and then the floorboards, amounting to at least 6" of height. Composite seems to be better, but the price bites, and it also requires a wooden frame underneath, I can't just lay the composite boards on the concrete directly. I can't go with ceramics, because the wife is totally against that, she wants something nicer and warmer. Are there any other options, materials, or maybe a way to install a regular treated wood floor without raising it too much?

Rubber tile or mat would be one simple approach - see duckboards for another method/approach in polymers or sometimes treated wood.

Given a solid, correctly sloped concrete substrate, pressure-treated 2x4 sleepers and a deck with no posts, etc. should work just fine - the 2x4's can even be laid flat, since the concrete deck is taking the load directly.

Paint on or pour on rubber (acrylic/polyurethane, possibly with rubber granules) coatings as for pool decks or perhaps tennis courts might also work, and might cost less.


help needed to fit a new chandlier to a loop system I need help as I dont know how to connect these 3 blue and 3 brown to this chandelier.  I have tried to look for the answer online but couldn't find anything.

It looks like a fairly standard UK or similar ceiling rose. Therefore, of the top 3 blues, 2 are loopthrough and the fitting connects to the other. Of the 3 browns, they are also probably loopthrough plus a feed to the switch. Of the bottom two wires, the blue has a brown sheath so I would guess it is a switched return and the fitting connects to that. The earth block (green/yellow) would be connected to the earth on fitting. It doesn't look like it is connected at the moment; because of this, I suspect the white cable leads to a double insulated fitting that doesn't require it.

Your new chandelier appears to have a metal boss / stems, so the
 earth is now required. You shouldn't need the choc block connector, so wire directly to the rose fitting as a direct replacement of what is there. Obviously - you'll need to turn off the lighting circuit breaker and check it's safe before proceeding with a meter. How you fix the cover plate up is up to you.


How to separate the two parts linked by these hinges? I have a mirror (left) attached to a little cabinet (right) via two hinges in the following picture. The combination is supposed to be fixed above the sink in my bathroom.

But now I would like to detach the mirror from the little cabinet. There are no screws for the hinges, so I wonder how to do that and with what tools?

(Click for larger view)

Closer look at a hinge (Click for larger view):

You might be able to remove the hinge pin by gently tapping from the bottom up, using an appropriate size punch and hammer.  The photos don't show the top and the bottom of your hinges well.
If the hinge pin is flanged at both ends (like a nail head), then you won't be able to do this, though.

Otherwise, you'll have to remove the rivets...
You could try drilling them out, but take care not to damage the hinge and/or the mirror frame.

Likewise, you could take a Dremel cutting wheel and carefully cut off the rivet crimps (See the image below).

But, for small jobs like this and with small soft-ish rivets, I've had good luck just mashing the rivet-crimps with vise-grips and/or diagonal cutters -- squeezing it small enough that the rivet could be pushed through the whole.  If the rivets are not too tough, this can be the fastest and cleanest way to get them off.

Note for completeness: In some cases, rivet crimps and/or heads can be chiseled off, but in this case, it would probably wreck your cabinet in the process.


Expand on this three way switch diagram I'm wiring up a three way switch and have followed the attached diagram. However, I have three lights between the two switches. Can someone help me expand on this diagram to show how I wire up three lights.

Thanks

First off, that diagram is probably a Code violation

See how they run the travelers in one cable and the switched-hot/neutral in the other cable between the lamps? That can be considered a no-no under NEC 300.3(B)/310.10(H) due to issues with steel boxes and other steel parts (such as a steel stud that both cables run through) getting toasty from inductive heating due to circulating loop currents, as well as excessive 60Hz magnetic fields that can cause EMI.

The fix is simple -- run a single /4 cable (a /2/2 cable can be used instead with one of the neutrals retagged if you can't get /4 in the right size) between the lights, instead of the pair of /2 cables the diagram calls for.

From there, it's easy

Your third box goes between the left and right light boxes, and is wired as follows:

Traveller 1 in the cable from the left light box connects to Traveller 1 in the cable from the right light box, likewise with Traveller 2
All the switched-hots in the box (one from the left box, one from the right box, and one that's the black wire from the fixture) connect together
All the neutrals in the box (again, one from the left box, one from the right box, and one that's the white wire from the fixture) connect together
All the grounds in the box connect together

Tagging wires according to function makes it easier

Tape-tagging wires by function just makes this easier yet.  For instance: tagging all hots black, all switched hots red, and all travelers say yellow for one traveller and blue for the other in this scenario means that you can simply connect like-color-tagged wires together and have everything work.


What kind of terminal is this, and how can I fix it? So I have 3 damaged wires that I need to add new terminals to. The picture below is of the same type of terminal. What type of terminal is it, and how can I add the same kind of terminal to a stripped wire?

I need to add terminals to these wires (I need to splice the two black wires with one terminal):

It is called a spade connector, or spade lug terminal. You are holding a female connector.

You can purchase these at an electronics supply shop. As you might expect, they are available in a bewildering variety of styles and sizes. You might want to bring one of your connectors for identification.

Some are designed to be soldered onto the end of a wire, and others are made to crimp on using a bespoke tool. Either way, I think you'll find that heat-shrink tubing makes an excellent protective insulation.


How to safely unplug an outdoor extension cord that got wet? I plugged a indoor floor lamp outside using an indoor extension cord not realizing it was going to rain (i know - stupid!). Now I am afraid to unplug it, as everything is wet. What can I do to disconnect without getting electrocuted - I have kids. I need some help.

If the outdoor socket has gfci protection through another (indoor) outlet then you can turn that gfci outlet off.

If you know which circuit the outlet is on you can turn off just that breaker.

The nuclear option is to go to the main breaker and shut that off.

After the power is shut off you can safely unplug the extension cord and then turn the chosen shutoff back on.


How to fix this laminate flooring edge? I'm not all that DIY savvy and so had some guys come fit a laminate floor for me. It covers two floors, one of wood and one of concrete, and due to the different levels there's a reasonable amount of plywood under the floor to even it all out
This means, however, that the wooden floor which was previously level with the tiled floor next door is now about 1cm higher due to the laminate. The people who installed the floor added a small laminate ramp, which kind of worked OK but wasn't ideal, but it's since come loose
Does anyone have any better suggestions for what could finish off this flooring, or failing that any suggestions on how to fix the ramp in place?
Also, as a side quest, any ideas of what can be done about the gap on the left next to the doorframe?

Thanks,
Harry

That last piece should have been cut to match, well fill, the gap on the left.
If there is a waste piece available then you can cut a bit to just drop in at this point, unless you have a spare full board to cut properly.
As for the end trim - it needs securing properly either gluing or screwing as needed.


What should happen with plumbing ground connections when converting to Pex? My house is being re-piped by replacing all of the copper with PEX starting at the water service entrance.  I'm on a well which is 150' from the house and the service line is CPVC. Currently, there is a ground connected to the copper cold water side of the water heater which connects to the neutral side of the main electrical service panel.  There is also a ground to a grounding rod at the service panel.

My question is what to do with the ground connected to the copper at the water heater?  I'm assuming it is only there to bond the copper in the house for safety and since all of the copper is being replaced with PEX it is no longer required.  The copper wasn't being used as a second ground because the water service to the house has always been plastic to the foundation.

There are a few things:

In your main electrical panel there should be a ground wire connecting to the ground rod. If there is another ground wire connecting to the homes plumbing (or from the ground rod to the plumbing), the main electrical service is using your homes metal plumbing as a second ground. Even if the service line is plastic, the metal pipes may be an effective ground if some of them are in contact with earth or a concrete foundation. Thus if you are removing some of the original ground system of the home, you may need to add an additional ground rod. It's a good idea nonetheless. New code specifies 1 ground rod measuring less than 25 ohms or 2 ground rods >6ft apart regardless of the measurement. Since the measurement itself is difficult most electricians just put in two.
There should be a ground conductor running from the main panel to the water heater and connected to the water heater at the terminal block of the water heater. If there's not, add one. If the branch circuit for the water heater is run in metal conduit, the conduit itself is the ground and should be connected to the water heater according to the manual of the water heater.


Do fire-taped drywall seams need to be painted? I just added fire tape to the drywall seams in my 1950s garage using two layers of this compound from USG.  I couldn't find any reference to this question in their docs:  Do I need to paint over the mudded seams after they dry, or can I leave them exposed?  I live in the upper Midwest of the U.S., which sees pretty gnarly temperature swings and humidity levels throughout the year.

No, paint is not required for wall board on combustible (wood) construction. (See ICC Table 720.1(2), Items 12, 14, and 15.)
Note: Item 15 includes 2-hour fire rated construction too (two layers of gypsum board).
However, be aware that nailing requirements, type of plaster mix, etc. do matter. Most stud spacing is 16” on center, but I did see one with 24” on center (14-1.4 ) with gypsum board long dimension to stud, with 6d cooler nails or wallboard nails at 7” on center.


What is the best type of paint for a basement floor? I need to paint a basement floor that will see rugged use. What type of paint is appropriate for that? Or is maybe paint the wrong thing altogether and I should use a bake on plastic or something like that?

Before I paint, should I use a floor sander, like they use on wooden floors to smooth it out?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kCC131UN43o.

Epoxy is my choice. Preparation is 90 % of the equation for success.

Research metallic epoxy for some incredible looks and spend some time watching how to videos that explain what makes a floor ready for this product.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kCC131UN43o

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kCC131UN43o

If your not looking for that fancy you can just use basic colors without metallic effect .


How do I secure a steel rod inside a blind hole of a silumin part? A part of my hacksaw responsible for keeping the blade tensioned broke apart.

One of the parts is a piece of silumin which has a blind hole 4 millimeters in diameter and about 15 millimeters deep. A steel rod with M4 threading was somehow inserted into that hole and now it fell out of the hole. The rod itself is perfectly intact. There're some jags inside the hole that look like remnants of threading, but they don't hold the rod in place anymore. I guess that was some badly done threading inside the hole and now it has been stripped off and the remnants won't hold the rod anymore.

I need some way to secure the rod inside that hole - something like gluing it in. When the hacksaw is assembled the blade pulls the rod out of that hole with significant force, so it should be secured firmly. Drilling the silumin piece is not an option - the hole must remain blind because the opposite end of the piece holds the blade.

What method could I use for securing a steel rod in a blind hole in a silumin part?

(A picture of the broken piece would help.)

Option 1. (By far the best answer) Buy a new hacksaw. You won't be able to fix this without removing the threaded piece that still remains in the hole, then fabricating a new piece to hold the blade. This will involve adding threads to the new piece. If you don't have the tools to do this work, then you will need to obtain them, costing you more than a new hacksaw frame.

Option 2. Remove the threaded part that remains inside the hole. Usually this involves drilling a small hole in it, then you must buy a tool for removing screws that have been broken off in a hole. (Its usually called an ez-out, or something like that. A hardware store will have them.) You will insert that tool in the hole you have drilled. It will jam in place with a coarse reverse thread with sharp edges, and allow you to back out the threaded piece. It may help to drip some wd-40 in there as you are trying to back out the threaded piece.

Drilling that hole may itself be problematic, since there is a reasonable chance that part of the hacksaw was hard steel - by design to withstand the loads it must take to hold the blade. Worse, you must drill a hole into a surface that is jagged.

You may also be able to get the threaded piece out by other means, but you must do all of this without damaging the female threads in there, otherwise you will NEVER be able to fix the new piece in there.

As I said, unless you have a few important tools, this is all something that may be more easily repaired by simply buying a new hacksaw frame. Money solves everything, although a hacksaw frame is not that expensive. And if you don't know how to get that screw fragment out, then you probably don't have those tools, nor will you use them often enough in the future to merit buying them. At the same time, it is good to be able to repair things like this, so if you have the interest and the will to do this sort of work enough in the future, then go for it. But don't be at all surprised if you find it takes you considerably more time and expense than it is really worth to simply buy that new hacksaw frame.


How do I install this wall mount bathroom sink? I'm replacing a sink that was on a vanity cabinet and hoping to do as little busting through the perfectly good tile as possible. I heard a rumor that I need to make very sure that the sink is adequately supported.  I'm more than happy to add legs. I bought this Glacier Bay sink second hand so I've got no manufacturer's nothing. Also, I've never done this before.

If I can't find studs am I basically screwed? Can I build my own legs if I'm reasonably skilled? How would I go about that?

looks like it needs bolts with very large rubber washers/gromets. even then i'd be afraid that the weight of the sink would just crack the mounting holes. the mounting holes you've got are 300mm apart, exactly as stud distance. use a stud finder.
i have a hanging sink but it came with hardware: two vertical metal straps that you attach to the studs, the metal straps lean out a bit at the top and the sink hooks onto those.


Is it common to see building wire used for a doorbell? I'm trying to install a new video doorbell. Found the transformer in the attic, attached to the attic outlet. There are two 2-wire bell wiring runs from the transformer - one to the chime and the other to the front door.

Well, almost. The front door bell is connected to a Romex cable - and somewhere there is a short... so, probably at the connection?

I traced the bell wire though the attic to the front of the house where it disappears into the wall cavity. It's a two-story drop, then exists as a cable.

So, do I have to cut up 2 stories of wall looking for the connection?

It is not common because of cost but it’s also not uncommon. I agree with Harper if I have a broken bell wire I would use something on the truck to repair the wires. Since it was repaired you may get lucky and be able to use the existing wires as a pull.

I would use a pull string , but you may have some stout fishing line that could work. The trick here is figuring out where the break or short is.
At the chime disconnect the door bell button and verify you have 24v , some transformers have a bridge that converts to dc so you need to know what you are trying to measure unless your meter automatically checks for both. If there is voltage at the chime  we know the problem is probably at the splice.

I would use the wires as a pull. I would tie a pull string to the bell wires and pull that direction because the bell wires are smaller and if it will pull small wires following a large cable will work easier than trying to pull the other way.

If the wires are stapled and I now know I will have to open the wall sometimes I will pull to the breaking point and the splice may pull free then I would measure the length go up to that point and open the wall, it may save a lot of repair work if you can fish the new wires down the wall.

Just to clarify the string or fishing line is used to pull new wires from the button to the chime. Pulling the wires out at the button location , hopefully until the string or fishing line arrives at the button location. Standard pull string is rated at over 100 pounds.


Help cutting/squaring floor joist for shed I am a novice, and i am trying to build a shed myself. I don't have any framing experience.

I purchased a miter saw, and a circular saw. The plans call for 2x8 floor joists with 3 inches shorter on the inner short boards. So i purchased two 2x8x10 boards, and two 2x8x12 boards, cutting the 2x8x10 3 inches shorter. First the boards arent exactly 10ft.. they are about 5/8 of an inch longer. Why is that?

Second i don't have a table for the miter saw so i figured id get by with a circular saw.. i see the framers who build houses by me pretty much use only that.. i cut one end to make sure it's straight.. as it wasn't perfect. Then i made my final cut.. well i had a guide board, and not too expierenced with a circular saw, it kept getting stuck because of the blade guard was s getting caught and not sliding up. What was i doing wrong here?

Finally i got the cut straight as i had to go in a little bit to correct the cut. Now the cut is about 1/8th too short. I stopped here because i need advice. These boards are $15 a piece.. can i still use this one? Does every cut have tp be perfect? Can it be a little off and still be fine?

Am i over doing it trying to use a guide board? I see the framers zipping ends off free handed.. and im wondering if i am trying to be too perfect. I don't  want to assume anything and have the shed look like a teo year old built it.

Maybe i need to just get a miter saw table and stick with using that?

Please help give me some pointers on measurements to get my shed floor frame square. thank you!

Practice, practice, practice. Very few people are born with circular saw skills.

Your blade guard issues might be a crummy saw, or you might not be coming in flat and straight. Make sure it moves smoothly and clean/lube it, if needed.

Wood being oversize is just one of those things. As long as you don't get less than a 10', you should be happy.

Regarding the undersized by 1/8" bit, you could probably ignore it, or cut all the rest of your pieces to match. Chances are you won't notice it either way.

If a guide board is working for you to get square cuts, then keep doing that. Otherwise, see the above about practice. For what it's worth, a sharp blade won't try to wander like a dull blade will.


water coming out of bathroom faucet when I turn on my kitchen faucet When I turn on my kitchen faucet water starts coming out of my bathroom faucet. Not sure whats going. Would like to know incase of serious problem.

that's weird.  Only thing that makes sense is that your faucet needs new washers or seals.  The water pressure could actually be making a tighter seal.  When you loose water pressure it leaks.  Some times its easier just to replace faucet.


What is the function of this electric part on my unvented water heater cold water inlet? Does anyone know what this electric part does? In the photo it's the black plastic block device attached to the pipe on the right hand side (which is the mains inlet to the heater; the left is the hot outlet). It looks to me like a solenoid valve, but neither the instruction manual for the heater nor for the washing machine mention it.

The heater is a ZIP Aquapoint III 30L unvented electric water heater that used to supply a Maytag stacked washer/dryer unit. On that machine, the part was electrically connected to a terminal on the washing machine itself. Somebody else since replaced the washing machine and left that part attached to the inlet pipe, and there's no obvious terminal on the new washing machine to connect the part to. The bottom part of the device with the wire sticking out is a removable power plug with three terminals.


Using Well Pump 240 v Circuit For 110 v Light With Plug I built a shelter around my pump down here in central Fl. For a pump business I was suprised they ran 12-2 romex in the conduit from the breaker box on the power pole. The pump has red, black and green going into the well. They both ground on the pressure switch case. I bugged a receptacle on the black and ground and ran my miter saw and compressor to build the shelter with no issues. I would like to have a light in there and a gfi for power to work in there if needed. Is there any safe way to use a gfi or a light in there short of removing the romex and pulling re-pulling individual thnn wires with a neutral. I'm not sure the outdoor panel for the m/h bonds the neutral and ground, I have to recheck.  Thanks. GBY

Stop using ground as neutral. If your grounding system is anything shy of perfect, you'll energize everything that's supposed to be grounded.

The fact that it has conduit on the ends doesn't mean it's entirely conduit.  If the line were direct burial, the descent to depth is required to be in conduit for physical protection.  *Push and pull the wire. If it has about an inch of relatively free play, then it's in conduit.

Use a subpanel

If it is indeed conduit, then you can fish in THHN wires: two hots, a neutral and a ground, all #10. Bring that to a subpanel, and have a 20A double breaker in the sub power the well, and 20A single breakers feed convenience outlets and other 120V loads.  You will also need a local grounding rod, or rather 2 rods 10' apart unless your AHJ will let you use the well pipe.  AHJ=authority that issues permits and inspects.

You can then upsize the breaker in the main panel to match the wire (30A for #10, 50A for #8 THHN).

Otherwise... Use a transformer

For casual loads like you might plug into an outdoor receptacle, a 1.5 KVA transformer will suffice.  If you want a LOT of power out there, a 5 KVA 1-phase transformer off Craigslist will do.  Do not use a "step-up/down transformer" because that can accidentally put 240V on your hot and 120V on your neutral.  You need an isolating transformer.  For small loads like this, I would leave it isolated, i.e. don't bond neutral to ground. And have it feed a GFCI recep for statutory reasons.

Why not bond?  Bonding (vs isolated system) is a double-edged sword.  An isolated system has no relationship with ground, so touching hot is harmless - power doesn't flow because there's no loop. On the other hand, bonding neutral to ground forces hot to be within 120V of ground, which protects you from leakage from the 7200V transformer primary.  But in this case, the transformer primary is + and - 120V from ground (summing to 240V), so bonding does not make it any safer. Therefore isolation affords better safety.


Can a simmerstat switch be fixed? And how? I stumbled across this site and think it sounds like someone might be able to help me with my problem…

Let me outline… I have a cooktop (St George CC355, if that's useful) and it has two hotplates (well three, if you count the fact that one is a dual hotplate). The dual is the problem… it used to work, then suddenly it only worked on the full hotplate setting, which is actually, both the small and large on together). Because of this, I think I have narrowed the problem down to the control or the simmerstat switch, which I would love to just be able to replace (job done), but they no longer make it and have no alternative.

So, my question is can a simmerstat switch be fixed? And how? The switch is a TDL-205 if that helps. I really hope someone can give me some advice.

Kind regards, Lyndelle.

According to oxfordparts.com.au the part has been replaced/superceeded by TD3V-800K which I think is still available. I found a bunch of eBay listings anyways.

Also worth checking out this. If it looks the same as the switch you have it's probably the same

https://stoveconnection.com.au/shop/index.php/store/stove/controls/cooktop-controls/tl-205.html

Be aware the TD3V part might not look identical but the connections should be the same. Likely they improved the "guts" so they don't fail so soon...
Or so that they're cheaper to build.

Don't try to fix the switch, it'll never be right and you could melt stuff. Not to mention it's likely glued together.
Good luck!


what would cause a breaker box enclosure to be electrified? I was working installing a 2 pole 50A 240V GFCI breaker and trying to debug an appliance. I turned off the GFCI breaker I was working on, but the main breaker was on.  About the time I had one of the wires undone I put my hand on the metal enclosure of the breaker box and received a shock.  What could possibly have caused this?  The main was on, and the GFCI breaker was connected to the box via the pigtail to the neutral terminal.  Any heuristics/diagnostics to determine why the external enclosure became electrified?

The subpanel (in a detached garage) has 4 wires coming in: 2 hot to the main breaker, one to the grounding bus, and neutral to the neutral bus.  In addition, there is a very thick copper wire running outside the conduit that appears to terminate in the ground below the deck on the outside of the building.

There is continuity between the neutral and ground bus, which I understand is not normal for a subpanel.

Am I right in suspecting that the grounding electrode is not grounded?  How would I test this?

First I would like to say, thank god you weren't seriously injured. Second this is a very serious situation. The reason someone is shocked when touching a metal enclosure is because you are grounded and the enclosure is not.

You're neutrals and grounds are tied together at the first means of disconnect. It will be bonded at the main breaker and if there is no separate main it will be done at the Panel's main breaker. Check to make sure the bonding screw is properly installed and the grounding bus is bonded with the neutral bus. Then check to see if your grounding electrode conductor actually runs to a proper grounding electrode. Check for corrosion and loose connections. If everything is properly done, if you have a problem you should get a trip on the breaker having a problem.

If you're not getting a trip then you probably have a piece of 240V equipment that is missing a phase, the neutral, or the ground is not connected properly and you are getting one phase trying to seek a path back to the Panel and the breaker. I noticed that you said you were trying to debug an appliance. I would start there.

Under no circumstances should you be trying to troubleshoot this problem under power. Disconnect all power and troubleshoot with a continuity tester or an ohmmeter. If all of this seems to technical I would advise you seek professional help.


How can I keep my paint from freezing in an unheated garage? This is the first winter I've had cans of paint in my garage. Many paint labels advise that paint shouldn't be allowed to freeze. There are three five-gallon buckets on the floor and around ten one-gallon cans on the bottom shelf of a wire rack. Plus wood glue and caulk and other non-freezable miscellany. I'd be inclined to discard it all if it wouldn't cost so much to replace it. But insulating and heating the garage is a huge project.

What's the best way to keep this paint from freezing?

Make an insulated, heated enclosure for the paint. Since the paint is already on a wire rack, just insulate the floor and enclose the bottom shelf of the rack. Use a lizard heater and a thermo-cube.

Cut and notch OSB, rigid foam insulation and some scrap pegboard to fit on the floor below the shelf. Use scrap vinyl to make a serpentine channel on the pegboard, then lay the heater in the channel, so:

When you put another piece of pegboard on top of this, you'll have a heated, insulated floor that's safe to drag heavy buckets around on.

Position a shelf above the bottom shelf, cut and notch OSB to fit above that shelf and insulation to fit below it. Secure the insulation from the OSB side with coarse-thread drywall screws.

Cut a back panel from OSB and put two rectangles of insulation on it to fit between the shelves. Secure it to the legs of the wire rack with cable ties.

Do the same for side panels. Put some paint in there to see how good it looks.

Add another side panel and a front door that matches the back panel. Secure everything with cable ties, except on the front door, where a pair of hook latches lets you open the door.

Hook the iguana heater up to the thermo cube and you're done.


Remove interior paint from carpet I recently wanted to repaint an interior wall. I took many precautions to cover the carpet using tarps, tape, and newspaper. Despite all of that, I still managed to get paint onto the carpets and didn't notice until it had already dried.

I've been googling and all I can see are guides to remove the art-types of  paints from carpets (acrylic, latex, and water-based), which I assume is probably ill fated for me because I used a paint + primer that I got from walmart.

Is there any way to remove this paint without damaging the carpet any further?

Carpets and paints can be made from a variety of materials. Water might clean it up. Paint thinners might dissolve the carpet (depending on the carpet). You could try isopropyl alcohol without much risk. But I would start by testing some carpet fibers (cut a few fibers off with some scissors) in a dish of paint thinner before testing thinner on the carpet. And still, even if the fibers look okay, use caution applying thinner to carpet. Apply thinner to a rag instead, and wipe the paint off with the rag.

If thinner dissoves the carpet, then the last resort is to give the carpet a trim. Hopefully the paint is not too deep and you can carefully cut out just the paint.


Installing aluminum window in block wall I have no clue how an aluminum window is fixed to a solid block wall opening,I live in South Africa and the window I bought is glazed and came with 4 lugs that slides down the edges of the frame.
The only thing I can assume is when the window is fitted,holes are drilled through the lugs into the masonry and fixed with some sort of anchor screw before being plastered.Well that's what I think I don't know

Your assumption is right. You should fit the lugs to the masonry.
As shown in this video at about 2m25s : https://youtu.be/bFsW1rh1r3I?t=145


lighting fire safety Is it safe to use a soft 3 way 30/50/150 Watt incandescent bulb in a lamp that requires 23 CFL max light to prevent fire.
It is the only bulb that I could find but only the 150W setting works with this bulb in the lamp.
I want the bright light so am hoping this light will be safe to use. The volts are 120 for this light.

No, that is not safe.  The 23W CFL limit means that you should not use a bulb that uses more than 23W of power.  A 30/50/150W 3-way will use more than that on its lowest setting.
If you don't want to use a CFL, and I don't blame you, please consider an LED bulb.  These generate even less heat than a CFL.  Use the ACTUAL power rating, which is likely to be in the 5-10W range rather than the "equivalent" power rating.


Move a shed vs. Demolish and install a new shed We are remodeling and our current wooden shed needs to be moved to a new spot. One option is to hire folks to relocated the shed and the alternative is to demolish the current shed, dispose it and install a new one in the new spot. Looking for suggestion as what is more cost effective option.

How heavy is the shed? Depending on the size, say 12 x 12, you can move it using 2x4x or 4x4s easier than you think. You slide it right onto a foundation. Again this depends on how solid your shed is. In this area, anything with a side of 10 feet has to be permitted, so we just moved ours using above technique. Look at floor joists, and point loads of the current set up and match that up on the new.

Then again, a new shed is a chance to start over...


Why did my humidifier water bottles get discolored inside? I've had a stand alone type of whole house humidifier for many years. It has two 2.75 gallon white plastic water bottles. In addition to using an anti-bacterial with each fill-up, at the end of each winter I put some water in each bottle, add a little bleach and shake it several times. Then I rinse the bottles out, get as much water out as I can through the small openings and let them sit open for 1-2 weeks to thoroughly dry. Finally, I put the caps back on and store the unit away.
Yesterday, when I took it out to set up, both water bottles have large areas of brown discoloration inside as shown in the photo. I don't think it's mold. Could it be deterioration of the plastic? I'll be getting new bottles anyhow, but would like to know what happened to prevent a recurence.

I called the manufacturer today and it was their opinion that the plastic had deteriorated.


Wiring 2 prong outlet to 3 prong outlet hi so i brought a old house and some of the rooms have 2 prong outlet with only hot/neutral wire and i changed the 2 prong outlet to a gfci 3 prong outlet but it doesnt have a ground. My question is can i pigtail the ground to a existing 3 prong outlet that have a ground wire to it.

If the ground comes from the same service panel you can tap into that ground and it will be code compliant with the 2017 NEC , if it comes from a different source the code compliant method is to attach a sticker that comes with the GFCI , GFCI protected no equipment ground.


How should I dispose of the vinyl shed walls? I have disassembled an old vinyl shed and removed all the metal, etc.  Now I need to know how and where to dispose of the vinyl walls?

If you have municipal trash collection, you'll want to contact the company in charge of pickup.  It's quite common for them to have a website, which typically has information about how to handle various types of waste.

If you're not sure who handles the collection. That information is usually available on the town/city website, or by calling the town/city.

If you take your waste to the dump (not sure if folks still have to do this), you could simply ask someone on your next trip.


which electric device can scan all waves exist at home which electric device can scan all waves exist at home.

would like to find which channel of waves home appliance using and find hidden waves or communication channel or wireless or microwaves or other kind of waves emitted from home appliance

do amazon sell this scanner? what is the name of it?
if really can scanned this, how to visualize and observe what is in the channel or waves?

which electric device can scan all waves exist at home.

None.

Devices specialise. You won't find one that scans seismic waves at the same time as ultraviolet electromagnetic waves, radar electromagnetic waves and ultrasonic waves.


Why does a single radiator need regular bleeding? Almost all of the radiators (forced water) in my house heat up fine. However, a single radiator needs regular bleeding (~1/day) in order to heat. Note, this radiator is not at the highest point in the house (it's a split level; I'd say it's around 3/4 of the way up), and radiators higher up are plenty hot.

Also, there no obvious water/corrosion stains around this radiator.

What might be causing this problem, and how do I fix it?

When you do your daily bleed of this radiator if you don't actually get air coming out, just water. You don't have an air problem, you have a water flow problem.

If your system a diverter-tee system (a "one-pipe" system), check to make sure that the tees that feed this radiator are installed the same way as the tees that feed your working radiators. The diverter tee for this radiator should be on the return side, and the stripe (or other indicator of orientation) should be between the branches. An incorrectly installed tee could cause the exact problem you're describing.


Gas dryer vent install, how close to wall? I am installing a gas dryer, I understand all the requirements, but cannot find anything that addresses this question; my install comes out the back of the dryer and goes vertical about 4 ft, then turns 90 degrees to exit out the wall to the outside. But is there any requirement that states how close that vertical portion can be to the interior wall? That effects how far the dryer juts out into the room. My dryer installation manual specifies how close the dryer cabinet can be to adjacent walls, but not the vent pipe itself.

Given that the dryer vent pipe typically goes through the wall without any special consideration, touching the wall surface should also be fine. Unlike other combustion appliances, the dryer exhaust is diluted with a great deal of additional air. If it's hot enough to scorch your wall, it's hot enough to scorch your clothes.


I removed my bathroom vanity and found some pipes. What might they be? We are doing a bathroom remodel, and I removed the vanity and found some pipes I did not expect to find.  This is a second story bathroom, and the wall pictured is an exterior wall.
The pipes are nowhere near the downstairs kitchen or bathroom, nor are they near the laundry room.  Above the bathroom is the attic.  Directly below it is our living room, which does have a gas fireplace (although I believe it vents elsewhere).
The vanity has a normal looking drain connection just above the photo.  Not pictured.  Perhaps that's what one of these are for?
Anyone have any idea what the heck these are?  Or how I'd put a new vanity in on top of these?

Drain and dry vent, most likely. Rip some drywall you won't have to do a fussy repair job on because it will be hidden behind the new vanity if you are overly curious and want more info.
You'd put a vanity on them the same way the vanity you took off them was - they are running in the "toe kick space" between the floor of the cabinet and the floor of the room.


Is it necessary to fill all the joints before install drywall tape on them? Is it true that fill up the joints before taping can prevent cracking?

It can be true depending on a few things. I would use a 20 min setting compound to fill all gaps/cracks/damaged areas. It will set by the time a room is done. Follow up with a tape and longer setting compound. For a DIY 20 min compound also acts as a warm up.


Tips for getting cables through old work box knockouts and into wall I’m replacing a botched 3 gang switch box (formerly consisted of two incompatible boxes together, cover plate did not fit right).
I have clamps on all my cables and am ready to put them through the box knockouts and into the wall, but due to many of the cables being of the very old, brittle, cloth covered type, I am afraid to wiggle things around too much. Any tips for this situation? I have tried starting with different cables first but it is very hard to get more than two at a time through, and the cables are so inflexible that I am afraid it will be really hard to get it into the wall.
I am trying to get the two yellow NM cables in a single clamp to come into the box from the bottom, and the rest are coming into the top and the rear of the box. The box I am using is 3x 2.5” deep gangable metal old work box. Knockout size 3/8”. Wall is lathe and plaster.

I'd use a different style of clamp for this job
Given that you're in an old-work situation and dealing with fragile cables, I'd use a style of clamp such as a Raco Insider or Arlington White Button that's designed to be installed from inside the box instead of from the outside of the box the way a traditional (two screw) NM clamp is.


How do I fix my fridge that is not refrigerating? My refrigerator (Frigidaire model #frt18b4aw8) is not refrigerating the refrigeration compartment, however the freezer compartment is freezing properly.
I opened the back panel in the freezer and saw that it, and the channel to the fridge, are clear from ice.
How do I fix my fridge that is not refrigerating?

Assuming someone didn't screw around with the refrigerator's thermostat or temperature setting...
Typically, that problem is due to failure of the circulating fan housed in the freezer...thermostats almost never fail. Hopefully, you notice there is no or very little noise being made by the refrigerator when you open the freezer.
It doesn't matter how cold the freezer is if the refrigerator isn't cold. There shouldn't be silence unless and until the refrigerator's desired temperature is reached.


Diatomaceous earth use for bed bugs I saw a post about using diatomaceous earth on here from 2013.... Did it ever work?  Having issues that have me in tears here. Have tried bombs. .. sprays. .. feel like I am slowly killing us with poison.

Diatomaceous earth is used by bed bug control professionals as one tool among many, but the best recourse is professional help. If you have an home owner's association or are renting, they should be alerted and have funds to cover some of the costs.

TALK TO A BEG BUG PROFESSIONAL. Initial consultations are usually free.

Otherwise, additional basic starting tools are:

Mattress & box encasements (critical to install properly and watch for tears)
Traps for your bed frame legs
Spray bottle of 92% alcohol to kill bugs/eggs
Heat.

Laundering will kill bugs guaranteed
Put your items in a tightly tied garbage bag, leave in your car for an entire day in the summer sun (goal: a few hours of 120+ degrees F).

TALK TO A BEG BUG PROFESSIONAL. Initial consultations are usually free.


How to build up (or repair) this toilet outlet I removed some bathroom tiles and much to my disappointment, the person who laid this out years ago did a horrible job and I’m now left with this mess to fix.
I’ll be adding a 2 inch foam base (concrete basement) and a 3/4 inch plywood subfloor.
I’m thinking about grinding this mess out and filling out a 2 3/4 inch thick concrete “block” where the new outlet pipe will sit on. About 3-4 inches wider than the outlet bracket so that the foam base and subfloor will be level with the block.
Hope this makes sense.
My only question is how to extend/raise the outlet pipe - I don’t want to dig out all the concrete, but feel it may be better for foundational purposes. Is this the correct approach?
Any thoughts on this would be appreciated as I really dont know how to fix this.

I would absolutely be cutting concrete. You have an ideal opportunity to do so since you're overlaying the floor anyway.  You don't want to deal with clogs later due to pipe reduction from an extension, and you want the stability a proper flange provides.
Rent or borrow a diamond saw, cut out a 24" square, and fix this up right with a full-size pipe. Mix up some bagged concrete and pour it to the level of the new subfloor for a stable base (just as you describe). Use strips of the foam and sheathing as a form.


Can I reuse a /2 cable for a 120V subpanel? (formerly an old sub wired 2-pole 30A for my trailer) I am putting in a 6-space 100-amp outside box with three 20-amp and two 30-amp breakers.

None of the new breakers are double-pole or 240V.

There is a 10/2 cable running there (formerly used for the double pole 30A, perhaps not the best possible installation, but there it is).

Can I hook up the three wires in the /2 cable (hot, neutral, and ground) to the panel wiring only one side/leg and then run a jumper wire to the other side?

Yeah, that's fine, but you'll have to rearrange things a bit to make it work.

However, you'll need a disconnect switch

The best way to get that is to fit one more breaker, and backfeed it.  (i.e. the supply comes in where the power normally goes out).

A backfeed breaker requires a tie-down kit to be applied.   Tie-down kits only fit on 2-pole breakers.  (it's called "pole" by the way).

Normally, you would split the feed, e.g. with a wire nut and 2 pigtails, to this 2-pole "master" breaker.

I'm not sure why you're getting such a small panel (in terms of spaces).  But since you are out of spaces, we can do a trick.    On the 2-pole breaker, one side is the backfeed side from supply.  The other side is one of your 30A loads that you mentioned. So this breaker is serving as both the disconnect switch and a branch circuit load.  Not elegant, but it will work.

"But wait. I am only backfeeding one leg.  How does power get to the other leg?"

Surely this panel has main lugs. You run a wire from one main lug to the other.  I recommend a #3 Cu wire since it is a 100A panel after all. But a #10 would be safe for now.

Okay, okay, I hear you on "big panel". How do I wire that?

If the new panel has a main breaker, use that for the disconnect switch. Simply put two #10 pigtails on the two "hot" terminals and wire-nut them to your #10 wire coming in. (use a big tan or red wirenut).

If your panel is "main lug", you still need a disconnect switch, so you'll be forced to backfeed a 2-pole breaker again. Since you have the space, go ahead and get a 2-pole breaker with tiedown kit, and do the "two #10 pigtails" thing as described in the last paragraph.  (we didn't do that with the 6-space panel because there wasn't room).

Then proceed normally.

Remember do not put MWBC (shared neutral) circuits in a 120V panel.


Finding air leaks in ducts I've been sealing the ducts in our basement with mastic. I've done a decent job, but I'm trying to find every leak in the basement, where it's accessible.

For instance, I stand on the ladder in one area and I feel cold air with the a/c running. But, I can't figure out where it's coming from, and there are ducts on three sides of me, all within a foot of my head. If I hold up a 1 ply torn corner of a Klennex it flutters a bit but I can't determine which direction, let alone specifically where so I can throw a little more mastic there.

Everything I've read online is about testing leakage to get a number, etc. but I just want to know where exactly in the basement any leaks that are left are from.

I've thought about an incense stick, but am hoping for something with no chance of burning anything, something I can pick up and put down repeatedly with no worries.

Google "Smoke Pencil" or "Wizard Stick". Both use fog machine technology to vaporize a small amount of glycerine, producing a cool stream of smoke. The former is the professional product; the latter is a cheaper toy, but probably good enough for your purposes. (And, you definitely don't want to be messing around with flames in a dense tangle of air ducts. Could get exciting fast.)


How to find out cfm of a kitchen exhaust to be replaced? The manufacturer of the current kitchen exhaust I'm looking to replace has gone belly up for a long time. I'm struggling to find out from the labels on its cfm stats. How would you suggest finding this information, or is it irrelevant (when I can calculate the cfm I need)?
Thanks in advance!

I wouldn't bother attempting to determine the existing rating, if for no other reason that it may not have been properly sized to begin with, and / or recommendations may have changed since then. Previous appliances may have been replaced or updated, or additional appliances may have been added. If it's a commercial kitchen there are likely to be applicable codes that may also have been changed since the original installation.
Better to start with the manufacturer(s) of the exhaust fan you are contemplating installing, and use their calculations. Most of them have online calculators that take into account the kitchen's volume, cooking appliance BTU, ducting considerations... etc.


Bulge in drywall after mounting tv I mounted my 60” inch tv over my fireplace and a bulge has appeared on both sides in the last few days. I’ve done some searches and it sounds like this is a “nail or screw pop”. My question is this something I need to be concerned about? Can the tv come down because of this or rip the tv and mount off the wall? I used a stud finder and there’s 4 2 3/4 lag bolts into the studs but I just want to make sure the tv is safe. The tv covers the bulge/bubble so if the integrity of the mount is fine I don’t care. Any information or advice is greatly appreciated!!

You do not need to be concerned, assuming that your lag screw is anchored into the framing.

That's a result of a pre-existing gap behind the drywall. Maybe some insulation or a wrinkle in the vapor barrier held it out during initial hanging, and your lag screw pulled it in tight. Because there was a drywall screw there holding it out the surface bulged as the rest pulled in. There are no apparent structural concerns.

If you ever remove the tv, you'll want to put a pair of drywall screws above and below the bulge before removing the lag screw. Then remove the tv mount, cut away the bulged drywall and repair.


Wet Wall with plumbing on both sides I plan to be adding 2 bathrooms side by side. Is it possible to do 1 wetwall with all the plubming in it? I attached an overly simplified image as an example.

A few questions.

Is this possible?
This may not be answerable but would this be problematic in terms of being up to code?
Are there any issues that with doing it this way?
I know it may be very hard to access plumbing at a later date if something went wrong since there would be no access panel (or access wall). Is access really need in the future?
What size should the wetwall be in this case?
If this is bad, are there any alternatives or would it just be best to use different walls for each?

Sure, it's done all the time.  Thickness of the wall will likely be determined by the required vent size.  With two toilets, two tubs and four sinks, I think you'll likely have to go to a 2x6 wall if you go with a single vent stack, but you'd have to run the numbers.

I did run into a code issue with drains T'ing into the main vertical stack at the same level.  Still not sure what the issue was, but the made me change it.

As far as accessing it later.  If everything is properly pressure tested before you close it in, you should be fine.  But stuff happens.  The odds of it happening are inversely proportional to how easy it is to access the area.  So if you had an access panel there, it would never leak there anyway.  Mostly joking, but seriously - if you have a problem, you may have to break into the wall.  No fun, but unlikely and not the end of the world.


Adding 240v (NEMA 14-50) outlet right behind breaker panel The breaker panel is on the outside wall, right next to my garage. I want to install a 240v outlet right behind the panel, thru the wall.

If i open the panel, there are those round metal covers that can be popped to run cables into the box.
Removing one shows the back of the interior drywall. ( since the breaker panel is recessed into the exterior wall)

Idea is simple. Add a 50amp breaker and just drill thru the drywall, run the appropriate cables (about 3 feet)  thru the hole and straight into one of these:

Levinton 50 Amp, 125/250 Volt, NEMA 14-50R, 3P, 4W, Surface Mounted Receptacle

No wires would be exposed.

Would this be against code or any safety hazards that i need to be aware of?

You can do this it takes a simple bushing or clamp from the main panel. Since the cable is breaker protected as long as it is protected going out of the panel and into the new one it is code compliant. Well if you have a permit,


Compressor/fan stays off when cooling turned on Before I begin, I would like to request "call a technician" suggestions to stay off.  I do know a nice guy who can look it up for me, for a variety or reasons, one of which being my general history of fixing stuff, I would like to take a first stab at solving this problem.  Thanks

Background: Both units are middle-of-the-line Lennox, about 2 years old.  The thermostat is Nest 1st generation, which also controls the completely separate hydronic heating system used with radiators.  The system does only AC (is not a heat pump, in other words).

Problem: I turn the AC cooling on and only the indoor unit (air handler) fan comes on.  The outdoor unit (compressor) stays off.  I checked power supply at the main panel (both units have a dedicated circuit, 15A for the handler, 30A for the condenser) and using a pen-like current detector.

Wiring Pictures

1. Inside Air Handler

Note that the upper thermostat cable is what goes to the compressor, lower goes to the thermostat.  The two white wires are from a small water detector attached to the pan in which the return box sits to switch the system off in case water drips in the pan.

2. Thermostat

Note that the RH red wire and the W1 white wire come from the above mentioned radiator heating system and are completely unrelated to this. RC red goes to the R in the air handler.

3. Compressor

So the C connector from the thermostat is connected to the air handler via the blue wire, which goes to C in the air handler and to which the blue from the compressor cable connects it to the black wire in the compressor.  My suspicion is that somewhere along is the problem unless the compressor is broken, for example a problem with its capacitor or something else broken.

Question:  How can I diagnose where the problem is using a multimeter? Is it possible to narrow the problem down to the capacitor OR the thermostat using my analog multimeter, i.e. to rule out the wiring, which seems like it is fine?  I can turn the system on and I would like to use the multimeter to verify that the thermostat is properly turning the cooling on via the blue wire to the compressor.  If so is the case, then the wiring is not the problem.

The first thing to do is check the two wires on the outside unit when the thermostat is calling for cooling.  In your picture it looks like the Blue and Yellow thermostat wires are being used.  You should have 24v AC across those two wires, which would normally close the 240v relay and start up the compressor and cooling fan.

If you're not getting 24v on the two thermostat wires, there's probably a bad connection somewhere.  Since the air handler is working and the thermostat has power, the 24v transformer is working.

If you are getting 24v, then you can move on to diagnosing just the compressor.  There are limit switches that can prevent the compressor from turning on if the coolant level is off.  There can also be temperature sensors that prevent the compressor from running, so these would need to be checked.  The relay should also snap shut when the 24v signal is present.  A poor connection might read 24v, but might not have the amperage to actually close the relay.  The relay can be corroded or filled with dead ant bodies.

I hope this helps.  Clarify anything you can in the comments and I can attempt to edit as needed.  I've done a lot to diagnose and solve problems with a WiFi thermostat and heat pump that were not wired correctly.


How do I seal around a door to make the opening more sound-proof? I live in an apartment condo.  The noise from the very loud neighbour comes through the door spaces. I wish to seal off all of her noise.  My walls are brick and are good. But the door going out to the common area has a varying gap around it.  At the top of the door, the gap is from 1/32" to 1/4" over a 32" length.  From the top of the door to the bottom of the door (not the floor), the gap is from 1/32" to 1/4 " over a 80" length.  The open space from the bottom of the door to the floor is from 3/4" to 1/2" extending 32" across the door.

As well, there is a wall air conditioner I'd like to seal.  I'm thinking about putting some acoustic caulking around the outside of the air conditioner (inside the house), but thought I'd mention that as well.  My main concern is soundproofing the space around the door right now.

I would like to sound proof these open areas effectively.  What can you suggest?   Obviously, I would like to witness the effectiveness of any materiel you suggest before purchasing it if possible.

You need to look into the sound seals used on STC rated doors.
My apologies i forgot about  this so you can get some relief as follows.
You can purchase kits that consist of an automatic door sweep and perimeter seals.
example www.acousticalsolutions.com/door-seal-kits


How do I know when a water heater's relief valve should be replaced? My relief valve has been leaking lately. It looks like its not working right. How do know when its not working right? Its leaking from the end of the pipe the spring seems like its not working right

Pressure relief valves (PRVs) on boilers, at least in my area, are usually 30psi. Normally systems run at about 20psi hot and are set to 12-15 psi cold. Your first step is to determine what your system pressure is supposed to be. Then determine what your system pressure is. If it all checks out you need to change your PRV. They often continue to drip after they start dripping due to sediment build up on the valve seat, so regardless you may need to change it anyway. 15psi PRVs are usually used on steam and you have to be very careful if you are indeed running a steam system as you could easily get burned.


Should washing machines be placed on tile or other water-proof flooring? I am redoing the area where my washing machine is.  Currently it's placed in a closet and has a tile floor.  I'd rather not use tile in the new setup, but it got me wondering if this is an important aspect of a laundry area.

How important is it for the floor below a washing machine to be resistant to water?

It is common to set washing machines in a washing machine pan

These can handle minor leaks. Some versions include connections for floor drains that handle larger leaks.

Many apartment buildings that allow above basement washers require that a built in pan be an integral part of the floor and sometimes specify a deeper pan than the 2" versions.


Are there fans for radiators to improve performance? I lived all my life with forced air heating and cooling, but my house now has steam radiators.  They perform ok, I suppose, but I know from trying that just letting the convection cause the airflow leaves them very inefficient.

With a small 6 inch fan blowing at low speed on a radiator, the room temperature will go up 5-10 degrees F.

I would prefer not to have to run power and fans to every rad in the house.  I was wondering what the options were for fans to improve the radiators performance.

Standard round fans are the wrong shape, and only target a small portion of the radiator surface.

I would love something that could draw power from the heat difference, since all it needs is low speed fans to move air better than convection does.

An alternative that might work in some rooms is a ceiling fan that has a low speed (we have some 6-speed models in our home where the lowest speed just circulates the air slightly).   This would help move air around in the room (and thereby helping to move some heat away from the radiators) and has the added plus that you can use it on higher speeds for summer cooling.

We have forced hot air heat, and our master and living room have high ceilings, so we run the fans year-round.


What is the strongest way to join a deck joist to a corner joint? I'm working on designing the support frame for a deck for my backyard.

The basic shape of the deck:

It's essentially a square with one corner chopped off.  The red line is the joist in question, the green lines are the remaining joists and the yellow(ish) lines are the stringers in between.

My question is how do I attach the red line joist to that corner joint?  I'm pretty sure there are 45 degree angle joist hangers for the rest of the joists.  Is this the best way to lay them out, or is there a better way to arrange the joists?  The decking will be installed perpendicular to the joists, or parallel with that one chopped off angle.  The joists are on 16" centers, measured off from either side of the red line joist.  The drawing is oh so very not to scale :)

I guess I'm curious why you wouldn't simplify the layout like this:

Yellow = deck joists

Green = support beams

Your decking would run diagonally over the joists.  If you use 2x boards for decking, that should be fine if the joists are 16" on center.  If you want to use 5/4 decking, you should probably put the joists 12" on center so that the diagonal run is closer to 16".


How do you drain a carburetor? Chainsaw manufacturers recommend "draining the carburetor" before putting the chainsaw into storage for a period of disuse. This would seem to be a good idea as otherwise the fuel could damage the seals in the carburetor.

How do you drain a carburetor?

Chain saws have what is called a diaphragm carburetor as opposed to the carburetor with a float. The float bowl in those types hold gas and need to be drained and usually have a drain plug. The carb on the saw  holds very little gas so just run it until it conks out for lack of gas.


What are some scalable, affordable home automation options? I've been looking to set up a home automation system in my house for a while now, but I'm having trouble committing to any one starting point.  I'd like to set up an initial system that controls maybe two or three outlets and one or two overhead lights and that can be accessed over the internet and from my iPhone.  Ideally, I'd like the initial setup to cost less than $100 (or at most $150), and I'd like to be able to add control of more outlets and lights over time.  Here's my background:

I work with computers on a daily basis, and I have several old desktops sitting around that I would have no trouble converting into a dedicated Linux server.  So I would not count that part in the $100.
I am not an electrical engineer, but I'm not completely inept with electronics.  I have toyed with the idea of getting an Arduino, but haven't yet. (Just to give you an idea of what level I'm at).  I'm also not afraid of circuit diagrams.  I am afraid of high currents and meddling with wall outlets while holding a screwdriver.
I'm not diametrically opposed to proprietary software, but I would definitely prefer an open-source solution that I could do some hacking on myself.
I'd like it to be something my wife, who is not in a technical field of any kind, can use.  If permanently installing outlets into the wall is involved, I'd like it to be something that could be used by potential future owners of my house, and I'd like it to be something that looks good enough and works reliably enough to improve the value of my house.

I know my question contains a lot of things specific to my situation, but I also believe that there are a lot of other computer-science-type technophiles like myself out there who are in a very similar situation.

X10 is a very cheap way to go, but it's not a very good system. The $20 switches you get are pretty low quality. More importantly though, the X10 protocol is pretty bad. It was designed in the 70's, and is very low bandwidth (I can't find a bps rating, but it takes about 3/4 of a second to send one command). If you don't use scene-capable switches (like Smarthome makes) you will notice a delay when activating different scenes.

I have a large Smarthome X10 installation at my parent's cottage/future home. The hardware is nice, but it suffers from reliability problems (eg, Sometimes when you hit a button, not all the lights activate; sometimes noise caused by power spikes/outages causes all lights to turn on, even though I have whole-house surge protection). I wired the place specifically to support X10, and have signal boosting/bridging in place (which helps), but honestly, I wouldn't do X10 ever again.

Programming the X10 devices is a pain: you have to send arcane commands to set up scenes.

At my house, I have a couple Smarthome Insteon switches in my basement for my home theatre. Again, I really like the hardware, and in fact it's even nicer than the Smarthome X10 stuff.

With insteon, they tried to simplify programming. What they ended up doing is making the very basic options (linking a single light to a button) a bit easier -- you just have to hold one for a few seconds till it blinks, then hold the other, and they're linked -- while at the same time making anything mildly more complex incredibly difficult. There are dumb limitations, like it's not possible to have a scene where one light goes to 0% and others turn on/dim to 10% (think "movie time" scene).

I purchased a computer interface for it, which is really the only way to do anything beyond the simple button-press-linking, and the best software I found to program it was Insteon Explorer. I wasn't willing to spend $150 for the Smarthome software to program 3 devices, so I can't say if it's better or not. Every time one device controls another, there are two links - one on each side. This means if you ever replace a device, not only do you have to reprogram the new device, but you also have to reprogram everything it controlled or was controlled by. This would be a HUGE pain with a keypad (8 buttons + integrated dimmer).

One thing that was relatively easy is integrating to PC. I was not able to actually activate "scenes" (this again, was easy with X10, but is now apparently not possible with Insteon), so I have to go device-by-device. Since I only have two main lighting circuits, it's not a huge deal. I use a Smarthome PLM and plmtools, and then small shell scripts that invoke plmtools for my various scenes. I can invoke the shell scripts in several ways:

Using LIRC, from my Harmony remote. While watching Tv/movies, I have buttons that say "Bright", "Movie", etc.
Using the XML interface on my Aastra IP phone. I have buttons programmed with scene names
Using a small web site (running on a local server) I wrote using jQtouch, as well as a bookmark on my iPod touch, I can change scenes using my iPod. (also works on all smartphones/tablets).

I haven't tried the actual hardware yet, but the Simply Automated UBP stuff looks very appealing. They have the concept of a "base" switch, plus a faceplate - and there are face plates with various combinations of rockers/buttons.

The software looks amazing. You can basically set the entire system up completely offline, and then dump the programming to all devices. If I remember properly, switching a device was as easy as changing the address in the setup, then dumping programming again.

The individual options for what you could program was amazing: you could set up different physical buttons to be toggle, push buttons, rockers, single-button dimmers (hold to go up/down), one, two, or three-click buttons (different commands for each). You could then set commands to turn off, on, dim, activate a scene, etc. I think there were even timer buttons ("press the button, then 5 seconds later, turn off scene B").

I am considering a remodel of my kitchen, which would include some new lighting. I'm almost certain right now that I'll be using these switches to control the different lights (main, under cabinet, etc) from different entrances.

For lighting, I would go with one of the existing protocols/companies as mentioned above (there are many others as well, such as Zwave). You get a switch that is the dimmer circuitry, network interface, and human interface. You just won't be able to make something that quality yourself.

Using one of the existing home automation controllers is also not bad - it's like using a domain specific programming language. The common things to do in an automation system are timers, schedules, responding to events (motion sensor activated = turn on lights for x minutes, if it's currently dark outside but not past 12am). The commercial controllers let you set this up pretty easily. If you're doing it all yourself, you are more prone to bugs simply because you have to do more of the mundane stuff yourself, and you have more code.

I think there is a place for things like an Arduino though, for very specific, localized tasks, and have it integrate into the rest of your system if needed.

I'm of the mind I'd like to develop the UI for this myself (the existing systems are very expensive, and/or are not flexible enough so for example, I couldn't do the integration onto my Aastra phone with any off-the-shelf automation system), which means I need a way to control everything from a PC basically using the command-line (or some API). From there, I'd mix and match. Eg:

SimplyAutomated stuff for all my lighting control,
a standalone DSC alarm system that has a couple I/O interconnects to tell my computer its status, and let me arm/disarm
An ardino programmed to run my pool filter and lights based on a motion sensor to detect how much the pool has been used.
I can then have a web UI that I can access on a PC, wall-mount touch screen, or iPod/Pad/blackberry that interfaces to all this stuff.

I know my first inclination as a programmer is to have one master controller that runs everything, but from an industrial control perspective, this is actually opposite of what you want. Decentralized, specialized systems are more reliable, and you're less likely that a single failure is going to be catastrophic (eg, my ardino pool controller could blow up, and my lighting and security will continue to be just fine). The centralized bit brings the systems together and provides oversight/interaction.


Something is beeping in my house intermittently. It is not the smoke or carbon monoxide detectors! We are having a very infrequent beep occur in the house.  It lasts about one second and then stops for a long time, about once an hour or so.  I can't tell what direction it is coming from but we have checked all the smoke and carbon monoxide detectors.  We can hear it pretty clearly from the living room and dining room.

A once per hour beep sounds a lot like a low battery indicator -- what else do you have running on batteries around the house?

Some things to check:

Internet/Phone - specifically in my area, Verizon FIOS often has a battery backup so that phones don't go out when the power goes out in order to better simulate POTS Actually, in many recent FIOS installations they haven't bothered because people wouldn't bother to replace the batteries.
Burglar Alarm
UPS - Typically attached to a computer


Is this red oak or white oak hardwood flooring? I am planning to change a room that has laminate flooring to a room that has 3/4" hardwood flooring.  The rest of the adjacent rooms and hallways all have hardwood flooring 3/4".

Initially I planned to use prefinished hardwood but after contacting minwax, I decided against it as prefinished hardwood cannot have any polyurethane applied to it easily and is difficult to sand.  To get a closer match, I change my plan...

My plan is now to purchase unfinished wood flooring and then finish it myself in this room.  The hardest first step is determining if I have red oak or white oak flooring.  I think I have red oak as this was popular in the Long Island area long ago, but it's really hard to tell.

The next issue, is how to actually finish the wood to get this color match.

I planned to put the floor down and then finish with this polyurethane product for floors which has an amber tone, but I'm not sure if this produce a close enough orange-y effect.

Any advice would be much appreciated!

It's impossible to say for sure from your picture since it is already stained.  But generally speaking the approach to this is trial and error with scrap pieces. You'll want to make sure the piece of totally dry before comparing the colour and it can look quite a bit different when wet.

It's unlikely you will get an exact match even using the exact same product since wear and tear and UV take their toll on floors.  The only way to get an exact match across both floors is to refinish the old and new with the same product.


How can I prevent my house from smelling of smoke after having a fire in my fireplace? We have a wood-burning fireplace in our family room. Fifteen feet from the fireplace is a large cold air return. When the fireplace is stoked, nice and cozy, everything is fantastic. When I shut it down for the night, I close the flue, shut the glass doors, and go to bed. The problem...

Throughout the night the cold air return seems to be pulling the smell from the fireplace into the system, circulating it throughout our home. Getting rid of that smokey smell is tedious and makes burning the fireplace quite unappealing.

It's possible I have the problem wrong but I do recognize the symptoms. I would love to be using my fireplace but really don't want my house smelling of smoke all the time.

I would appreciate thoughts on how I might be able to resolve this issue. Would a fireplace insert help? How about blocking the cold air return (seems like a bad idea)? Should I leave the flue open?

When I light my fireplace I leave my flue open for the night.  The residual smoke from your fire is putting the smoke smell in the house when you close the flue


Non woven geotextile fabric for french drain clogging in heavy clay I did a lot of research on french drains before I hired a landscaper to put one in a month ago.  Followed advice of the French Drain Man and used 4oz non woven geo textile fabric.  I also had standing water in a low spot 15 ft away from french drain so I installed catch basin, shoveled a ditch, laid non perf corrugated pipe and laid it perpendicular to the ditch of the Fr drain burrito wrapping fabric thinking it would percolate thru the fabric and into the fr drain pipe. I left the intersection area open so I could look down and see if it was working. During Heavy rain last night I checked and found the both catch basin area and the intersection open hole flooded with water.  This morning I baled out the hole and found water is pooling/standing on top of the fabric and not moving thru it. Pricked fabric with T pin multiple times but the flow is very slow when I subsequently tested it.  Does heavy Kentucky clay when wet form a non permeable layer of mud on the fabric?  If so then the whole Fr drain is not working!  Not from KY so I am amazed at the type of clay here.  Bad stuff!. Originally installed Fr drain due to water in crawl space.  Some water did come in after this storm but it appears to be less than before.  Anyone ever see slow to no percolation in non woven geo tex fabric in heavy clay?  Also need advice on what to do. Additional info: Drain installation: ditch lined with fabric all sides and bottom, laid in perf corrugated pipe, filled ditch with #57 rock up to 8 inches below ground level, burrito wrapped fabric over the top of rock/pipe and covered with fresh topsoil.

You want water away from your basement wall and your solution, which often works, is indirect, you're attempting to drain all the water away, rather than the water you care about.

A solution is to keep the water away from the exterior of the basement wall using a waterproof coating on the exterior of the wall, and then a drainage board over the coating. Then, set up your foundation drain to drain the water AFTER it gets through the filter covering which is outside the drainage board. This eliminates the clogging issue. If the filter clogs, you're happy because the water isn't getting to the basement wall.

For the other issue, treat it separately by continuing the non-perf pile the entire distance.


Sizing I-beams for two Floors to replace LVLs I had an engineer size some LVLs to help support an existing(sagging) floor.
See image for majority of info needed.
The Blue beam is (3) 14" LVLs laminated [192" (16' 0") Long] and the Red beam is (4) 14" LVLs laminated [234" (19' 6") Long]. The Blue beam is supporting the uniform load of 15,200 lbs. The Red beam is supporting half of that as a center point load. (7600 lbs)
I am searching for what size I-Beam (W-beam) would be required to substitute for the LVLs.
The beams are supported where the Green squares are.
Looking for at least L/360 deflection or better if possible. Headspace is the issue so would prefer beam height to be smaller.

Notes:

I am not a licensed architect or engineer.   I do however produce plans that I get a stamp on or have the local inspector agree to.
I usually would not give someone advice on load beams that are not uniform - you are spanning two different load configurations here and doing a bit of stacking.
Since you already have LVLs and the description of your issue I am assuming that the load calculations are right, footers are suitable and working, and the support beams are sufficient.

I use https://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/ for a lot of information - I actually found the site from an architect that I use.   The chart below is from their site.   I ALWAYS add an extra 25% of allowance to anything I size myself.  You should be using this as a reference and work with someone that can look at the full layout of your building.