Sprinkler Controller Wiring (Power) I bought a new Rachio 2 controller and the power has black, white, and ground wires but there are only black and ground coming from my electrical box. My old controller (Irritrol) had the black and white together. If I do that again, put the  2 blacks and white together, will that be ok?

The existing wiring has the wrong color for neutral, which should be white, not green. Check it out at the upstream junction box. I recommend running a dedicated white neutral wire too.

Once you’ve done that, connect color-to-color: black for hot, white for neutral, green for safety ground.

If you’re unsure about this, consider hiring an electrician.

EDIT: should be migrated to DIY.


Smart Switch for pool light I had a led pool light that switches colors when you press the light switch in the house on/off. On the back of the switch I only have a black, white, and ground wire with no load wire. Can I use a "smart switch" with this?

The system I'm using is a Wink hub.

What you have is a plain switch, a dumb 12VAC transformer for the pool lights (finally, someone who takes pool safety seriously, yay!) and several "smart" LED lights with a trick.  They can change colors if power is interrupted for a moment.  And they can all do this in sync, which is usually the hard part.

You are now implementing a "connected home" platform, and you'd like to control these LEDs.  You're looking for some sort of glue/middleware device that will let Wink address the LEDs and change their colors.  Nope.

Not supported

You can put a smart-switch on their supply, sure.  You can have the Wink switch them on and off, sure.  Wink might even be able to turn them on and off quickly, as needed to switch their colors.  But Wink won't understand what it's doing or why it's doing it.

There won't be a way to tell Wink "make the pool orange" and have it tip-tap out the command to make those lights orange.  There may, but it would involve some special software coding; the question is whether Wink gives you the platform/language to do that.  Such a command series would not remember where the lamps are now, and certainly can't see them, so it would have to start the sequence from a cold reset-to-white, so it would take 10-15 seconds to reach any particular color.  On the other hand, Christmas light controllers do that kind of thing for breakfast, so maybe.

This is a hard problem, and it is unsupported: there's nobody to call for support to make this work, as you are discovering.

Though, given the cost of these things, it might be worth contacting the factory.  You can bet this has come up before.  They might even have a solution, or be motivated to develop one.  Their customer base are exactly the sort to do smart-home tech.

Or start over

One could go with LED lights designed to work with Wink -- or alternately, a controller designed to work with Wink.  I don't think you care if they're individually addressible, so that's a plus.  The big minus would be if this forces you to 120V lights - because you are quite correct to keep 120V away from your pool.  Electricity is much more lethal in water, because you can't pull your hand away, and it only needs to stun you to drown you.

The good news is if you can get a Lutron dimmer that plays with Wink, maybe you can find an RGB controller that works with Wink too.  I have started to see them from name-brand companies, so hopefully.  Those controllers are designed for LED strips, input 12 volts DC, and output 3 channels (4 wires, R G B and common) which go direct to simple LEDs. That would require you to run 4-wire cable down to each of your pool light locations (I sure hope they're in conduit).  And thermostat cable would suffice since you're at 12V.


What is the name of a liquid coupler between a wet/dry vac and a hose? The contraption you see below closes a wet/dry vac's liquid exit. I'd like to replace it with "something" that connects to a water hose.

What would that "something" be called?

I would attach a valve to the other end of the water hose. If such a thing (hose + valve + thing) is readily available, it would be even better.

I can go to my hardware store and ask them, but I know from experience that they'll make me walk back and forth between gardening and plumbing until I can just identify what I'm looking for. Hence I'd much rather ask here, and perhaps just order online.

Update

With the keywords "drain hose adapter" I have now identified what would be ideal.

I'm looking for something exactly like this

but without the pump. Do they make it or do I have to DIY?

Just look for a Drain Adapter Kit for Garden Hoses. It may vary by brand.


Ice maker to sump pump has water run back into it, any ideas for a fix? My ice maker has a gravity drain that it says to connect to the sink drain. All works well except if I run the faucet for a while eventually water will back up into the ice maker. I believe the issue is that the drain connects to a pump that pumps the water up into my sewage line, and my guess is when the pump kicks on it may back up the water in the pipe...but I am not sure if that's actually the issue or not. Picture of the setup attached, the grey line is what connects to the ice maker, the pipe closest to the wall goes up to a studor vent. Any ideas for changes I can make to stop this from happening? Is there a one way valve I can get for this or a different position for the grey line that would help?
Also side note, I plan to add a garbage disposal to the sink, is that a bad idea with the pump?
Thanks!!

It appears to me that your problem is that the ice maker drain is BELOW the trap.  So anytime there is water at that level, gravity will draw it into your ice maker drain.
I think you'd be better off locating the in the vertical section of sink drain ABOVE the trap.


How do I handle a piece of wax from a toilet ring falling into the drain? When removing my toilet, a piece of wax approximately the size of a golf ball fell into the drain.  I can't reach it with my arm.  What would be the best way to address this?  I imagine this could lead to serious blockage.

Assuming anything like a normal, to code, plumbing install:
Unlikely to be a problem.
Per (IBC) code:
Toilets are installed on a 3" pipe, minimum.
Drain pipe sizes stay the same or get larger in the direction of flow - never smaller.
A golf-ball sized hunk of wax is much smaller than 3" - otherwise it couldn't have fallen in the pipe. Therefore, it should flow downstream until it annoys your septic system (where it should just float into the scum layer until your pump truck comes) or sewage plant operator (who have seen worse things floating.)


What could cause my electric water heater to over heat water? About a year ago our 15 year old electric water heater heated the water nearly to the boiling point until the breaker on the tank shut off the power.  When I reset the breaker the temperature went back to normal.  However, the tank has periodically had the the problem until recently when the temperature would no longer go back to normal.  We replaced both thermostats but the problem has not been fixed.  Is there another part that might be causing the problem?

15 years old, "heated the water nearly to the boiling point", and breaker tripping would tend to point to the bottom heating element in the tank becoming buried in sediment.  Higher water temperatures accelerate sediment formation, and after all of the available surfaces become scaled with deposits, it is free to settle to the bottom of the tank.  When it buries the bottom element, it impacts the heat transfer ability of the heating element (which means lower output temperatures and overloading on the circuit breaker).

The first thing that I would do would be to drain the tank and de-scale it according to the manufacturer's instructions. If you have particularly hard water in your area, this should be done at least every couple of years.


Cutting notch out of tile- least wasteful/ fastest option I have a piece of 12 inch square porcelain tile that I need to cut notch out of one side to fit around doorway. Notch is about 1/3 way down one side and is 4 inches wide by 2 inch deep towards center of tile. I've read where you can use oscillating tool,snap cutter, angle grinder, tile cutter, or tile saw. However, they all seem to have disadvantages- oscillating tool( very,very slow) snap cutter ( chance of breaking tile), angle grinder (very dusty),  tile cutter (hard to make this type cut), and tile saw( cost). Is tile saw really best option?

How are you cutting all the other tiles? If I'm picturing this correctly you can't use a snap cutter for that type of cut.  If you going to purchase something for one cut I would get a handheld 4" tile saw ($50 - $80). Because the blade is 4" you can carefully do the 4" wide cut without going too wide. You can also use water with it to cut down on the dust, trying to keep it wet may require a helper though. Another option is to have the home improvement store do the two straight cuts and then make the 4" cut with a dremel tool with a diamond blade, that will go rather slow but you can get a cheap one with blades for less than $20.


How do I cut a new crawlspace access in a brick foundation? When my house was built, the crawlspace access was put on the high side of the property, which I'm sure gave the subcontractors the easiest access for HVAC, wiring, etc.  But there is very little useful storage space.  At the low end of the house, I can almost stand up straight in the crawlspace, but there is not access.  I would love to be able to use all that space, but I can't get to it on a day to day basis.  So I would like to have a new crawlspace access door installed on that end of the house.

Tips? Warnings?

The foundation is brick.  I don't need a full door necessarily.  I am open to any advice.

I think this deserves to have an engineer take a look and give you an opinion. Removing a large portion of the foundation is not something you want to mess with without a plan. Plus if you're going to bother to do it, you might as well make it a real door so that you can actually get boxes in there or something.

As an alternative idea, it might be easier to put a trap door in your floor somewhere above the crawlspace at a convenient location. Obviously this has its own structural considerations, but it might be easier and would let you avoid messing with the foundation.


Bleed radiators with no valve - is this valve near the boiler what I want? I recently bought a house, and with the winter starting to set in (UK), have started putting the heating on in the mornings/ evenings.
As many people are at the moment, I am currently working from home - and have noticed that the radiator in my office doesn't work particularly well. It seems to get hot at the bottom, and in the pipe feeding it, but the middle to top of it remain cold. I assume that this means that there is air trapped in the system, and that it needs bleeding.
However, there doesn't appear to be a bleeding valve on the radiator, and having looked at the other radiators in the house, none of them appear to have any (though the other radiators all seem to work fine) - the house is an ex council-house (built in the 1970s):

I came across this question about how to bleed radiators which don't have a valve, and an answer on there suggests that "There is often an automatic bleeder/vent on or just after (in which case it's often on a big cast iron "air separator" that may have an expansion tank hung off its bottom) the boiler".
I had a look for this, but all I could see in the airing cupboard which looks like it might be the valve talked about, was this:

I'm a bit loathe to try loosening it until I'm sure it's what I want to be doing... Can anyone verify whether this is the bleeder referred to in the answer on the other question?

The object you found in the airing cupboard looks like a gate valve, not an automatic air vent or air separator.  This valve might be for balancing the heat flow or shutting off a supply. I would leave it alone.
Check the back face of your radiators for a bleed valve. Sometimes they are out of sight or even under a cover facing the wall. It will be close to the top of the panel at one of the ends. If the radiator was mounted upside down then it might even be at the bottom and now useless.
Check the painted end of the cap at the top right side of the radiator, in case the bleed valve is hidden under several layers of paint.
If you really have no bleed valves then your best course of action depends on your plumbing skills. Your safest bet might be to ask for help from a plumber. I wouldn’t take any risks at this time of year. Little plumbing jobs can easily become a major problem if something unexpected happens.
Options are:

Temporarily turn up the speed of the pump. It might increase the flow    enough to push some of the air out of the radiator and back into the return pipe. This could move the problem elsewhere, or the air might find its way out of a vent. Remember to switch the pump back afterwards.
It might be possible to vent the air through one of the caps at the top of the radiator by temporarily loosening it little. Be prepared for it not sealing up again afterwards and leaving a leak.
It might be possible to change one of those top coupler caps on the radiator for a screw in bleed valve. This would require isolation of the radiator or even a full system drain down.
Replace the radiator.

If you do get any air out and you have a sealed system then it will need repressurising when cold back to its design pressure.


Moving from R22 to R410a Outside Unit    Carrier Central Air Conditioner Model 38CKC042-340
Inside Unit     Carrier Furnace  M/N : 58STA090-10116

I am very newb, i have no idea if there are other parts involved besides the above mentioned. So please let me know if i need to check for other parts

My Outside Unit is old and i have cooling issues, possibly even freon leak and this unit is just old

So if i want to go from R22 to R410A do i need to change my inside Unix Carrier Furnace as well?
If my furnace can stay the same, Can you suggest compatible Air Conditioners that would work with my Inside Furnace? I am just looking high level guidelines so that i can start researching on cost etc?
Are evaporator coils part of the Furnace?
Or it would be cheaper to just change the whole thing inside/outside? Does that involve just changing these two or all pipes etc between my inside outside unit would have to be changed?

Regards

Since you're changing refrigerants, it's recommended to replace the condensing unit (outdoor unit), all the copper refrigerant lines, as well as the evaporator coil (inside the furnace).

It's possible to keep the copper refrigerant lines, though it will require a bunch of extra work. And even still, not replacing the lines can reduce the life of the new unit.

Depending on the new evaporator coil, it may be able to be fit on the existing furnace.  However, if the furnace is old and inefficient, it's a good time to consider upgrading to an efficient unit. The evaporator is not part of the furnace, though it's typically connected to it. So it is possible to change the evaporator, without replacing the furnace.


How can I remove the cylinder from a Bernzomatic QuickFire propane torch? This torch was discontinued by the manufacturer and the division that made it is no longer a part of the company, so current tech support has no knowledge of it. It takes a proprietary propane cylinder about the size of a coffee mug, which twists up into the base.  I cannot remove the cylinder after turning it CCW and pulling fairly hard on it.  Anyone know how to get it out?

This torch was discontinued, and finding replacement cylinders will be a chore. I read that the company did have an exchange program at one time, but that was several years ago so that may no longer be an option. You could try calling the Bernzomatic customer service line to see if they still will allow you to return it for credit towards a replacement torch.

The canister may be seized onto the torch, and I would not try to use force to remove it. The contents are under pressure, and may cause an explosion if excessive force is applied. My advice would be to light it and burn off all of the gas in the cylinder, and then safely dispose of it. They sell other torches just like this that accept full size cylinders that have all of the same features. I have had mine for many years and never had any issues.


Is a 100 amp transfer switch adequate for a 15KW generator? I want to add a 15KW standby generator to my 200 amp house The generator came with a 100amp transfer switch. Is this arrangement ok or should I get a 200 a transfer switch?

Installing a 200A transfer switch will do you no good unless you're planning on buying a 48KW generator soon. Your transfer switch is suitable.  Your generator cannot produce 100A so you need to be watchful of what loads you switch on, careful that neither phase exceeds 62.5A and that the two phases are in balance within the limits in your generator documentation.   If you don't do that your generator can brown out or stall.
If you use the 100A transfer switch with 100A breakers you need to use a feed wire suitable for 100A between the generator, switch, and panel.   You could use the 100A transfer switch with 60A breakers, then you can use lighter feed wiring and you'll pop the breakers before browning out.  Even then you have to watch the balance of the phases.


What is the difference between EU and US radiators? I have a single-zone hot water radiator system and I was looking to balance out differences in room temperatures without going so far as to install another zone at the boiler. While there are thermostatic radiator valves I could install to give a bit of control over individual radiators, I was looking at a more "intelligent" solution like the Honeywell Evohome, a Netatmo Valve, a Micropelt or a Tado. But none of the products seem to be available in the US, which suggests that there is a fundamental difference between US and EU hot water radiator systems, though I cannot find anything concrete.

Is there a difference between radiator systems other than connectors? Or could I theoretically import and install the devices (assuming no FCC issues)?

Honeywell does not provide a ton of info, but from the installation manual it would appear that evoHome is assuming each room has its own feed and return pipe, and in addition has its own local valve.  You're unlikely to find such a system in the USA -- and in fact I'm kind of amazed that UK homes commonly have such a layout.  USA systems typically have one to 3 or 4 zones in the house, and all zone valves are near the boiler.  A given zone will heat a few rooms with a single pipe loop, so you can't control on a by-room basis.

My impression is that this system is much more useful in a multi-office business space, as it allows centralized control of the existing valves in each office space.


How do I determine when to replace a carbon block water filter? My refrigerator has a carbon block water filter. I'm wondering when the proper time to replace it is, and don't want to replace it too soon.

Is using the pressure drop/flow rate a good method of knowing when to replace it, or should I go by the "months/gallons" rating, even though my city water might be cleaner than the water they used for the lifetime testing, so it wouldn't need replacement yet? Or will bacteria grow in the old filter, so I really should replace it every six months regardless of use?

What's the failure mechanism of the filters? Will they start to pass what they are supposed to block, or does their pressure drop increase while their filtering ability remains nearly constant?

I find with mine that I notice slower flow and reduced pressure which is usually when I change it. Typically this is in the 6-8 month range, but as you mentioned it really depends on your water quality.

I don't believe bacteria growth is an issue but overtime the filtering ability will diminish along with the pressure and flow.

I think ultimately it is just easiest to replace on a fixed schedule. In the grand scheme of costs, if you change it 1 month earlier then you should, over the lifespan of your fridge you are probably only changing it a handful of extra times.

If your fridge has a built-in ice maker then the reduced pressure might be more of an issue - if you notice small ice cubes then this could be a sign its time to replace the filter.


Why does my Paloma tankless water heater turn off randomly without errors? We have a Paloma Tankless water heater, model: PTG-74PVN that shuts down when in use for a few minutes. There is no code displayed on the screen, it just powers down. This started happening a few weeks ago after 5 or 10 minutes, but now it happens after around 1 or 2 minutes, making for some brisk showers. In the past when we've had issues, there's always been an error code displayed that has helped when troubleshooting.

Does anyone know what might be causing this?

After calling Paloma, they suggested disconnecting the thermostat. I noticed that the filter was dirty and cleaned it as well. So far it seems to be working again. If I don't have problems in a week, I'll try reconnecting the thermostat and see if the problem was just the dirty filter.


Bathroom electric issue Good afternoon,
First time here so I sincerely appreciate any help..
House background, built in 1907. Only electrical ever permitted was in late 70s. All else added etc done by previous owner was all done without permits. Mainly an illegal 45 foot trailer he had in backyard. I've cleaned some up but this is above me as I'm still learning electrical and while I'm getting there, and since affording an electrician is out, I bend to you...
Ok, by the pics, the double switch is what I want in the box with the gfi outlet. Gfi is as you see wired separate. The regular wall switch you see is outside the bathroom on my outside wall. Basically a 3 foot run. No idea what that outlet is fed off of but do know it in fact supplies the bathroom lighting. Originally, (I should have photographed) there was a single pole switch there beside the gfi outlet. If you can see the wiring ok, the hot from that outlet in the hallway was middle stripped and wrapped around the top common screw then either run directly to other common terminal and other wires nutted together or it was nutted with one light and other light was run into other common screw. Whew,
My goal is to have this double switch control 2 lights. One on wall (loose wires) and one to new fan light combo which I've already installed and wired to switch on together. When I hooked this all up first time, the top switch turns fan on, the other switch simply turned off that hall outlet. Power to the wires for light above mirror but not sure if its right till my light is delivered. But seems to have constant power regardless. What are my options here?
Thanks again [
[![hallway outlet

You have hot and switched mixed up (or hot feed and hot out) if you have constant power where you want switched, and switching the switch turns off the outlet in the hallway.
i.e. you THINK the outlet in the hallway powers the lights, when it appears that the lights power the outlet in the hallway. So the lights come first, then the hot (used to) run on to the hallway, and now the wire to the hallway is passing through a switch, so the hallway is switched, and the thing you want switched has constant power.


white termites - 2 orange oil treatments, building won't fumigate I live in a condo in LA (3rd floor) and am seemingly the only resident with termite problems. Last summer (2020), I had 3 separate areas infested with winged drywood termites - the ones with a reddish head, black body, and wings (through a mud hole in master bedroom closet wood frame, coming out of living room wall by baseboard, flying into kitchen window), which eventually went away after an orange oil treatment. The area I am writing about is in one of my Office closets where little white ants (I'm assuming they're drywood termites nymphs as the other termites were drywood termites) keep appearing around and coming out of the floorboards of that area (see photo - the pink slips are post-its where I number each body as I was losing track of which bodies were new/old). They're about the size of 1-2 cm and almost look like lint sometimes.

I've spoken with my HOA numerous times and they put up flyers asking if other residents are having termite issues. The HOA told me that only one other unit said they had termite issues in the past, but it didn't sound recent. I also personally asked my neighbor above, below, and across from me and they said they didn't see any. The HOA won't fumigate the building as they said it's difficult to get all homeowners to agree to it and it's expensive. They helped to schedule the termite company to come and do a spot treatment (orange oil) and since the HOA CC&R documents don't have any explicit rules around pest control, they split the cost with me. In total, I've now had 2 orange oil treatments for this area and last time the termite guy also applied Cy-Kick as well. It is now January 2021 and I am still seeing new termites appear (1-3 per day) but they die on their own. Over the course of 2 months, around 35 termites have appeared. I do not see any frass (termite poop), there are no mud tunnels that I can see, nor does this area seem weak.
I have a 1 year warranty with the termite company who applied the 2 orange oil treatments and asked him what I can do. He said it's difficult because he does not know where the source is, but said he could apply "foam" this time.
I'm having another termite company come this weekend for another opinion. Oddly enough, I reached out to a 3rd termite company and sent them photos and they said that these were NOT termites. What the heck are they then?? If I can't fumigate, what are my options? I don't want to get lawyers involved. I just don't want to have these bugs anymore!

What the heck are they...?

Those look very much like Western Drywood Termites

If I can't fumigate, what are my options?

Spot treatments do work, and there are several types of spot treatment (local poisoning, freezing, electrocution...). Effectiveness is variable and depends on ability to locate the termite galleries and nest. If it were me I would start my own search for "kick-out" holes (the little holes that are used for termites to eject frass from their galleries) and use consumer termite poison liberally to start killing them off. probing with a thin awl can help you find galleries.
Fumigation (or other "whole house" treatment; there is a method to heat up the structure and "cook" them, also) is truly the only way to ensure that all have been killed.


Is it OK to use an oversized swamp/evaporative cooler? Are there any disadvantages to getting, say, a swamp cooler that is twice the CFM you "officially should need."?

Sometimes when I buy them used I can't line up the sizes quite right.

I personally think that it's best to buy a cooler that's a little above the rated CFM you actually need -- this will help ensure it actually cools your house to a comfortable level.

Where I live in Albuquerque, NM, I often find myself in people's houses where the performance of the evaporative cooler is quite inadequate.  It's better than nothing, but not enough airflow to really be comfortable.  Having a cooler that's a bit over spec will help to prevent this problem, especially as the system gets older and performance may deteriorate.

This often causes people to want to switch to refrigerated air, which I think is sad, because it uses SO much more energy, and an adequately-sized and well-performing evaporative cooler can do the job well for a fraction of the energy use.

That said, having one twice spec is a lot.  I think you would be alright, though, as long as you keep in mind that you may have to increase the amount of window (or other) opening to accommodate the higher flow (and your ductwork is up to it).

From http://energy.gov/energysaver/evaporative-coolers:

  Open the windows or vents on the leeward side of the house to provide 1 to 2 square feet of opening for each 1,000 cfm of cooling capacity. Experiment to find the right windows to open and the correct amount to open them. If the windows are open too far, hot air will enter. If the windows are not open far enough, humidity will build up in the home.

Also keep in mind you could always put in a smaller (lower horsepower-rated) motor in order to lower the effective CFM.


The main water valve won't open fully after I closed it. How do I shut off the water to replace it? Basically the title says it all.

I turned the water for the house off to replace some leaking washing machine shutoff valves, and install stop-cock valves for a laundry sink. When I tried to turn the water back on, it came on a little bit, but now the valve-handle just spins without affecting the flow.

The main shut-off valve for the house is an old gate-valve, which I gather from reading here fail on a fairly regular basis (I'm going to stick a ball-valve in as a replacement).

I can replace the valve easily enough, but how do I go about turning off the water, since I need to replace the valve that I would normally use to shutoff the water to replace a valve.

Is there normally a second cutoff valve in with the water meter, or am I stuck having to call the water utility company?

This is at my parents house, which is ~1 hour drive away. I would just go digging around in the water-meter enclosure otherwise.

FWIW, this is in California, USA

Call the local water municipality, they will be able to shut the water off either at the meter or before it. This is something that should not be done by a homeowner.

While you may find that you can access the main supply shut off you should not use it, as you could end up being fined by the city/town/county.  Also if you damage the shutoff or city/town/county water line, you could find yourself having to pay for the repair.


Is it a problem that I see daylight through my shed's soffit? First and foremost - please excuse my ignorance and improper use of terminology.

I have a free standing garage with a mono-pitched / shed style roof:

The garage is unfinished inside and I noticed that during the day there is daylight shining through all along the eave / soffit portion (I think that's what it's called. Basically where the high wall meets the top of the roof). I have also noticed a little bit of water damage on the high wall (which may be just do to the older roof) and a lot of / squirrel droppings.

From inside:

From outside:

-Are these gaps normal?

-Should they be sealed up?

-If so - how do I go about doing this? Expanding foam seems like it would make a mess as it expands to the outside.

-I do plan on finishing the inside of the garage at some point - so while I'm up there, would I need to install vents in the soffit?

My shed has (better-sheltered) gaps.  I believe my shed's gaps are on purpose, to enable air circulation.  This prevents mold and mildew problems in the unheated space.

I am surprised that your shed has fiberglass insulation in the walls, but not in the ceiling.  With no heat, and so many thermal bridges and air gaps, I would be surprised if the insulation noticeably affects the temperature inside the shed.


Is a backing stud on the lock side of a door against an intersecting wall necessary? I'm looking at adding a hollow-core door across a finished hallway. On one side of the hall, there's already a stud inside the wall where I intend to install the door. This would be the hinge side of the door. The other side of the hall does not have a stud that aligns with the lock-side of the door. It does, however, have 2 layers of 3/4 inch drywall.
Can I build a rough opening for the door on the outside of the hallway wall even though there is no stud on the lock-side of the door? If I use toggle bolts to secure a stud to the surface of the drywall, would this be adequate for the framing of this door?

Even with a light weight hollow core door, there should be framing or something to keep the strike side stable while the door is closing against the jamb. Otherwise the slight vibration by using the door may cause the inside corners to crack. What I do is cut out a section of drywall from behind the area that is covered by the new wall. If the new drywall added to the new wall will have the inside corners taped and finished, it give a lot more room to work with, since the wall is getting mudded anyway.
The cutout section would be in the middle of the height of the wall, a slot cut out about 2' tall and in you case about 4" to 5" wide if you are finishing the corners. With the cutout made, insert 2 pieces of 3/4" plywood approx. 6 or 7" wide by slightly shorter than the height of your cutout. With the cutout in the middle of the wall, slip the first piece plywood in the hole so the bottom is in the middle of the hole, centered left to right over the cutout. Using screws that are long enough, secure the first piece in place through the drywall above the cutout, using a screw set into the face of the plywood to serve as a handle to hold the plywood firmly while the first few screws are set. The second piece of plywood will be set in the same way below the first one you set. By the way, you may need to set the 2nd piece in the hole first since the hole may be too small to go in after you set the first piece.
After the plywood is secure, you can reset the original drywall back in the hole and secure it place with a screw or 2 to act as filler since the long screws that will hold the studs in place will sandwich it all together anyway.
TIP:
When cutting drywall, only cut as deep as needed to make the cut all the way through. There is no way to know where wire or pipes that may be in the way of your cut path.
You may make a small "inspection hole" about 6" tall to get a literal feel what is inside the wall before cutting any farther.


Using an induction hob through a wooden surface I'm going to be getting a couple of induction hobs, but I am wanting them mounted underneath a thin (approx 5mm) piece of wood. Is this possible from the safety point of view and would I have a major worry about efficiency?

Induction hobs work by creating a magnetic field which causes electrical currents in the base of the pot or pan.  These currents heat the pan through normal electrical resistance.  The further away the pot is from the hob, the weaker the magnetic field, so you're going to lose a lot of efficiency right there.

From a safety point of view, there are several oils that have smoke points over 400 °F so if you ever fry your food, you'll probably start to see the wood charring.

Finally, how are you going to keep the wood clean? Any spills are just going to soak right into it.


How do I adjust a door so it doesn't swing on its own? I have a normal door, and left to its own devices it will simply rest about 20-30 degrees. It won't swing shut on its own, nor stay open on its own. It hangs a bit in the middle. Convenient enough to catch you elbow when you're not looking.

I'd like the door to stay put wherever we leave it.

I've heard idea such as slipping cardboard in to the hinge to rebalance the door, etc. but no guidelines as to the thickness of that cardboard, or which hinge to change to move it in which direction.

I would hope you can appreciate how I'd rather not make this a task of trial and error and continually removing the hinge and putting it back on, etc.

I've also heard something about lightly bending one of the hinge pins, but not sure how I should go about that, or "how much" to bend it.

So, I'm looking for some tips on how to fix this (and other) door.

Sound as if the door only moderately moves, I typically remove either the top or bottom pin, place it on a flat hard surface, like concrete, whack it with a hammer once or twice, reinsert and door no longer moves.

Easier than rehanging a door, for sure.


How does a water pump know when it needs to turn on? I live in an area where the water pressure is pretty low, and when moving into my house noticed that there was a pump installed to assist the shower in pumping out water - when I turn my shower on, the pump turns on with it. Just purely out of interest - could somebody explain how a pump knows to turn on - in other words, what's its trigger?

"what's its trigger" it depends on the pump. It can start when it detects a change in pressure when you turn on a faucet or flush the toilet, a sensor will detect this drop in pressure. (look up the Bernoulli's principle) It can also start when it detects water flow. In this case, it is usually not a sensor but a vane that moves from the flowing water.


Baseboard was not removed when new drywall installed. How to fix The drywall in my living room only goes up to the baseboard and is extremely uneven. It is cracking at the point of the baseboards. Can I remove the baseboards and patch in new drywall some how? Any suggestions?

An alternative that may work for you, depending on the type and height of the existing baseboard, is to replace it with a taller one. Probably need a couple inches above the existing height to make it cover the bottom of the drywall, especially where it has started cracking. If your existing baseboard is 2" - 3" tall then remove it and install ~ 4" - 5" to replace it. If your existing baseboard is already > 4" tall then this may not work so well. Cutting and painting baseboards is a lot of work - but a lot less than patching and painting all that drywall.

If you are going to stain the new baseboards, definitely do that before installation. If you are going to paint them (typically either a gloss or semi-gloss variety of the same color as on the walls or sometimes either plain white or a contrasting color - totally subjective), you can paint them before installation (measure, cut, paint, install) and then touch-up after installation, or you can paint after installation.


Wire termination under cabinet When I moved into my home, there was an ancient under-cabinet fluorescent light fixture over the kitchen sink, which I promptly removed. The fixture was just mounted to the cabinet, no electrical box, as you can see in the photo. (Based on what I've seen elsewhere in the house, I assume there is armored cable on the other side of that hole.)
I'd like to install new LED under-cabinet lights using this circuit. Given proximity to the sink, do I need to install a GFCI outlet here, and plug in to that, or is there safe, code-friendly way to hard-wire the new fixture using only an under-cabinet junction box and raceway conduit?

Led lighting typically requires a transformer or power supply.  The power supply is plugged in or hardwired somewhere that is hidden like under the sink or on top of the cabinets.  Low voltage wire 18/2 is then typically run from this location to each location that requires led lighting.
You could use your armored cable to carry low voltage if you know where the cable ends and can disconnect it from the actual junction box.  At that junction box you could then hookup the power supply and splice the low voltage output onto the armored cable to supply the led fixture under the cabinet.
I don't think there are any gfci requirements for low voltage lighting in proximity of a sink.


Why do my outlets show 80 volts? The six outlets in a bedroom suddenly show a voltage of 80 and lights do not work. Everything was functional before. The breaker does not show anything unusual.
Last month we rewired a bathroom which is functional and does not show any issues. When breaker switch for bathroom were turned off the bedroom lights were not affected. I assume this means they are not on the same circuit.
A plug tester was used to check the outlets in the bedroom. It first read "hot ground reverse", but then after I unplugged all lights and items it reads "no neutral".
What should I look for to find the cause of problem?
Edit/Conclusion, opened all receptacles. In one of them the neutral wire just  fell out. Given that these are 12 gauge wires it was strange to see them loose. They were all back-stabbed. Perhaps that makes for loose connection if wire is not pressed in far enough. Had seen another one in another room that was broken at the tie-in screw. Again strange to see such a hard wire break.

In general true low voltage readings indicate a loose connection in the circuit somewhere. Identify the circuit by turning the breaker off and now find all of the devices and lights that are off or reading 0 volts. Then turn the circuit breaker back on and trace the circuit. If you can find where the devices and fixtures are reading 120V nominal and the next device or fixture is reading 80V. There is a good chance you have found the area of the problem.
Check all splices and connections to see if there is a loose wire. Look for decolorization of the conductor or burnt insulation since loose fittings create heat. I think it would be good advice to check the entire circuit to make sure the problem does not reoccur. If you find more questionable connections. You should schedule to go through all of the circuits and check for the same problem.
Hint: If you check the the conductors at the problem with the voltmeter. Check voltage across each conductors. If you read 80V between the hot and neutral, and read 120V between the hot and ground. You have a malfunctioning neutral. If you read 80V between hot and both the neutral and ground your problem is with the hot conductor.
Safety note: As I stated above loose or malfunctioning connections create heat and do not trip the breaker so there is a chance if a fire hazard. Needless to say it is a dangerous situation and must be found and repaired. If you are having trouble finding the problem. It might be a good idea to call in an experienced service technician and let them deal with it.
Good luck and stay safe.


How to remove screw anchors from wall? What is a recommended way to go about removing screw anchors from a wall, after they've been there for "quite some time". I tried simply pulling them out with pliers, sometimes that works but more often (since they've been there a long time) I just tear them apart with the remainer in the wall. I tried drilling through them, but that still seems like overkill, and often leaves even more damage in the wall.

What are your experiences and recommendations?

Screw anchor

If the wall is standard drywall, I would use a punch, wooden dowel or something similar and push them in. By design they are resistant to pulling out with out some wall damage. They just need to be slightly below the surface. Repairing the holes will depend on the wall finish. If it is painted then spackle as @Craig suggested, and repaint. If it has wallpaper with and intricate pattern you can try to use small pieces (providing you have some extra) cut with a paper hole puncher and glued in place.


Possible to repair this retaining wall? My wife and I are replacing the deck at the back of our house, and after we demolished the existing structure found the retaining walls near our basement door have moved significantly. These are rendered cinder block, about 6' in height and 7' (left) and 9' (right) in length.

It appears as if the previous owners failed to maintain the surface, and water got in... Over several winters the freeze/thaw cycle has caused a heave.

So... Any advice? We will obviously seal the surface where the cracks are, but are there any techniques to repair this heave without replacing the walls?

Left wall:

Right Wall:

You will need to either replace the wall or build another new wall behind the original, thus rendering the old wall obsolete. Also there is a lot more to it than that, but this is the simplest way to answer it.


How can I boost the water pressure in my shower? How can I boost the water pressure in my shower? I found a few shower heads online that say they can boost water pressure.  Is this possible?

You should check to see what the water pressure is coming from the water main. A screw-on water pressure gauge can be connected to your garden hose connection to find out what it is. Ideally you would want to see a water pressure between 60 and 80 psi.

If your pressure is significantly lower than 50 psi from the main, then you will have issues with having enough pressure for most shower heads. If you have city water, you may have a water pressure reducing valve. These are typically installed near the water meter. If your house is equipped with one, take a measurement of the water pressure, and then incrementally tighten the screw and take measurements. If the pressure is too high, you can loosen the screw. You want to avoid water pressure over 100 psi. When the pressure is too high, it can cause damage to your plumbing system.

If you have a pressure issue at the main, this may fix your shower issues. If the main is not the problem, or you find the pressure is still too low, then the problem is somewhere in your plumbing system. If the pressure is good in the tub and sink in your bathroom, then the shower head itself might be the culprit. Unscrew the shower head itself and see if the pressure is good coming out of the wall. If that is good, then the shower head is clogged up and should be cleaned out or replaced. Certain shower heads contain a water saving feature that basically causes less volume of water to come out. They work fine in areas that have excellent water pressure such as cities, but not so much when you are running off of a well. In some cases the water saver part is removable. If it can be removed, then this may also fix the problem. Shower heads are pretty easy to replace. There are ones on the market which are specifically designed for low water pressure. Using one of those may help the problem, but if the water pressure is terrible, you may need to have a plumber inspect your entire system to find out where the problem is.


Is it OK to build a deck with OSB? I have left over 2x4s and OSB from a project a few months back (lean-to shed). It is just enough to make a 12'x8' deck, and I was wondering if this would be "OK" to use for decking? The main purpose is for a deck for my tent at my Colorado property I just recently bought.

Sound structure doesn't really matter to me so much as a level, off-the-ground place for my tent.

How long do you wish this to last? A week? A year? 3 years? 10 years?

OSB will tend to absorb water. It will come apart when subjected to rain, sun, snow, (repeat). This will take less time to happen than you may like. It is simply not designed to resist the elements for any serious period of time.

But if all you want is something that will work for a few weeks or a couple of months one summer, it will suffice. Just don't expect it to be serviceable as a deck surface in a year or so. I suppose that a good coat of a high quality paint will slow things down, but a deck surface is flat. Snow and rain will collect on it and stay there. This will wet the wood, and keep it wet, a bad thing.

As for those 2x4s, are they treated? Again, if these will be in ground contact (something must touch the ground) then they won't last too many years either. Bugs like untreated wood. Water will get into it, so expect it to rot at some point.


Electric Guitar at an outdoor show - Grounding issues? I play electric guitar and today I had an experience where the guitar would give very slight tingling sensations - I wouldn't quite call any of them a bad shock because none of them really hurt badly, but it was noticeable.

My question is: how to I test if the outlet we use is grounded properly. My bassist who uses the same power strip also said he gets little shocks from his bass. We play at football games and we are on those metal bleachers doing pep band crap which requires us to use an extension cord that connects to a power strip - everything that is connected is three prong including the amps.

Is this a situation where it's dangerous enough that I shouldn't plug in again until I know the reason why and fix it?

YES, you should not plug in without testing the ground, and you really should be protected by a GFI when playing outdoors. It is dangerous because you could be shocked or even electrocuted by playing without a ground or with a faulty ground. The guitar player for The Yardbirds was killed this way, look it up.

You can test for ground with an inexpensive plug-in device you can buy at any hardware store.


How to change battery in garage door keypad? One of the keys on the keypad for my garage door somehow got a key stuck temporarily and drained the battery.  That was easily fixed, but now I am trying to replace the battery. The pictogram seems pretty obvious as to what to do:

(for searchability it's a LiftMaster.  I don't know the exact model but it's one of 940CB, 976LM, and 376LM as these models apparently share this keypad.)
Just slide the bottom cover down and off and the battery will be underneath, right?  Except that try as I might I can't get the cover to budge! I have tried squeezing on the sides, pressing on the front, and even trying to wedge a flat head screwdriver on the slot on the sides and/or button while doing any of the above.  I have exerted all the force I dare to not break the plastic in the process!
There is no obvious issue like it being painted over, although the plastic kind of "feels" very slightly brittle, possible due to age.  It normally isn't directly exposed to the sun - it has a cover that flips up, although occasionally somebody forgets to put it back down.
How do I get the bottom cover off so I can change the battery?  Is there some kind of track on where to press or squeeze or something?

I found this page which stated:

The second oldest style keypads have a pin hole at the bottom of the keypad cover. You will have to insert a small Phillips screw driver into the small hole at the bottom of the cover and gently pull outward to loosen and slide the cover down to remove. Below is a picture you can reference.

But strangely, the picture didn't show how the screw driver was to be used.  I wasn't able to get this method to work.
However, I finally found that if I pushed in the center top of the cover I could create a gap wide enough for a normal flat head screwdriver to fit.  I then attempted to rotate the screwdriver to pry the cover away from the main body of the opener and finally heard a loud "pop" as the entire cover moved down about 1/8th of an inch.  I was then able with a bit of work to pry the cover off.  When I put the cover back on, I noticed that there was something of a lip on the top of the cover, meaning that the bottom wanted to swing in rather than simply go straight up.


Reason for 2 cat5 cables to RJ11 Phone Jack? I popped off a wall jack for one of the phone connections in my house because I was curious to see if it was using cat5 that I could use to change some of them to rj45 for ethernet instead and got what seems to be 2 cat5 cables. (Green and brown cables have been folded back and taped to the wires)

I'm interested if anyone knows why there would be 2 of these cables hooked up because anything I've found online with these jacks has just been 1 cable.

There are multiple wires on the socket because it is a wired continuation on to the next RJ11 jack in another part of the house. In fact if you locate all the phone jacks in your house you will likely find them all connected together. The reason for this is because the wire set is capable of allowing for a landline phone to be moved from room to room OR for multiple phone sets to be installed.

You would not want to use this wiring for an Ethernet type connection. For that  you will need to pull new cables from each location where you want to have an RJ45 back to a central location where you would locate a network hub or switch. The ease or difficulty of getting the new wiring in place will depend a lot on how your house is constructed and to some degree on the locations that you intend to locate the RJ45 jacks.


Well pump with 15A fuses on a 20A circuit? I noticed today that my well pump, which is 240V (USA) and is on a 20A dedicated breaker has dual 15A fuses:

In 8 years in this house it has never blown a fuse nor the breaker. So I assume 15A is adequate. (That said, since the 2 fuses are different perhaps at some point one or both has gone out).

The circuit runs:

[Main panel] — [pump fuse + switch box] — [pressure switch] — [pump]

This brings up some related thoughts:

Is there a good reason that the breaker and fuses would be for different current limits?
What's the point of having the fuses anyway? They seem redundant to the breaker.
Ditto in fact for this entire pump switch box.
Should I change the breaker to 15 A?  If there ever is an overcurrent issue it would be more convenient if the breaker tripped rather than a fuse went out.

The fuses are in the same room as the breaker panel which is the main panel in the house.

I'm not necessarily going to change anything, really just trying to understand.

(I'm not sure what the white wire is for, I've never actually seen the pump and don't know if it requires a neutral. Or maybe the pressure switch is 120V using one leg?)

Fuses and breakers may have different trip/blow curves.

Disconnect switches are for reasons other than merely fusing. Among other things so the person servicing a machine has line-of-sight to the person about to throw the switch on.

You can change the breaker if you like, but there is actually an exception in code for certain motor loads, to allow overbreakering of the motor to avoid false trips on startup. So I wouldn't be surprised if the 15A breaker had nuisance trips. This exception activates if certain mathematical formulas are satisfied; it is not carte-blanche to up-breakering any motor that trips.

Given that both are fused this may be a 240V motor. The white wire is the other hot.  Under contemporary Code it is supposed to be marked with tape, but traditionally this was optional if the usage was obvious.  The fact that it is not obvious to you is precisely why they changed the Code.


Why did my drill stop when trying to pilot a screw hole in framing lumber? I am trying to mount a 23" monitor to a wall. I located the stud and used a bit to drill through the drywall into the stud. I went as far as I could before it started to smell and smoke. I then attempted to drill the large screw into the new hole. The screw got so far, then stopped. I tried to push through as much torque as I could but the drill died on the spot.

I've seen a drill battery died before, usually it wines, slows and dies. This went from full power to dead instantly. I plan on using a hammer drill tonight to try the same thing with better results.

Before I do:

Can you think of a reason I couldn't get through the stud? I have a 12 volt drill (hardly heavy duty). Is this too weak to do the job? Any comments or thoughts are appreciated.

Without knowing anything about the building, I would first suspect you drilled (partially) into a steel pipe

or a nail plate

which is protecting wire, tubing, or conduit.

In my 1950s house which uses 2x4s from a bygone era (dense Douglas-fir), I have to predrill any stud into which I intend to drive a screw or nail.  Yes, a nail.  Otherwise the nail will bend or curl or the screw will snap.  I use a sharp 1/8 inch drill bit for pre-drilling.


What is the proper order in framing the basement walls? I am thinking of finishing my basement and am wondering what is the proper order of things for framing the walls.

Do I put up perimeter walls first with electrical, insulation and vapor barrier, and then do the partition walls or
do I do all the framing (both perimeter and partition wall) and then insulate the perimeter?

I favour the second option as that will allow me to close off the utility room before moving on to do the rest of the basement, but not quite sure if that is the way it is done commonly.

The only reason not to frame everything up would be logistics. If it would be hard to get the bathtub or drywall into the basement because of a framed wall in the way. Cost could be another factor. You would be staggering your project in a possibly inconvenient manner. It may also require extra sets of permits and inspections from the local gov't due to the fact that you'll be framing essentially twice.


How to *Lower* an Underground Pop-Up Impact Sprinkler Head I have replaced a broken Orbit Satellite Sprinkler head with an Orbit Satellite II sprinkler head.

In their wisdom, Orbit has made the Satellite II about a half to a full inch longer than its predecessor, meaning I have to lower it or have it eaten by a lawnmower.

How can I do this? It's mounted via the bottom from a supply line that has a 90 degree joint in it. It would be very easy to raise, which is why I've found at least countless guides online for raising a sprinkler head that is too low.

Are there any tips or tricks someone can give me so I can lower it? I'm trying to avoid digging up my entire lawn just to get it an inch lower. Since it's near the corner of my lawn I was hoping to just bump up the grass in the area by under-filling it.

Any recommendations?

The best way to deal with this does not involve digging up your whole lawn. You just need to dig up the area around the sprinkler head that needs to be lowered.

Once you dig out the area cut off the existing 90 degree elbow that is in there feeding up. Cut on the horizontal pipe about 5 to 6" from the existing elbow.

Next you would install two 45 degree fittings in sequence using a short piece of PVC pipe between them and then another piece to get back to horizontal again. This horizontal run is then terminated with a new 90 degree elbow to face up to accept the sprinkler head.

Dry fit all the parts before gluing them all together. This is important because you will need to rotate the double 45 degree fittings to get the needed depth. If you need more depth you just need to extend the length of the pipe added between the two 45 fittings. When everything is fit properly make marks with a felt tip marker at each joint so you get them back in the proper position when you take them back apart to glue them together.

Note that if the sprinkler head is fed from an underground TEE instead of just a 90 degree fitting a similar technique can be used to lower the TEE. It just takes two pairs of the 45 degree fittings.


What should I do about cracks in the cement pan for a roll-in shower? We are installing a roll-in shower. We poured the floor and after 2 days it has several cracks in it. I am not sure if they are all the way through.

Is there any way to fix this or do we have to take the cement out and start over?

Unfortunately, your real problem here actually isn't that you have cracks in the cement; it's that your cement has developed several cracks in 2 days. They are a symptom indicating that the cement is weak (typically because it was not mixed correctly; most often, it's too wet). Nothing you do to repair the cracks will fix that weakness.

The right thing to do in this case would be to take the cement out and start over.


Can I hook these wires up to find the connection to a dead outlet? I have an outlet in a small bar area that does not have any power coming in to the wires. It's been like this for as long as we've been here (4 years, house is 20 years old). I checked every breaker, every light switch, and every GFCI and it didn't appear to be attached to any of them. I found an empty receptacle in a cabinet in our mudroom with the 2 white wires, 2 black wires, and 1 ground wire. One of the black wires has 120v with one of the white wires while the other pair has zero.

I'm assuming the pair with 0v is going to my "dead" outlet. I have no idea which circuit it's on so I'm going to cut power to the entire house and put the black wires in a wire nut together and do the same thing for the white wires. Any issues with this? Do I need to do anything with the loose ground? Thanks for any comments/suggestions.

This is answer is based on the wires in the pictured box were found that way - just hanging loose - and not capped with wire nuts. If they were capped with wire nuts then I would much more likely (but not guaranteed) consider this more of a "are these the right wires - tone/test to find out" situation. But as is...

The problem is you don't know why the previous receptacle was removed from the box. The likely possibilities, which you are counting on, are:

There was something wrong with this receptacle, so it was removed, leaving these wires hanging. Nobody needed a receptacle here and nobody noticed or cared that another receptacle wasn't working and that was it.
or
(As suggested by Harper): There was nothing really wrong with the receptacle here, but the previous owner had some reason to remove it - e.g., it was valuable (GFCI? Timer? Dimmer?) or it was flagged as a non-code-compliant device and removed. But the previous owner did it himself and didn't bother to cap the wires and didn't know or care about the other receptacle that stopped working.

But it is also possible:

Something was wrong with the circuit in general - e.g., the breaker wouldn't reset. Somebody removed this receptacle as part of the troubleshooting process. The problem went away. Nobody needed a receptacle here and, while they knew the other receptacle (the one you are trying to fix) wasn't working, they didn't care because the rest of the circuit was working again.

You have no way of knowing which of these scenarios (or some other one I haven't thought of) actually happened. As a result, while it is easy enough to connect these wires together and see if the receptacle works, you might be reactivating an old problem, such as:

A bad connection at the receptacle you are trying to fix, that might arc and cause a fire.
A damaged wire between this missing receptacle and the receptacle you are trying to fix, which might cause an intermittent hard to find until it is too late problem, causing a fire.
A damaged wire leading from the previous receptacle to this missing receptacle that has a problem that isn't evident when there is no current flowing (as there hasn't been since the receptacle was removed).

You simply don't know.

Are there ways to check things out? Yes. You can test the wires in each section to make sure they are low resistance and not shorted. You can check (even replace) the broken receptacle to avoid any problems there. But you are starting in a really bad place - with a receptacle that was removed and the wires were not properly capped. So you really don't know what is going on with these wires.

Anyone who would leave the wires hanging doesn't know electrical safety 101. What other problems might be lurking???


What is involved when replacing wood paneling with drywall? In a forty-something year old home, I would like to freshen up a couple of rooms that still have wood paneling (and get rid of that "this room used to look fashionable in the 1970s" look). I would like to replace the wood panels with drywalls.

They are painted, as you see below. I'm guessing that someone at some point decided they didn't like the look of the wood panels either, but just painted over them rather than replace them.

To remove the wood panels, I'll hunt down the location of the nails, take them out, and then hopefully the panels will be easy to pull out. I am wondering:

What are the chances that there is already some kind of drywall behind the panels? This would make the task considerably simpler!
If the panels are just a couple of millimeters thick, might it be an option to just leave them where they are and fix the drywall in front of them? It would be trickier to mark the locations of the studs behind, but all-in-all it'd be a lot simpler job... and, last, but not least:
Can the "look" of the wood panels be transformed to a drywall-pretend-to-be without actually taking the panels out? Could I for instance sand the panels, fill out the ridges (with what?), and apply primer/paint? Sanding furniture to change the paint color is a lousy and intense task. Would I be looking at a similarly troubling task to make replacing the panels with drywall look like an easy task by comparison?

Update:

I thought of adding a couple of pointers to those tackling a similar project.

In stores, you are more likely to find drywall mud called joint compound.
Solution 2 above (adding a drywall in front of the wood panels) is illustrated in this video.
Solution 3 (skim-coating) is illustrated in this video. I suspect that the only difference with skim coating a wood panel is that one must apply more compound to make sure that the grooves disappear.

Yes, it's been already six months since I asked the question. Well, winter came and now I'm not sure it's reasonable to tackle such a project while the windows remain closed (or wait till Spring).

Option 3 is the sanest IMHO. You can get a bucket of drywall mud for $15 and do a "skim coat" over the panels to create a flat surface. No need to sand first; this stuff will stick to anything! Once the mud is dry, you can sand it to get a smooth look, or texture it. Texturing can be done with cans of spray-on texture you get at big box stores, or using a texture sprayer gun. A pro will be able to do the texture part much better than a novice, so if you want a textured wall, I recommend hiring that part out for $100 or so. With the right equipment and an operator of moderate skill, it's a 30 minute job. If you've already got an air compressor, you can have a go yourself with a sprayer attachment that has a hopper.

But whatever you do, match the texture or lack thereof to any drywall that abuts the paneled wall. Nothing screams "I used to be wood paneling!!!!!" like strange, awkward texture on a few walls that, upon further investigation, have more give to them when pushed on.

This is the approach I took on my wood paneled walls and today you'd never know the difference.


How can I trace an electrical cable? I'm installing a wall mount over an existing electrical socket - so I want to remove the socket I've read that just capping off the Hot and Neutral wires is not the best approach and that disconnecting from the power source is best. I don't want to disconnect from the breaker panel as many other sockets that I want live are on the same breaker.
How do I find where to disconnect the hot and neutral wires to the socket I want to remove?

You can rent or buy a circuit tracer, true.
But cheap and easy: turn breakers off one by one until the existing socket goes dead.
Now work backwards, finding the nearest also dead socket.  Yours likely takes off from that point.


Can you deburr copper pipes with a fitting brush? Probably a stupid question, but I'm trying to learn how to solder copper pipes and am gathering all the tools I might need. I currently have a fitting brush like this one, but wasn't sure if it would suffice to remove any burrs when cutting the pipes, or if I needed something with a blade.

Bonus question -- would the fitting brush also work for cleaning the outside of the pipe before soldering, or is an emery cloth the way to go for that?

The fitting brush will work if you use it with the proper sized copper pipes. When I say it will work I refer to cleaning oxidation off pipe and fittings. You should expect reasonable results for both the outside of the pipe using the holes in the tool and for inside of fittings using the brush.

This brush will not work well for removing burrs on the end of cut pipe. For that you need some type of reamer tool for the inside of the pipe and a file for the outside edges if you are cutting with a saw (a rotary pipe cutter will not leave a burr on the outside that would be of any note).

In the end, sans the tools of various types, there is still emery paper to clean up pipes and fittings too. Steel wool works too but may leave more debris inside pipes and fittings.


What is this dryer part, and how do i fix it? This happened a couple days ago to my dryer. It's soft and goes around completely.

What happened, and how can I fix it?

Your dryer's front drum felt seal's glue failed. The seal keeps gasses from leaking out the front of your dryer into the dryer housing, and also helps support the weight of the front of the rotating drum.

You'll need to get a replacement felt seal and then install it. They're glued in place with heat-resistant glue (apparently your glue wasn't heat-resistant enough). It isn't a hard job if you're handy; you'll have to remove the front of the dryer (probably after propping up the top of the dryer), remove the old seal, and then install the new one.

If you give us the make and model of your dryer we can give you more details.


Why do led/incandescent combo dimmers specify lower led wattage? When looking at combo dimmers most of them are rated for 600 when using incandescent, but only 150 when using leds. Surely the switch should be able to shed the same amount of heat regardless of what bulb is used -- why the difference?

The main difference would be the harmonics and distortion that occur in the driver that powers the LED lights.


Is it safe to remove a plug, and wire a light fitting into the wall? I've moved into a house, and am fitting a series of 5 halogen downlights beneath a shelving unit. The wall on which I am fitting it previously had an uplighter. I removed this so now have exposed live, neutral and (unsheathed) earth wires on the wall. This is already operated by a light switch on another wall.

The new lights I have come with a fitted fused (3 amp) plug. The instructions say if it is installed directly on a lighting circuit it will need a 5 amp fuse.

So - if I want to wire it directly, can I assume the lighting circuit is adequately protected since it already had a light fixture (is this standard?), or for this fitting do I need to install an (unswitched) fused spur or something similar to add the 5 amp protection?

To clarify, the 5 halogen lights are wired into one fitting with a transformer leading to one plug.

Comments converted to answer.

If the manufacturer says they need a fuse, then I'd probably install a fuse. Just install a 5A fuse before the transformer, and make sure it's accessible in some way.

The light circuit is probably on a fuse/breaker at the service panel, but since you are using a transformer to step down to low voltage a fuse may be required to protect the transformer and low voltage wiring. The fuse/breaker in the main panel will probably be 15-20A; since it's designed to protect a normal line voltage lighting circuit, so you'll need another 5A fuse before the step down transformer to protect the transformer and everything downstream from it.


Can I use more sand topping mortar to level the slope of a shower pan? I'm building a shower pan the traditional way using a pre-slope, then waterproof membrane, then a mortar bed using sand topping mix.  I laid my mortar bed and curb and it has dried but I've noticed that I neglected to create a level surface along the back wall (about 4 feet), and it has a slight dip in the middle, about .75" or so.
My two options as I see it are,
1. add more sand topping mortar to level it out, or
2. use thinset to do the same.
My questions are,
1. is adding mortar going to work? is there a problem with it cracking or not sticking to cured mortar?
2. if I use thinset to level it out, do I need to set tile on that immediately or can I let it dry and add more thinset when its time to set tile later on down the road?

thanks in advance

is adding mortar going to work?

Yes, if you do it correctly. Rough up the existing surface where you intend to build up the pan height, then moisten well prior to adding some dry-pack to level off the area. I would probably use a "wetter" dry-pack mix for this (as compared to the "drier" dry-pack mix I used to originally create the bed). We often do some "tune-up" to the bed by shaving, scraping, moistening and patching, etc. even days later.

I would not use thinset mortar to build up the bed due to the thickness involved (3/4"). Not to say it wouldn't work though; and no I would not use that to set tile, you would trowel it smooth and level then let it cure. Then set tile as per normal with notched trowel.


Voltage readings coming from gas meter I live in a older mobile home that sits on a concrete slab about 3 feet off the ground at my work.  I recently had a visit from the gas co.   They wanted to replace the old gas meter but apparently found voltage coming from the meter that registered from 1 to 4 volts depending on where it was tested. This includes earth ground and even the mobile home itself.  The gas meter sits just above the dirt next to the fence and a galvanized pipe runs from it across the concrete slab approx. 12 feet where it bends upward and runs along the frame branching off to the dryer and then to the water heater ,heater, and to the oven. There is a ground clamp and wire attatched to the trailer frame and gas pipe about 8 inches long.   I was told i needed to have a electrition correct the problem before they could continue.   I was reading another similar post here but thought i would be specific as to my situation before calling anyone out.  Is it possible to trace this out myself by cutting the individual breakers and checking for voltage to narrow it down or is that a waste of time?  Btw, i am of corse not a professional but like to learn.

I would pay a professional electrician to inspect and remake the grounding arrangements, check the voltage on the gas equipment and provide a certificate (depends on your part of the planet, where I am it would be an EICR for the whole electrical installation, but I'd get the electrician to provide a written report of some sort with his registration number and signature on it)


Why did everything electrical start malfunctioning in my house? Lights are flickering, vacuum barely works.. I unplugged water heater and all my lights went out..plugged it back in and boom lights are back on.. If multiple circuits are malfunctioning shouldnt this be a ground break.. I crawled through atic and was shocked by a gas line that is dead.. All appliances are electric now.. Im on a budget and need help.. None of my space heaters work.. I moved into this house a month ago and everything worked properly this happened during the night woke up to electrical chaos

Call your power company and report an outage

When half your 120V circuits are dead and half work -- and the dead half comes back on when you turn on an oven or water heater or dryer (but those things don't work) -- that means one of your hot wires has failed coming from the power company.  It also may be a problem with the main buses or main breaker.

Now, if your 240V loads like water heater work fine, but lights alternate between too-dim and too-bright/burning out, that's a more serious problem - yes, more serious than an outage.  It is a lost neutral, and it will cause your 120V loads to wobble above and below 120V, which can fry appliances and potentially cause a fire.


Half Hot Outlet Tripping when Light is connected I am hoping someone might be able to share some insight as to what I can next do to troubleshoot this problem.
In my room I have 3 outlets, the last one in the in circuit is a half-hot outlet connected to a switch by the door (there are no ceiling lights in the room). Everything has been working fine so far.
I decided to replace the 1st outlet in the circuit with a GFCI outlet as I plan on putting a small fish tank in the room.
After I added the GFCI outlet I noticed that it would trip whenever I flipped the "light switch" to the on position. I inspected the light switch and found the ground wire was not connected to the switch and therefore connected it. Now however, the GFCI only trips if I turn the switch on AND there is something connected to the switched part of the outlet. The always powered side of that outlet has worked without issue.
I removed the half-hot outlet to inspect the wiring and it is what I guess I would expect, tab between outlets on hot side removed, no bare or expose wires.
Does anyone have an idea as to what I can look at next?

You said that the tab on the hot side is broken and from that, I assume the tab on the neutral side is not broken. The problem is that the same neutral is being used for both the switched circuit and the load side of the GFCI.
A GFCI works by comparing the current through the hot and neutral wires. If the current is unequal, it assumes that current is escaping through the ground and trips. In your case, current from the switched circuit is returning through the GFCI. Since this current did not originate from the GFCI, it trips.
Because there isn’t a separate neutral that bypasses the GFCI, you cannot make this configuration work. Your choices are to either (1) abandon the switch and make the outlet always-hot or (2) put GFCI outlets where you want protection and not use the load sides; instead, use pigtail wires so that you can connect each outlet’s line side to the circuit. The half-hot outlet cannot have GFCI protection in this case.
The other option is to use a GFCI breaker to feed everything and restore the GFCI outlet to a normal outlet.


How are vapor barriers, moisture barriers, and house wrap different? I've read many discussions here and elsewhere talking about these three things with regard to insulation, energy efficiency, and siding installation. What are the differences and where are each used?

Vapor Barriers
Vapor barriers prevent moisture in the air from moving between locations. This is important when considering the building envelope in a home.
Since humans produce a lot of moisture through daily activity and bodily functions, humidity tends to be higher indoors than out during the heating season. If this moisture migrates out through the walls and ceiling when it's cold outside, it will condense into liquid water or frost where it encounters the dew point temperature. This is bad for some obvious reasons. Rot, mold, and pests can result.
To prevent these problems, vapor barrier is usually installed toward the conditioned space in a home--typically over framing and just behind drywall. This keeps airborne moisture inside the heated space where it's less likely to condense.
Vapor barrier installed in homes is most commonly polyethylene sheeting in 4 mil thickness, though thicker sheet may be used where fire retardance is needed, for example, or where higher durability is important.
Moisture Barriers
This term is often synonymous with vapor barrier but is sometimes used to contrast the permeable traits of house wrap with the water-blocking nature of impermeable sheeting. Common uses for moisture barriers are shower walls, roofs, and backyard ponds. EPDM and PVC are materials used in these cases.
House Wrap
House wrap, such as Tyvek™, is air-permeable membrane used under siding to reduce airflow, thus saving energy otherwise used to heat or cool a home while allowing moisture in the air to escape. It also prevents liquid moisture from passing into the wall due to leaks in siding.
House wrap is not a vapor barrier. In fact, serious problems can arise from using solid material like polyethylene sheeting as house wrap when a similar vapor barrier is installed to the interior. Moisture can become trapped between those barriers, leading to mold, decay, and other damage.


Pump control panel (electrical diagram attached). Could someone tell which ones of 1 2 3 4 5 6 are hots and which one are neutral? Pump control panel (electrical diagram attached). Could someone tell which ones of 1 2 3 4 5 6 are hots and which one are neutral?

http://www.docdroid.net/zjph/wd-s115.pdf.html

They're all "hot". You're dealing with switches, so there's no "neutral".  You have an ungrounded (hot) conductor leading to the switch, and an ungrounded (hot) conductor coming back from the switch.

The switches are simply a way to open the circuit, so it doesn't usually matter which way they're installed.  When the switch is open, the circuit is open. When the switch is closed, the circuit is closed.

The grounded (neutral) doesn't come in until after the load.


Could work done to lower a radiator have caused a loss of water pressure from a combi boiler? Our new house has a year-old combi boiler. We are doing a lot of work in the house and 2 days ago early evening a bedroom radiator was lowered (pipes were frozen to do this) and a hall radiator was put back on after being off for a week due to decorating--all by our very good plumber.

Next morning I had a shower ok but when my wife got in no hot water!! Pressure gauge had dropped to zero so topped up and hot water again. Pressure dropped marginally by afternoon so topped up. All fine since. Can find no leaks in the system anywhere.

Could the initial radiator work I mentioned at the start of this HELP question be the cause? Having never had a combi with wall thermostat any help would be appreciated.

Absolutely: You may have not bled the radiator system enough so you have air bubbles in the primary loop.

To bleed a radiator:

Open the valve
Drain at least 2L of water after no more air is coming out

Repeat this for every radiator (air may have migrated).


What's the best tool for cutting holes into duct work? I've cut a few supply and cold air returns into my main branches and it's been a PITA. Need to cut another 6" hole for a return, it's just standard rectangle ductwork, probably 14" wide x 10" high.

STEP ONE
Using a big flat screwdriver orienteded edgewise and a hammer. Strike the screwdriver swiftly and accurately to puncture the duct.

STEP TWO
Insert a Red pair of snips into the hole and nibble around turning to the left (Greens are pictured only because that's what was in front of me) in an expanding circle until you get to the line.

STEP THREE
Cut along your line all the way to the corner, with force turn and continue while gently pulling up on the scrap. Every 2-3 inches turn in off the line and make a relief cut and go back to the line. Once you get to the next corner you don't need relief cuts anymore.

COMPLETE THE CUT
Now it's easy, just cut along the line gently pulling up the scrap. If you are left handed, or only have greens feel free to use Greens but reverse the images. Yellows are designed to cut straight but are capable of cutting to the left like Reds
FOR CIRCULAR HOLES
The same process applies just without the relief cuts.


How to retrofit existing kitchen exhaust fan I'm remodeling a kitchen that is circa 1940's.  In the kitchen is an exhaust fan that sits inside a 3.25x10 duct.  I would like to keep an exhaust fan in this location and re-use the existing duct, however, the fan motor is froze.  I'm trying to now understand what my best options are.

The fan motor plugs into an 110VAC receptacle (no ground) and is countersunk into a sort of frame that is inside the duct.  3 bolts hold the fan on, and they are on an 8" spacing.  I am guessing this is probably not a current standard.  I was hoping to avoid cutting out all the ceiling drywall and the duct, but it's staring to look that way.  Do you think there's any possibility of me re-purposing the in-ceiling hardware?

Googling 10x3.25 exhaust fan, I found some like this one here, however, it's not clear if that's meant to go into a 10x3.25 duct or is a replacement part for some sort of larger assembly.  Does anyone have any experience with these Broan ceiling fans?

Possible replacements that use the 10x3.25" duct:
Broan.
NuTone

That whole fan assembly will need to be replaced unless you want to do some work hand-making a bracket that will accept a modern exhaust fan motor.  Even then, the fan motors and blades for a modern install probably wouldn't move air efficiently in that size of enclosure.

Your main concern will be finding a new fan that is easy to connect to your 3x10 vent.  They are probably available, but most ceiling exhaust fans that I have seen are made for a round rigid or flex duct.


Insects coming from gap under baseboard radiator, seeking solution I have a ground-level apartment in Metro Detroit, Michigan and am renting.

I have old-style baseboard radiator heat with a large opening that goes across the length of it, as shown in the photo.

Also, there is a small gap between the laminate flooring and the wall, presumably for expansion.

As the temps are warming, I am getting spiders, ants, and possibly click beetles (can't confirm for sure if that's where they are coming from but fairly certain).

Landlord isn't helping, they insist on bug traps which don't work for me.

Last summer I covered it up with tape, but I want to avoid that this time.

Is it possible to caulk that gap between the laminate floor and wall? Does caulk give enough for expansion?

I am completely ignorant when it comes to this kind of stuff. Any suggestions are welcome.

Thanks.

I would a silicone caulking to seal the gap. Silicone caulk remains very flexible when it dries and will last for years.


Regular concrete as a floor leveler? I have a small bathroom (6' x 7') that I want to lay tiles in. I'm on the ground floor of a 40 year old condo, so the floor is concrete. There's about 1/4" difference in height between the low and high points. I would like to use Quickcrete PSI 6000 (mixed to the thinnest consistency recommended) to level the floor. Will that work? I would go buy proper SLC, but I don't have a vehicle so getting home with 50lbs of mix will be difficult.
There's still some glue and other residue from the old linoleum floor left in the low spots. Will that affect the finish?

Concrete is a terrible floor leveller, as it doesn't really bond well to anything other than itself, plus most commercial Quikcrete products have 3/8" aggregate in it (won't work for a 1/4" gap).
You don't need it anyhow: just use a good quality polymer modified tile mortar like Ceraflex 610 or Flextile 52 and install the tile.  You can easily use the mortar to float the tiles on a deeper or thinner bed.
If you can't get 50lbs of self leveller home without a vehicle, how will you get Quikcrete or mortar home?  It's all in 50lb bags.


What type of wood is recommended for an outdoor jungle gym? I'm not sure what other specs to include, as I haven't started the blueprints yet, just wanted to price the main parts out to see if it would be cost effective to build one vs buying from a big box store.

Mainly just looking for outdoor durability of course, able to handle a couple of 30-50lb kids with the occasional adult or two, they'll possibly be a ladder, slide, monkey bars, the basics.

The go-to materials for outdoor construction are cedar and pressure treated wood.

Many prefer cedar, and most kits you see from big box stores and other sources use it. It is generally more expensive, but it is lighter and softer (for drilling and hammering). It will last for a number of years untreated, and even longer if it is pre-treated with penetrating sealer and occasionally retreated.  Be sure to coat the end cuts for maximum benefit.

Pressure treated woods are also very durable and will also last years with little or no maintenance. In the past, the treatments used harsh chemicals (called CCA for short) that were not ideal for skin contact and when cutting the wood, dust precautions were required. More recent forms use less caustic chemicals and may be allowed in your jurisdiction. (Personally I would avoid pressure treated where food or kids are involved).

While all outdoor projects require hardware that is weather resistant, pressure treated woods need specially coated fasteners to avoid a chemical reaction that causes corrosion.

After pricing good quality materials, you may find that kits from manufacturers may be a fairly good value. I recently built a swingset with a fort, slide and climbing wall from a major manufacturer.  It arrived on a 4x8 foot pallet with all cedar, hardware and plastic parts. The instructions were surprisingly good, all parts present and in proper order. Cedar, stainless, and plastic. Even predrilled correctly (one hole at wrong end - no biggy).

A search online will show you these options in both big box stores and directly from manufacturers or their distributors. There are surely units that cost many thousands of dollars, but a significant set can be bought for several hundred.  Many sources offer onsite assembly for a few hundred dollars.  But where would the fun be in that? The look on my grandkids faces made the cost and time in building all worthwhile.


How would a professional flash this? I could really use some professional advise here. I removed a piece of rotten trim I found while cleaning the gutters. The problem is pretty apparent in the photos with the gutter removed. Water followed the roof at the bottom of the rake and found its way in because there was really nothing stopping it.

How would a professional have avoided this???

I am not a carpenter and my best thought solution is not pretty. (continue the step flashing down to the end of the rake board, and cut a piece of trim to fit under it) this would leave about a half inch gap between the rake board and the flashing and would not be too pretty as you can imagine. That solution would carry the rain water over the end of the gutter also which I would like to avoid. You will also notice that a triangle piece of trim would just barely cover the opening at the top of the corner molding. (not good)

I don't trust myself to come up with the best solution here. Does anybody have some sound professional advise?

The term to research is kick out flashing. It's used when a roof line butts up against a vertical surface near the edge. It sends the water away from the vertical edge into the gutter. Example:


Duplex outlets in series AND parallel after GFCI I am planning to add some devices/receptacles to a 20amp circuit in my house.  The following image shows the original circuit and my proposed additions.  I'm specifically concerned about my plan for wiring outlets after the GFCI tester (see items 12 thru 17 in the image).  Three outlets will be wired in parallel from a junction box directly after the GFCI tester, with two additional outlets wired in series off of one of those paralleled outlets.  Are there any problems with this plan?  Any input or confirmation is much appreciated.  Thanks!

Electrical cable/conduit routing must be tree topology
You can also wire things in a "vine" topology, like 12-15-16-17 - after all, a vine is a type of tree.
You can also wire in a star topology (like 12-9-15-14-13). That counts as tree topology also.  (but with many connections, box fill rules must be followed just like anywhere else).
You can freely mix them all.
Here's the acid test: In your graphics editor, take your cabling diagram (remove the non-cablng elements like gray walls).  Now, grab the paint can tool, and pour purple color anywhere on the diagram.  Does it fill the whole diagram?  Then you have tree topology. Yours appears to pass.


Gas clothes dryer not heating My gas dryer (Samsung DV520AGP/XAA-0002) won't heat. I've done pretty extensive testing and I'm stumped.  Here's what I know:

When I start a cycle, the igniter turns on, ignition occurs, and then after ~10 seconds, the flame goes out.  After ~1 minute, the same thing repeats.
I tested the thermal fuse, the high limit thermostat, the igniter, and the radiant sensor for continuity -- all pass
I tested the resistance on gas valve coils and the thermistor -- all are within specs
Best clue -- when I bypass the high limit thermostat using a short bit of copper wire, the dryer works normally
I replaced the high limit thermostat, thinking it was tripping at a too-low temperature.  No change
I then replaced the gas valve coils, thinking that those were worn and leading to improperly high temperatures. No change

I'm sort of stumped on what to try next. Any ideas?

(For easy reference, here is a link to the parts list: https://www.appliancepartspros.com/parts-for-samsung-dv520agp-xaa-0002.html)

tl;dr: running the dryer with the front face off causes the high-limit thermostat to cut off the heat

This may have been the ultimate rookie mistake, but at least my dryer is working now. I'm going to outline it all here in case it's useful to someone else.  The chronology of my DIY repair:

After disconnecting the vent out the back, I confirmed that the dryer was not producing any hot air.
After consulting debugging checklists like this, I disassembled the dryer to access all the components of the heating assembly. As described in the original question, I confirmed continuity and resistance as appropriate, and all individual components seemed to be working fine.
After talking with the fine folks at appliancepartspros.com (very helpful) they asked for more information about whether the igniter was actually lighting, and whether ignition was occurring. I did not know how to do this.  Apparently, many dryers have a little viewport near the burner assembly that will allow you to visually inspect things as the dryer is running.  My model did not have this viewport.  Therefore, I took off the front face/door of the dryer and reconnected all the components so I could do this visual inspection.
With the dryer face/door off, I observed what I wrote in the original description: "the igniter turns on, ignition occurs, and then after ~10 seconds, the flame goes out. After ~1 minute, the same thing repeats."
As described in the original question, bypassing the high limit thermostat with a piece of copper wire fixed the "problem" -- the dryer heat stayed on as expected when tested with the dryer face/door removed.
Based on the previous observation in point #5, I replaced the high limit thermostat, thinking that it was tripping at a too-low temperature. However, that did not fix the observation described in point #4 above.
Grasping at straws, I also replaced the gas valve coils thinking they were somehow making the burner run too hot. However, that also did not fix the observation described in point #4.
I cleaned some lint residue off of the inside of the heater assembly. Again, did not change observation in point #4.
After almost giving up at this point, I went ahead and reassembled all components, including properly mounting the front face/door. That blocked my visual inspection of the burner assembly, but the dryer worked!

Here are my conclusions:

With the front face/door off, the heater apparently burns hotter (presumably due to more air flow), which causes the high limit thermostat to (appropriately) turn off the gas valve. That explains the observation in point #5 above.
That means the original heating problem may have been the same was what I described in point #4 above, but in all likelihood it was something different.
Something that I did in points #6, #7, and/or #8 nevertheless fixed the problem.  (I'm too lazy to put the original parts back in to isolate which part is was.)  But importantly, as described in point #2, the high limit thermostat had continuity at room temperature, and the gas coils showed the appropriate resistance across all pairs of prongs (as helpfully provided by the people at appliancepartspros.com). So unless the actual fix was #8 (which seems unlikely to me), one of the components tested fine but was still failing.

Again, hope someone benefits from this recap...


Yellow poly gas pipe to copper tubing transition I need to run a liquid propane gas line from my tank to my house.  The house and tank connections are currently copper tubing.  I was thinking of using yellow poly pipe for this run, but I haven't been able to find the proper transition pieces from the yellow pipe to copper.  What kind of transition fittings could I use?

Additionally, this could be a dumb idea, so feel free to tell me that also.

Here is the yellow poly pipe: https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0759LPYSZ/ref=ox_sc_act_image_2?smid=A28LU3M6V82A2C&psc=1

You can certainly use polyethylene pipe. There are some considerations that need to be made

It must be to code.
The branch of pipe you are referring to is called the yard line. It's in between the first stage and second stage regulator. It's often considered the property of the utility unless you own the tank.
For code compliance all polyethylene pipe must be buried as its not uv resistant. My code states a minimum of 18" and a minimum of 24" under driveways and walkways. A trace wire must also be attached.

This is what a complete set looks like

www.rphdistributorsltd.com

The picture shows more than what you would require. I picked this one to give you an idea of what is available. Specifically this riser is what you are looking for. Common brands are

Gastight
Perfection Pipe
Home-Flex


Outlets no longer controlled by switch When we moved in we replaced all outlets with Tamper Resistant ones.
We had an outlet on the left side of room that was half controlled by a switch. We wanted both outlets controlled so we left the little tab. It worked fine for a month or so.
When we moved a dresser on the right side of the room we noticed an outlet had gotten forgotten so we replace it (it had not been controlled by the switch and was always hot.) As soon as it was replaced the outlet on left side of room stopped being controlled by the switch and is always hot.

How do we fix that?
Over time we have found other switches that control nothing and wonder if it is a similar situation.

Well, since you already know all about tabs, I don't need to give the usual "what is a tab" orientation.    You were on guard, and didn't make the usual mistake.

Except you did this time.   This receptacle you just changed was split, with its tab broken off.  You need to do that on the new one.

Or instead, you can simply disconnect and cap whichever hot (always or switched) you do not want, but you've already done that so you know the drill.


Fishing Wire From Corner of Attic? I'm running speaker wire from the 2 corners of this room. But one of the corners is way too tight for me to grab the fished wire. And the Fiberglass Wire Pull Rods i'm using are too stiff to bend from with in the room toward me while i'm in the attic.

I've tried to attach a fairly strong magnet to attach to the rod that's coming from the ceiling, but it quickly loses it's hold after a few light tugs.

Any suggestions?

If you were to attach something similar to the end of the wire such as a hex nut that would not easily slip off then you could make up a remote noose on the end of a long stick that looks like this.

(proverbial back of envelope sketch)

Aim the stick down into the tight corner of the attic and lower the noose over the end of the wire with the hex nut. Then securely pull the noose string to capture the wire and pull the stick toward you along with the speaker wire.