Leaking faucet connection (inside vanity) I just discovered the faucet connection inside the vanity is leaking. The leak appears to happen at the top of the connection (where the black pipe meets the white of the vanity. What could be causing it, and how can I fix it?
Photos:

First observation I see is that the basin is most likley not level as the the black drainpipe is not entering the trap flush. (it is cocked sideways and this is most likely because the basin isn't level). So to this note, is the cabinet firm and secure? Is anyone (small child or a teen) climbing up onto the countertop or basin? If so, put an end to it. If water is being allowed to sit on the back of the counter, it will over time rot the back portion of the wood which will weaken it, allowing the same thing to occur. You should clean out under the sink, get a bright flashlight and check for any water damage or areas where the counter is separated from the backsplash or wood supports. *(sometimes these are just wooden blocks glued on).

Once you've fixed or confirmed the stability and levelness of the basin, remove the sink drain and black pipe. Check the drain/pipe for any cracks, replace if necessary. Check the seal/quality of the black rubber/foam gasket, replace it if necessary, and clean all surfaces. Also, pickup some fresh plumbers putty at the local hardware store and apply fresh new putty graciously under the drain where the drain and portion that penetrates into the basin. This will help tremendously.

Reassemble everything, firmly, (tight but not overtightened), and clean off any excess. Make sure putty does not impede or protrude fromthe botton of the basin before you re-secure the washer and black nut. If you overtighten it, the drain, the nut, the tubing, may crack and you'll have to replace it.

Once reassembled, everything should be square, and you should be leak free. If not, inspect your work and redo it.


How can I fix railings that lack newel posts? In my new house these two rails:

are wobbly and feel unsafe. It seems to me that whatever I do to the existing pieces, they're always going to be rather unsafe—they're low (less than 3 feet high) and will always have a tendency to get wobbly rapidly, due to the one-ended way they're attached and the small area that's contacting the walls. .

I'd like to replace them with something sturdier—ideally something to which I'll then be able to attach a top-of-stairs baby gate.

My first problem is that I've been unable to even search for replacement items, because I'm at a loss for how to describe these top-of-stairs-sawn-off-stairwell-side-rail-ettes.  Can anyone tell me what they're called, point me in the right direction to shop for replacements, and/or supply any further advice on how to construct something better in the limited space available?

With the limited space on the right side. Here's a couple ideas that may help you.

Buy or build yourself a pair of stair posts. If you choose to purchase, they come in all sorts of different sizes and designs.

Example

Build a half wall or full wall on both sides.
Lots of ideas bouncing around the Internet.
Be creative.


Wiring Multiple Outlets, Switches Lights I'm adding in a few switches and outlets to a garage and I'm wondering how to wire them in. One outlet I want to be switched. Both outlets are GFCI as they are in a garage. I'm using 14/2 wire. I've attached a picture that shows the path I'd like to take for the wire from one device to the others from left to right.

Thanks

Make the first switch box double gang, and add a GFCI receptical there.
Both incoming conductors should enter that GFCI outlet first, and that first GFCI outlet will provide GFCI protection for the whole addition in a conveniently accessible location.

On the 'load side' of that GFCI, branch off to the switch in the same box, and to the right.  GFCI outlet's usually have lugs that can accommodate two outgoing load conductors.  If not, use a wire nut.

From the switch go up to a normal outlet on the ceiling (if that's what your diagram intended).

From the wire nut (or the GFCI's second conductor), head right to the second box, and use a wire nut there to branch to the switch in that box and the unswitched outlet further right

connect the light to the switch in the second box.

Done.


Why did my main circuit breaker trip before the branch circuit breaker? As per my knowledge, the overload current will trip a circuit breaker and will burn the fuse of any fused switch. How come when my main breaker failed (because of the steamer I reckon because it happens every time we use it) the fuse of the switch that held steamer socket + the ELCB didn't trip (It jumped directly to the MCB)?

"Circuit breaker coordination" is the term used when setting up multiple breakers / fuses. The trip curves overlap and in many cases a small breaker can take longer to trip than a large breaker.

One example I can provide is this: the plant I work in was not built with the same brand breakers. In one area an 800 amp main will trip out prior to the 400 amp mcc feeder or the 100 amp breaker on the motor overload bucket. The cost to coordinate these breakers to the correct ones would be several thousand dollars and it happens so infrequently that the owner is OK with the occasional down time. By comparing the curves of the different types of breakers you can see that fuses and small inverse time breakers will hold at 4-6 times their rated value for a short time.

So depending on the loading of the circuit and type of breakers used, if not well coordinated, the main will open before a much smaller breaker protecting the wiring but dropping power to everything. A well coordinated system takes planning and the correct breakers and fuses to prevent this from happening.


POL fitting on a propane regulator -> pipe: what do I need / will it work? I have an adjustable propane regulator that I plan to have up to 10 PSI maximum. It's got a POL fitting, and works fine on a regular barbecue tank. However, rather than connect to the tank directly, I want to have a dedicated pipe coming through the wall for propane with the tank outside. I have a 20 PSI regulator attached to the tank on the outside for the purpose, so it looks like:

tank -> 20PSI regulator (with 3/8" hose) -> 3/8" to 1/2" adapter -> 1/2" pipe -> 1/2" ball valve -> (my regulator goes here)

What I'm unsure about is what fitting I can use to go from POL to the ball valve. My basic understanding says something like this: https://propanewarehouse.com/shop/fittings/pol-fittings/female-pol-x-14-mnpt/

I'm concerned about the pressure though. My understanding is that POL valves are meant to take the high-pressure gas from the tank. But rather than high-pressure gas, I've got a max of 20 PSI coming in (probably less because we're going from 3/8 -> 1/2 on the input). So I have two questions: 1) Is this the correct fitting? 2) Is the pressure here okay? Is it valid to go from a 1/2" pipe at relatively low pressure (compared to tank pressure) to POL? Will it cause me to lose appreciable pressure?

Assuming I can't do this, what's my next option? Remove the POL fitting from the regulator and use something else?

Simply changing pipe size does not affect pressure. Flow affects pressure: for a given pipe size, pressure drop increases as flow rate increases. Likewise, for a given flow rate, pressure drop increases as pipe size decreases. We can't say anything at all about the pressure drops that might occur in your system without knowing a lot more about the flow rate, ie the consumption by the gas appliance.

My first reaction is that the whole project has the suspicious feeling of being built on some false premise. I feel this way because gas appliances typically require an inlet pressure around 11 inches water column (about 0.4 PSI). It strikes me as "wrong" to have plumbing bringing gas into a building at 20 PSI.

As to the shopping part of the question: it looks like you've chosen a part that matches your description, but the vendor might be in a better position to confirm that.

As to whether the adjustable regulator can work with just 20 PSI on the input rather than full tank pressure: charts of Propane vapor pressure on Engineering Toolbox indicate that propane's vapor pressure at 0 degrees F is about 40 psia, which is about 25 PSI gauge pressure. If that regulator works when the propane is very cold, either because of winter weather or because of prolonged use, there may be reason to expect it'll work in the setup you described.


How do I determine the rough-in width and height of a window? I am thinking about replacing a set of double-hung windows with a single picture window.

To get it quoted and order the window, I need to determine the rough-in dimensions of the space. How do I do that?

Remove the trim and measure the rough opening or remove one piece of the trim and measure the thickness of the window frame and incorporate it into the measurement.

Typically the window company will take 1/4" off each of the measurements to give them 1/2" clearance to allow for out of plumb / level issues.  In an older house you might want to either just the square / plumb if you are installing or be ready for the installer to have a hard time.  Worst case they can shave down the rough opening so that it is a little bigger.

Replacing a window actually has many different factors.  Are you doing the install or are you hiring that out?  How are you water proofing the rough opening?  Is your exterior siding / trim staying as is with some plan to remove it from the existing window frame?

In my climate we use window header flashing (metal pieces on the exterior above the window rough opening) and blue skin on the sill rough opening.  These modern best practices are probably ignored in a renovation depending on siding type.


How to fix chipped cement I chipped the cement on my wall by accident.

What product can I use to easily fix that?

Do you think I can use Quikrete? It's going to be about 0F (or -17C) tonight. What do you think? Will the colors match too?

Thanks

A small-ish tub of ready mix stucco patch should do the trick.

A few notes:

be sure to knock off anything loose underneath
check the label for application/curing temperature. It may be too cold to use right now. (I don't know of any product that's specifically designed for cold weather application, though it might exist.)
a coarse sponge might help you get close to the texture, or you may find that you need to add something to the top layer (like coarse sand). It's not absolutely clear what your existing finish is made up of.

(edit to respond to your edit) I wouldn't use the quikrete you linked. Color is going to be hard to match. If consistency is something you're looking for, you'll probably need to do the entire walls up to the next corner.


How do I wire challenging bath situation I have opened up my bath with studs and ceiling exposed. I have one power source going into the room.  I have :

Ventilation Fan/Light/Night light
3 switch for one gang box
Vanity light that I wish tied to Main Light in Fan
Separate shower lights
Single switch for shower lights

I have 12/3 wire and 12/2 wire.

I know I'm going to split the power source to the shower light switch and to the 3 switch.

You can do it using only 12/2 and 12/3 cables like this.

Or you could use 12/2 and 12/4 cables like this.

Because there will be so many wires in the box, you'll want to get at least a 34 cu. in. double gang box.  Like this one.

NOTES:

I've excluded grounding conductors from the images to increase clarity. Do not forget to connect all grounding conductors.
These images assume the incoming power feeds into the switch box.
These images assume that both switches are in the same box.


Can I vent a bathroom fan through the eaves? I want to fit a fan in our bathroom.  The easiest way to do this seems to be to drill down from the loft and put it in directly above the shower.  I'm then considering running the vent (flex pipe) through the loft and tape it to the vents (already in the eaves).

Can anyone say whether this is acceptable, or is it likely to create damp in the eaves?

You should use a separate outlet for the pipe as the existing vents won't be able to cope with the volume of air and you'll probably end up with steam in the loft.

Did you buy a kit or separate components?

If you've got a kit then there should be an outlet grille in that, if not you should be able to get one at the same place you bought the fan and flex pipe.


Do gfci's have to be on a 20 amp circuit, or can they be on a 15A? Do GFCIs have to be on a 20 amp circuit? Also if you use the receptacle type GFCI, do you just need one in a circuit or do all receptacles have to be GFCI?

The amp rating of the receptacle and circuit do not depend on whether the receptacle is a GFCI or not:

If you have a 15 amp circuit, you must have 15 amp receptacles
If you have a 20 amp circuit, you can either have 20 amp receptacles, or 15 amp receptacles if there is more than one (e.g. a duplex receptacle).

It's not unusual to have a 20 amp GFCI in a residential setting since kitchens are A) required to have GFCIs, and B) required to have 20 amp circuits. You don't generally see 20A receptacles elsewhere in a house since there are virtually no home appliances that require 20 amps @ 110V.


UPS to bypass tripping a fuse? I have an apartment setup right now where one fuse has a fair amount of load on it.  (Fridge, Microwave, PC).  Rarely, when these are all used in conjunction, the fuse trips and I have to turn it back on (and I'm sure it's awful for these devices too!)  Would it be at all possible to put a UPS on the outlet, and then plug everything into the UPS instead?  That way when it's at a higher load, it falls back to the battery draining a little, instead of the fuse blowing?  Or is that not how a UPS works at all?  This is in the USA in case that matters for watts/voltage/whatever.

The fuse is there to prevent your wires from burning up in the walls. A UPS is for a short supply of backup power when the power goes out - not to bypass the tripping of a fuse/breaker. If you're not able to move these loads to different circuits, then you shouldn't use them all at once or allow them to be used together. You don't want to bypass a safety device.

As for your second question to alleviate the problem.. Yes, you should push something off to a different circuit. However, extension cords aren't intended to replace hardwiring not for "on/off" appliances like a heater or refrigerator. Of your situation, I'd say move the computer to a different circuit or extension cord as it's not a huge load.


How do I rid moisture under my deck that's causing rotting of boards? I've read not to put plastic under a deck. What can I do?

Plastic is okay underneath but not touching the deck's joists, i.e. on the ground. Put gravel on top to keep it in position. Secondly, ensure that there is a good airflow over the top of the gravel and under the deck structure. Never put anything between the deck structure and the decking material.

Ensure the ground is properly prepared under the deck structure/plastic sheeting by making sure water will not pool. I.e. slope everything away to surrounding ground or drainage.


Header for new window I am adding another windows to a sunroom. This will go under the left corner window on the landing (see picture). So of course I will take out the left and right jack studs and cut the middle stud down. I'm wondering if I can get away with cutting only the first left and right king studs to make a stronger window header. For the windows on the right they use two 2x6's of the same length for the header. Can I leave the first 2x6 as it is and then put in a longer one below it to span the cut king studs?

I wouldn't mess with your kings. The biggest weakness in a wall of windows like this is stiffness. You want as much lumber going full-height as possible.

Also, that's not a header. It doesn't carry any load and merely offers window flange mounting and horizontal stiffness.

Pull the jacks, double the "header" (mullion, really) and toenail it in well, and carry on.


Where should the floor transition from tile to carpet go? I have 2 rooms planned, one will be tiled and the other will be carpeted with a door opening between them.  Where should the tile stop and the carpet begin?  In the figure below I have 3 different locations, I think the middle of the door opening, but not sure.  The door opening is standard 2x4 wall between the rooms.

Figure 1 - Sample visual with possible locations.

If there's a door, under the door, directly.

Otherwise, either dead center or even with one edge or the other.  If there's no door, I'd say bring the carpet up to the edge of the tile, rather than cutting the tile to meet in the middle.

That said - it's a purely aesthetic choice.


What's the best way to repair this floor joist? Enroute to installing a new shower I find this giant hole cut out of the floor joist of the 1800's historic schoolhouse I call home.

Crazy thing is, the new shower placement...literally two inches over...makes more sense above ground and accommodates that pesky code rule that you actually have to be able to look down a drain and see the bottom of the p trap.

I'd hate to close up the floor if I could have done something to help repair that joist.  I enjoy building things in general, but projects around this old schoolhouse are extra special. I get to see things like these old joists and imagine the builder that first put them there in the first place so long ago. Wondered if anyone may offer a solution to right this path.

Considering you are probably putting the shower on top of this, you should definitely sister on a joist as large as is feasible. Be sure it runs as far as possible, hopefully to the bearing points (walls, etc.).

I am assuming the joist in question is the one at the bottom of the picture. If not, the advice should still apply.


Residential Air Conditioner Compressor Won't Start When I turn the air conditioning on in my house, air blows out of the vents but the air is not cool. The fan inside the outdoor A/C unit spins just fine as well but it seems that the compressor won't start. A few seconds after the air starts blowing out of the vents inside my house, I hear a short buzz/humming sound that lasts about half a second that I assume is the compressor trying to start. This buzzing sound happens about once every 15 seconds, so it seems like the compressor is still trying to start, but never does.

I have replaced the run capacitor in my unit (the only one I see) and it has not fixed the problem. Not sure if it matters but it seemed like before I replaced the capacitor, the compressor would only try to start once every minute or so, compared to once every 15 seconds after the new capacitor was installed.

The A/C circuit is never tripped in the electrical panel so it does not look like a short anywhere. I have also tested the resistance between all three terminals on the condenser itself and everything seems to be normal with readings between 0.5-2 Ohm depending on the pair of terminals being tested.

The unit was serviced last year and we were told we likely had a leak in the refrigerant system. We opted to have the refrigerant recharged and to try a sealant hoping to buy us a year or two longer. The unit is ~13 years old.

Make and Model: Armstrong Air Model no. SCU10B48A-7

Any ideas on how to get the compressor to run or what the problem might be?

I installed a hard start capacitor alongside the run capacitor and that seemed to give the compressor the boost it needed to get running again. The hard start capacitor I used was a Supco SPP6.


Looking for the right thermostat- is it this hard I want to do something that sounds really simple but cannot get a solid answer.
I'm looking to set it and forget it.
SW Pennsylvania sometimes one needs heat and cool the same day.
I have a dog living in the house that likes normal temps.
Here's what I want to do...
Set the thermostat at 70 degrees.
When the temp reaches 68 - it heats to 70
When the temp reached 72- it cools to 70
Without the need to manually switch between heat and cool on the T stat.
Is this possible?
Will the heat and cool cycles constantly work against each other given my scenario?
Forced air gas furnace, High efficiency cooling.
Thanks for any help.
Charles

These are very common, any thermostat that you can find that offers and "Auto" mode should be able to cool and heat based on what's needed without any action from your part.
However, the way you described the functionality is a bit different than what the thermostat will do. The auto feature will run a HEAT program along with a COOL program but they cannot be set to the same temperature otherwise the system will go crazy. For example, you could set the HEAT temperature to 70 and the COOL temperature to 74. Then as soon as the indoor temps goes to low 70 it would trigger the HEAT and stay around 70 until outdoor conditions are warming the house. At that point it will not activate again until the COOL set temperature is reached and will then keep it at 74.
You have to accept some variation in indoor temperature otherwise you system will just switch from HEAT to COOL all the time and you will be paying to cool down the heat that you also paid to bring into the house.


Covering up tile gaps There are some holes in between these walls:

What are some proper (and inexpensive) ways to cover them up such that:

they can't be seen
crawlies are not able to get in

Grout - you are going to have to trial and error the color since there are about 30 shades of white.   You need to mix the grout - super super small batch, let it dry, make sure color is close enough, then fill the gaps.   You will need to read instructions on how to do this but that is a different question.   Do not just fill the gaps with whatever you find as different coloring will look really really bad.   You can get away with some variance but can't be way off.


Adding a spacer block between king stud and switch box I'm framing a small wall to create some closet space. If I mount the light switch box directly to the king stud of the doorway, the door trim will interfere with the switch plate, so I wanted to bump the box out by putting a short scrap of 2x4 between the box and the king stud. Is there anything in the NEC that prohibits that?

That's common practice. As long as the framing member is rigidly attached it doesn't really matter what other function it serves or what it's called. (Jester stud?)


Is my drain vent clogged? Water is coming out of our what I assume is a stink pipe. We live within city limits. This is located in our basement. City says we have no exterior clean out. We plan on calling to have this pipe snaked out and hope that is the issue. Any suggestions what else it could be?

We live within city limits.

Depending on where you live, the sewer system may be tied into the storm drain system. When you get enough water in the system, it can back up into the sewer line in your house

A sewer backflow valve can prevent waste water backups, particularly from a public sewer. But before we get into the details and benefits of a sewer backwater valve, let’s explain what backwater is. Sewer backflow is a term used in plumbing for unexpected and unwanted flow of water in reverse direction. Normal plumbing allows wastewater to flow from a home to the city sewer, but backflow is the exact opposite.
When backflow happens, there can be a serious health risk due to contaminated waste water entering your premises. Backflow occurs when the municipal drainage system or city sewer overflows, and sends water back through a sewer pipe into your home. Immediate proper clean-up is required to prevent risk of disease and further damage to property.

You might be experiencing what that article terms a "sewer surcharge", but on a smaller scale. If you do not have a backflow valve installed (and most homes do not), the sewage can back up into your house. Even if this is not the issue here, I would check to make sure you have one installed.


Can I control just a ceiling fan light kit with the switch and leave the fan powered? Is this easy to wire to make it work like that? What would I have to do? Thanks in advance!

As others have said you could add the extra wiring which should be fairly easy given the wiring is in conduit.
An alternate option would be to leave the wiring mostly as is and simply add a ceiling fan remote control. You can by one for $20-30. These come in two parts. The part that you insert in the ceiling fan that sits between the switch and the fan/light and the remote. The are sold as generic units that work with almost all ceiling fans/lights.
Even with conduit adding the remote is probably easier and meets the requirement of allowing you to individually control the fan and light.


How should I jumper the transformer to use a thermostat with my heat pump? I am hooking up an aftermarket blower motor on my Trane XL 1400 AC/heat pump. I have a black, blue, red & white wires coming out of the new motor. I am bypassing the circuit board so I am connecting black & white wires to to outside of the contactor, and capping off the red, which is low speed anyways.

How do I hook a jumper up from the transformer so I will be able to use my thermostat?

I believe that I should a variable speed unit. The old motor should have had a whole mess of white wires connected to the control board along with a couple colored wires. I have never tried to retrofit one with a PSC motor, other parts of the system probably won’t work. At any rate you would at least need a relay since the blower is 240 volt and the thermostat is 24 volt. If this were a standard PSC motor originally just hook the common to one leg of the contractor and run the speed tap through the relay. Hook the common wire to one side of the coil and the fan wire to the other side of the coil.


where should I install the bypass duct and humidistat of a whole house humidifier where should I install the bypass duct and humidistat of a whole house humidifier if the humidifier was installed on the return line?
I have the Honeywell Model # HE120A1010 Drum whole house humidifier.
And I have 3 zones in the house.

The intake duct comes from the heated air supply -- so basically the closest place you can get it before any of your zones (to ensure it is getting air anytime the furnace is on, regardless of zone).

The humidistat can go anywhere it's able to sense humidity, though many have a probe designed to stick into the airflow of a duct. If duct-mounted, the normal place is to put it in the return vent before the humidifier: this gives a good overall sense of humidity levels in the house. For the most part, the house will mostly be at a uniform humidity level, but temperature can affect humidity so if there are rooms/areas of significantly different temperature they might have a different level.

Here's my setup, for reference:

I used a piece of 5" semi-rigid flex duct and a couple of adjustable elbows.

Initially I was using the humidistat shown here, but I've since switched to having it controlled by my thermostat, which automatically adjusts the humidity based on outdoor temperature to keep it as high as possible without getting condensation on the windows.

Also, if it came with a saddle valve, do yourself a favor and throw that in the trash. You'll have to turn the water on and off a couple times a season and saddle valves fail (by leaking and/or not shutting off) after a half dozen or so cycles. Buy a decent brass quarter-turn valve with a compression fitting sized for whatever supply tube you're using.


What unpowered bladed tool can make deep beveled cuts in sheet material? I can use a tablesaw the bevel the edges of a sheet of material.

I can use a circular saw or jig saw with a bevel attachment to make similar cuts in the middle of the sheet instead of the edges. If I use a jig saw, those cuts can turn and curve.

I would like to make similar cuts to what a jig saw can make, but in less hard material and with razor blades instead of a powered saw. My target depth is about 1 inch, so something that uses standard trapezoidal box cutter blades would be appropriate.

Is there a tool that can do this?

Mat board cutters come close, but they seem to generally only do one or two specific angles, and I haven't found one that can make non-straight cuts.

You could make some utility or razor blade holders from wood. Saw a rectanglular block down the length at the desired bevel angle, clean up with a hand plane, then clamp the blade in the centre using predrilled screws, from both sides.

You can then use it by drawing it against a fence, either plunging like the mat cutters or starting from the edge of the material.

It would be inexpensive to make a few standard angles; you could extend the range by placing thin shims along the part closest to the fence to achieve steeper intermediary angles.


Running irrigation pipes under a large concrete pad I'm planning on redoing the irrigation system in the back yard and considering extending it to cover the front yard as well.  My only problem, the house is completely surrounded by a concrete patio.  My best run would be from the rear beds to the front beds under about 30' of concrete.  But the front beds are only 2 feet wide, so the target is pretty small.

Is it even possible to bore that distance under the concrete and get it in the front bed?  Both beds are in a line and 2 feet deep.  The soil is loamy with with no rocks.  My method of attempting to do this would be with a water hose attached to the pipe i'm sending under the concrete.  If it is not possible to hit the target with pvc pipe, would galvanized fair better?

I am not saying there is no way you can do this, but there is basically no way.  It would not be worth the time or effort and quite possibly you could spend a lot of time and effort and accomplish nothing.  Going across a double driveway from experience is super iffy and you are adding at least another 10 feet.  I don't see how you are going to keep adequate pressure for 30 feet and I don't see how you are going to keep it from veering up or down (if it goes up you could get stuck and compromise the stability of the pad and if it goes down you might never find it).

I would rather dig 100 feet out and back then do this.  There has to be a better alternative.  Another would be going through the house or picking an area where the pad could be busted up.  I know this is a long comment but could answer better with pictures.


Replacing a single-pole switch with a dimmer I recently installed a new LED light fixture. It's a bit bright, so I'm replacing the single-pole switch with a Lutron CL Ariadni dimmer switch (the fixture is dimmable). The existing switch has two black wires going to it and no ground wire. (Power is off.)

The new dimmer switch has a ground wire. It also has one copper colored screw and two gold colored screws (one on each side). The instructions say "if you are replacing a single-pole switch, the screw on the same side as the different-colored screw is not used." So I'll be using the copper screw and the gold screw on the other side.

How should the new dimmer switch be wired in? Should I just use the two black wires that were connected to the original switch? What about the ground wire, should I remove one of the ground wires from the pigtail and connect the switch's ground wire to that? Should I just add the switch's ground wire to the ground pigtail?

This is actually how you want to see your switches done. Except for the ground. You should always ground the switch when able and I don't see any reason why this one couldn't have been grounded. One of the wires into the box is the power (it's the wire coming off the switch that leads to the nutted group). The un-nutted black leads to your fixture. There's a matching white (neutral) that's pigtailed as well (you don't need to mess with it).

You should do as the instructions say and use only the screws indicated. The extra screw is for a three-way. Since the dimmer has a ground wire, just add it to the existing ground (bare) pigtail.


make plumber's putty soft I have some amount of putty which has dried, it isn't old though. Is it possible to make it soft as clay again? Normally how long can a putty last when open?

I’ve had mine for about 2 1/2 years and still seems playable. The manufacturer of my “wood filler” makes a “Thinner” which they claim “Restores solvent based wood fillers to their original consistency.”

BTW, where I live there’s an ‘ol finish carpenter that we all admire how close his filler in the nail holes match the stain of the wood. A few years ago I stuck around on a job and watched him work. After he cut the trim boards, he saved the sawdust and mixed it in the wood putty. Clever.  Now, I think, there is putty that can be stained to match wood.


How do I frame a room inside a garage so that the room's ceiling will not touch the garage ceiling? I am considering building a small 6 x 9 room inside my garage to use as an office. However, I do not want to remove the garage door opener unit nor the tracks the door slides on because we will want to continue using that door for access to the garage.

I have seen a few resources with guides for framing but all show the top plate of the room being secured to an existing ceiling. In my case I want the ceiling to be independent.

Also, the height from the floor to the garage door slider tracks is 8 feet. With some play I am thinking I will be OK with a 7 foot ceiling but I am not too thrilled with a ceiling that low. Any creative recommendations for dealing with garage door sliders?

You are essentially building a self-supporting flat-roofed shed inside the garage, not adding interior walls to the garage.

You should be able to screw a 2x4 sill plate onto the garage floor. The sill plate is mostly there in case the concrete is uneven. It could be pressure-treated in order to resist rotting from moisture on the floor or in the concrete. (In that case, use galvanized nails to nail the sole plate to it.) If you don't build a floor, I think the sole plate of the walls could be screwed directly into the floor, avoiding the sill.

Since you're in a cold climate, you may want to build and insulate a floor. If so, place the rim joists, then hang the remaining joists with joist hangers, insulate, then glue and nail on plywood sheathing. If the joists go in the short direction and are spaced 16" o.c. you should in theory be OK with 2x4 joists, but the code may require 2x6 as a minimum, and that would leave more space for insulation.

Next, frame the walls individually, sheathe them with plywood or OSB, and raise them. If you have a sill or subfloor, face-nail the sole plate to the floor with 16d nails 16" o.c. Sheathing the walls adds lateral support, and thereby helps keep them square. This is a lot easier to do while the walls are still flat on the floor, before you raise them. Make sure to double the top plate.

Finally, frame an "attic subfloor" as a ceiling for your office. In response to your question, the ceiling is somewhat similar to a wall, but the joists must be hung properly (not just end-nailed like the studs in a wall), and the sheathing (plywood or OSB) needs to be glued as well as nailed. Sheathing this subfloor is essential for stability. As mentioned, if spaced 16" o.c., 2x4 is sufficient to span 6 ft, but your code may require 2x6 anyway.

Check out the framing books at the home improvement or bookstore, or google for "framed floor" and "platform framing". Check your building code for insulation requirements. You will probably need a building permit.

The ceiling height may be an issue, once you subtract 6 inches for a floor and 6 inches for a ceiling.


How can I build a privacy fence? I'm about to install a privacy fence around a decent sized area of land, both for privacy and to keep my 3 year old daughter and our two basset hounds safely away from the road.

I'm installing the fence with 6' pickets on the back and 4' pickets around the rest of the yard. I was wondering:

if there was a general guideline for the spacing of the 4x4 posts
how tall the posts should be in relation to the picket height
how much of the 4x4 post to put into the ground and cemented in
any other advice from people with experience?

I also was curious as to how to install a gate that would be wide enough to drive a riding mower through but not sag on one side and dig into the ground.

Eight feet is a common distance between posts, due to it being a standard lumber length.  You will have a stiffer, longer lasting fence at 6-7 ft. An integer number of pickets with your desired spacing is a good way to decide from a design standpoint.
I prefer to sink posts to at least frost level (42" in my area). The 1/3 advice is good if frost is not an issue.

I also prefer crushed gravel (21AA or paver base) to place wooden posts (versus concrete or pea gravel). 3-4" in the bottom of the hole (beneath post), continuing up the sides of the posts to just below the surface. Give the post a push after first 5" and tamp along all 4 sides as you fill. This technique will greatly extend post life and minimize rot.

I've used the gate brackets that you build into the gate which have hinges built in. They will stabilize a 42" gate (each side). Extra long screws on the top hinge are helpful.  Stainless steel cable run diagonally (with adjustment turnbuckles) run from the top of the hinge to bottom of the gate (at the opposite corner) will make it sag proof.

Disclaimer 1  user of product, no financial connection:

Disclaimer 2:  Haven't used it but sounds interesting, YMMV (Near) Instant fence post backfill


Why is a 250 Watt heat lamp over a shower going out after a few minutes? Heat Lamp goes out after approx 12-15 minutes, obviously getting hot.

could be lamp have a thermal coupling?

Seems I should be able to add a 250 watt on any circuit without damage.

Why is the light going out?

Most bathroom heater/lamps have timers to prevent fire (the lamp and housing get hot, not the wires) or accidentally running up a large electric bill. Turn the lamp off and then on again to reset it, if it's a timer. If it's a thermostatic safety device, you'll have to wait for it to cool.


one gang wall plate with three toggle switches I am looking to replace a one gang wall plate  (3 toggle switches.).  Going to a big box store (lowes) I was told that they do not carry such an item .  From what I can see  a 2 gang plate with three toggle switches is most common.
The home was built in 1943.  Is such a plate even available any longer (one gang)??  I recall an illustration of what "gang" means in your answer to a another person's question and I saw the plate cover I was looking for.

You may need to replace your existing triple-pole triple-throw switch with a more modern version that takes a standard Decora front plate.

Eaton makes such a switch, it's available from Home Depot model number 7729W-SP, and looks like this:

Then you just need a Decora front plate like this:


Dryer Fittings, Was NG, now LP, but Fitting on Back is Smaller than LP Flexpipe I'm trying to find the right conversion for this last part. I've already converted the dryer internally, but on the back on the dryer is a male threading that measures 1/2inch across
And the flexpipe that I have says 3/8 nut  The nut is much bigger than the male part on the dryer. What part on Amazon or Home Depot would help me couple these? I'm not looking to buy a $30 new flexpipe if a coupler will suffice, unless you all think its unsafe. I have proper gas taping waiting for me.
So far my noob self is looking at this amazon part wondering if its what I need, but i clearly need some help as I do not know. https://www.amazon.com/Industrial-Fitting-Reducer-Adapter-Female/dp/B07XDNK93G/ref=sr_1_10?dchild=1&keywords=3%2F8+male+to+1%2F4+female+adapter&qid=1606450984&sr=8-10

The fitting your link leads to is likely NOT the fitting you need.
Your dryer has a male 3/8" NPT (commonly referred to as 3/8" pipe thread) inlet to which an adapter has been attached. The adapter changes the male 3/8" NPT to 3/8" male flare thread to fit a smaller flex supply tube than the one in your second picture. NOTE- NPT (pipe thread) and flare thread are distinctly and deliberately not compatible with each other, hence the use of an adapter.
To connect your flexible supply tube to the dryer you would need to remove the existing adapter from your dryer inlet and install a fitting that will fit your flex line. I suspect that the connection nuts on your flex line have 1/2" flare threads (I say "suspect" because your picture does not show the inside of the nut; disregard the size stamped on the nut because that is a reference to the nominal inside diameter of the flex tube itself, not the thread in the connector nut).
You will need this adapter: 3/8" FIP (female iron pipe; or "pipe thread") x 1/2" male flare. It will look like this:

NOTE- always ensure that your flex supply line is rated for use with the fuel supply (in your case propane/LPG). Also, the manufacturers of those flex supply lines generally consider them a "one time use" product and do not recommend re-using them.


Ceiling Texture brush Which stipple brush will match this particular ceiling texture?

This is created by a crow's foot texture brush.  The brush looks like this:

To see how it's used, refer to HOW TO TEXTURE (OR RETEXTURE) CEILINGS written by Mallory Danks.


Ontario condo light installation My friend's condo has a junction box installed in the ceiling, but no light.

Can we legally install a light here? Ontario's ESA page states that installing a light requires a permit, but does that include installing a light onto an existing junction box?
If we remove the cover, we see the following wires:

green (connected as though it's ground)
white
orange
yellow
blue
brown

We were expecting a green, white and black (or red) wire. The green white and orange wire appear to emerge from the same point on the side of the box. Am I correct in assuming that the orange wire is live?

The crossbar and the cut yellow wire suggest that a lamp was previously installed there.

It is OK to install a lamp yourself but to comply with code you must call a licensed electrician to inspect your work. I can see from the picture that the ground (green bundle) is being used as a neutral connection (white wires) and the end of the yellow wire is just floating, so even if you do nothing you will need an electrician to make it safe.


Help with re-wiring a two circuit outlet with one controlled by switch (https://i.stack.imgur.com/Y7RKV.jpg)

(https://i.stack.imgur.com/yb0Ns.jpg)

I am trying to reconnect the wires for this outlet but have run into an issue. The pictures above were taken before everything was disconnected, however the wiring in the wingnut with in the box was disconnected before a better picture could be taken.

This outlet is under the kitchen sink for the garbage disposal and dishwasher. Each has their own circuit breaker. The garbage disposal is running off a switch while the dishwasher is always hot. There is a three wire and two wire bundle running into the box.

It looks like red and white from the three wire are running into the outlet. Black from the two wire is also running into the outlet. The grounds are all wingnut it together.

What I want to verify is would it make sense in this arrangement for black from the three wire to be wingnuted to white from the two wire?  This appears to be what is going on in the image, however I don’t want to connect it and risk burning out any wiring when the breakers get switched on if this would not be correct.

Yes, it looks like this is a switch loop type wiring arrangement.  The black in the /3 cable brings "hot" from the breaker panel.  It then goes to the TAGGED/MARKED white wire in the /2 cable, which is the always-hot wire going up to the disposal switch.

The switch does (or does not) connect the TAGGED/MARKED white "always-hot" wire to the disposal's "switched-hot" wire, which is the black wire.  That goes to the disposal outlet.

Code now requires several things missing from this installation.  Partly that is because this installation is a "multi-wire branch circuit" (MWBC), two circuit hots sharing 1 neutral.

The white wire must be tagged/marked a color (or black) to indicate it is in use as a hot wire.
The two circuit breakers which power the disposal and dishwasher need a handle-tie so that when you shut one off, the other also shuts off.  The handle-tie must be UL listed specifically for the breakers. Finding this correct handle-tie is often hard, so we recommend simply replacing both breakers with a 2-pole breaker.  Such a breaker inherently has a "handle tie" built in from the factory.
Your situation might be grandfathered, but if not, the dishwasher needs GFCI protection.   The only way to accomplish this, given your circuit layout, is a 2-pole GFCI breaker in the service panel.   This will also take care of the above issue, and provide GFCI protection for the disposal as well.
It is vitally important that this MWBC not be fed off a duplex/tandem/double-stuff breaker (2 breakers in one breaker space). People often confuse double-stuffs with 2-pole breakers, but the giveaway is that the handles are not factory tied.

If you need guidance selecting a suitable breaker for your panel, ask - we have experts on that subject!  Do not just slap in any random breaker into any random panel; they may seem to fit but will arc and damage the breaker and panel.


I have toilet water disappearing after neighbor flushes toilet I come home and have maybe 1" of water in bottom of stem in base of bowl.  This happens when neighbor flushes her toilet.  I have had a plumber here, he has reset the toilet & new wax ring, gone on roof to vent from the top, routed in toilet out to sewer system to find NO blockages, he has even been over to check neighbors feed to sewer & found no blockages. He has no answers any more to help.  This started 1 year ago water started being removed after neighbor flushing just a little now 1 year later all my bowl water is now gone.  Neighbor has been there 8 years with no problems prior, I have no animals and the only thing that I have seen is the utilities dug up shallow wires and fixed it in the front area. Any thoughts?

I agree with Ed Beal, the plumber should actually route/snake/auger both of your vents from the roof...it seems like the neighbor's vent is clogged. There should also be vents by the street & those should be cleared as well. Either way it should be a venting clog problem, typically from crazy birds loading your first bend from the roof.


Dedicated Laundry Room Circuit? I live in Florida. According to the Florida Residential Building Codes (2017):

  E3703.3 Laundry circuit. A minimum of one 20-ampere-rated branch circuit shall be provided for
  receptacles located in the laundry area and shall serve only
  receptacle outlets located in the laundry area. [210.11(C)(2)]

Can this circuit also supply overhead lighting in the laundry room, and also adjacent rooms? I ask because the definition of a receptacle outlet is defined as (Chapter 35):

  RECEPTACLE. A receptacle is a contact device installed at the outlet for the connection of an attachment plug. A single receptacle is a single contact device with no other contact device on the same yoke. A multiple receptacle is two or more contact devices on the same yoke.

  RECEPTACLE OUTLET. An outlet where one or more receptacles are installed.

At first glance I would say laundry code reads as ...shall serve only receptacle outlets, and those receptacle outlets shall be located in the laundry area.

However, immediately following, the FBC goes on to define bathroom circuits:

  E3703.4 Bathroom branch circuits. A minimum of one 20-ampere branch
  circuit shall be provided to supply bathroom receptacle outlet(s).
  Such circuits shall have no other outlets. [210.11(C)(3)]

  Exception: Where the 20-ampere circuit supplies a single bathroom,
  outlets for other equipment within the same bathroom shall be
  permitted to be supplied in accordance with Section E3702.
  [210.11(C)(3) Exception)

This specifically calls out "outlets", which I believe includes overhead lighting -- but, in the laundry room, it calls out receptacle outlets.

  OUTLET. A point on the wiring system at which current is taken to supply utilization equipment.

Does this mean that, receptacle outlets excluded, the dedicated laundry circuit can still supply outlets in other rooms? Particularly shared lighting? Can it provide lighting in the laundry room?

EDIT: I guess my confusion comes from the code specifically mentioning a limitation on receptacle outlets but not outlets in general, as to where the bathroom code, which does the same, specifically calls out that Such circuits shall have no other outlets whereas laundry does not make this very specific point.

EDIT 2: Here is the Florida Building Codes

This is really NEC language in disguise, so we can look there for details

While you are reading the Florida Residential Building Code, which is based on the International Residential Code, the section numbers in the IRC that begin with E are special in that they are basically a subset of the NEC, applicable only to residential buildings:

  This Electrical Part is a compilation of provisions extracted from the 2017 edition of the NEC.

As a result, for further guidance in interpreting the Electrical Part of the IRC, we turn to the correlating NEC sections (cited in brackets), starting with 210.11(C)(2):

  (2) Laundry Branch Circuits. In addition to the number of
  branch circuits required by other parts of this section, at least
  one additional 20-ampere branch circuit shall be provided to
  supply the laundry receptacle outlet(s) required by 210.52(F).
  This circuit shall have no other outlets.

This clearly states that the laundry small appliance branch circuit shall have no other outlets on it, which means that it cannot supply any lighting loads.


How do I know if my engineered hardwood is glued down? I'm planning on replacing my hardwood floors but I don't know if my current floors are glued down, floating, or nailed. Is there a way to find out before starting?
This is on the second floor, so the base is wood. The same hardwood is installed on the first floor with a concrete slab.

There are a few ways to check this out. Like Michael stated above, a register is a good place to start. You can also look for a short piece of base board and remove it and check to see if the floor lifts up. Check any thresholds or transition pieces because many snap into a track and can be easily removed.


Can I connect my new oven to the existing circuit breaker? I am replacing a 10 year old electric oven. There are actually two ovens I am replacing.  There are four wires times two coming out of each conduit for each of the ovens. They lead to the circuit panel where there are 2 (two) 30 amp breakers connected to one another for each oven circuit. So 2 sets of 2x30 breakers.  My oven model is rated at 3.6kw so the install instructions say it should have a separate 20amp breaker.  Can I just connect it to the 2x30amp breakers or do I  need to install lower, 20 amp breaker?

Simple. Replace the breaker for that oven with a 20A version since that's what the instructions call for.

You're lucky that the wire is almost certainly large enough for 20A. Going down in breaker size is FINE. Going up rarely is.


Waxing Spar Urethane finished product Is it practical to wax an article that has been finished with spar urethane?
This item will be exposed to the weather for 4 - 6 hours on occasion.
If waxing is practical, how long should the urethane cure before waxing?
Thanks,

Is it ... practical ... to wax urethane?

Well, it can be done.  You would be ill-advised to do so before the urethane fully cures.  My stuff wants 30 days, but yours is surely 1-part urethane which cures via reaction with air or moisture, so I'd give it a few months.

My concern is, I don't see how much good it will do.  Obviously you're very attached to the idea of "waxing" things, and I gather that is wisdom handed down over the ages. That is wrong-headed because coating technology changes much faster than that; all folk wisdom is obsolete.  If you were using a traditional varnish, then you should use trad maintenance techniques (but you wouldn't use wax for that).   But you went for urethane because either you wanted less work or more durability.

That said, I don't see any harm to it... though when it comes time to recoat with an actual varnish, you'll regret it.  Wax is one of the four horsemen of the apocalypse when you're trying to prepare a surface for recoating (the others being linseed oil, silicones, and latex paint). It will require tedious, painstaking, complete removal with harsh chemicals, or the next coat will fish-eye and you'll have a ton of work to do.  I shudder just thinking about it.

As far as resisting UV damage, polyurethane is already pretty good at that.

Since you went after poly you presumably want a higher performance coating.  If so, avoid spar varnish.  Spar varnish is for spars.  Spars bend a lot, and normal varnishes will crack and split, admitting water, trapping it and rotting the spar.  So spar varnish has a lot of additives to make it flexible at the expense of traits you want in a varnish.  Not least, on normal brightwork you want a very hard varnish that will resist scuffing, because scuffing reduces gloss and gloss is the varnish's best defense.

They make even higher performance coatings, but you will sacrifice "easy application" or "classic appearance", depending on the product you use.


Condensate drain does not drain properly My air handler is located in the garage and for some reason it will not drain properly until the fan shuts off.Unfortunately I cannot figure out how to add a photo but it has a vent pipe coming out of the air handler then a trap leading to outside

Make sure that the vent pipe is the same size as the drain line coming from the coil and is before the trap. Also the trap has to be of sufficient size and has a lot of fall, so any negative pressure remaining after the vent will not cause the drain to reverse and keep the water from draining from the rest of the piping going to the outside.


Should I use a vapor barrier when repairing a portion of the wall? I'm replacing sheetrock 2.5' up from subfloor in remedy to mold issue.

Does it make sense/provide benefit to put up a vapor barrier for this portion of the wall?
The sheetrock that remains is foil-backed, if that matters.

This is a really interesting question.  Given that you are only doing some of the wall I would say NO.

First I could see the point of doing it.  You put up a vapor barrier and if water gets in the wall it leaves via condensation and doesn't hit the back of the drywall.  Given that you have proper airflow in the wall cavity.  This would certainly be a pro.

The con is that if you get water from above and it trickles down, it will get trapped between the vapor barrier and drywall.  This would cause issues with even a small amount of moisture.  So here I think the con wins.  Also if I have moisture in my walls I would rather just see it faster, not become a bigger issue.  Replacing 2.5 feet of drywall is the optimal issue to have right?


Panel without basepan but insulating sheet only.. long term problem? I'd like to know how common are these panels that don't use plastic basepan but has only insulating sheet between the chassis and the plug-in bus bar like the following:

(click to enlarge)

What are its long term problem for those who used it. Can these reddish insulating sheet tear?  What is it exactly made of?

My concern is one of the hot bus bar touching the metal chassis (in grey). What brands carry these just to see how it compares to those brands using the plastic basepan.

I'm thinking whether I should replace my main panel.

The insulation is tough and if that is your only concern I would not replace a panel for this reason. Industrial panels have similar insulation on much larger panels think up to 3000 amps at 480 these are the largest panels I currently support and they are many years old and have never had an issue with the buss shorting out.


Rebuilding an exterior deck is it better to use screws or nails? I have a deck that is old and falling apart so it is time to replace it.  To replace the deck boards I plan to remove existing, measure boards, cut new board and put the same size and board back into place.  The deck hasn't been replaced in twenty years and it currently has nails.  Many tutorials and research show using screws.  After a search under the deck tag I didnt see any questions on why screws would be better then nails other than I would imagine over times nails could back out.  So why are screws better for deck boards then nails?  Is there a particular screw other than a normal wood screw that would be good for decks?

Not the best answer, but:

Use screws on the top boards where people will be walking barefoot.  Every kid has had a wicked gash from nails (naturally) poking up a bit.

Use big a** nails to attach your cross beams to your main structure.  Nails are only good at holding against a shear, i.e. nails should always be (and only be) parallel with the ground.

Use large lag screws to hold together your 4x4(?) frame, the main, big parts.

Your deck will experience changes in temperature and the wood and fasteners will not adjust at the same rate.  You want some give in a deck because of this.  You also want some give because of the sporadic forces that humans will put on it.  Nails provide some give.  Screws provide absolutely no give; they will destroy the wood around before they back out.

Putting screws on the "floor boards" will wear out the boards faster, but in my opinion that is the sacrifice to prevent injuring the fragile humans.

Please also see this question.  Those people are much smarter and concise than me.


Can I swap my natural gas water heater for an electric model in my hydronic system? I'm in the market for a new water heater and had some questions.
Current unit is an 50g Envirosense Power Direct Vent heater (Model No. 6G50100N full specs). The water heater is part of a hydronic system meaning it's also the source of heat for my home, I don't have a standalone furnace.
Despite being less efficient, I'd really love to switch from natural gas to an electric as, per Saul Griffith, I'm trying to replace all natural gas appliances I have with electric models to do my part against climate change.
(Note that this only works because in Ontario, where I live, 96% of electricity is provided by zero-carbon sources like nuclear and hydroelectric so electrifying this appliance doesn't end up netting more carbon.)
The issue I have is that I'm not sure I can use an electric unit.
Current model has a recovery rate of 116.36 US Gallons / Hour. Electric models I find online seem to have recovery rates that barely break 25 G / H. My concern is that, since this is part of a hydronic system, my current recovery rate is needed to be able to heat my home in the winter (I live in Canada) as well as supply regular hot water needs (showers, dishwasher, etc.).
Am I stuck getting a natural gas unit to match that recovery rate? Are there any engineers who could help me with a ballpark calculation I could do to determine the "minimum recovery rate" I need, given that I have a hydronic system?

The revolution you're talking about won't be powered by well-wishes or symbolic purchases. That's actually worse than nothing, because it results in failed installations, wasting resources and disillusioning people about the new technologies.
No, it requires actual knowledge and skillful application of craft.
Start by identifying the equipment you do have
You don't have a water heater.  You have a hydronic system that is gas-fired, and that system both heats the house and heats your water.  Hydronic systems are able to use radiators or baseboard water-fed heaters.   However it also might have an air handling system which circulates heated/cooled air throughout the house.  Since hydronic systems cannot provide air conditioning, the house must have a separate A/C approach, and that would need air handling because air conditioning doesn't work with radiators.
So, status quo ante, you have three systems that either are interconnected, or will be:

Water heating
House heat
House air conditioning

So far, your proposal is to rip out only the water heater, and convert it to resistive electric heating.  That will leave a mish-mash of scattered tech behind, including 2/3 of a gas hydronic system and That 70's air conditioner. And I'm guessing that proposal is because that's the only thing you know so far.
The math on resistive electric heating
OK, so let's take a look at that water heating requirement and do some math.  A "BTU" is the scientific unit for the energy it takes to raise 1 pound of water 1 degree F.  (the output of various furnaces and the like are called "BTUs" but are actually BTU/hour).
Suppose our recovery rate is 1 gallon per hour (bear with me).  1 gallon of water weighs 8.33 pounds.  Taking cool 50F water off the street and raising it to a bacteria-safe 140F requires 90 degrees rise.  Well, 8.33 x 90 is 750 BTU.  1 watt-hour is 3.41 BTUs.  So 1 gallon per hour needs 220 watt-hours per hour... or more simply: 1 gallon per hour recovery needs 220 watts.
25 gallons per hour recovery needs 220 x 25 == 5500 watts. Which happens to be exactly the watt rating of your common everyday electric water heater.   It works out to 23 amps.   (which is derated 125% to 28.75A, and that just fits on a 30A breaker.  Imagine that.)
Now, your oddly specific 116.36 GPH recovery rate, you need 25,600 watts, or 106.66 amps.  Derated, that takes 133.33 amps, leaving little remaining room on a 200A service. Realistically, that won't fit on a 200A service with your other stuff. You'll need a "Class 320" 400A service to power this and your other electric ambitions, which is real money.  By the way, the hydronic system goes in the trash in this scenario.  Electric can provide heat directly in the same locations as the radiators.
But even so, this is yesterday's news. And you will not like the electric bill if you do it this way.
Method 1: New style heat pumps
Air conditioning is the wildcard here.  What's maddening about North American practice is air conditioning systems is almost a heat pump - which is an essential aspect of the next-gen tech that you want.
This is a superb explainer, and you have to watch it. OK?.
I bet you didn't know air conditioners only needed one more valve to do that trick.
Modern heat pumps are stupidly more efficient than classic air conditioners, and that too is why they're part of the solution.  Heat pumps let you tick two boxes: a) heating and b) air conditioning.
The usual heat pump involves using air handling (not radiators) because the air conditioning mode requires air handling.
That crosses off hydronic systems, but we can still score a win with water heating, because They make "heat pump" water heaters too.  The normal heat pump water heater takes heat from the utility room, so you'll need to heat that room to effectively put that heat into the water.
Or method 2: a ground sourced heat pump
This is a special type of heat pump that eliminates the big evaporator/condenser unit outside... as well as most of its noise.  It is not interchanging heat with the fickle ambient air... but rather, the more stable earth temperature.
Here is an explainer on that.
This happens one of two ways: Either you use a well to pump water out of the earth (and return it some distance away via another well)... or you bury a bunch of coolant loops and run antifreeze through them.
This works more efficiently because the ground source is cooler in summer and warmer in winter than the ambient air.
...And keep your hydronic system
They make heat pumps specifically for hydronic systems.   You can get ones which interchange with ambient air, or that interchange with a ground source.
So, you replace the "gas boiler" component with a heat pump unit, and nothing else changes.
A hydronic, ground-sourced system is the "best of all worlds (but one)" system.  It is the only system that allows the hot water heater to source energy externally.
What's more, because ground-sourced systems are efficient year-round, there simply is no need for expensive resistive "emergency heat", and that means you don't need 400A electrical service.
However, again, you need an air handler to make air conditioning work.
They solved that problem
Older heat pumps had a problem: they could not work in the very cold, and so they required those expensive resistive "toaster heaters" to heat the house during those times. A friend in the northern US has an older heat pump system that used 30A for the heat pump, *but 140A for the "emergency heat" resistive heating. Yikes! That reason alone forced my friend into 400A service.   (you may recall this happened in Texas; all those heat pump systems calling for emergency heat made it impossible for the electric grid to recover.)
Newer heat pumps solve this one of two ways:

Ground-sourcing, where the ground is always temperate; or
A much wider operating range, due to better refrigerant choices, and better electronic controls, which make it easy to have a a "self-defrosting" cycle.


Why is my toilet backing up? I have a house bulit in 1959 and the original bathroom/toilet keeps backing up. Not sure how old the toilet is.

The plumber says its a 3" steel line running out to the yard and he installed 4" pvc out to the street.

He has put the machine down the hole and it still backs up.

Could age of the toilet be an issue or is it the pipe from toilet to edge of house?

The problem is probably in one of these places:

Between the toilet and the house's sewer pipe. This is the most common place for stoppages, and can usually be fixed with a plunger. If a plunger won't do it, then a flexible cable or spring can be run down to clear it out. A foreign object, such as a child's toy that has been flushed, can cause recurrent stoppages here.
The sewer line between the house and the sewer or septic system. Sometimes tree roots grow into this pipe, which collect toilet paper, etc. can cause a blockage. This can be cleared out with a roto rooter or similar device. Also, this can freeze if the weather conditions are right. For example, if there is less snow than usual (for insulation) and unusually cold temperatures, this can allow it to freeze.
The local sewer system. Sometimes the local sewer can have back pressure, either from a storm sewer leaking into the septic sewer or other problems. This is more likely if the house is in a low area. There should be a valve to prevent the sewage from backing up to the house, but this valve will also prevent sewage from leaving the house when it is closed.


Do I need 10/2 or 10/3 wire for a 220V heater? I am wiring a receptacle for a 4800 watt (220) construction heater ( the standard type found in home stores). Do I need a neutral wire or not?  Do I use 10 awg wire 10/3 or 10/2.

Your load is 20 amps so you should use 10 awg.  Heaters are continuous loads, to size the wire correctly it is 125% of 20 amps or 25 amps. The fans usually run on 120v and they would require a neutral 10-3 with ground would be the proper wire.


Fishing coaxial through two floors and foam insulated holes in fire block I've got a bundle of coaxial cables running from the cable connection on the ground floor to the attic above the first floor - a distance of roughly 20 feet. Initially, I planned on using one of the lines to fish through a few strands of paracord and be done with it. However, I've now realized that spray foam was applied at each pass the bundle makes through a fire break (this should have been obvious to me). I'm wondering what my options are for getting new cable up along the path the original bundle takes. Additionally, there's no guarantee that it's a straight path.

Are there any clever options that don't require breaking down drywall?

Thanks!

Your options are to engineer a new path or to open up the drywall around the places where the spray foam was used. This shouldn't be a major problem as drywall is easily patched and refinished.

Even with finding a new path you may very well have to open up access holes to allow for drilling through fire blocks or the top/bottom plates at floor transitions.


Gabion walls as retaining walls? There's a lot of information about DIY gabion walls, but none of the applications that I've seen on YouTube and elsewhere talk about gabion walls as retaining walls. I would imagine that a gabion wall acting as a retaining wall would need to be satisfy some special requirements. For example, I can't imagine that a 4'-high X 2'-wide wall would do the job (not wide enough).

So what are some of the things to think about while constructing a retaining gabion wall? In particular:

Given the height, how wide does it need to be? (I'm aiming for a height of 3'.)
Do I have to worry about drainage?
How do I prevent dirt from infiltrating the basket?
Any implications for the minimum gauge of the wire mesh?

A quick search for "gabion retaining walls" can find you lots of information.

It found me this useful site:
https://www.gabion1.com/gabion-retaining-wall-designs/

As to your questions:

3 feet is pretty short for a retaining wall, the site recommends a simple 2:1 ratio, so a 3' wall would need to be at least 18 inches thick.  They also recommend slanting the wall slightly into the slope (~10 degrees).
Drainage is important, but depends a lot on location, you can run perforated drain pipe behind the wall to collection points and backfill above and around the pipe with gravel.
The back of the wall should be lined with geotextile fabric, this should also cover your drainage gravel to prevent clogging the drain pipe.
Gauge size is going to depend on how wide your mesh spacing is.  Larger spacing is going to need thicker wires.  looking at premade gabion boxes selling for 3 foot walls looks like wire size varies from 9 gauge to 4 gauge.


wall outlet dead, no power to outlet My daughter was using a rug shampooer. She said that all of a sudden the shampooers power went out.  She finnished the job with a different outlet. Then while vacuuming, using a different outlet, the same thing happened. Here is what i have done so far. I have tested the two outlets, neither has current. I have reset the curcuit breakers, by firmly turning them off then on. My home was built in the 50s and I dont have any of those wall outlets with the built in breakers. Both of these outlets are in the same room but on different walls. Just found that two more outlets are out in th same room

Sounds like you have a bad connection that finally burned in half from the high current draw of the shampooer and almost burned in half in another spot but was finished by the vacuum.

You need to trace the circuit(s) back to the nearest working receptacle and check the wiring from that point on to your non-working ones. Take apart your junction boxes and device boxes and check all connections for mechanical tightness and electrical continuity. Don't forget to shut off the breakers controlling these circuits before tearing into it.

Good luck!


How to deal with Carpenter Bees boring into my front porch? I noticed a single "bumblebee" hovering in front of my front door for days.  When my handyman was out doing some repairs, he told me that it isn't a bumblebee, but a carpenter bee.  Then he showed me where carpenter bees had bored a hole into the wood above my porch.

I called a couple of pest control companies.  They said that sealing the hole now is risky because if I seal the hole and don't get every bee and egg inside, I run the risk of them boring new holes to get out.  They recommended sealing the hole in the fall.

I like bees, but I draw the line at letting them eat my house.

What recommendations do you have for dealing with the carpenter bees?
When do the lady bees lay their eggs? Based on the time of year, should I wait until the fall to seal the hole?
Is Diatomaceous Earth effective against them? Should I put some in the hole?
Are traps effective?

Spar varnish, no exposed natural wood.

Stain doesn't cut it, they hate gnawing through paint.

We use a couple red or incense cedar chunks in various places like you use Zinc sacrificial anodes for marine electrolysis control.


Can I use these post brackets to attach railing posts on top of decking? I found a Simpson strong tie product (BC40Z) 4x4 half post base, and it states its intended use is for attaching a 4x4 railing post securely on top of wooden decking.  The following picture demonstrates a proper installation.

I got excited about it and bought a whole bunch but then thought after the fact that I probably should have checked to see first if it is acceptable and code compliant to install to install securely on top of composite trex-like decking of about 5/4" nominal thickness.

I can't find any information, even information on the Strong Tie website that states NOT to install on composite decking.  It would be so much less of a pain to use these.  They are held down with a carriage bolt and 4 16D joist hanger nails, and they are attached to the post itself by 3 16D joist hanger nails on each side.

Railing post should have been a prerequisite thought in the process of building any deck. As far as attaching to Aztec or trex product decking it is not sufficiently structural to withstand lateral forces needed for adequate attachment.  Which is why you can't find any attachment method, as it isn't recommended.
   Sounds like you made your own decision on your approach to the problem.  Unfortunately if someone gets hurt because the railing "let go" who would be at fault?
   My suggestion is to reinstall new posts either through the decking and attached directly to the underlying joist or surface mounted outside the decking perimeter with carriage bolts(zinc coated).  The Aztec decking "will" shrink with time and loosen any type of nails attached, so think about that.


How can I get rid of a yellowjacket nest under a flat roof without using poison I have a nest of yellowjackets (the not very aggressive european kind) that is just below my flat roof. I would normally just leave them, but I have no way of getting to the yard without passing by the nest at a distance of about a foot. Currently, this does not seem to make them swarm yet (though I can get hit by one as the swoop down a bit before entering the nest).

I'd like to get rid of them without using poison (the yellowjacket poison I can get in the stores here is a neurotoxin that also kills cats and there are a lot of cats in the neighborhood and they love that flat roof).

The nest itself is hidden. I can only see the entry points. Damage to the roof or walls is not a big issue (the entire building needs to be replaced in the next few years anyway).

You might consider building a "bee vacuum" from a box with some screened holes and a shopvac, like the one in this video by Matthias Wandel: Wasp Sucker.  This would enable you to catch most or all of the adult wasps (you might need to do this a few times over a week or so, I'm not sure about the yellowjacket lifecycle) and then dispose of them through drowning in soapy water, controlled posioning (since your concern with using posion seems to mostly be about residue on-site), freezing in a block of ice, or whatever method suits you.


Is Nonmetallic Sheathed Cable Safe to Touch? I just went up into my attic and as expected there are a bunch of electrical cables up there and it just occurred to me that no one has ever directly told me that it was safe to touch a nonmetallic sheathed cable (Romex) before. So that's my question, is it safe to touch a live insulated cable in your attic?

I am well aware that it is a terrible idea to touch a live bare copper wire.

Yes, it is safe to touch the insulating jacket of an undamaged NM cable.

However, in the state of California, it may cause cancer to lick the cables.


What should be done when clothes wrinkle from being too long in a tumble dryer? I'm new to the whole tumble dryer business, and I recognize that if the clothes aren't folded immediately they will wrinkle completely. My question is, what is the most effective way to get rid of the wrinkles again. I've seen people suggesting just running them a bit more, throwing in a wet towel, etc. but I'm wondering whether the only true solution is to soak the clothes and run the drying process again, as energy inefficient as it seems.

Steam is the best agent for getting wrinkles out of clothes, but dry heat comes in a distant second.  Many newer dryers have a dedicated "touch-up" setting, which runs at medium-to-high heat for about ten minutes, precisely because it's very common to leave clothes in the dryer overnight.  That touch-up will be a dry heat, of course, so it's not quite as effective as steam, but you'll be amazed at the difference it makes.

Adding a wet (wrung out or from the spin cycle - NOT sopping wet!) towel will improve your results significantly, but you'll need to 1) run the dryer for a bit longer to allow the wet towel to start steaming, and 2) steer a careful course between letting your other clothes get wet, and letting the whole batch get dry.

I would pop in the towel and start the dryer, then come back in 10-15 minutes and start pulling clothes out a few at a time - letting the dryer run in between while I folded or hung them up.  Leave the towel for last; if you have another load waiting to dry, let it finish with that load.


Is it enough to apply just one coat of Killz2 primer on drywall? I have heard conflicting instructions regarding primer on drywall, some saying one and some saying two coats.  The bucket of Killz2 itself says reapply after 1 hr, implying two coats are needed (I am sure they want to sell more product).  I have also heard varying customer feedback regarding Killz2.

Is it enough to apply just one coat of Killz2 primer on drywall or should I go with two?  I have already done some painting with just a single coat and it turned out fine.

Well it isn't about how many coats it is about coverage.  If all that you see is your white Killz then that is enough for all dry walls.

It is very hard to say 1 vs 2 coats.  I paint heavy.  One of my coats my be 1.5-2 of another person's.  Your paint benefits from primer not the primer that is under the primer.

Now for wet applications (bathrooms mainly) I might put on 2 thick coats of something like killz to act as a greater barrier not to help the painting process.

Note - I have a paint crew that used to work for me.  Their paint jobs looks perfect.  They used two coats.  But their first primer coat was thin (half mine) and there were definitely coverage issues.  They were efficient vs my heavy style of just get it over with.  They probably got their two coats on faster than my one but they did have to wait for drying time in between... and without the heavy hand theirs looked smoother.


Exposed wiring outside I tore down an old shed that have electricity going to it. Now the shed is gone but I have an exposed wire outside. I want to install a small street light there next spring but what should I do with the electricle wiring till then? The wires still have power going to them because the shed didn't have its own breaker.

Pound a 2' - 3' pressure treated 2x4 into the ground, so that about 12" to 18" is above ground (cutting an angle in the end going into the ground, will help it go in better).
Mount a weatherproof 1-gang electrical box on the 2x4.
Pull the wiring into the box, using the appropriate clamp/bushing.
Secure the wiring to the 2x4 below the box, using an appropriate means.
Cap the wires off using weatherproof twist-on wire connectors.
Cover the box with a weatherproof blank cover.


Connect 4" Dryer Vent Duct to 4" Exhaust Pipe I just had a new dryer installed.

The installer said I needed to buy a pipe reducer because the dryer vent duct and the exhaust pipe are both 4". He cut some holes in the dryer vent duct to fan it out and taped around it but said it will leak air and lint until a reducer is added.

Will this reducer work?

https://www.homedepot.com/p/100149942

Or should I buy something else? Thank you.

At the least, buy this.

The reason it is the least, is lint will still get trapped in the edge that goes into the flexible part. Joints should be placed so the moving air flows over the joint, not into the joint. The reducer you have at first will restrict the flow, and still have the joint facing in the wrong direction, although you would not need to cut the flexible pipe.

The corrugated ends of the piece I linked to will fit inside each end of the vent pipe and the flexible duct, and minimizes restriction. It would be best if the flexible pipe was reduced in the same way, then the air would flow over the joint the proper way. There is a tool to do that reducing, any duct man worth his salt has this.


Start-up current of amp triggers circuit breaker I have added a new amp + subwoofer to my system, everything (together with multiple other stuff like my pc, monitors,...) is connected to a single multi socket (switchable). Now whenever I turn it on it triggers my circuit breaker.

When switched on, the amp does stuff(?) before entering stand-by I guess this + the fact that I live in an old house using 1 circuit breaker for 4 rooms, causes it to trigger. If I use the amps power switch and turn it off before turning on the multi socket, switch on multi socket, wait for a few seconds, then tun on the amp on its own everything is fine, so it seems the initial current is to high with my new devices. (Sadly every 2 days I forget to do so...)

Is there anything I can do to solve this (circuit breaker = default B16)?
Might a start-up current limiter (as used for e.g. saws and other big machines) work?
Or do you know any ready-made solutions that fit in a socket. Cause start-up current limiter are expensive and most timed relais are made for turn off delay, I also thought about using a latching relay (this would basically solve my problem by preventing the amp from switching on, when switching on the multi socket => but I would favor somthing without me needing to press an extra button)

A B16 Circuit Breaker = Leitungsschutzschalter tolerates big insurge currents, f.e. 4 times 16A = 64A for 1 second. Maybe this circuit breaker is very old or had been damaged by a massive short in the past. A swap of that CB would be inexpensive, below 5 Euro for a new B16.

The most easiest idea would be to insert one or more power line extensions between the socket and the amplifier. That would increase the power line resistance.

If the electric installation is made for it,  a C16 or even D16 would tolerate higher insurge currents, but is more expensive.

Another possibility is to add one or more insurge current NTCs in the amplifier's power wiring to decrease the high current, if it is an old amplifier without any. A newer amplifier's NTC(s) could be damaged.

They are normally black coin-shaped elements, see the photo taken from
https://www.ametherm.com/ptc-thermistors-vs-ntc-thermistors-for-inrush-current

It is also possible that the amplifier has a special power switch with a resistor switched in series. When the switching operation starts this resistor will be bridged after a few miliseconds.  But in that case there should be a hint in the manual that this unit should only be switched by the built-in power switch and not by a switch of an extension or a wall switch.


Is "emery thread" a thing? I read an at least partially true story about a man who escapes prison by sawing through iron bars using 'emery thread'. A google search for such returns only stories about dangerous kite-fighting in India.

Is there such a thing? I imagine it would be very useful for sawing off branches close to the trunk or tree stumps close to the ground.

It's more commonly known as a wire saw.

Wood cutting variants are sold as a survival tool for sawing off branches.


What diameter threaded rod to brace crotch of tree with two 12" codominant stems Red maple tree has two codominant stems, each of them 12" in diameter. Would a 1" diameter rod suffice to brace the stems 12" above the crotch?

A 1" grade A rod has a breaking tensile strength of 60,000 PSIsource. If the cross-sectional area of such a rod is 0.785", it'll carry ~47,100 lbs.
So, is your tree heavier than 47,100 lbs? There you go and Bob's your uncle.


AC service disconnect keeps blowing fuses About 1-3 times per summer the same fuse blows in my AC service disconnect. Always the one on the left. The fuses are 30A and on the panel there are two 30A breakers.  The fuse blows typically on a very hot day when the AC runs for quite a while. My guess is that there's just a bit more resistance on that side due to age ( or loose wire or evil spirits?) and that causes the fuse to fail. The breakers never trip.

Given that upstream there are 30A breakers the disconnect fuses don't seem particularly necessary (also the panel is ~5 feet from the disconnect). Is there any reason I shouldn't replace the disconnect with a non-fused model?

Does it even make sense that the disconnect itself could be the culprit, or should I be hunting other issues?

The feed to the panel looks like #6 al and aluminum wire can loosen over time and with load. I'd check the connections in the panel.
You can change the fusible disconnect to a non fusible one. Make sure it is rated for aluminum cable. You would need either a 30 or 60 amp depending on what you find when you get the name plate info. You've got breakers for the compressor and the air handling unit so make sure you know which ones are which, though the breakers for the air handler would be higher amperage if there's a strip heater in it.


Adding outlet to 4-way light switch circuit I have a 4-way light circuit that I'd like to add an outlet to.  It's a light-first circuit, with no neutral in the switch boxes, as in this picture.

Is the only way to do that to splice the /2 at the input to the fixture and run /2 to the receptacle?

Yes, that's the only way to do it. You need an always hot and a neutral and the fixture is the only place where you can get them. You would pigtail the black and white  wire at the yellow wire nut and pigtail the white neutral before it connects to the light. Are you sure there's not another circuit or outlet that you could feed your new outlet from? Also, the white wire at the fixture and into the first box from the fixture should be taped with any color but green, or white, to indicate an always hot feed. Black is a good color since most people have black electrical tape. It's also a good idea to tape the travelers with yellow tape for easy identification in the future.


Is a drain snake the right tool to clean a long-term clogged bath pipe? OK, I'm not sure how to explain this best... If you have a better wording in mind for the title, please edit or tell me:
The setup: I live in an apartment. The bathtub after the U-bend connects to pipe 50mm in diameter. That pipe then connects to a larger pipe (100 or 150, not sure) which then connects to the vertical sewer pipe. The 50mm pipe is straight and about 1m long - but it passes through a wall so I can't remove it. The bathtub connects to the 50mm pipe via a 45 degree junction and the 50mm also continues on in the other direction towards the kitchen.
So.... in Ascii art...
                                        Neighbors above
                                               #
Kitchen       Bathtub                          #
   |             |      1m        Fat pipe     #
   \-------------\--------------===============#
                45°                            #
                                               #
                                        Neighbors below

The problem: I can clean the U-bend easily enough, but the straight 50mm pipe is another story. Over time it clogs and the bathtub starts draining slowly. With great difficulty I can get disassemble the connection to the kitchen and remove the 45° junction and poke around with a long stick which helps... for a while... but it's a pain to do so. I could however easily access the 45° junction and put a drain snake it (well, if I had one).
What fills me with doubt is that everything I read about drain snakes suggest that they are for removing acute blockage - something big suddenly stuck in the pipe. You can dislodge that and everything is fine. In my case however it's a slow buildup of gunk over years of time. The pipe doesn't block, it's more like it's inner diameter slowly shrinks... And I doubt if gettin a drain snake would help here. If there was something like a 50mm round brush, then maybe... but I can't find any.
Am I overthinking it and a drain snake is exactly the tool for the job, or is there something more specific for this scenario?

A. Chemical drain cleaner ought to do a reasonable job in this situation
B. Yes there are snakes with attachments like you suggest
C. If you are renting perhaps the inaccessible part of the plumbing is the owner's responsibility.  Without getting into a big discussion about legalities wherever you are, you could ask nicely.
D. Usually a frequently blocking bath drain is caused by someone with long hair who uses too much conditioner.  Get a good hair screen for your tub drain and instruct any such user to clean it during and after each use and to go easier on Hair products.  Require each such user to participate in the disgusting business of clearing the drain.
E.  A common horizontal pipe shared with the kitchen is a whole other level of problems.  I've never seen that before.  The combination of cooking fats etc plus hair is formidable.  Assuming you don't own this mess and can't improve it, you may want to create some kind of Easy Access to do cle an outs.


Do open-back low voltage boxes have advantages over standard outlet boxes? I will be running LV wiring in new construction.  I've seen the open backed Carlon boxes, but have read that they are difficult to insulate, and therefore should not be used on exterior walls.  I believe this is mainly due to the fact that spray foam can not be sprayed behind the boxes.  However, I would think fiberglass insulation could still be placed behind them.

This is the quote from Structured Home Wiring:

Open back electrical boxes cannot be sealed to prevent cold air from coming in through the outlets

I am running 2 cat-6 and 1 coax to a single box.

Is there any real benefit to these boxes, over the 120V types (displayed below), especially if I don't plan on running conduit to the boxes?

"No Volume Limit" Advantage of Open-back Boxes
The open-backed boxes have the advantage that they don't limit the termination area's volume to the size of the box.  Here are a few scenarios where having more volume than what a box provides is important:

In the case where the structured cable will be run directly to a device in the room (think speakers), the distance of cable needed in the room is spooled in the wall at rough-in and stays there until it is needed (you can cover it with a blank plate to make it tidy until you really need it).  Because the slack doesn't protrude from the wall, it does not interfere with or get damaged by installation of sheet rock or other wall material.
Where you have a high-density of terminations at the wall plate (think 6x keystone jacks in a single-gang box) the minimum bend radius requirement of cat5/5e/6 cannot be honored in a closed-back box.  The slack required to make the terminations needs to go behind the wall plate which will result in a very tight coil of cable in the box at best, or will outright not fit at worst.  Open-backed boxes solve this problem because the wall cavity can be used to house the slack.
Using an in-wall active termination device like this might require more volume than a closed-back box.  The box would need to accomodate the bulk of the electronics plus the slack required for termination without violating the bend radius requirements of the signal cable.

Note that on exterior walls vapor barrier and insulation will limit the volume available to you, but likely far less so than a closed-back box.
Vapour Barrier
Where I live (Canada) it is customary and code-acceptable to use "vapor barrier boxes" (pre-formed poly cups shown here) behind all electrical boxes on exterior walls whether open- or closed-back.  A regular closed-back box does not provide its own vapor barrier any more than an open-backed box.
This method comes from the building code decree that "thou shalt not compromise vapor barrier with wiring."  The vapor barrier boxes are taped to the wall's vapor barrier, and wires are puttied to the vapor barrier boxes where they penetrate.
Insulation
I have seen no issues with the combination of open-backed boxes and fiberglass or mineral-wool insulation.  Assuming a proper vapor barrier is installed around the boxes, there should also be no issue with spray-type insulation.


I am replacing a burned upper thermostat to my water heater. How do I replace the wire leading to the thermostat? The upper thermostat of my whirlpool water heater burned, and I am going to replace it.  I'm pretty sure I figured out why.
My problem is that I don't know how to get into it to replace the wire that brings the power into the thermostat.
I'm pretty sure if the thermostat burned, the wire must have also gotten damaged.
How do I replace the wire leading to the thermostat?

Before you replace the wire test it to see if it is damaged. First shut the breaker off to the water heater. Next separate the power cable from the water heater wire. The water heater's power wire usually runs to the thermostat. Remove it from the terminal screw. With a continuity tester touch a lead to each end of the black wire which should show continuity. Next with one lead on the wire touch the other to the metal tank and outer shell. You should not see continuity (which is good).
If you do need to replace a wire: with the power still off, tape the new wire around one end of the old wire securely and slowly pull the other end of the old wire until the new one reaches where it will go. Use he old wire as a lead to pull new.


Am I required to have a doorknob lock on my exterior door? I have both a deadbolt and a doorknob lock on my door (actually, all three of my doors). I've noticed that this is a consistent pattern at most houses and apartments that I've visited in my area (I live near Boston MA).

I never use my doorknob lock and would like to remove it. I have actually been locked out of my house accidentally before when a visitor locks the doorknob without my knowledge. I would like to prevent this.

Is having a doorknob like such as this a code requirement? How would I figure that out?

Some jurisdictions, such as New York City, require self-closing, self-locking doors to the entry of multiple family dwellings (,8 or more units), but do not seem to require them on smaller housing units (such as one or two family homes) or on the individual apartments within a larger unit.
Even when locks are required, they do not need to be in the knob of the door. Often there is no in knob lock but an auxiliary self locking mechanism higher up on the door.  Many exit door locksets do not even have a knob, but a thumb latch. A single key often controls the self locking latch and the deadbolt.

I do not know your particular locale's code, but I would be surprized if there is a regulation about locks at all (other than a prohibition on a door that can't be opened from the inside without a key). It would be very strange if they required an in-knob lock, especialyl if you have an auxiliary latch or deadbolt.

SUPPLEMENT

I since have found more code in NYC concerning mandated deadbolts and door chains or similar devices on individual apartments, but still nothing requiring an in-knob lock.


Telco ground: meter panel vs service panel My meter panel connects to an exterior service panel on the back of my house via a short stretch of NM conduit. The service panel has my main breaker and ties neutral to a grounding wire bonded to a buried rod.
Previously, my FiOS ONT was mounted next to the service panel. The telco installer bonded the ONT ground to the service panel ground by attaching a clamp to a corner of the metal service panel enclosure.
I have relocated the ONT and now it sits next to the meter panel. The grounding wire is not long enough to reach the service panel so I have mounted it to the meter panel. I figure the meter panel must be bonded to the neutral wire which is bonded to the grounding wire so we end up at the same place.
Any problem with this setup?

This is OK, as long as Dominion's happy, which they seem to be
Meter sockets upstream of the service disconnect generally pick up ground by being bonded to the neutral.  (This is OK because you haven't hit the service disconnect yet, so there is no separation between neutral and ground at this point.)  As a result, NEC 250.94(A) point 4 permits the Intersystem Bonding Termination (IBT) to be connected to the meter enclosure or to a bonding jumper connected to the meter enclosure.
However, since this is the meter enclosure we're dealing with, the NEC doesn't have the last word here.  Utilities can and do set rules about the treatment of their cash register that go above and beyond what the NEC has to say about the topic, and some utilities indeed prohibit attaching grounding conductors or devices to meter sockets.  In the case of Dominion, Section 240.11 of their Blue Book requires that bonding connections to the meter be made using an appropriate watertight (compression) fitting ("Kenny" clamp or equivalent) in a ½" KO to bring the bond wire into the meter base, where it can land on a dedicated terminal screw there.