Does the Nest thermostat automatically change modes? I understand from the Nest website that the thermostat has heating, cooling, and heat/cool modes. I also know that over time Nest learns your preferences based on how you adjust the thermostat, and changes set-points based on this learning.

Does the learning feature ever include changing the mode, or does this always have to be done manually? Would Nest automatically switch from heating mode in the winter, to heat/cool in the shoulder seasons, then cooling in the summer?

In my experience with the Gen 2 it will not. That would be a bit heavy-handed and folks would not be happy to have their AC compressor come on with the winter cover still in place, for example.

It may go into Eco, however, if you're away.

More on that


Slot is wider than the blades it comes with I recently tore apart a Rockwell Bladerunner RK7320 because the factory blades (T-slot) kept flying out almost impacting my eye, and the blade twists whenever the locking mechanism is held on the blade.
To my complete surprise, the slot inside the machine is 0.1mm wide exactly, and the blades I have are on average 0.0425mm wide. Ranging from a minimum of 0.039mm to a max of 0.058mm. The bearings at the top that support the blade is about the same distance wide, 0.1mm.

I've scoured across the internet, and to various hardware stores, to come to the conclusion that the machine I have, was fitted with the wrong sized slotted rod, because the blades are almost all the same range in thickness. If I had another RK7320 saw to compare, I can say that the company made a gigantic error, if I had another different jigsaw, I'd say there is probably a reason why the slot is way bigger than the blades.

If anyone has an answer for why this is, please let me know.
If not, I will be cutting some T slots off other blades to epoxy to the blades I have so they can fit down in the slot that it was made for, and they don't fly out of the machine, or twist.

Their was junk at the bottom of the blade fixture, and it only took a fraction of material for the blade to behave erratic. I took apart the blade runner completely and cleaned it. I don't know what I did other than that, but after that it ran completely fine.
Inside the slot down past the top of it, I believe it's a taper from 0.1mm down to the size of the blades. This allows the blades to flex so they don't completely snap when horizontal force is applied to the blade.


Will GFCI outlet protect downstream outlets with ground connected to neutral? Recently in our rental house we replaced the old two conductor outlets with three conductor outlets plus a GFCI outlet at the beginning of the series. Power from the panel is connected to the 'line' side and downstream outlets are connected to the 'load' side of the outlet. Since there is no ground wire in the boxes and the boxes themselves aren't grounded we added a wire connecting the ground screw back to the neutral post. Our testers look good at each outlet and everything appears to work fine with one exception: the GFCI test button on the tester only trips the GFCI at the actual GFCI outlet. At any outlet downstream from the GFCI, the tester doesn't cause the GFCI to trip. My understanding (from this question) is that the initial GFCI outlet should also protect all the downstream outlets. This question also seems to apply but I'm not getting the same results, possibly because of the "ground to neutral" connection. Am I misunderstanding? Or have I done something wrong?

Never never NEVER connect the ground of an outlet to neutral!!! Depending on the situation, you can end up with a dangerous or even lethal voltage on the ground and therefore, on the case of something plugged in.

It is legal and advised to use a GFCI to install 3-prong outlets on an ungrounded circuit. This also applies to standard outlets downstream of a GFCI. The outlets must be labeled "GFCI protected, no ground" (labels should have been provided along with the GFCI).

You should remove all of the "bootleg" grounds.

BTW, the reason the tester didn't trip the GFCI is that it works by connecting line to ground through a resistor to simulate current leaking to ground. However, because the outlet ground is actually connected to neutral, there is no actual leakage.


How do I stop water coming in under a level access door? When you have an outside door with level access (for wheelchairs etc), how do you stop water coming in under the door?

Wheelchair access needn't be completely 100% level, it just can't have steps.

It's feasible to use a door sill (such as this) to stop weather getting in under a door. It's also possible to have a narrow channel under the door, too, that takes rain and moisture off to the side.


Frigidaire oven smells smoky and turned itself on to bake. Safe to use cook top? My brother's wife  is working in remote Canadian town – just her in condo, no pets. Condo has electric Frigidare Model No. CFES3025LW4 with 4 element induction cook top. I can't find pic  on Google Image.

This morning 6 AM, she felt the house got too stuffy. Then she saw the oven turned itself on. She never pushed 'Bake' button this past week! She didn't use range yesterday.  She turned them off by pushing "Bake" again. For more safety, she turned off branch circuit breaker for whole range (cook top and oven).
She never used oven, but it smells burnt and smoky.

Anyways  repair person can't come until Nov 20 (next Wed). He needs order parts. Undeniably she must cook herself before then. She can't eat out every day! Thus is it safe for her to use just the cooktop? She will turn off branch circuit breaker after each use!

I would say it is safe to use both the induction rings and the oven provided your in-law is in the kitchen.  I would not use any timer function on the oven.

The main risk is the cooker starting a fire.  If your in-law is in the kitchen, she will probably smell burning insulation, and be able to turn the power off, before an actual fire breaks out.

I would continue to turn the breaker power off when the cooker is not in use, particularly when she is out or asleep.


How do I fix a leaking ceramic mono sink mixer? We have a kitchen mixer tap something like the one below. It's white and has 1/4 turn ceramic taps (so not like the taps in the one below in that respect). The taps are not leaking, the mixer is leaking where the neck of the mixer meets the body of the block.

Is this serviceable, and if so, how to I remove the neck/arm part that swings left and right from the main body of the mixer block to repair the seal or replace a washer?

You might have to take the whole tap off the sink and access the washers from the base.


Any reason to get a table/countertop thicker than 1.5"? I am looking at getting a butcher block table top to construct a desk. The maker offers four standard thicknesses: 1.5", 1.75", 2.25", and 3".

I currently use a 1.5" oak butcher block desk table and it is very rigid, I can stand on it (200 pounds) and it does not bend.

So, why would I need a table any thicker than this? Is it purely for looks, or is there some practical reason?

Appearance and longevity. You can plane down the 3" one quite a few times, but it seems unlikely you'd be using cleavers on your desk. You might want to weigh the price difference between 6/4 and 7/4 against the ability to sand stains and dings out of the thicker one though. That extra quarter inch may add decades of life to the desk in the long run.


How to safely block French doors to nowhere I am going to tear down an existing deck (which is rotting out) and want to block off usage of existing French doors that currently lead to the deck. I’ll attach photos below.

I am going to build a replacement deck after, but there will be some time between when the existing one comes down and the new one goes up.

The best thing I can think of is to attach some 2x4 lumber to the sides of the trim outside and screw plywood to the 2x4s, sort of in the spirit of an extra layer of sheathing.

My questions are:
1. How can I find out whether this is a code approved solution? I’m in U.S. zip code 98136.
2. Does this sound like a reasonable idea, and are there any other options? One thought was a Juliette balcony..

In my area, they often build homes that have an optional deck, but the deck is not built at the same time as the home. In these cases, the home builders simply build a small section of railing, and attach it directly in front of the door.  In your case, you will not be able to open the doors (since the railing will prevent it).  In the case of sliding doors, you can open the door, but will not be able to go out it.

You can buy nice looking barrier railings to put up, if you're going to leave it up for a long time.

If it's going to be temporary, the builders around here usually just tack up a cheap section of railing.


Bathroom tile repair I have a plumbing leak under the slab in between my bathrooms.  Both the hallway bathroom and master bathrooms back each other. Both have tile all the way around the wall up to about 4 feet. I would need to break up some tile to get inside the wall to run new piping for my lav, toilet and shower for both sides.

What's the best way to take out the tile so there is minimal damage and where I can repair the spots I opened up.  I'm actually more interested in how I can get drywall back in the spots where I made a hole so I can put tile on top. Any ideas?

Don't waste your time trying to keep damage to a minimum. You are gonna have to patch the wall anyway. If you are installing new pieces of pipe, you will need plenty of working space, so cut  a large hole (as oppossed to many little holes); You or the plumber are gonna end up doing that anyway. And patching a hole , say 8" x8" takes practically the same time as patching one twice that size.
Cut you drywall along the edges of two studs, then nail 2 sections of 2x4s to each stud, in order to have a way to attach your new piece of drywall for the patch. Use drywall screws, not nails.
Unless you  are planning on using the existing tiles, just remove them with a moulding pry bar and a hammer. No matter how careful you are, Murphy's law says you will break a tile or 2 while trying to remove them in one piece.
Are you sure there is sheetrock behind the tile, and not a substrate made of mortar and metallic mesh?


What is causing a two brand new fluorescent light to pulse? My old light bulbs stopped working, so I bought 2 fluorescent U shape light bulbs as a replacement:

The recommended power in the light fixture is 34W per unit but they only have 32W in stock.  After installing the new lights, everything looks good and is brighter than before.  However, I notice some pulsing coming from the lights, almost like a tremor.  The light is solid white but somehow it's pulsing.

The lights have been on for at least 8 hours by now. Does anyone know what could be the cause of this issue?  The old lights work fine no problem until they burnt out.

Probably the old ballast and new bulbs are not exactly compatible. Aside from the 32/34 W difference, are the new tubes perhaps 1/2" smaller in diameter than the old tubes? That would likely be a T8 tube replacing a T12 tube, and usually a ballast change is also needed to keep everything happy...


Remove silicone stain from ceiling I made a mistake and ended up with a very light coat of cured silicone spread in the ceiling. So looking at an angle, this ceiling area is shining.

I can't just scrap it off because it very thin and feels like stuck in the porous painted ceiling.

What would be the best way to fix this:

painting over it is an option? maybe not, the new paint might not adhere to silicone.
using a sandpaper to try to scrap?
using vinegar (I heard it helps loose the cured silicone).
using alcohol?

It's a small area so ideally I don't want to buy a whole bottle of solvent. However if it's the only solution I'd do it, I just don't know which solvent to use. Will it be necessary to repaint later?

Thanks!

I think that painting over the silicone is out just because it's a different surface to begin with.  Assuming you had a paint that would stick to it long-term, the paint in that spot will always have a different sheen.

Removal is the best option, and it may be a matter of trying options to see what will work best and damage the ceiling the least.  Chemicals that soften the silicone can make the job easier, but I think they would seep into the drywall and create similar issues for painting.

You say you are worried about scraping, but I think it may be a better option even if it means patching the area with spackling or similar if you gouge the drywall.  I would try very rough sand paper (below 80 grit, then maybe a brass wire brush, then a sharp scraper.

I admit that I have never tried to remove exactly what you are dealing with, so take this as one man's opinion.


How do I replace the actual chain part of the ceiling fan? I probably need to buy a new switch but I can't figure out how to take out the chain of the old one. I have a housing that separates the bottom of the chain, with its round piece that you pull on, from the top of the chain, which goes into the switch.

The problem is that the housing only has a little hole separating the ends which neither end would fit through without taking off the switch or the round pull thing, and I can't see how to do that. How do I do this?

Also, the new switches come with a small bit of chain. How would I connect the old chain with the original end piece?

The chain is integral to the switch.   You do not reuse your old chain, the new switch comes with one.

If it won't fit through the hole, that is an extension on your chain.  Look carefully mid-chain for a place to separate it.


Can I have a NEMA 14-30 outlet on a 50 amp breaker? I'm having an electrician install a new circuit in my garage. I don't currently have a Tesla or other high powered car, but I might in the future, so I want to have the wiring capable of handling a NEMA 14-50 plug, so presumably 6/4-guage wiring.
However, currently I only need to have a 240v 30amp plug for some equipment, so I'm planning to have NEMA 14-30 plugs installed at the end. Is this allowed to be installed on a 50-amp breaker circuit?
I know that regular 120v 20-amp breakers are allowed to have 15-amp outlets installed. But I don't know if a NEMA 14-30 plug can be installed on a 50-amp circuit.
Alternatively, could I have a 30-amp breaker installed and then later upgrade it to a 50 amp breaker and a NEMA 14-50 plug myself without requiring any new inspections or permits?

No.  Fit a 30A breaker for a 30A socket.
The 20A/15A exception is an exception based on UL requirements for 15A sockets, and it does not apply to anything else.


Determine severity of foundation crack I have a crack in my foundation that previous owners had filled with epoxy.  The crack has opened up slightly at some point in the last 8 years.  Is there anything I can do to determine (short of calling in a foundation company) if there are serious things going on with the foundation here?  What can I do to assess what is going on?

There are several issues: 1) location of crack, 2) horizontal crack and small vertical crack, 3) seismic zone where you live, 4) form ties

1) The crack appears in the top portion of your foundation. This means it’s probably from freeze-thaw issues. (If the crack was in the lower half of the wall, it could indicate a weak foundation wall that could be leaning and getting pushed in.)

Do you get water seeping in the crack? If so, it would be an indication that water is penetrating the wall and then freezing, which causes expansion and then cracks.

If so, you’ll need to dig up the area outside the cracks, apply a foundation sealer and then install a drainline to carry water away from the foundation.

2) A horizontal crack indicates freeze / thaw issues rather than settlement issues. That’s good for you.

3) You live in a high seismic zone. Concrete walls require additional reinforcement in your zone. I suspect that reinforcement has been installed, because there are no other horizontal cracks in the wall.

4) It seems unusual that the horizontal cracks go directly across where the form ties are located. Perhaps when the forms were removed a slight crack developed which now allows water to penetrate the wall and then freeze.

In summary: If it’s leaking, I’d do the outside repair (sealer and drainline) and if it’s not, you could monitor it and see if it gets worse. (Btw, I’d make sure downspouts are connected and drain away from the wall and make sure the ground slopes away from the house.)


Are smaller or larger pavers better for covering a concrete patio? I have a large ( 16' x 16' ) thick slab concrete patio that is pouted in 8 x 8 blocks. it has significant spalling and some settling. The concrete is 6" thick and situation in such a way that tearing out the concrete would not be ideal ( not to mention other than the spalling its not in bad shape ). I've considered trying to re-surface or re-pour a layer of concrete over the existing slabs, but now I'm considering just trying to lay concrete pavers over it. I'm wondering ( other than aesthetics ) if there are advantages and disadvantages to using smaller or larger pavers in this application.

Ive considered these two options thus far
http://low.es/1WD4biM
http://low.es/1WD4fiK

and looking for some feedback.

If there isn't a lot of seasonal movement, it won't matter. I'd layer a small amount of sand as a pad and leveler (plus landscape fabric to control weed growth if you like) and go with whatever looks nice to you.

If things do move a fair bit, smaller pavers will handle it better and be less likely to break over time.


How to mate two flat pieces of wood at a point about which both can rotate? I apologize if this question has been asked or the answer is obvious. I am unfamiliar to the terminology so searching things up is a major difficulty.

I have two flat, long pieces of wood and I want to 'mate' their ends such that both can rotate about that point. I call it a 'rotating joint.' The two pieces of wood would be overlapping. Here is a video of what I am attempting to build:

https://fredericphilips.wordpress.com/projects/swarm-robots/hardware/gripper-design/

The 'joints' can be seen in the four areas, two on each arm.

I would appreciate help determining what components I need and how they come together.

After research, what I believe I need is a bolt, a bearing/bushing and a nut. I would drill a hole, insert the bearing, insert the bolt through the bearing, and tighten with a nut.

I would not use a bolt for this, although you can. There are various ways to do this. The simplest just requires a rod and two push caps.

Drill a hole through the wood and sand it with a fine circular file to fit a rod. Cut the rod to size using (for example) a cutoff disk. Get two push caps and use them to secure the rod/axle. Push caps look like this and you can find them in any hardware store:

They are also called "roller caps". To make a smoother action you can insert a bushing in each piece of wood, but that is probably overkill.


Why do I have voltage on a plumbing ground strap, and is it dangerous? We have been having problems with the lights in our basement for awhile now (few weeks), sometimes they will work, other times they just won't turn on.

Today I noticed a thin metal piece in the basement closet and I accidentally broke it off. I am pretty sure it was already breaking/loose because it snapped very easily. It was leading to the water pipe (where the main shutoff is) and just ends there with a metal loop and screw holding it in place. Or at least it was.

Immediately after it started to spark, because it swung and made contact with the piece it broke off of. The lights also started flickering. I managed to get it to stop sparking. But when I went upstairs to get a flashlight, the lights upstairs started flickering and the heat/ac unit had no power. Few mins later the bulbs started going out. I use fluorescents.

I'm freaking out a little bit now, turned off the power to the whole house. I originally was going to try to re-secure the metal tube but its not seeming like that will be enough. I'm hoping to call an electrician in the morning, how dangerous is this problem? Can I try to switch on just the heat and fridge? Plus who knows if I can get someone here tomorrow...

The house is about 30yrs old, with both copper and aluminum wiring.

Update:
thanks for all the answers, thankfully was able to get electrician here the next morning, my fiance was mad that there was stuff in that closet. Neither one of us knew that wire was for electricity. He fixed it, it was a grounding wire, apparently also there was corrosion on the outside of the house next to the meter.

So not safe to put anything near the grounding wire now that it's fixed? I wasn't home to ask the electrical myself. If not, I'm surprised there are shelves in the closet..?? It's about 4x2 feet, small shelves about 1x2 on each side, with the pipe and grounding wire in the middle. Alive and well, no fires phew. Furnace transponder blew though, which supposedly will be expensive to fix, circuit didn't blow :(

You're lucky you haven't been hurt!

It sounds from your description like the ground wire came off the pipe clamp

If I was you I would definitely not touch that again.  Under normal circumstances that wire should not carry any current.  If you are seeing sparks, the ground wire is energized and carrying current.

If it does, it may indicate an extremely dangerous condition.  It can shock you (possibly seriously injuring or killing you), start a fire, and damage electrical devices in the house.  The shock hazard isn't just with the loose wire, it may be there with incidental contact with the pipes, sinks, etc. in the house.  It's not really safe to be in the house.

If it is what it sounds like to me, you pulled the ground wire loose from its lug on the ground clamp - it shouldn't come loose easily, so maybe the wire was damaged, or the screw was not tight.  In any case you didn't cause this problem by pulling that wire loose;  disconnecting that wire revealed the problem.

If you have problems on multiple circuits in your house, it's especially concerning, you may have a problem with your electrical service (lost neutral or other problem).  The problem may also involve your neighbors.

It's good that the main power is off, but that doesn't necessarily make everything safe in the house.  I'd call the electric company immediately and consider it an emergency.  Call an electrician too, as soon as possible.

edit:  The original poster followed up that an electrician came and fixed the issue.  With that resolved, incidental contact with the ground wire where it's exposed in the closet isn't dangerous.  Disconnecting the ground wire from the pipe shouldn't be dangerous, but it can't be assumed to be safe, because there may be an undiscovered issue waiting to bite you.


How do I fix a hole/gap between my shower tile and the dry wall next to it? The dry wall immediately next to my shower tiles was damaged by being exposed to too much water over time. I let the wall dry out then removed the damaged section of drywall by pulling it out with my fingers. Now there is a hole/gap between the tile and the undamaged drywall (about a 1 inch wide gap that is about 3 inches tall). I have patched drywall before with a patch kit but I am not sure how to go about fixing this gap. There is nothing but air behind the hole and I can't attach anything to the tile.

Take a paint stir stick from a home improvement center, break it into pieces that will fit behind the patch hole, and pop in a screw to hold it in place, on the side away from the tile. It doesn't have to be rock solid, it's purpose is to keep the drywall patch in place long enough for the  compound to dry. Once the patch is in place (liberally buttered with compound) and dry, you can remove the screw holding the stick in place- the stick may drop off into the wall, but that's no great problem. Patch the screw hole, and you're set.


Is there a reason for an exterior vent not connected to anything? I have an exterior vent on the side of my house not connected to any piping within. You can look inside and see wood/concrete/insulation into the cavity between the basement ceiling and main floor. I'm guessing it was an old vent before basement renovations. The dryer and basement bathroom fan both vent to another wall.

After a recent infestation of wasps I want to know if there is any reason I shouldn't just seal it up.

No reason for such an opening.  You should stuff insulation into it and then cap it.  Or, if you have spare siding, remove it and patch the siding.


Buckling notched jack studs - how to remedy? Some past "plumber" decided it was OK to cut a notch for a 1-1/2" PVC pipe directly through all the 2x4 studs on one end of a window header. The result, shown in the photos, is a buckling wall.

The studs are actually pinching the PVC pipe now, which maybe helped to arrest the problem.

Of the four studs affected by this, one is a cripple under the window, and the other three are king/jack studs. The window opening is only ~38" but this is on the ground floor of a 2 story house.

(This is US-style construction, in case that wasn't clear).

Methods I'm considering to remedy:

Replace at least the 3 king/jack studs. Obviously correct but will require some temporary shoring.
Leave the existing studs, but sister some new wood with some stout lags or bolts. Would have to contend with having to straighten the wall first.
Pull the wall back to straight (clamps, big post, etc.) and fill the notch with new wood.

As it happens I have access to both sides of this wall due to the work going on. So I can work easily from the inside or outside.

Looking for feedback on any/all of these ideas or alternatives!

I'm experienced enough to execute any of these ideas, and have the tools do to so. But this is bad enough that I'd value other's opinions on the approach. Ultimately I want to choose a solid long-term repair whilst avoiding excess cost/labor/etc. But I've no need to "cut corners" or do only a "band aid" fix.

Thanks so much.

Just as a commentary: among the stupid things I've discovered over the years of rebuilding my house, this is the most thoughtless.

After looking at the pictures again I think you need to go with your first solution. The other two solutions are just band aids and would probably take more work than the first one. Maybe replace the cripple first and support the window header from it. Then a floor jack to the top plate and get the king/jack studs all at once. Good luck and keep us posted... maybe a few more pictures.


Should I reinforce these joists at the central beam? If so, how? Vaguely similar questions have been asked, but I believe this situation is unique enough that I’m looking for some specific advice. I have a floor that is framed with 2x8s, 16 O.C., spanning roughly 11 feet between a central built-up beam and the outer sill plate.  The joists “rest” on a standard (code minimum, blech) 2x2 ledger strip. The hardwood floors are a bit bouncy and it bugs me, so I plan to stiffen the floors by adding some sisters, or (more likely) gluing and screwing a bottom flange to the joists (to avoid removing tons of mechanicals and solid blocking).

However, before I do that I want to address the fact that the joists seem very shoddily connected to the beam. In addition to the ledger strip, about half of them are toe-nailed (see first pic, ok, that seems fine), but the other half are not (see second pic). This strikes me as very sketchy. There are a few end nails into each joist from the built up beam, and on some of the joists these seem to be carrying the whole load.

I thought about pounding some joist hangers in and then prying off the ledger strips, but my thinking is that the fact that half the joists are already toe-nailed to the beam means that adding joist hangers to these might cause splitting and I don’t want to raise inspection red flags by having a weird mix-and-match setup of hangers and ledger strip. Some of the non-toe-nailed joists have small gaps between joist and beam, and some aren’t even fully resting on the ledger (see pic 3, !). I do believe this was probably sloppy cuts rather than separation after the fact.

How can I improve these joist-beam connections? Should I just add some 45 degree toenails and call it good? The joists are fundamentally in good shape and if possible I'm looking for something DIY-able.

Edit: As I suspected, I was able to confirm that there are 3-4 end nails driven into the joists that are not toe-nailed at least (confirmed by feeling in the gap between joist and beam with a shim). Not sure if this changes anything.

If you need to remove the 2X2, then you will need to add joist hangers. The joist hangers available have stamped in the steel the nailing instruction for the hanger to perform the way it is designed. Many if not all hangers require "shear nail" in short, toenails as part of the nail sequence in each hanger.

If the 2X2 is not in the way, add cement coated 16D nails (3 1/2") even 12D nails 3 1/4" will work, a total of 5 in each end, 3 on one side, 2 on the other, situated roughly between the 3 on the other side.

If your span is over 8' (maybe 10') by code you will need bridging, diagonal or solid at the center point of the span. this will greatly reduce the springiness of the floor.


How can I open a stuck, overfilled kitchen drawer that doesn't have a horizontal entry point? Slightly different to other questions I've seen.

Solutions to them have you put something through the small gap (ruler, coat hanger, straw, anything).

However, ours has a slight vertical dip before it goes horizontal. Which means anything we slide into the very small gap goes straight down and touches the bottom of the drawer, rather than heads towards the back of it to get what's stuck.

It's a built in drawer in a new build house, so is hard (and maybe impossible) to take apart. There is no drawer next to it.

Any ideas to help me out would be amazing.

If there are drawers above or below, fully remove them and attempt to access that way, reaching around.

If not, try pounding on the drawer face with a rubber mallet (or something else that won't damage the finish) to try to get the drawer contents to shift a little.

Finally, you can put a 90 degree bend in a chunk of wire (coathanger or whatever) and slip that wire (with the bent part horizontal) into the "tiny gap", then rotate the wire to manipulate the stuff in the drawer. You may want an opposing 90 dregree bend on the vertical part sticking out of the drawer to act as a handle. The bent part going inside needs to be shorter than the drawer is wide, of course.


How can I stabilize the footing of a ladder? Whenever I saw a professional on a ladder, there was someone else at the foot of the ladder holding the sides of the ladder.
Now that my rain gutters are frozen solid, they are creaking, and I'm concerned the load may break them.
Is climbing to the gutters above the second level really a task that an amateur should not tackle, certainly not alone, or does there exist a way to dig the feet of the ladder (by spokes into the ground, perhaps) to stop the ladder from sliding?
Update: The unstated (but, I figured, pretty obvious) reason why I'm asking this question is that I'd like to save myself from even the most mundane of fall injuries.
In other words, please do not add comments saying it's dangerous. If you'd like to mention that repairing a slightly chipped tooth is far more expensive than hiring someone to do it, well, I know that. Feel free to write instead as an answer why this is so dangerous that no amateur should tackle it. Some tasks (such as rolling/unrolling garage door springs) are so risky, no amateur should tackle them. Some are outright illegal for an amateur to tackle (modifying the gas pipelines). Cleaning gutters is clearly not in the latter category. Is it in the former? Arguing for this is a perfectly valid answer.

The question doesn't have a specific answer since ladders, ground conditions, and tools-on-hand vary. Here are some ideas.

Use integrated spikes. Many extension ladders have feet which can be spun around to expose metal claw edges. These are not ideal on pavement, but work well on softer surfaces.
Dig small holes for the ends of the legs.
Park a vehicle bumper against the ladder, or against a strong object which is against the ladder and can't flip over or slide out.
Anchor the legs to a fixed object with the tension oriented under the ladder.


Protect a 6 inch air hose from physical damage I've got this 6 inch air duct coming out of my clothes dryer:

As you can see, we use that space for storing all kinds of junk, and every time I move things around over there, I'm afraid I'll puncture the hose.

Can you think of a good solution for protecting that section of the hose? I was imagining something like a slightly bigger hose-like thing that's goes around the current hose, serving as a protective layer. Is there a product like that, or can you think of a different product that I could improvise with to accomplish the same thing?

The best thing is to use rigid ducts instead of flexible ducts. A little harder to install as you have to figure out (and possibly do some cutting) exactly what pieces to use for your specific installation, and typically you need to attach several pieces together instead of one long tube. But avoids a lot of the issues of lint collecting inside every "crinkle" in the tube, tube getting easily crushed, etc.

Hopefully with rigid duct you can rearrange things so that you don't have ducts sitting right on top of the dryer (or other appliances).


my heat pumps power will tripping My heat pump when I start condenser fan wil run if go to command in compressor suddenly my elcb will tripping. My a/c technician told me compressor is grounded , i changed that compressor 7months before , what is the reason for compressor grounded suddenly

If the system oil becomes Acidic the varnish will be eaten off the motor windings causing the motor to short to ground. This can happen in just a few days for a system that was not clean or completely evacuated. There are quick acid test kits that will show if there is acid in the system in a few seconds. If the system shows acid I recomend a flush not a neutralizer because neutralizers leave residue. A product like quick shot acid flush moves the contamination to the filter dryer. I have had several systems that this worked very well on. It won't help your current compressor but may keep this from happening again. If you have the system repaired insist on having the system pumped down to 500 microns or lower to get the moisture out. I usually try for 100 on a system that has had problems and hold it there to get the system dry.


Dresser drawers getting stuck I've got a dresser whose drawers get stuck and won't open. Nothing is blocking them, they just seem to get stuck on the runners. None of the runners seem loose or damaged, so I don't really know what's going on.

I found some sites that said to try and rub some wax on them, but this didn't work. I just used some paraffin wax, is there a better solution?

Should I try to sand them down?

I've attached some pictures of drawers and the runners.

EDIT:
None of the runners are loose, and the wax didn't work so I'll try sanding them this weekend and posting an update. Since none are loose, can I assume that they are still square?

First make sure that the runners are tightly secured to the cabinet, and the screws holding the tracks on the bottom of the drawer are also tight.

If they are, then remove one and inspect the sliding surfaces for any obstruction, and any shiny spot. A shiny spot is a rubbing spot. Rub shiny spots with 80 grit sandpaper.

If you still have the problem, with this runner still removed, try sliding the drawer with just the other one installed. If it sticks, then remove that runner and check it out like above.

If this has not solved the problem, check the runners and tracks for squareness. You can also measure the distance between the center of the runners, front and back, and the center of the tracks, front and back to determine if one of them needs moving slightly.


What caulk should I use for the lip of a slide-in range? I just replaced the ceramic cooking surface on my range/stove/oven.  When I pulled it out, I noticed the side close to the sink (which is about two to three feet away) was pretty rusted and corroded.  The previous homeowner didn't have any caulking or other barriers in place to prevent liquids that splashed off the stove or out of the sink from creeping under the lip of the range then down the side.

I'd like to stop things from getting worse, and was thinking I should caulk the lip of the range and wanted to make sure I used the right kind.  I'm worried that I need a special caulk for the high temperatures of the range.  I looked at all the different kinds of caulking at my local home improvement store but didn't see any made for stoves.  Can I use any kind of caulking?  Do they make a specific kind for this situation?

Typically no caulking is used when setting a range top into a counter, however in your case where you are getting water from the sink under the lip, a small amount of silicone would not be a problem. The very outside mounting flange of you cook top should not get very hot. If you can touch it when the range is in use, then a standard silicone would be fine. If for some reason you determine a high heat material is needed, a fire rated caulk is available right off the shelf at most home improvement stores.  It is usually red in color and used for sealing holes in walls and floors where a fire rating is required. Use a very thin bead of caulk and wipe off excess immediately with a damp cloth.  One caution, silicone can stain some types of natural stone counters, so if you have marble or some other type of stone, test the sealant in an inconspicuous place before using.


Would it be up to code to use electrical box extender behind fridge that bulges out (California)? The fridge outlet uses aluminium wiring that is attached to copper only outlet. So I am thinking of upgrading it to alumiconns. Unfortunately:

alumiconn connectors are quite large and don't fit in that small box (I was able to fit 2 alumiconns and a wago for ground as temporary hack).
the electrical box is new construction (i.e. nailed to studs). So I would prefer to replace the box only as last resort.

Can I simply use electrical box extender? Would it have to be flush with wall or outlet bulging behind fridge is acceptable?

Throw the box extender ring on there and roll
Since you have a metal box, the most straightforward thing to do would indeed be to toss the appropriate size extension ring on there and go.  You can also use a surface raceway starter box if you'd prefer, but those aren't available in quite as many sizes.  As to Code compliance? Well, Code doesn't care one whit if your boxes stick out from the wall, and even would let you wire a house entirely with surface-mounted conduit or raceway and surface-mounted boxes to match. Its only concern is that the box is not set back into the wall surface in a way that renders exposed wall surface materials vulnerable to sparks.


Do I need to add a ground conductor when replacing a wall light fixture? I have a new wall light that has 2 wires negative and positive but no ground the fixture screws directly to the wall and mot into a box do i need to add a ground wire to the fixture

If the fixture has the 'class II' (double-insulaton) logo on:
,
 you don't need to add a ground, also if the circuit is GFCI protected you don't need a ground, if light is 'out of reach' lack of ground may not be a problem (as long as you turn the breaker off when changhing a bulb).

In general, if all the fixture casing is made of insulating materials, ground is not required.


How to extract and then add new refrigerant oil to a home hvac system after existing oil was contaminated with humidity? Condenser copper refrigerant lines were cut by vandals. They stayed open for several days. Before recharching with r-22, i know the repairmen will have to braze  the copper lines and remove all the old oil because it was exposed to the ambient and oil absorbs water from the humidity of the air. Im gonna be watching the repairmen closely and want to know about the right way so i will have an educated opinion and be able to question the procedures. How should they purge the old oil? How to add new oil, as i understand the r-22 refrigerant (freon) does not come with oil mixed in?

First you will need a new filter dryer. With the copper repaired Pull a high vacuum  below 500um on the system for 24 hours or longer this will remove the moisture. At first you may not be able to get below ~3000um because of the moisture outgassing increases the pressure. Once a good base is achieved keep it there for 24 hours and the moisture will be gone you will also want to do an acid test, if positive you will need to flush the system, I like Qwikshot acid flush. I would probably upgrade to a newer refrigerant that might not cost much more than a recharge since R22 can run 100$ per pound a 5 ton unit the Freon alone could cost you over 1k and you still have an old system.


I want to feed power to two outlets from one outlet. Is there a problem with code doing that? So I have an outlet in a kitchen that feeds in succession to an outlet outside. I want to run that power from that breaker to a bathroom I'm building. It's much easier for me to access that outlet in the kitchen. So I was wondering if I can keep the outlet running to outside and also attach another Romex off the kitchen outlet that is brought over to the bathroom without problems or breaking code. Never seen it done so probably not legal somehow but thought I'd ask.

The problem is the bathroom, not the branching
The issue you have isn't the "branch" in the circuit (T-taps, if you will, are a normal part of building wiring), it's that you can't have bathroom receptacles on the same branch circuit as things that aren't in a bathroom, or non-receptacles that aren't in the same bathroom as all the bathroom receptacles served by the circuit:

(3) Bathroom Branch Circuits. In addition to the number of
branch circuits required by other parts of this section, at least
one 120-volt, 20-ampere branch circuit shall be provided to
supply the bathroom(s) receptacle outlet(s). Such circuits shall
have no other outlets.

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 210.23(A)(1) and (A)(2).

So, if you don't have a receptacle-only bathroom branch circuit you can tap, you'll have to pull a new homerun of 12/2 from the panel to meet Code.  Note also that you can't tap most kitchen receptacle circuits to feed lighting, either, as the kitchen small appliance branch circuits aren't allowed to serve non-kitchen-receptacle loads, period.


Can't calibrate infrared motion detector I've installed a mains-switching infrared sensor unit, Cybertech LFMS-WH.  It doesn't say passive sensing anywhere, but I think it is passive. The lamp switching part of the circuit works properly and the detection part is problematic.

The sensor is on the wall of a exterior corridor that opens onto a public sidewalk six meters away. The goal is for it to light up when someone enters the corridor, not when someone walks by outside. I get the impression that heat doesn't reflect off surfaces, but I do wonder if the shape of the corridor is related to the problem. It's under an overhang, so the sensor location is darker than the area of the motion.

The device has two levers of adjustment: its aim and the sensitivity ("RANGE") control. In my tests it behaved the same aimed downwards in any direction, even away from the street. With a tiny turn at around 20% of the adjustment range the device goes from seeing nothing at all to seeing me out on the sidewalk. The circuit lights up way too often. I have tried mounting an aluminum shield on its side to block the street angle, but the problem persisted.

Is this hopeless? Should I switch to a ultrasonic sensor?

The problem is simple. These are residential motion detectors. Yours probably ran you somewhere between $20 to $30 dollars. Manufacturing costs on this was probably $7 - $8 material inclusive, let's say 50%. You can't expect a highly sophisticated piece of electronic equipment that you can calibrate to spec from these things. They are what they are, a basic low grade and inexpensive motion detector for general residential use.

Many years ago we added these things in our no warranty list with light bulbs and ballasts due to the fact that most people were disappointed in their results. Even though they selected them and they were performing, just not the way they wanted them to. We were completely able to supply them with  a more sophisticated motion detector, but most people considered it cost prohibitive.

In short it's a cheap product and it performs in a cheap manner.


I need a wiring solution for an unusual situation I have two 20amp circuits in the kitchen. One is controlling receptacles to the left of the sink AND the dishwasher.  The other is controlling receptacles to the right of the sink AND the fridge.  The disposer is on it's own 20amp circuit.  Since counter receptacles are used far more frequently than the disposer is and more likely to trip the GFCI killing power to the fridge, would the lesser of two evils be to place the fridge on the same circuit as the disposer and get it off the circuit that controls two receptacles to the right of the sink?

I would say yes, although you are swapping one code violation for another. The fridge CAN be on with the small appliance counter circuit, but the DW cannot (which is how you have it now).

If the fridge is kept off the SABC (small appliance branch circuit) then it must be on it's own circuit. At the same time, I do agree that having the fridge on with the disposal is the lesser of two evils as opposed to having it on with the counter circuit and GFI protected.

I still do NOT like that the DW is on with the SABC. The DW is likely more of a draw than the fridge, but you have the option of not using the DW at times when small appliances are being used. The fridge does not allow you this flexibility.

I am not an advocate of code violations, but swapping a minor code violation for an even lesser one IMO is not a bad thing to do.

Best case scenario:

Combine the DW and disposal on the 20A circuit.
Give the refer it's own new 15 or 20A circuit.
Keep the two SABC's dedicated to the counter receptacles.


How Do I Connect 00 AWG Wire to a 100A breaker? I'm hooking a 100A service panel to my meter pan. There is the 100A disconnect panel on the right side that feeds the little house, I'm installing another panel on the left side to service my barn, an approximate 150' run. Feed to the barn is 3 conductor direct burial cable. Two of them look like 00 AWG, guessing, but the wire is a good solid 1/2 inch across. The 100A breaker terminal will fit, looks like, #4 at best. Is there is "reducing" type terminal that will allow me to tight fit the 00 AWG wire and then insert into the breaker?

Short answer - you don't. I'll echo what others have said - don't guess - find out what you have. Size and whether copper or Al. Find out if you can make splices in your panel per local code and (if allowed) splice down to the correct maximum size that the breaker will accept. Tester says it correctly - 4 wires needed -2 hots, a neutral and a ground, but the ground wire may be a size smaller than the required "hots".
ALSO - once finished, will you have two separate services both feeding off the meter pan? It sorta reads that way. I do not believe you're allowed to "Piggy back" wires on the meter pan and in my locale there must be one main to turn off everything. So- one main panel to feed two sub-panels. Draw and post a diagram if you can take a picture of it. Indicate hots in red and black, neutral in white and ground in green. This is the level of detail you need to understand it, if you do this as a DIY. About a year ago, I took on a sub-panel and ran flex metal cable throughout a new shop. I researched the heck out of. It was not that hard to learn and obey all safety rules, whether or not you have code enforcement.


Installing a dimmer only where a light and fan switches exist The left switch in the picture controls the light, while the right switch controls the fan. I'm looking to install a ge smart dimmer switch, while disconnecting the fan switch, but still leaving it the switch on the wall as a dud. Any recommendations on how to make it work based on the pic above?

It looks like the wire wire in your switch box, is used as always hot or switched hot. You don't have neutral in there. I bet your power comes into the ceiling fan first, then to the switches. In this case, no, you can't use the smart switch....without re-doing the wiring at the ceiling and the box. You can do it with what wires you have, but the second switch would not work properly (you plan to remove it from the circuit anyway).

You would need to switch wires in the ceiling so that "power" comes to the switch first, then switched to the fan. With the 3 wires you have, its easy to do.

You will tie all whites together in the fan (new light) box, black on the fan (new light) to red and black from circuit breaker to black to switch (nothing hooked up in the fan box to the black wires(2) except just the two, 1 hot in and 1 hot out). At the switch, you will then have neutral (white), black (hot) and red (switched hot). From there you install the smart switch white(neutral) to neutral, black(hot) to hot and red to load. Best practice then is to use a 2 gang cover that has one side as a cover(blank).


Aerator Sprays - Is it a missing part? My bathroom sink kind of sprays out like this:

Taking the aerator off reveals a nice stream and clean receptacle for the aerator.

I disassembled the aerator and cleaned a number of chunks off of its screens, but this didn't improve things. The parts of the aerator are shown below. I'm nearly positive that I didn't lose any parts: I have two faucets in the bathroom with this same problem, so I'd have had to have lost the same part twice.

Shown below is an aerator diagram from this DIY question.

My aerator, clearly, doesn't have all of these parts.

My question then is this: am I definitely missing parts (maybe a prior owner disassembled the aerator and lost/tossed them) or is there some trick to reassembling my aerator that I got wrong?

A secondary question is: can I buy these parts separate from the rest of the aerator?

I'd say its pretty obvious that you're missing the "mixer" and "flow restrictor" which are often one piece, or at least attached to each other.

I also agree with your hypothesis that someone took it apart and purposely removed or lost a piece.  Just get a new aerator - it's a common replacement part because people break them or they get clogged with sediment.


How can I cover water stains on this wall During sandy storm I had some water leakage in my home. The damage isn't much in the sense that the drywall is still hard. It just has water stains that I'd like to get rid of.

Here is a pic of what the damage looks like. Yesterday night I applied a coat of water based primer on the drywall however, this morning the stain is still there.

Should I instead use an oil based primer?

What you need is a good oil based primer like Kilz.

Put about 2 coats to cover the stains completely.  After this has dried completely you can touch up with latex based paint and this should prevent any further stains from seeping through.

Regular latex based primers are not going to do a good job of hiding previous water damage.  It may cover for a few weeks but eventually the stain will come back.

NOTE: Just make sure that you have addressed the source of the water first.  This shouldn't be used to sweep a problem under the carpet.  If the water damage continues then this will not help you.


Is there such a thing as a horizontal tension rod shelf? I want to put up a shelf going the width of a narrow hallway, but cant do any drilling in the walls (our walls are terrible and I rent so I don't want to do any damage).

I thought about suspending a few pull up bars and then putting a plank of wood on them, but first wanted to know if there is a more elegant solution. When I google tension rod shelf they are all vertical and I want one that is horizontal.

I've wondered this before, too. Honestly I wouldn't trust a horizontal tension rod shelf unless you're putting lightweight, and not breakable, things on it.

I know you're renting, but you could install shelves with braces and then just patch the holes when you leave, assuming you can find similar paint.

Another alternative is just something like bookshelves.


How do I hook up a new "pull-type" light switch in my basement utility room? The old pull-switch was installed when we bought the house, and it was of a different type than the new one I bought.  I went to replace it, and found out I couldn't just swap the wires, since the old one had an extra connection.  The light switch box has this extra thing attached, and hooked in somehow, and I don't really know what it's for, or how to attach my new pull switch.  My new pull switch comes with instructions to attach the black (hot) wire to its brass screw, and the white (neutral) wire to the silver screw.  In the first picture, you can see the black wires are currently have a wire nut on, while the white wires are twisted around themselves, and exposed.

Attaching the new pull switch would be straight forward except I don't have a clue what to do with the extra black wire coming from that other bronze box.

Here is an overview of the light box in the utility room in the basement:
You can see the bronze coloured, "extra" thing to the left of the box.  In the bottom right corner, in addition to the regular electrical wire leading away, there are two smaller wires that originate from this box.  I don't know where they go, since the wires are hidden once they go through the joist.

Here is a close-up showing the extra wire coming from the thing attached to the box:

Finally, here is a different view of that bronze box attached:

I'd appreciate any help someone can give (and any light you can shed on that attached bronze box).

The extra brass colored box is a transformer for a low voltage system, probably a doorbell. One wire on the outside probably goes to the push button and the other to the chime. It could be some other low voltage device, doesn't really matter, it's definitely a transformer. The green wire appears to be a site installed modification to ensure proper grounding. The smaller black wires are for 120v power. One to house black, the other to house white. Which goes to which does not matter.

To install a lamp base with a pull switch, you need short lengths of white and black wires with solid copper conductors the same gauge as the house wiring. Connect the black one to the brass screw of the base and the other end to the other house black wires and one of the transformer blacks. Connect the white one to the silver screw and the other end to the white house wires with the other transformer black.

If the base has a green and/or hex shaped grounding screw, it is connected to the other grounding wires with either green insulated or bare copper wire. Since these sort of bases are usually non-metallic, there's usually no grounding screw. But if there is one, it needs to be connected.


Stuck Patio Sliding Door My sliding patio door will no longer move. It was working fine for the best couple months since we've moved into this house. However, today, when I tried unlocking my patio sliding door, the unlock sound was slightly different than normal. I then tried opening/sliding the door and the door will not budge. I've tried locking and unlocking multiple times and the door will not move. The lock in the frame seems jammed and isn't fully unlocking the door. As of now, I'm unable to move the door at all. I tried changing the position of the wheels on the bottom right of the door, but that didn't make any difference. Has anyone ever run into this? Any help is appreciated so I can open my sliding door again.

I had a similar problem with an old Wickes Mahogany patio door. Also the cylinder lock had come out as  I fiddled with it. Having read what Jimmy FixIt posted, I:

removed the 2 square, plastic screw covers on the inside handle,
removed the bolts,
removed the handle

This revealed at the top a mechanism which I pushed down with a screwdriver.
Taking care not to push the square turning spindle so far in that it falls out the other side of the locked door, put a spanner to the spindle, and, hey presto, it turned. Door unlocked.

Sliding patio doors in a Victorian house on London clay are always going to need adjusting from time to time. I had left it too long and was opening, closing and locking with heft.


Is it necessary to connect a boiler and gas meter to the main fuse box? We are getting a new kitchen fitted. An electrical survey has been carried out by the compnay installing kitchen. they have said that, our brand new and recently fitted, boiler needs a earth wire running from itself to the fusebox. As does our old gas meter.  This is a pain as they are at the outermost parts of our property and the fusebox is central. So it will mean cables/wires all over the place.

Surely the boiler can be earthed via nearby mains powerpoint ? Or straight out to the literal earth via the nearby water stop cock/water meter.

Any advice from electricians, or those with electrical knowledge ?  I am based in the UK, and apparently these are health safety regulations, although I think they are somewhat open to interpretation.

I know you're in the UK, but I'll answer for the US in case someone there has the same question.

Boilers and furnaces must be powered by a separate, grounded circuit.

Any metal piping system that is likely to become energized must be bonded, including gas pipes, but the equipment grounding conductor run with the circuit conductors feeding a gas appliance "shall be permitted to serve as the bonding means":

  NEC 250.104
  (B) Other Metal Piping.

  Where installed in or attached to a building or structure, a metal piping system(s), including gas piping, that is likely to become energized shall be bonded to the service equipment enclosure, the grounded conductor at the service, the grounding electrode conductor where of sufficient size, or the one or more grounding electrodes used. The bonding jumper(s) shall be sized in accordance with 250.122, using the rating of the circuit that is likely to energize the piping system(s). The equipment grounding conductor for the circuit that is likely to energize the piping shall be permitted to serve as the bonding means. The points of attachment of the bonding jumper(s) shall be accessible.


Can I attach the hot hose from my washer to my boiler relief? I just moved into an older house and there is only a cold tap for the washing machine. The machine is located right next to the boiler so I was wondering if I could just attach the hot water hose to the drain outlet located at the bottom of the boiler to give the washer hot water. I checked and the hose attaches just fine.

Any help would be really appreciated!

Sadly, the answer is "no". Hot water, both in the boiler and in the radiators, is very corrosive IF there is oxygen in it. Water from your well or town has dissolved air, including oxygen (it's why fish survive in water). Once the water is in the system, the oxygen combines with the boiler/radiator linings, corroding it.

There isn't a lot of oxygen in any one volume of water, and the oxygen in the system will soon get used up, stopping the corrosion. However, if you keep changing the system's water (typically through a leak, or with your suggestion wholesale by taking the system water for your washing machine) then you're continually replenishing the water and thus its contained oxygen. Bingo: corrosion city.

There's almost certainly other good reasons as well (e.g. the water in a boiler is fairly low-pressure, so you wouldn't get great water flow; the boiler fill valve isn't meant to run constantly, etc.), but having to replace your boiler and radiators every few years would trump it all.


How to fit kitchen cabinets to corners that are not 90 degrees I'm currently designing a replacement kitchen for my house. The kitchen is U shaped so going across three walls of the house. The middle wall is not 90 degrees to the other two, it is more like 105 degrees to one wall and 75 degrees to the other. How do you usually fit kitchen cabinets to these corners? What are different ways this can be done?

Not all corner cabinets make up both sides of a corner. You can get a cabinet for example that is 42" long but with only a 18" door. Another standard cabinet will butt against it to form a corner. Normally a 3" spacer is used to make clearance for drawers and doors to open.  You may need more on your smaller angled corner. I believe they're called blind corner cabinets.  They normally leave an hard to access space but slide outs like in the picture below will help.


How do I fix the drain in our refrigerator It's a GE TBX25PASJRAA.  Water collects in the refrigerator compartment, a tray placed at the back of the top shelf catches most of it.

I assume it's defrost water that's not going where it's supposed to.  I had originally thought the drain line was plugged but when I pulled the fridge out I see it contains a trap with water in it which strongly implies it's not blocked.  This is part #315 on this diagram:

Parts Diagram

Also, I'm not finding any manuals that indicate how to work on it.  Do such things exist anymore?

just because the water i making it to the tray outside the fridge doesn't mean the drain isn't clogged. it might be partially obstructed and it can't drain fast enough.

also, i would check the entire drain assembly end to end. it might be that the parts are not fitted tightly and are therefore leaking.


What is the silver on the end of copper wire? I am connecting a power cable to my dishwasher and I noticed the end of the copper wire looks like it has been dipped in solder. It is silver and very stiff. Should I be putting the wire nut on over this or cutting it off?

Both the power cable and the wires on the dishwasher have this material on the end of them.

It's solder - it allows you to easily solder to the cable (if you needed to)

It's a very soft metal coating, a screw will make perfectly good contact through it.


Load wood beam support How much load can a (wood) 4"x 6" handle with a span of 16' with supports only at the ends.  I have a total of 6,200 load pounds on it.

There are wood load calculators online available to punch in the numbers:
https://awc.org/codes-standards/calculators-software/spancalc
That should give you the answer.


Insulating between boiler room and bathroom Part of my bathroom is directly above the boiler room. The boiler room is only accessible via an external door and is well ventilated with wall and door vents, so I consider it more like an outhouse than part of the house interior. When the boiler is turned on, the boiler room gets quite warm. But the rest of the time, it's not much warmer than the outdoor temperature. I suspect that this is contributing to the bathroom getting quite cold (in fact I can feel a cold draft coming from under the bath), so I would like to add some insulation in the bathroom floor/boiler room ceiling.

Here's a cross-section of the part of the house in question.

Points to note:

Most of the bathroom floor is tiled. Lifting the tiles to gain access to the floor space is not an option.
The floor under the bath (behind the side panel) is not tiled, and is only partly boarded, so pushing insulation between the joists under the tiles from there could be an option but still somewhat awkward.
The boiler room has a plywood ceiling, nailed onto the joists. I would rather not take it down if I don't have to..
Pipes from the boiler (not shown in the diagram) go up through holes in the ceiling, make a right angle turn and go off under the tiles. The holes the pipes go through are much bigger than they need to be, which is probably how the cold air is getting in. These gaps around the pipes will need to be filled.

It occurs to me that the easiest way to approach this is from the boiler room side.

Can I just attach some insulated plasterboard to the ceiling of the boiler room?

If so, do I need to add a vapour barrier, and where? I understand that when adding insulation to the inside of a room, the vapour barrier goes on the warm side of the insulation. Here, I am effectively adding insulation the exterior of a room, and I'm not sure whether a vapour barrier is needed.

Any other pitfalls I should be aware of?

This is in the UK, typical brick-build house construction, in case that makes any difference.

In my opinion, public enemy #1 are the potential drafts that are coming through your structure.  Address point 4 and use expanding foam filler around those holes and pipes.

That being said, I think you need to tackle the problem head on and remove the plywood, ala point #3, and properly apply insulation to the uninsulated space.  It will not only beef up your homes thermal barrier, but in addition will insulate your bath, keeping hot-water bathes - hot.

Not sure about the door and wall venting, I'd hope you have the boiler exhaust piping heading outdoors..


Why would unplugging an A/C unit restore power to a circuit? Last night, we got a brownout. Everything came back except the master bedroom circuit. I checked the circuit breaker and it wasn't tripped (reset it anyway, for good measure).

After a hot night (window A/C was on the same circuit), I thought I'd see if maybe the A/C was the problem. I unplugged the A/C, and immediately the rest of the circuit came back on. I plugged it back in, and it went off. After a little more playing with the plug, I managed to get it so both the A/C and the room had power.

Any idea what can cause this? I'm nervous about what will happen with the next brownout, and if this is indicative of some more serious problem.

I believe what Kris is saying is perhaps you should look at the back of the AC receptacle. Are the wires going to the plug all on the plug? If there are more than two blacks in a box we usually marrett them together with a pig tail that goes to you receptacle screws. Some people go the lazy route and poke each wire into the back of the plug, instead of making a pig tail. Over time things can become loose. I don't know how the brownout could contribute to this but electricity can be finicky in ways!


What is the technical name of these water outlet cover plates? What is the technical name of these water outlet cover plates? They are found below my sink. The hole in the wall is  bigger than the size of the water outlet so I suppose the purpose of these covers is to cover the hole. I want to buy replacements, but can't find them anywhere.

They have always been known as escutcheons. That's as far as I know. If it was for a door knob it could also be called a rose or rosette


Footings for free-standing structure We moved into a house that backs up to some trees and a small creek. There aren't any good trees for a tree house back there, but I would like to build a raised fort for the kids instead. It will be about 12'x8' and 7' off the ground.

I would prefer to use stand-offs so the support posts aren't buried. The soil is pretty moist and I'm afraid the support posts would rot off. However, we get really high winds at times and this will be free-standing. I know burying the posts would provide a lot more stability.

Will stand-offs work OK and be able to withstand high winds or are they only meant to be used on structures that are attached to something?

X-brace the structure (under the raised deck of the "fort" part) so that the posts work together to BE a structure. Run opposing diagonal lumber from the bottom of one post to the top of the one next to it, and vice versa. At that point your posts should not be bending at the attachment point, so they should stay put just fine.


White Smoke coming out of Briggs and Stratton engine The Issue:

I recently purchased a 9 kilowatt generator running on a 17hp Briggs and Stratton engine which ran pretty well when I first bought it except for a little white smoke.

I replaced the gasoline just to be safe as the owner had not run the generator for several years. The generator ran great after changing the gasoline. I don't remember seeing any white smoke either.

Then I replaced the oil and put cleaner in the carburetor (or what I thought was the carburetor). What I actually shot with carburetor cleaner was the fuel pump! After this, the generator would only turn on for at most 20 seconds then a ton of white smoke would shoot out and the generator would quickly die after that. Come to find out that a bunch of gas was spilling over into the oil section and I assume oil was also feeding back into the cylinder.

I then replaced the fuel pump, carburetor float and needle valve. I also replaced the gasoline-filled oil. Now the generator runs beautiful, except that now there is a steadily increasing amount of white smoke coming from the exhaust. It takes about 10 seconds for any white smoke to be visible and steadily more and more white smoke is visible until it looks like a fog machine by about 90 seconds. Once I turn off the engine, white smoke continues to steam from the exhaust for about another two minutes, steadily decreasing.

The Question:

There is no oil that I can see around the crankshaft or the gasket. The oil level is staying at the exact spot and is not too full. From what it smells like, I believe that oil is burning, but I do not have the experience to tell where it could be coming from. Anyone have any ideas of what could be causing the smoke?

My guesses without more information would include the crankcase being overfilled with oil, a blown head gasket, or damage to the piston, rings or cylinders.

I doubt that you have the generator running while it sits at an angle, which could let oil slop over into the carburetor float bowl. Although that's a possibility, too, if you have it sitting on a slope.

Since the engine apparently always produced a little while smoke, and since the smoke doesn't start for a while, then doesn't stop for a while after shutting the engine off, it's probably heat-related in one way or another. As the engine heats up, it expands. If there's a damaged head gasket or something like a hairline crack in a cylinder wall, it could open up just enough to let oil seep through once the engine is hot. Or if you have something like damaged or ill-fitting piston rings, oil might start squeezing past the rings once the engine heats up and the cylinder expands.

You mentioned that if you hold your hand in the white exhaust, little oil droplets condense on your hand. The same thing is happening inside the exhaust manifold/pipe, and the heat will cause that condensate to keep smoking until it is all burned off or the temperature drops low enough for it to stop smoking. If the exhaust valve is open at all after the engine shuts off, any oil in the cylinder will burn off and push white smoke out the exhaust, as well. Especially if it's some kind of hairline crack letting oil into the cylinder, which then closes back up as the engine cools.

Of those possibilities, aside from overfill or running the engine on a slope, the head gasket would be the easiest thing for you to fix yourself. You would need a torque wrench and specifications on the correct bolt tightening pattern and torque for the head bolts for your specific engine.

Or it could be something completely different.

Here's a potentially handy page from Briggs and Stratton, but it might be time to call a local small engine repair shop.

https://www.briggsandstratton.com/us/en/support/faqs/engine-emits-white-blue-smoke


How can I fix a large gap between wall and countertop caused by bowed walls? We live in an old house with plaster walls. We recently installed a new counter top and discovered that our walls are bowed and curvy.  There is approximately a 3/4 inch gap on either side of the bow. What is the best way to shave the counter top to fit more snugly to the wall? It's too large of a gap to caulk, and a tile back splash wouldn't be sufficient.

Scribe it. Use a compass (or a stick with a pencil attached to it) set to the widest gap - run the compass or stick-with-pencil along the wall, marking the countertop a set distance out from the wall. Cut along the line - if done carefully, the wavy edge of the countertop should now fit the wavy wall precisely.


How do I know what type of wood I'm buying? I am new to woodworking, and I'm working on a small project requiring some 2x4s.

I want to buy this one from Home Depot. Is this solid wood or engineered wood?  They didn't say anything in their description. How can I find out?

"White wood" is a generic term for whatever fast-growing wood is cheapest at that time and in that place. It may be pine, fir, or occasionally even poplar (which is as fast-growing and soft as most "softwoods" despute being considered a hardwood). It will be a solid wood, though there may be cases where boards have been spliced to get useful sizes.


How should I encapsulate a basement wall with chipping paint on a porous surface? I have a basement wall with several layers of chipping paint.  I can't say officially, but I'm pretty certain the bottom layer (dark green in the photos) is lead-based, while the upper layers are not.

The other issues:

the wall is not uniform (concrete block on top of fieldstone)
we need to optimize for horizontal clearance -- we had to remove the old paneling in order to move anything large in and out of the basement

I recognize the dangers of paint removal, and with the porous concrete block, chemical stripping isn't a viable option.  At the end of the day, while I'm experienced at home renovation, I'm not a pro and I have a young child in the house.

Here was my plan for encapsulation:

Carefully wet-clean the surface
Use tack cloth / duct tape to pick up loose chips
Cover everything with Sherwin-Williams Loxon XP (masonry conditioner)
Paint over that with ChildGuard (encapsulant)

However, I found that the surface was in rougher shape than I hoped.  Paint hasn't been flaking off, but duct tape can pretty easily remove bits, even after several applications to the same patch.  And the fieldstone masonry basically turns into dust when you touch it.

So what do I do?  Is there any sort of skim coat that can bind to chipping paint?  Should I go the route of thin furring strips and paneling?  Honestly, I could care less how the wall looks, so long as I can put a coat of paint on it, I can get down into the basement, and I'm not putting my family at risk.

Photos:

The wall (upper):

The wall (lower):

Chipping paint:

Uneven wall:

If you follow the advice of others and use a wire brush to knock off the paint, be aware that the dust particles from lead paint are the main hazard.  There are some precautions on NY's DoH page that I'd recommend, including disposable coveralls, respirator, and goggles in addition to completely sealing the area from the rest of the home (remember the air vents).

If you want to cover the area, you can frame out the wall with thin wood slats or even 2x4's turned on their side. Be ready to shim out each board so they are perfectly vertical and align with each other (you don't want wavy drywall). With concrete, there are moisture concerns, so use pressure treated lumber, a vapor barrier, and the foam separator. In this case, I'd probably apply the vapor barrier to the wall first to lock in the paint and any dust. Then install drywall on top, using mold resistant if you have any moisture issues in the basement.


Getting plumbing on the other side of support beams Had some 2nd-story plumbing start to fail in my 1950's home, so I had the brilliant idea to re-do a "mud-job" bathroom.  It included removing a non-load bearing wall from the adjacent bedroom's closet to add square footage. In spite of how arduous the concrete removal was, everything was going well until I got all of the subfloor up to see there is a support beam standing in the way of where my old plumbing was and where I would like to get to.
Pictured you will see the old plumbing coming up from the stack, my closet flange, air vent, and drain pipes that used to run to the tub + sink.  Yes, I am aware that one joist (among others) looks terrible and luckily I am in a position to replace or sister all the joists so that will be happening.
My issue lies in the support beam headers.  In the other picture you'll see a red circle which is where I would like the closet flange to go, but I'm not sure any layout would allow for me to actually put one there. According to my county inspector, I can notch those or even bore holes with the same rule of thumb as joists, but I'm not sure I feel comfortable or safe doing so.
I can't go under, as my kitchen ceiling begins.  Their cabinets go ceiling high, so a soffit isn't even an option.
The other option I see is where the blue circle is. Basically, still push the closet flange back but up to about where the beam starts and head off that joist where it would be going.  I'd end up packing out the wall and building a chase in the room for just the toilet. Maybe even have enough room to keep a small closet on the other side.
Still, that would be disappointing and I'd lose some of the space I was hoping to gain. Are there options for getting me on the other side of those support beams?

I wanted to follow up on this in case anyone stumbles upon it.  I actually ended up using a relatively new solution -- a 2810HR Joist Reinforcer.  It's a 14-gauge steel plate which allowed for a larger bore (in my case I made it 4.5") through a 2x10 and I put one on each side of the headers. The IBC/IRC certification they have for the plates passed inspection with no issues.
Only recommendation I would make is to get a better square bit to drive the screws than the one the company provides.
Otherwise, it got my plumbing where it needed to go and it's incredibly sturdy so I'm not worried about the strength of support. Hope this helps someone in the future!


Do metal junction boxes used solely as pull boxes need to be grounded? I am planning to pull three sets of four conductors (3 AWG wire) through 2" EMT conduit for a 30' length that is common to all three sets of wires, and then branch off at a listed metal junction box (10"x10"x4") to three 1 1/4" EMT conduits. I am doing this because I am planning to run wiring for three 100-amp subpanels from a 200-amp main.

I was not planning to make any mechanical connections inside of the junction box and just use the junction box to pull the wire through. Do I have to strip back insulation on the ground wires to make direct connections to the junction box?

250.4(A)(2),(3), & (4) says that "Normally noncurrent-carrying conductive materials enclosing electrical conductors or equipment" should be grounded and bonded. So while you may not have to connect the equipment grounding conductor to the box, the boxes do have to be grounded and bonded. Since you're using EMT, the boxes can be grounded and bonded via the conduit. If you were using nonmetallic conduit, you'd have to ground the boxes some how.


How to SLIGHTLY widen bored hole in 2x6 I'm making a stand-alone pullup bar and I bored 1 1/4" holes in 2x6's for my 1" galvanized pipe (1 1'4" outside) to slide through. Only the pipe is definitely 1 5/16" (thank you, guy at Lowes) and I can barely thread the first 1/2" of it with all my strength. I tried wrapping lots of sandpaper around my speedbore bit with a dash of 3M 77 and that slightly worked but the sandpaper wore out way too quickly to ever get me there.

Does anyone know how to uniformly sand the inside of the holes to give me my 1/16" of an inch?? I've only been able to find videos on how to go from one size bit to another, but nothing on how to make the hole you already have slightly larger.

You might use a half-round rasp or file.


Seeks parts for antique wood venetian blinds We have 60 year old wood venetian blinds that we're in the process of replacing the ladder tape on (that was easy to find).  One of our blinds is missing a small wooden roller and we're at a loss as where to find one.

It's approximately 1/2" long, 5/16" wide, and has a 3/8" hole.  I'm attaching pictures.  While I'd prefer it to be wood, I'm ok with other materials as it will never be seen.

A quick google search only produced the more modern styles.

I know this route might be more expensive - but that seems like such a simple part to make. Any cabinet shop or furniture repair can do that.

If I were to do this myself with out a lathe - I would buy a wooden dowel rod from Big Box Hardware. Cut it down to about 3 inches. Drill out the center, and also countersink the center. Then I would use sand paper and a file to shape my own matching roller. Stain and be done with it.

Tedious yes sure - but I would have my roller.

If you have a small drill press all the better - because you could put the dowel in the Drill press and use a dremel tool to cut and sand as you have need and make it lickity split. I would say you should be done in about 30 minutes or so..

Below are not endorsements of products or services but provided as useful information..

There is also Habitat for Humanity which might have some vintage stuff - or antique shops.
Especially considering this:

Wooden Thread Spools

Or

Order custom made wooden roller.
Link to above in the open:
https://www.etsy.com/listing/258307687/wooden-roller?ga_order=most_relevant&ga_search_type=all&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_search_query=wooden%20rollers&ref=sr_gallery-1-16


What's this piece under the nut on my faucet, and could it be stopping me from loosening the nut? I'm trying to remove my kitchen faucet, and have not been able to get this nut to budge with any of locking pliers, pb blaster penetrating oil, and a basin wrench. After looking more closely at it, I noticed this "sleeve" or cover of the threads of the screw the nut is on, which is different from what I've seen in the guides I've been referencing.

I'm wondering what this piece is and if it may be preventing me from loosening the nut.

That piece is a threaded sleeve nut that is actually holding the faucet in place. the nut at the top just holds the bracket in place while the sleeve nut is tightened or loosened with a large slotted screwdriver. Support the bracket with an adjustable wrench while turning the sleeve nut counterclockwise with slotted screwdriver to remove the faucet.


Screws or nails for securing 2" lumber to overhead joists as fireblocking? I will be installing fireblocking as part of finishing my basement. I plan to leave about an 8" gap between the newly framed walls (metal stud framing) and the cinder block foundation wall to avoid putting holes into the concrete covering the French drain for my sump pump. I will therefore be installing continuous runs of 2"x12" lumber to the bottom of the floor joists as fireblocking material before framing the walls underneath.

Is it better to use nails or screws to secure the 2"x12" lumber to the floor joists?

Using nails seems like it will work better with the shear loads from expansion and contraction of my otherwise wood-framed house. However, the lumber also has tensile loads from gravity for which screws are typically recommended. I am planning to use non-load bearing metal drywall studs to frame the wall beneath the fireblocking.

2X12 is great, 3/4" plywood would be easier to handle and to drill through when you need to. Chalk your plate line where the wall will go on the room side, rip your plywood to go to the basement wall and 1/4" shy of the chalk line. That way when you set your upper plate you can still see the line to accurately set your wall.
To answer your question, using nails will work, it is only fireblocking, you only really need enough to keep it up, since it is not structural, but do it anyway. Screws would work better, especially if it needs to be adjusted after it is up in place, and you see it needs to move a bit, it does happen. Shear or expansion should not be a concern. material usually shrinks once installed.


Can tankless water heaters be used in Europe? I just discovered tankless water heater technology while browsing alternatives to gas based water heating, more specifically the ones designed in the United States by EcoSmart.

I have been trying to find if these tankless water heaters can be installed and used in Europe (more specifically, in Western European countries), but until now I've only found a few of them on UK's Ebay. My country's electrical appliances sellers do not seem to even know about this type of water heating.

Currently my knowledge about this is also very limited, therefore if I purchase one of these will a professional electrician be able to install it directly or will it require a specific transformer? And is the warranty valid in Europe? They allow a fewer time warranty for "outside of continental US and Canada" but it needs to be installed within 30 days of purchase and their form must also be filled out and sent within this time frame with an installer license... So does it need to be a US installer license?

Side question: Is there a reason why this technology does not seem to be popular in European countries?

They are much more common in Europe than in the USA, actually.

You may not be using the right search terms, and searching from your PC may not be the way to go about this.  But if you're in Europe in a shop, you shouldn't have any trouble finding European models made for Europe in Europe.


Can I power seven 54W LED light strips from a 400W supply? I have ws2812b 60 LED/meter and a 400W/80A power supply.  Is it fair to say that my power supply is 'capable of supplying' up to 400W of power and not 'pushing' all 400W of power?  My understanding is that the circuit components will 'draw' (pull) only the amount of power they need from that great ocean of 400W of available power. Therefore if my 5m addressable ws2812b LED light strip draws total of 54W (60mA * 3V * 300 LEDs = 54W), then I can power up to 7 such strips on this same 400W power supply?

Yes.  If you connect one 54 watt strip, it will draw 54 watts through the power supply.  If you connect seven strips, they'll draw 378 watts.


Cut through plaster vaneer My house was built in the 50s and has the same wall construction described here: Is this plaster over gypsum wallboard?
Does anyone know how I can easily cut through it.  I've been using my sturdy drywall saw, which works, but is slow and arduous.
Thank you.

I use a sawzall a reciprocating saw with a wood bit and it goes through it like butter. Check for live voltage behind the area you want to cut or you may have some wires to repair , yup done that more than once.
I lay the tip lightly on the surface handle and blade touching the wall. Start the saw holding the front of the saw still wile lifting the handle away from the surface, once through hold the saw at a 90 and cut away.
I have seen a jigsaw used he drilled a hole big enough for the blade it was a bit slower but a nice reusable cut.


How can I build a wood fence to block sound? I live on a busy street that is separated from a highway by a restaurant parking lot, and I would like to replace my wrought iron fence with a wooden fence for both privacy and to block sound. I am able to build up to an 8 foot fence, but I'm concerned that it may not be enough to block the ambient sound coming from the street and highway.

Of course perfect silence is unobtainable (and I actually do like some city sounds) but it would be nice to have a little more solitude than I have now.

I'm wondering if there are any tips for making the fence better at blocking sound. For example, would a double-walled fence provide better sound blocking, or would the difference be negligible compared to the sound coming over the fence?

Solid is better than not solid. Thicker is better than thinner.

But at the end of the day, wood fences won't do much to dampen sound at all.

If you can, go with a solid fence of some sort (block, brick, etc.) but that'd be expensive and laborious, of course.

If you have to stick with wood, go with solid panels and then plant a lot of shrubs on both sides of the fence. That might help over time. But don't invest in this thinking you will see sound dampening of all that much.

That said, it does appear there are some products on the market to help with this. I know nothing of these and are merely mentioning them as possible things to investigate:

this looks like a sound deadening 'tarp' you attach to your fence: http://www.acoustiblok.com/acoustical_fence.php
this one is a 'blanket' that attaches to the fence: http://www.acousticsblog.com/2014/reduce-unwanted-outdoor-noise-sound-blocking-fence/
another idea I've seen is to string chicken wire between posts (both sides) and then fill the center with mulch. I like the idea, though dread the maintenance (as I think you'd have to refresh the mulch every few years.


Should sags in my floor be repaired before refinishing hardwood floors? We bought a ~50 year old house a few years ago. At the time we knew there was a few humps in the flooring, in particular over the beams. However since we've lived in the house for a while now, we've noticed we have sagging floors in a few spots throughout the house.
It occurs on both the main floor and the second floor (above). On the main floor, we see the biggest sag underneath our eating area and under our fridge. I've measured the sags (as best I can) and they range from 1/2 inch to maybe 3/4 inch sags (over 10-12 feet span). We've also noticed that essentially everywhere in the house when your near the outside frame, you can feel the floors sag right away. It wouldn't be noticeable to 75% of people, but I notice it.
We're debating doing a renovation of our main floor and trying to decide the best ways to spend our money. We have hardwood floors throughout the main floor and while there are areas where we will need to replace some boards, on the whole refinishing the hardwood will be much cheaper than refinishing the entire floor.  Our basement is finished so hard to view joists without ripping out the ceiling.
My concern is the structure of the house might be flawed and is something that needs to be fixed, but I've talked to friends who are "handy" and they say they think it's unlikely. If I have to sister every joist in our house, my guess is it will eat up a lot of our renovation budget. Should I simply fix the sloped floors where possible and live with the rest? Or should I rip up the ceiling in the basement and inspect/fix the joists ?

If you determine that repairing the unevenness in the floor is necessary, then yes, you should do that before any other work. You'd hate to put in all that time, money & effort to refinish the floors this summer just to discover that you've got to tear it all out to get at the joists to redo them next summer...


How do I seal a leaking plughole fitting? The plughole in my bathroom basin is leaking. The leak is between the plughole and the basin (i.e. through the circular hole in the basin in which the metal plughole is fitted), and it seems to me as if it needs sealing with some silicon kitchen/bathroom sealant. In order to seal it I need to remove, or at least loosen, the plughole fitting, but I can't see how, having removed the u-bend, detached and removed the plug actuator and the plug. I'm sure this is a pretty standard problem - could somebody please explain what I need to do?

This basin trim piece you are referring to is usually connected to the tail piece flange with a very fine thread. If has been in place for a long time, they can be difficult to remove. You will need to insert something like needle nose pliers in the top and hold the tail piece from the bottom and unscrew it. Clean out all the old plumbers putty and replace it by making a "rope" of plumbers putty in your hand, place it around the top edge of the hole in the basin, then reinstall the trim piece into the tail piece section. Tighten it so it pushes out all the excess putty, and is tight.  Clean up the excess, return it to your can. Job done.


What size Generator and what voltage and amps to power a large 3 phase well pump? I recent obtained my dads old place and since it sat for so long the generator was stolen and so was our water tank, and now I am in the process of replacing the large generator and I wanted to see how I can find out exactly how large of generator I will need. The generator he had was a 25kw 3 phase generator. The pump is a 10 HP that is fairly old and pumps 100 gallons minute. According to the Arizona Dept Water Resources my "Well Depth is 340ft, Water Level 250, and casing depth 200ft, and casing diameter is 8 inches. And I am completely off grid with no power. I guess I have a few questions.

What size generator do I need just for this pump?

How can tell what voltage it is, I see generators of this size for sale that vary on voltage i.e. 208 240 120. I have pictures of the electrical box and how it is wired but I dont understand what it means..

Is there a better option for my type of well that would still allow me to pump 100 GPM? i.e. new generator and pump/motor combo?

Maybe these are questions are better answered in a electrical forum but I found this post and decided to give it a try.

250 ft head for the well = about 125 psi.  You typically run the local system at 60 psi, so 180-200 psi.

http://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/pumps-power-d_505.html

says 15 hp.  If we use the usual 1000W power to produce 1 hp, that's 15 kW.  Your Granddad's 25 kW generator wasn't overkill. (It's actually 745 w/hp, but you've got a bunch of inefficiencies nibbling at you too.)

Alternatives:

Newer pumps are considerably more efficient.  Gould has a line that has a built in VFD (variable frequency drive) You feed it single phase, it converts it to 3 phase, and also adusts the speed of the pump so that it doesn't cycle nearly as often.  Do they have 3 phase VFD?  Never looked.

If the place was set up and working with 3phase, then keep it.  If you are going to do a lot of repairing/converting to solar to reduce the generator run time, etc, then getting a largish single phase generator, and converting where needed to 3 ph using VFDs may save you a lot of aggravation.

With an 8 inch casing, you may be able to run a windmill pump as well as your electric one at the same time.  If the windmill fills a lined dugout, your power bill is cut in half.

Generators don't loaf well.  You want to avoid having a generator under less than half load -- the engine runs too cool, and you are using too much fuel chasing bits of metal around in cicles.

Having a generator house with temperature controlled louvers, or exhaust fan will help keep the engine at it's best operating temperature.

If you are really concerned with efficiency, then have several units of various sizes, that cut in and out to match the demand.  This is a difficult control set up, well beyond my expertise.

I would consider consulting a power engineer for this setup.  If you have to replace the generator, and are thinking about the pump, then a few hundred bucks for a professional opinion may save you a lot of time and money.

Meanwhile, you can get a feel for how things are really operating by renting a 25 kW 3ph generator, and put a recorder to figure out how much of the time it's running, and how much power it's using.  An engineer will want this information anyway.

Or Buy the generator at an equipment auction, if you need to resize later, sell it -- probably get what you paid for it.


How do I get a new garage built? My old 100 year old detached one-car garage is falling apart and I need a new one built from new foundation and electrical to driveway and roof....but I haven't a clue as to how to find an outfit that knows how to do this and is willing to do it without taking me to the cleaners.

Do I look for a "builder" (aren't they just interested in working on developments)?
Do I look for a contractor? (aren't they just interested in installing cabinets and windows?)
Do I look for a handyman? (won't he/she just want to paint my dining room?)

Any (useful) direction would help!

There are contracting outfits that specialize specifically in doing garages. I used one to build me a 28x36 foot garage that had the capabilities to do all the work of preparing the site, making the foundation and floor structure and building the garage itself which they were happy to customize a bit as to where I wanted windows and service doors. When the garage was finished they were there to lay down a huge new driveway.


Prevent dry rot from spreading Last winter, I had serious dry and wet rot issues in the basement. The reason seemed to be that the wall was not watertight. This has been corrected and repair works were carried out by professionals (changing the ceiling of the basement/floor of the ground level and finishings).

A few months later, it seems dry rot is coming back:

I'd like to prevent it from spreading, and I see three possibilities, but need help to make up my mind:

Installing a fan to take air from the basement outside; can take moisture out, but I'm afraid it only removes the air which is the center of the room, not the air close to the dry-rot.
Installing a heater in the basement, but I'm afraid the heat helps the rot spreading out.
Installing a dehumidifier with a pump, but it's hard to reach a outlet pipe because there is no basement under the kitchen.

I have read quite a lot about this but professionals do not seem to agree on the solutions. What solution would you recommend? At this point, getting rid of the mold matters more than the cost.

This is the average temperature/rain in the location of the property, which is in the UK a few miles away from the sea:

I'm writing this answer based on the assumption that you are using the words dry/wet rot and mold all to mean just mold.  Mold needs three things to grow, moisture, darkness, and warmth.  Since moisture causes other problems besides just mold I generally recommend mitigating the source of moisture, but if that is not feasible then adding UV exposure will prevent surface growth.