What can I do in this vented crawlspace to keep the room above warmer? I've recently moved to a new home. This home had an addition that was built on top of a Crawlspace that is vented to the outside. Needless to say, the morning after the first cold night made me realize how much this affects the temperature in the main family room.

Before we move in an inspection also revealed a small mold problem on the joists in the crawl space. This was taken care of.  While they were removing the mold they went ahead and added plastic to the floor and insulation to the walls. However, it's still vented to the outside and the plastic/insulation is doing next to nothing as there is no tape and there's gaps all over.

Also, there are some areas in the room above where I can feel air coming through.

So first thing I want to do is to seal any gaps between the crawl space and room above with caulk and expanding spray foam( not insulating the ceiling ).

Then comes the hard part. After doing some reading, it seems sealing the crawl space and doing some proper insulating/vapor barrier is the way to go.

How do I seal the vents?  Next steps and order of importance is greatly appreciated. I'm fairly handy and have access to a family with plenty of experience, but I want to tackle as much if this as I can.

Here are some pics:

It is a good idea to seal any apertures between the crawlspace and the main house.  If you have to rely on caulk and spray foam you're probably in a situation where the house has some weird structural problems - that is, you should not have giant gaps between the crawlspace and the floor above in any normal construction regimen.

It is not a good idea to seal off the crawlspace, ventilation is not only a good idea but it's required by code in locations where crawlspaces are an accepted norm (note that in places where winters are exceptionally cold the norm is finished and unfinished basements, not crawlspaces).  The fact that you have had mold in the crawlspace is actually an indication that you might need MORE ventilation not less.

A proper insulation/vapor barrier installation at the level of the floor joists should solve any draft problems.  Also, looking at your photos I would recommend that you insulate your ductwork/boots/wyes per local code.

So to reiterate, please do insulate and install a vapor barrier!  Do not seal off the ventilation for the crawlspace - indeed look into your local code to see if you have enough ventilation.

As a side note - any issues of moisture (and therefore mold) in the crawlspace need to be addressed.  Possible sources of moisture include but are not limited to:  leaky plumbing supply or waste lines, inadequate drainage system at the perimeter of the house (undersized gutters/downspouts, poor grading, no storm drain, etc.), and a possible high water table.

Good luck staying warm this winter!


Repairing (Aesthetically) a rusty washing machine and dryer I've recently purchased a home with a washer and dryer that were left on the basement floor without any padding underneath.

The washer and dryer have both rusted near their bases, and the dryer has even rusted on the top. It looks like it is afflicted with the plague.

What is the best way to make it look like new?

I agree with Ed Beal. If you want them back to Like New you'll need a can or 2 of Auto Stripper from an Auto Parts store. But, you'll treat the rust the same whether you strip them or not.

If the rust is light then a putty scraper to remove the paint blisters & an S.O.S. pad or steel wool will take that away to get you back to bare metal. Or, best is to use a wire brush on a drill to get all of the rust spots back to shiny clean metal, this will open the paint blisters too.

Then, it's just a really stinky re-painting, no primer needed. So, good ventilation & a large drop cloth with at least a 3-foot (6-foot preferred) clear perimeter are needed. The below Appliance Epoxy is unbeatable & the spray version will get you factory results. Stay away from the lidded can version.

Finally, you'll need to address before or after the above, all of this excess moisture in the basement. If it's just the dryer venting into that area, then stop that nonsense immediately. Drill a hole through the top side of a wall & run rigid vent piping, not any kind of hose or corrugated garbage. As short & straight a pipe run as possible with an exterior sealing damper cap end.


Mounting a hair dryer holder to a tile wall I don't have space in the bathroom for the hair dryer and therefore wish to attach a hair-dryer holder to the wall. The walls have tiles on them.

Example:

http://www.hood.de/i/foenhalter-foenhalterung-haartrocknerhalter-haartrocknerhalterung-foen-halter-85090377.htm .

Does anyone have any experience ?

What should be done and what should be avoided ?

In order to mount in on a tiled wall you need to drill a hole in the tile without cracking the tile.

I use a diamond encrusted hole saw and water like this one.

Go slow and you will have clean holes you can then insert  anchors into.

This type of anchor should be sufficient since you have tile on the wall providing rigidity.

( Sized appropriately for the hole size you create. )

If you are lucky, or plan it, you may have a stud where you are mounting the holder. If so then you do not need the anchors, just screw into the stud.


Can I extend #12 wire with #14 wire for landscape lighting? I am doing outdoor landscape lighting. I used the 12 gauge  wire but have run short.  can I extend it with 14 gauge wire? Need about 20 feet more for the led lights.

It would depend on the transformer size existing distance of the 12 AWG and how many lights were already installed. As a great rule of thumb, never mix wire sizes. Voltage drop on landscaping lights is very important because the voltage is low to begin with. Adding 14AWG at the end of the circuit would not be good for that last light. Think of the future, you might want to add more lights. Don't limit a new installation.


Replacing a frost free faucet The other day I went out to water my yard after seeding. When I was done, I turned the knob on faucet to shut the water off and felt a snap. Water started coming out of where knob goes on. I shut the main water off and removed the valve inside. It appears that the stem busted off just before the the threads that screw the valve into the fitting, leaving the piece that busted off still threaded inside and the rest of the stem I was able to get out. It is 12 inch frost free faucet. I am wondering how to replace faucet. My question is, in most cases does this type of faucet screw onto the fitting inside of wall or are they usually soldered on? I am afraid to try and turn the fitting for fear of it being soldered on and busting it

Worst case is that you bust a soldered fitting (very difficult) and have to open the wall up, which you would have had to do to replace a soldered fitting anyway. Since your water is already shutoff, give it a hard turn and see what happens.

Personally, I'd open the wall up even if it's threaded and sealed with pipe dope. Because after you replace the faucet, you want to check for leaks. It's much easier to do a little drywall patching and painting than it is to cleanup the water damage from a slow leak that goes unnoticed for days. You can also make sure the insulation is tight around the pipe so that there isn't a chance it will freeze in the winter.


What size header do I need for a new garage service door? I am going to cut out the wall in my garage under my stairs to build a small room. When I put up the door I have to use a header because it's a load bearing wall. Do I need to make the header out of 2x10, or something else?

For door openings up to 36" (nominal) and for structures with no more than two floors above, it's a safe bet that doubled 2x10s are adequate as a load-bearing header.

Without more detailed information, that's as much as I can say.


Can I fill cinder blocks with soil/dirt? I have two short raised beds made of cinder blocks (8 in. and 16 in. tall) that isn't finished yet. I was wondering if it's okay to fill the voids of the blocks with excess soil from my yard? I live in a country where it never goes below freezing so I don't need to worry about moisture freezing and cracking the block.
I've heard that soil inside a block can cause a moisture issue. But, it's being used as a retaining wall so it will have moist soil in contact with one face of the block always. What is the difference between this and having the moisture inside the block?
Will filling them with soil causes the blocks to degrade faster? Is there even any structural benefit in filling with soil?

It wouldn't be recommended if you are in an area where it will freeze. The dirt will hold moisture, and when it freezes could split the block. Really not a big deal for a planter bed, but it can happen. If it never freezes, have at it, it will not be a problem.


Sub Panel in detached 10x10 bldg(welding shed) Main bldg with 200a service. Detached 10x10 welding shed 40' away. Ran #6 (hot, hot, neutral, and #8 ground) in conduit from main bldg to shed for 60a service. Will have 60a breaker in main bldg panel feeding a 12 circuit sub panel with 60a main breaker for disconnect since we have more than 6 circuits. Will have #6 bare copper ground to two 8' ground rod outside bldg. Installed grounding bar in Panel and is not bonded.

Inside welding shed will have two 220v circuits using 6/3 on 50a breakers. Remaining 6 circuits are 12/2 for 110v lighting and outlets. (two 20a GFCI circuits, one dedicated 20a non-GFCI for small AC window unit, one dedicated 20a 120v for welder, one dedicated 15a for LED inside lighting, and one dedicated 20a for outside GFCI outlet.

This is not a commercial welding setup and only ONE of the three welders will ever be used at any given time.

Am I on the right track?

Any input is appreciated.

Best Regards,
Richard

You are on the right track. What is important is the duty cycle of your individual welders. NEC Article 630 is all about welders including there duty cycles.

The duty cycle is determined by what type of welding you are going to be doing such as small projects that are never more than 1/4" steel and the type and size of welders you will be using.

I suggest you try and Google or find a copy of NEC 630 and do a little reading before determining your service size to your building.

Good luck.


Did I fry my Furnace Control Board? (C -> G rewire attempt) So while I was attempting to figure out how to get our fan to run independent of our heating/cooling, I looked at our thermostat wiring and discovered that it only had wires running to C, W, Y, and RC/RH.  I'd read that it was common in older homes for the "G" fan relay wire to get used as the Common wire, so I tried swapping the wire from C to G to see if it would work (and popping in batteries onto the thermostat, knowing that it was no longer getting power from the C line).
But it turns out I missed the critical part where you have to re-wire the control HVAC side as well.  So effectively, I likely ended up wiring the "Common" line to the "Fan Relay" line on my thermostat.  I switched the wire back to the original position on the thermostat, but it looks like I may have already done damage, as the thermostat now no longer powers up without batteries, and with batteries, I'm unable to start up the cooling or the heating system.
Is it possible that I fried the control board on the furnace, just by attempting this wire switch?
Additional context: It looks like the thermostat is functioning properly, in that I can hear it "clicking" on to attempt to turn on the heating or the cooling system... but it just doesn't seem to trigger anything on the HVAC side.

How thermostat signaling works (and how to test manually)
First, a little background about the thermostat control: It's dumb. Really dumb. The signaling is done by simply shorting wires together. The R wire is shorted to W to call for heat, or R shorted to Y to call for cooling, or R shorted to G to call for fan. Stuff, like digital thermostats, can be powered between the R and C wires.
You can test the furnace controls without the thermostat. Simply short the R and W (or R and Y) wires together and verify that heating (or cooling) begins.
This can be tested right at the furnace control board too, avoiding all doubt about the thermostat wiring. Note that the control board is often found in the blower cabinet and you're going to have to defeat a safety switch to perform testing there. It's your responsibility to ensure this is done safely -- you don't want clothing, long hair, or other things being sucked into the blower while working here. There also may be high voltage terminals exposed, so be careful about what you touch. Bypass the safety switch with one hand and, with one or two other hands, touch a jumper wire (a paperclip will do) between the R/W or R/Y terminals on the control.
What probably went wrong
To call for fan the thermostat will short R to G. But you had C on the G terminal, so the thermostat shorted R to C. That's a dead short across the 24v transformer in the furnace. Either the switch in the thermostat will have failed, or something in the furnace will have failed. Control boards often have a small fuse, about 2 amps or so, to protect the 24v side of things. It could be that the fuse has been blown.
How to diagnose further
If the manual tests shorting R/W and R/Y didn't cause the furnace to operate then get a multimeter and set it for AC volts. Turn on all power to the furnace and safely bypass the blower door safety switch if appropriate. Confirm (measure) that full AC mains voltage is supplied to the controller. If it is, then measure voltage between R and C terminals. You should find something in the neighborhood of 24-32 volts. If not... we'll have to dig deeper by examining the control board for a fuse, testing continuity of the fuse, testing the output voltage of the transformer upstream of the fuse, etc.


15 Amp outlet on 20 AMP circuit? I moved to a newly renovated house, re-built from foundation 2 years ago. Electrical is all new. I have a 20 AMP breaker with 14/2 romex that is connected to the dishwasher. I want to add a garbage disposal to the circuit. To accomplish this, I need to add an outlet to the circuit since the dishwasher is hardwired. I plan to wire both dishwasher and garbage disposal to separate plug cords and plug them into the outlet on the circuit.

From what I know, 14/2 is against code and not recommended on a 20 AMP breaker. In my situation, rather than redoing the wiring, should I replace the 20A breaker with 15A?

From what I read online, dishwashers are okay on a 15A breaker. Just not sure if I "need" to switch if the wire is 14/2 or if I can leave as-is.

Planning to add 15A outlet by the way. Let me know if I need a 20A outlet on 20A breaker with 14/2 romex.

First, you are right, you have to change the breaker to 15A.  The "last guy" may have bumped it to 20A to stop breaker trips, e.g. if it's a high-power dishwasher.  Check the dishwasher's documentation to see if it requires a 20A circuit.

Second, you have to check its docs anyway.  If the hardwired dishwasher requires more than 50% of the 15A circuit (that's 900W) then there can't be any receptacles at all on the circuit.

Third, dishwashers (today) need a disconnect switch.   Yours may be grandfathered.  The simplest disconnect switch is to cord-and-plug-connect the dishwasher.  At that point you're plugging into a power socket, and guess what! The 50% rule goes away!  Converting the dishwasher to cord-and-plug kills 2 birds with 1 stone.

Also, some of those devices probably need GFCI.  You may hit an installation issue where you need both a GFCI and a switch (which is not the GFCI itself).  They actually make that in a combo device, it provides those + a single receptacle also!   (that single recep is useless, because you aren't going to pull your dishwasher cord up through your kitchen countertop, now are you?  But you can use it for coffeemaker, toaster, or other countertop appliances).

That lets you split the feed to the under-cabinet receptacle(s) for dishwasher and disposal, and further, to provide GFCI protection to either or both as required.  That way, the dishwasher recep is unswitched (you can always unplug it), and the disposal recep is switched.


Why have my ceiling fans started running slower? We have had these ceiling fans for about 9 years. They worked great at first at very high speeds. But now even on high they are going as slow as on low speed. I have a wall switch for the fan beside the light switch. What could be causing this?

The fan itself is on low speed. Pull the chain, twice. Once will turn it off. Once more will set it to high.


Poorly installed drywall anchors (by me) I was trying to install drywall anchors to hold curtain rods. I used a drill bit to make small holes and screwed the drywall anchors into the the holes by hand. A couple went fine on one side of the window. On the other side of the window I tried the same thing but the hole ended up breaking apart and now the drywall anchor just spins and does not hold well. Is there a way I can fix these holes so a new anchor will work or another way to hold the screws in place?

Here are the holes I made and am hoping to fix. (The picture is sideways)

thanks In advance!

There are many types of anchors. I suspect you used the basic cheap plastic plugs. I'd look to the various expanding or toggling types and simply use the same holes.

Otherwise, get some setting type joint compound and press it in firmly. Knife it off and allow it to cure thoroughly before a light sanding.


Stack Switch Problem in Bathroom I have a bathroom with a single switch that simultaneously turns on the light and fan.  I wanted to put in a double stack switch to allow independent control of the light and fan.  Behind the old switch were two romex cables with three wires each (black, white and bare ground) and the two black lines were on the single switch with the white wires bonded together. Only one of black wires was hot so I attached it and the other black wire to the two black screw on the levitown stack switch and the two whites to the brass screws.  When I turned it on the gfci in the bathroom tripped and would not reset.  What do you think may be wrong?

What you did was rewired it so that the switch going ON causes a direct short between the HOT black wire and the NEUTRAL white wire. Not a good thing at all.

As you described the original wiring with the two white wires bonded together in the back of the box was the correct connections and should have been left that way.

The old single pole switch connected the black HOT wire over to the LOAD side black wire to supply power to the light and fan.

As described it appears that there are not sufficient wires available in the box in order to separately switch the light and the fan. To be able to achieve what you desire it will be necessary to find the downwind point that the LOAD black wire is joined to both the fan and the light and separate them at that point. Then a new wire needs to be run from that point back to your switch box so that you can independently switch the HOT black wire to the two separate LOAD black wires.

If done correctly the place where the light and fan load wires get separated would be done within a junction box, either at the fan or at the light (depends on how it was originally installed). Then an additional Romex cable with its black/white/gnd would go back to the switch box. Now in the switch box there would be three whites bonded together in the back of the box. The three bare GND wires would be bonded together. Finally the HOT black wire would connect to both of the black screws of the stack switch and the each of the two LOAD black wires would attach to one each of the brass screws on the switch unit.


Best way to keep a PEX run in an attic (above a foyer) from freezing? I plan on running PEX pipes both hot and cold across 16 feet of unheated attic space above a foyer. The foyer is 16' long and is off the kitchen, it isn't heated directly but is part of the house; it is usually colder than the rest of the house, mostly due to the cat door and slider the dogs go in and out of. There is insulation along the ceiling, underneath where I will be running the pipes.

What is the best way to keep the pipes from freezing?  Would an insulation pipe jacket be enough to keep the water in it from freezing or should I also run a long heating cable? I also considered insulating along the roof but it is a tight crawlspace and not much room in there to work. This is in New England so some days it gets pretty cold.

You are definitely running a risk of freezing these lines in an unheated space. It is never wise to run water lines in an outside wall or above an insulated ceiling in an unheated space.

Perhaps you can do one of the following:

Run the lines under the floor in the basement (not unheated crawl space) where freezing will be much less likely.
Run the lines under the insulation in your ceiling next to the heated drywall. If you have to drill holes in ceiling joists, be sure they are at least 2 inches from ceiling to prevent accidental puncturing from drywall screws. Apply the insulation over the lines.
Thermostatically controlled heat tape can work, but be absolutely sure it is installed properly and if possible use a heat tape that you can use pipe insulation over. Not all heat tapes allow use of pipe insulation due to overheating of the PEX.
If you do have to run in this area, be sure there are no drafts that can come to bear on the tubing. Freezing is always faster if a cold draft blows on a water line.

I wish I had a foolproof method for you to use. Just be cautious, monitor the conditions and have a water shut off handy. Although PEX will handle a lot of freezing without bursting, a leak is going to be a very expensive fix and a mess to clean up. Good Luck


How hard should water based polyurethane get? I made a farmhouse table and stained it with Rust-oleum water based stain and then use the Varathane Triple Thick Polyurethane on top. I have let the table sit out in the garage for a week to cure, but I case still scratch it with my finger nail, like hard wax. Is this normal or will it cure harder? Is this a bad Polyurethane to use?

Assuming 70°F, 7 days to cure. You stated your temp has been 40°-60° and did not state humidity. There is nothing wrong with the product, you have used it outside of parameters recommended by the manufacturer (see text below). Take it into a temperature and humidity controlled space and hopefully it will cure hard.

  Dry times are based on 70°F and 50% relative humidity.
  Dry times may be affected by temperature, humidity and
  ventilation. Allow more time at cooler temperatures. Triple
  Thick Polyurethane will be dry to touch in approximately 2
  hours and can be recoated in 2 hours. Allow 48 hours cure
  before light use of the project. Allow 7 days for full cure.


What are the tools that every Do-it-Yourselfer must own? What are the tools that every DIY'er should have? This is a community wiki as there is no one right answer.

Instructions:

One item per answer (so they can be voted on - answers with multiple items will be voted down)
Clear formatting like this:
[ITEM NAME]
[Reason why item is essential/useful/good]
[Photo / other info]

A cordless drill
No doubt about it. I bought a DeWalt 14.4V three years ago, and it's been invaluable to me.
alt text http://www.homedepot.com/catalog/productImages/300/34/34c4b1f5-f4c7-465c-b9bb-f0a9ba2cd2ef_300.jpg


What circuit should I use for a new outlet in my living room? My house (built in 1953) has a number of electrical inconveniences, including the fact that the same circuit that powers the outlets in the living room also powers many other disjoint locations throughout the house, such as all the lights and outlets in the basement, outlets in the back porch, closet lights and the entire second floor (!)

The previous owners had installed a built-in wall A/C unit in the living room that used a dedicated 240V circuit (probably installed in the 80s). When we removed the wall A/C, I disconnected that circuit and used its breaker slots for a new dryer. I left the wires in the wall, and would love to install a new duplex grounded outlet in its place.

My dilemma is, though, what circuit should I use to power the new outlet?

Using the same circuit as the other outlets in the living room would make the most logical sense, but it would further contribute to the potential overloading of that single circuit. Also I would have to find a way to splice into that circuit inside or near the breaker box, where the existing wires already terminate.
Using another existing circuit would be less prone to overload issues but would be confusing when the breaker is tripped or off for maintenance. I would also still have to solve the splicing issue.
Adding a new circuit just for this outlet is possible; I would have to buy a new tandem breaker since the box is full. It seems a little silly, though, to have a dedicated circuit just for a single outlet in the living room that may only have a floor lamp and a laptop charger plugged into it.

IMO it makes absolutely NO sense to use an existing circuit, especially considering how taxed they are. As long as your panel will accept tandem breakers what is the issue? Also, with a house of this vintage I highly doubt the wiring is grounded, which you cannot extend. And do not assume if the wiring is old AC/MC cable that it is grounded, much of it from that vintage is not, regardless of the metallic sheathing. The only metallic wiring like this that can be used as a grounding conductor is that with the think aluminum bonding strip running along side the insulated conductors.
Besides, you never know what you might use this new receptacle(s) for. Don't think you'll never use it for anything more than a laptop charger.

Also, you re-purposed the old A/C circuit for a dryer?? Was it at least 10/3 cable? If not you have a non-complaint and potentially dangerous circuit if used for a 120/240V electric dryer.


How do I get a cement patch in my basement to dry quickly in humid conditions? After patching the stone foundation in the basement with with regular drying mortar/cement, how do I get the cement to dry quickly if the basement is damp from humidity?

Cement (and gypsum) compounds don't need to dry to harden. Water is one of the hardening reaction components. This is why when the weather is dry or windy you actually need to add water to the concrete surface to prevent it from over-evaporating.

I don't remember the exact numbers but something like after 8 hours the cement compound has passed through the initial reaction phase and started hardening and at that point you can add whatever amounts of water - it simply won't matter. I remember in a book on repairing wells I read about the underwater repair procedure - you pump out the water so open the damaged spot, replace the bad bricks, render the surface and then you have to keep the mortar out of the water for just several hours (I don't remember the exact number, something like in between 2 and 8) and after that time you can allow water to flood the repaired area and that's not a problem for mortar in any way.

So the bottom line is - you're trying exactly the opposite of the right thing. You need to keep hardening cement compound wet, not dry, so that is hardens well.


Nest thermostat and old HVAC Last year the Nest (used only for cooling) was working after connecting the blue C wire to the HVAC. Last year I made it work only after I put the green wire for the fan in ob.
Now, when the green wire is in ob, the HVAC works and the fan is working too, but when I turn off the system the HVAC is off but the fan does not turn off. If I put the green wire in G the fan works but not the HVAC. I am not sure if that happened after an update.
I guess if someone helps with the proper wire set up it will work as it was working last year. Please see the pictures.

There are two red wires in your blower.  Assuming the one I labelled below is the one from the thermostat, and the other three wires I labelled are also from the thermostat, you have this wired correctly.
Don't use the O terminals.  The thermostat's smart fan controls won't work that way.
Make sure the wires I've labelled in the picture below all come together into one cable and that is the right cable, that goes to your thermostat.  The one I labelled "NOT R" should be unrelated to the thermostat.

If that is the case, you might have a defective thermostat.   The Nest can run the fan without the cooler but not the other way around.
If you have a voltmeter and continuity tester you can check at the terminal block whether the thermostat is doing what it's meant to do. Using my labels:  R to B should always be 24V-AC.  When the system is off Y to B and G to B should both be 0, when it's on they should both be 24V.  In your phone app, with the system off, you can start up the fan by itself and you should see 24V on G to B.  You can test for broken wires by removing any pair of wires from the thermostat mount, twisting them together, removing them also at the blower and checking continuity between them.
NOTE: Turn your breaker off before delving into the blower circuitry.  The terminals on the other side of the metal wall to the transformer are at 240V and are not covered. There may be a power switch nearby that shuts down the blower but does not de-energize all the wires in there.
Edit adding diagnostic
Make careful note of where the thermostat wires are connected and disconnect them entirely from the blower.  Then use a spare piece of wire to jumper together power, cool, and fan signals at the unit, like this:

Turn on the power, and the system should come on.  The fan should come on right away, and the cooling within a few minutes.   Then disconnect your piece of wire from the middle of those three terminals and the cooling should stop but the fan should keep running.   If that all goes as it should, you know the system is ok and the problem is in the thermostat or its wiring.  Otherwise you know the system is the problem.


Carport structural question I'm planning on building a wooden carport with a lean-to, single slope roof for one car.
The approximate dimensions 3.5 meters or 11.5 feet wide x 5 meter or 16.5 feet long.
The question is, if I could do something like this:
x_____x
| <-  |
x <-  |
| <-  |
x_____x

In words:
3 posts on the left, 2 posts on the right. The arrow indicates the lean-to downwards direction.
I figured this roof configuration would partially relief the right hand structure where there are 2 posts only, relying more on the left hand side where there are 3 posts.
Unfortunately I'm also constrained when it comes to the lean-to roof pitch (around 20 degrees).
I should also mention I live in a region where it snows in the winter but it not really windy.
Is it reasonable to build such a structure taking under consideration the extra strain added by the winter snow?
What would be recommended wooden beam sections to stay on the safe side?
Thanks!
Juan

If your question is:

"Can a lean-to shed be designed so that it can be supported with 3
posts on one side and only two on the other?"

Then the answer is yes, it can be done.  Is it too "risky"?  Too risky for what?  To support the expected snow and wind load?  The answer to that is:

"Yes, that too can be done."

I suspect, however, your real question is:

"HOW do I do this?"

The answer to that is:

Seek out some pre-designed plans for such a structure that will be acceptable to your local AHJ to obtain a building permit.
Get a design done for you by an architect or a licensed engineer that has been analyzed to support the expected loading in your area. (The AHJ will want this when applying for the building permit.)


New construction windows in historic district I am replacing my current windows with new construction windows.  Because I am in a historic district I need to keep the same size windows (opening size) and exterior molding.  My plan is to remove the exterior molding up to the j-channel (leaving the j-channel), installing the new window, and then installing new exterior molding to match the current size that is there now.  After I remove the old windows, the rough opening will be too large... i.e. I think if I purchase a new window to fit the rough opening, I would not be able to have the same size molding which is a requirement of the historic district.

Am I correct that I will need to build up the rough opening to provide a place for the new construction window to nail into and also allow enough room for the exterior molding?  And what is the correct size windows I should order?  Is 30" x 63 1/2" correct?

I plan on using Andersen 400 Series windows like this although they will need to be custom sized.

Yes, I think your plan is correct if you mean to shrink the rough openings. I'd be careful to only shrink as far as necessary, though. I'm very familiar with Andersen 400 series windows, and I think you could incorporate the outer vinyl-wrapped jamb rib into the width of your current casing. This means that you may only need to shrink your rough openings 3/4" or so.

At my previous home, circa 1956, I did work like this using 400s. I laid 3/4" thick vinyl stock over the mounting flanges and caulked it to the vinyl exterior jamb rib so that they appeared to be a continuous unit, with the rib protruding about 1/4". Actually, I caulked it to the window, the wall, and the J-channel and used no other fasteners. It looked nice and worked well for the decade I was there.


Will a TV antenna pre-amp reduce channel dropout? Two weeks ago I installed an antenna in my attic (GE 33692) in order to receive stations that are approximately 45 miles away.  Things worked fine in clear weather, light rain and moderate snowfall but one morning there was dense fog and signal levels were lower across the board.  Most stations still locked in but several didn't.  The interesting thing was that all stations  intermittently dropping out or pixelating were Hi-VHF channels.

I am wondering what the right fix for this is. Will a mast mounted pre-amp help or will a different type of antenna be the correct choice (perhaps a high gain Yagi?)?  Unfortunately an outside antenna is out of the question for me.

An amp will probably make things worse, not better. Modern TV signals are digital, meaning they are compressed. But their new compressed nature also makes them highly susceptible to interference (such as your fog).

In older analog TV signals, the problem was often a weak signal. An amp could help reduce that loss between the antenna and the TV. But digital signals are often made worse by amps, because they introduce a small amount of interference. As such, you lose information and, thus the signal entirely (digital cannot make use of partial information like analog could).

I had to set one up for my mother and found that the amped antenna performed worse than an un-amped antenna. The only time you generally want an amp on your line is if you need to make a very long run of wire (if you're considering it, I'd just buy a separate un-amped antenna for the additional TVs).

Something else to consider might be an external TV tuner. TV manufacturers often skimp on the ones they install. I've even seen some that work with your wifi so you can get a solid signal in one location and then broadcast it over your house to streaming devices.


Can water-based paint be applied to a concrete countertop? I recently cast a concrete countertop using melamine moulds. Overall, I'm happy with the cast slab but the colour turned out different than what I was aiming for. I was using white cement, aiming for a white-ish finish but the sand I used caused more discoloration than I expected so it ended up looking brown-ish.
I'm thinking of trying to make it much darker now and am going to try and make it a black colour. Can I use a water-based paint and let it soak into the concrete before sealing it?

Can you paint it? - Yes. Will you regret painting it? - Probably.
A concrete stain will get into the material and darken it, and then a concrete/stone sealer will reduce the porosity of the surface.
Paint sits on top, and in countertop service will almost certainly get scarred, scraped and generally dinged up - so repainting may be a frequent task. It's not impossible (painted countertops are not unheard of) but it is annoying (painted countertops are not common these days.)


AFCI/GFCI breaker trips immediately with "extra" ground I recently installed some AFCI/GFCI circuit breakers. One of them kept tripping immediately, so I tracked down the problem to where a neutral and ground were joined. (There was just the one neutral in that box.) To confirm that this was the problem, I disconnected the neutral from the ground and ran a neutral wire to another nearby box in the same circuit and connected it to neutral there.  Problem solved!

Almost.

 S---------L
 |
 S3------S3
          |
          |
 O--------O

It looks like the above. The outlet (O) on the left is fed into from earlier in the circuit. It connects to the right, which connects up to a 3-way switch (S3), which connects left to the other 3-way switch, which then feeds a regular switch (S) to a light (L) (independent of the 3-ways). S3 on the right has an isolated neutral from O that is capped off. S3 on the left therefore has no neutral to contribute to the S and L part, so they just tied the neutral there to the ground, which was my problem.

To test this, I ran a neutral between the left 3-way switch and outlet, joining their neutrals. That's what worked. But when I ran the 12-2, I also joined their grounds, and that caused the AFCI/GFCI to trip immediately when I turned it on. (Actually, with a half-second delay -- it tripped immediately if there was any load on the circuit.) And if I disconnect those grounds it works again.

So there's my question: why would having an extra ground there be the difference between AFCI/GFCI tripping or not tripping?

The bottom receptacles are all on that circuit, too, but always hot (not switched).

It's all working, so this isn't urgent, but I'm baffled and would like to know what's going on!

Thanks.

The existing wiring is wrong

Obviously someone added the last/top switch and lamp to the end of the 3-way.  It was just a switch loop.  So rather than run proper cable, they misused ground as neutral, to free up a wire for always-hot.  Your last switch circuit grabs onto the bootleg neutral and always-hot.

This wiring is illegal and wrong, and is inherently incompatible with GFCI.

The choke point is the /3 (4-wire) cable between the two 3-ways.   You really need:

always-hot
messenger
messenger
neutral
ground

Unfortunately you are considering this wiring "normal" on the logic that "it works", and figuring there is nothing wrong with it, so it ought to work with GFCI.  And expending a lot of brain power trying to figure why it isn't.   This has also poisoned your mind from having good discipline about separating neutral and ground.  They should never be connected (except at exactly one place.)

No brain power needed; there's a neutral-ground fault at the first (right, upstream) 3-way.  That's because neutral and ground are wire-nutted together.

How to make this fiasco work

Run additional cable.  Between the 3-ways replace the 12/3 with 12/4, allowing hot, neutral, 2 messengers and ground.  Or install a parallal 12/2 to provide hot neutral and ground to the non-3way switch.

How to make this fiasco work without running additional cable

Smart switches. You need a multi-way smart switch.  Whichever light is controlled by the 3-ways, its wires come into one of the 3-way locations.  That is where you put the "master" smart switch.  The "remote" goes in the other 3-way location.  The "choke-point" of /3 cable becomes:

Always-hot
Neutral
Smart switch control/communication
Ground

This is a relatively easy solution for a smart switch. We aren't a shop-for-me site but the right switches should be readily available.


What to ask an Electrician when upgrading a service and adding circuits for a kitchen remodel I have a Federal Pacific Panel and I read that I need to replace ASAP. I’m getting some bids from several electricians. Can you please help me learn what I need to ask?

In addition to replacing the panel I plan on remodeling my kitchen. I’m plan to include a double oven and microwave. What should I ask the electrician?

This is a condo unit in San Jose , California... with approx 789 sq ft

Right now my total amperage is 100. Thank you!

You shouldn't have to ask anything.

Simply provide an outline of your plans in diagram or list format. Any competent electrician should be able to infer your needs from there and ask any simple clarifying questions. If there's any confusion at all, find a better electrician. This is pretty basic stuff for a professional.


Advice for mounting exercise hooks to a section of drywall without studs I'd like to mount three hooks to the wall to enable TRX work and band work. One high (TRX, full weight), one middle (band work, light weight), one bottom (heavy stretching bands, medium weight). I weigh 200lbs so assume max pullout force is 300lbs.
The section of the wall that I need to mount the hooks is between a corner and a doorframe, and does not have any studs, metal or wood. There is a metal corner bracket shaping the drywall (standard). Photo is at the bottom of this post.
My thinking is to buy a sturdy sheet of 1/2 ply, cut it to width, and attach it with multiple snaptoggle anchors. Despite this distributing the weight, I've never relied on only drywall for this type of force.
Any thoughts on how realistic this is and suggestions on other approaches?

Find and use studs for this.   Dynamic human weight ... moving, vibrating, 200 pounds in motion being pulled to a stop by the wall.  Drywall anchors are not designed for that, nor is drywall.   You want 3-inch lag bolts centered carefully on wood studs or toggle bolts through metal studs and ideally multiple ones for redundancy.
Also I agree with the comment above ... roughly a zero percent chance that you don't have a stud at the door frame and in the corner.  How do you know you don't?   And if it's true, and you do what you said with the plywood etc, you'll just snap off the whole sheet of drywall when you hang from it because there is nothing holding it up other than a corner bead and its own rigidity.


How can I remove pencil marks from a painted wall ...? ... without damaging the wall.  My first inclination was to just use an eraser but I imagine this would remove much of the paint.

If this is the only way..., how do I repair the eraser mark?

Here is a pic of the pencil marks on a wall painted off white which obviously has some texture to it.

You can actually just use an eraser as long as you use it gently. Even a simple pencil eraser can handle the problem, but you can use art gum erasers or suede stones as well. If you want to go a little further, baking soda or toothpaste dabbed onto the end of a soft cloth has also been known to work.


What is the name for the kind of eye-bolt used to secure bicycle fender stays I need a part that looks like this: it consists of an "eye"-bolt with a nut and washer which allows this part to be attached to a rod/tube of the right diameter.

These "bolts" are commonly used for attaching bicycle fenders; the picture is from a bike company. However, I want to know if these are available in arbitrary sizes, i.e. multiple combinations of:

Shank length and thread pitch
'Head' size and hole dia

etc

They appear to be called, fender eyelet bolts, eyelet bolts, or bicycle fender bolts. There is a link I found for Fender Eyelet Bolts, 5mm here.


Load bearing wall - Condo I am attempting to remodel my kitchen in a condo. In the floor plans shown below, there is a small square symbol with a diagonal line through it. Has anyone seen this and can I assume it’s load bearing?
Every unit directly below has the same symbol in the same exact spot and in that spot is a wall/pillar but from first glance you wouldn’t think it’s structural.

Any building over 3 stories is probably constructed with steel.
I’m sure those are enclosed steel structural columns with a pipe chase.
Leave it alone. Do not remove the material they used to cover the columns because it’s a fire rated assembly.


How do I change a washer in an outdoor spigot where you can't remove the valve? I've replaced washers in spigots before, but this one has me stumped.  There is no nut to remove the valve from the body as far as I can see.  The faucet will not shut off.  Not just a drip, but a steady stream.

The part just below the packing nut will unscrew by using a wrench or a small pipe wrench.


Breaker feeding sub-panel causes other breakers to trip I have a 40 amp circuit feeding a sub-panel in the garage. Sub-panel has 5 breakers (GFCI/AFCI combo breakers) feeding outlets for holiday lights. Our AC compressor breaker started tripping last week, as did two other circuits in our basement.  The garage circuit was also tripping (in the sub panel, not the main), with nothing but a lamp and desk fan as far as a load on it.  I found that by shutting off the 40amp to the garage feed in the main panel, the AC unit and basement breakers were no longer tripping.  Coincidence?  Could the 40amp breaker be bad and causing issues within the main panel?  Or would it be more beneficial to start looking at the garage circuits themselves?  I have not yet tried to recreate the issue, but my plan is to go one circuit at a time in the garage, to see if I can get the AC breaker to fail again. (when it's not 95 degrees outside)

Wow, very mysterious.

First of all, if the AC unit trips a breaker, it may be the compressor is intermittantly having a hard start.  Mine was doing this in cooler weather, or at night.  Adding a hard-start capacitor to the compressor fixed it.

But your event looks more troublesom than that, as you have unrelated circuits tripping together.  What I would first guess is that you are having brown outs.  The brown outs could be caused by the AC compressor having a hard-start.  Or the brown-out could be caused by the grid voltage being low.

When a AC compressor starts, it acts like a dead-short for a brief moment, until the motor is spinning.  The unit starts in the "locked rotor" condition, and the locked-rotor current is usually many times that of the breaker, so a unit that has a 40 amp breaker might have an locked rotor amp  (LRA) rating of over 100amps.  Most breakers trip on heat, so they can take a load 3 or 4 times higher than they are rated, for a few miliseconds.

So if your AC is slow to start, it might hit your house with a 100+ amp load for a second, causing your house voltage to drop.  If the voltage drops, then many things you have plugged in with reactive loads will increase in current as the voltage drops out.  The breakers run off current only, and don't care that the current is caused by a brown out, so if the brown-out causes current to exceed ratings, breakers trip.

So the first thing I would do is tell your AC repairman you are popping the AC breaker from time to time, and ask him to investigate putting a hard-start kit on your compressor.  What the hard-start kit does it ads a little extra boost of start-up power to the compressor, so a tired old compressor can start easier, and avoid tripping the breaker.

Replacing the AC bereaker may be called for, but don't put one in that is larger than the name plate rating on the compressor.  The compressor will say on the nameplate how large a breaker you should use.  Don't put a larger one in, a larger breaker will not make a hard-start compressor better, it will make it burn-up quicker.  The only fix is a new compressor or a hard-start kit, never a larger breaker.  Of course that assumes it is your compressor.  It could be something else entirely, like a power grid brownout.

In my case, the compressor hard-start was only when it was cool outside, but that is just one odd case, most of the time a hard start compressor will hard start all the time, or only when hot, or only when the unit is short cycles, or only when it's been off for a while.  Your AC guy should know to look for hard-start when you mention the breaker tripping intermittently.  You should hear him talk about trying a hard-start kit even if you don't mention it to him, but that doesn't mean you can't suggest it to him anyway... if he thinks you know what is going on, he is less inclined to give you B.S...  If he is unscrupulous, he may suggest a compressor replacement first, but really a hard start kit is a better first move if a hard-start condition is suspected.


What are the basic differences between a mesh and regular/iron pool fence? I'm about to move into a house and need to fence the pool before I move the family in. In searching the web I find that pool fences seem to fall into two categories: mesh or iron. What are the differences between these two types of fences?

Your iron fence, like this:

... Is the more traditional choice. A fence like this is going to be very durable, generally only requiring a coat of oil paint every few years and replacing minor touches like the caps on the posts. These are also generally more aesthetically pleasing as they are typically installed as part of the overall decor of the pool. However, iron fences are generally more expensive, especially as a retrofit; the normal installation method is to anchor the posts in concrete, which would require drilling through your existing concrete pad to set them. It's also possible and accepted to "surface-mount" this type of fence onto an existing pool deck using L-brackets welded to the posts and lag screws for wood, or concrete anchors for a pad. This isn't as strong, as the screws can pull out over time, but it's usually more than enough. Lastly, an iron fence hurts more to run into; they don't have much give (not any if properly installed, really).

A vinyl mesh fence, like this:

is a newer option. These generally cost less, are easier to install, and the aesthetic can be pleasing (instead of the thick iron bars, you have a filmy mesh, reminiscent of a privacy screen). Along those same lines, the mesh provides slightly less visibility than the iron, especially in low light. This can be a two-edged sword; the neighbors can't see you skinny-dip, but you may not see a child falling in the pool in the evening or at night. Before you go this route, ask the supplier for a demo panel you can set up between your pool and an indoor vantage point to check the visibility as the day progresses and make sure it's to your liking. The mesh has some give, so a young child running into it won't be injured as badly (it may still throw him back onto the ground).

On the downside, the mesh screens are more easily cut or torn, and if this happens the entire panel can rip in half allowing pets and kids into the pool area. Do not use these if you have big dogs that like to scratch on the back door; they'll do the same on these and break through pretty quickly. The mesh is replaceable, but it's a hassle and a safety concern. These fences generally come prefabricated for ease of installation, but that generally means there's one way to install them; anchored with L-brackets to your deck. An adult running full-tilt into a panel could break the fence down. And while they can look good, they can also look cheap (usually due to poor installation, or simply because a particular mesh fence product IS cheap).


Quickest way to circulate outside air thru house? All but one major room is part of a single path through home, from a window on one end to a window on the other. In the evening I want to bring in cooler outside air as efficiently as possible. If there is no breeze outside, is it faster to

close all windows except the two endpoints, setting up the box fan (which fits well in the window) to push air in or pull it out at one end.
open all the windows, and put the fan somewhere, without knowing exactly what the path of airflow from it will be.

The first method takes no advantage of whatever minimal passive airflow would occur with all windows open wide.
The second method doesn't make as good use of the fan, because it may end up cycling the air immediately around it over and over instead of reaching all areas of the house.
If passive circulation were truly nonexistent, then maximizing the fan's efficiency would be the way to go. Does it seem plausible that passive circulation could indeed be low enough for that to be the case?

Moving air tends to feel cooler than still air. If you can put up with the noise, the box fan trick works quite well.
In my experience, air movement in the home depends on air movement outdoors; if it's a still evening, even with lots of windows open, you won't get much air. On the flip side, even a small breeze can help.
If you have lots of money and live in an amiable climate (cool, dry nights), buying a modern whole-house fan may be a good fit. Modern units suspend the fan itself from the rafters via an insulated duct, and are much quieter than they used to be.
As Jimmy Fix-it commented, the best thing to do is to try both of your methods.


Why is our brand new dishwasher not draining? So, some background on this issue first... our old dishwasher seemed to work fine when we first moved into this house, but within the last year it started having a drainage issue.  Water would be left standing in the bottom of the dishwasher after the cycle finished which was leading to yucky stuff down there as well.  My husband pulled the dishwasher out, unplugged the drain hose, made sure the trap was clean, etc.  Unfortunately, the problem was not solved.

Finally, we just got a brand new dishwasher hoping that our drainage problem was behind us, but sadly the new dishwasher doesn't drain either!  HELP!  All that I can see is a black drain hose which goes down into our crawl space and then back up and attaches to our sink.  The sink has not had any drainage problems.  Any ideas?

You say that the drain hose runs down to the crawlspace then back up again.  It's winter time (at least in the northern hemisphere); I wonder if the water is freezing in the drain hose at the lowest point, enough that hot water from the dishwasher isn't able to reach it to melt it (there would likely be a layer of cold liquid water between the dishwasher and the bottom of the hose).

I think it's odd that the drain hose feeds through the crawlspace; any installations that I can remember seeing have a hose feeding through the cabinet wall to the sink's plumbing.  Is the dishwasher adjacent to the sink so that you could redirect the hose like that?


How can I replace these light switches? I am trying to change a couple of switches which are in the same junction box.  They control the light on my deck and the flood lights on the corners of the house.
I took out the first switch - it had a black wire (1) stuck into a hole in the back of the switch, and another black wire (2) on a screw on the top right of the switch.  (there is another screw on the top left, but no wire connected.) Since the wire in the box is too large to fit into the holes on the back of my new switch, I decided to take wire 1 and attach it to the bottom screw on the new switch, and wire 2 on the top screw of the new switch, since it was on top before.  Then I loosened the second old switch, only to find that wire 2 from the other switch was in a hole in the back of this other switch.  There was another black wire (3) in the other hole in the back, and then yet another black wire(4) on the screw on the top right of the old switch.  Gah! A call to my brother-in-law later, I decided to attach wires 2 and 3 together on the top right screw (he said I could do that??) and then attach wire 4 to the bottom screw.  Breaker back on - no light :(
Does anyone have any idea what i need to do?

First off, your brother-in-law is wrong.  You cannot attach two wires to a single screw terminal (unless it is rated for that, which most switches are not).

Here's what I'm guessing you're dealing with. Remember it's only a guess since I'm not there and you haven't supplied a picture, or drawing.

Lets call the first switch you mentioned S1, and the other S2, then we'll use the numbers you mentioned above as the wire numbers.

Wire 4 that was attached to the screw on S2 might be power from the breaker.
Wire 2 that is connected from S2 to S1, might supply power to S1.
Wire 1 and 3 would then be switched hot wires feeding the lights.

You should also have 3 white wires connected together, and possibly 3 bare or green wires connected together.  The white wires are neutrals, one from the breaker, and one going out to each light. The bare or green wires are equipment ground, and should be connected in a similar way as the neutrals.

If I'm correct, you should connect wire 4 and two lengths of scrap wire (~6" or so) using a twist on wire connector or other approved method.  The scrap pieces of wire; or pigtails, should be made from a similar thickness and type of wire as wire 4. Next, connect one pigtail to each switch. Finally, attach wire 1 to S1 and wire 3 to S2.

Always make sure the power is off, before working on any electrical circuit.  And if you need help, please contact a qualified Electrician.

Also don't forget. I'm not there, and I only have your brief description to go on. So I could be wrong.


Is it better to leave the door open or run the fan while showering? I want my bathroom door open while showering, and I don't want to have to turn on the fan. My husband wants the door closed and the fan on.  Our bathroom seems to accumulate mold regardless of which approach we take.

Which approach, his or mine, is the right approach to take and why?

The fan is better, as it actively moves air out of the room.  However, if you're getting mold with the fan on, then it's either undersized or not working properly.  Keep in mind you may need to let the fan run for a time period after you actually finish the shower to get all the humidity out of the room.  You can get fans that speed up and down depending on the level of humidity, and even turn off when it is below a certain amount.


Reinstalling a belt on an electric snow thrower I have this snow thrower which was doing pretty good for me until this weekend when it suddenly stopped turning the augers. I could hear the electric motor turning, but the augers where not turning. So I opened it up and found (along with a lot of ice build up) that the belt had come off. Trouble is, I'm not sure how to get the belt back on.

Here's a picture:

Now the belt obviously has to connect part A to part C, but I'm not sure how part B plays into this? It's spring loaded and can be pushed up, so I'm guessing it's supposed to tension the belt? And the belt should pass under it? Any tips on how to get the belt back on because I'm have trouble stretching it from A to C. I briefly had it on, but it just flew straight back off again when I tried to run it.

Based on the way the spring is oriented on the idler pulley B, my guess is that it's meant to pull downward on the belt when it's installed, so the belt probably goes like this:

The exploded parts diagram in the owner manual (on the page you linked to)  shows the belt in this same orientation:

There might be a slot or hole in the idler pulley assembly that would let you pry it back with a screwdriver or other tool while you slip the belt on the main pulleys.

When the machine jammed with ice, the auger may have stopped and the belt may have been damaged if the motor was still spinning. Look for signs of cracks, worn down spots, etc both on the belt and the pulleys. If you can't find an exact replacement belt (part number PJ670 - 56663-024 on the parts diagram), a small engine repair shop may be able to find an equivalent replacement.


Mixing power and signal cables I have to pass the TV signal cable near the power cable for lighting in my room, and I observed noise in the TV. If power and signal cables are near each other, does the power cable have a magnetic effect on the TV signal cable?

Power line noise can couple into low voltage signal cable easily when the cables travel close to each other in a parallel direction for any amount of distance. As you may guess the longer the parallel run and the closer the two cables the more chance of coupling and disturbance.

There are additional considerations to consider as well...

Coupling potential falls off dramatically with increased separation between the cables. Doubling the distance can make a huge difference.
Quality of cable can make a huge difference. There are many grades of TV signal cables and ones with high quality construction and internal shielding can make a huge difference.
Noise on the power line can often be attributed to other equipment plugged into the circuit. This can even include equipment that is plugged into other circuits in the building but fed from the same power panel. Sometimes noise on the power line can be significantly reduced by using a plug-in power line filter between the noisy piece of equipment and the wall receptacle.


Wall opening - drywall corners Our kitchen has an opening that used to have a bulky wood frame/shelves. We have removed that and now evaluating how best to repair the wall so it could be evenly painted and are thinking of adding a nice solid piece of varnished wood at the bottom.

The sides have a gap between the wall and the vertical opening. It looks quite large, too much to simply plaster over as it would probably just go and fall in.

What would be the best way to fix this? Would drywall tape and then plaster be enough? If I plaster, do I need anything special for plaster? I usually use the quick dry stuff to repair holes and have never done one that big.

Also, the yellow stuff seems to be only plaster, should I use what's there and add plaster to even it out/sand or am I better breaking what's there and starting over? I am not sure why there's a metal corner on one side and not the other.

I like the look of a cased opening with a bottom board incorporated to resemble a window sill on both sides


How do I safely extend electrical wiring without replacing it entirely? I'm in the process of replacing a light fixture with a ceiling fan. I replaced the old mount with a pan ceiling support box. The wiring is old (1920s) and inside armored cable coming through the stud. I brought the cable into the box using a duplex clamp and am left with wiring that is too short.

What is the best and safest way to extend this wiring without having to go into the attic replace it completely? I assume I will need to purchase new wire, splice and attach with a wire nut. But which wiring do I buy? And does it matter which wire nut I use?

You are sunk

Wire that short can't be spliced or extended. The wire must be able to come out beyond the surface of the box at least 3".

You will need to reroute these cables to a different junction box somewhere the wiring is able reach with the needed spare length inside the box.  From there, you can run a /2 w/ground cable to this location, e.g. NM or MC.

The junction box where this happens must have its cover remain accessible  without needing tools to disassemble any part of the building. The attic is fine.


Why did my dryer shut off in the middle of drying a load? My 14-year old Kenmore Laundry Center Dryer, Model #417.98702891, shut off in mid-load the other day. Internet research led me to believe it could be the thermal fuse. I first checked the vent lines and they are clear, so I proceeded to disassemble the dryer to replace the fuse. It would appear this model does not have a thermal fuse as I can't locate it anywhere in the dryer.

What I did find is the high limit thermostat. Could this be the issue? Can they over-heat and/or go bad?

Also, it appears that 1 of the 2 legs on the heating element has broken. Will the heating element still work or could this be the source of my issues?

I'm quite handy and am really trying to avoid paying over $250 for a local repair guy when the parts are probably $75.

The heating element would not work at all if a leg is broken. If the clothes were warm when it shut down, then it clearly just happened. The online wiring diagram is virtually impossible to read, but it appears the heating element is interlocked through the motor controller. It's conceivable that if one part fails, the other is shut down, but it's impossible to tell from what I have available.

It makes complete sense to go ahead and repair the heating element since it is obviously broken. Don't worry about thermostats etc. at this point, fix what's broken and go from there. There's a fair chance that's all that's wrong.


Need help with broken plastic pipe in the yard, constant stream of water Within the past few months I've noticed a steady stream of water from the middle of my yard trickle down to the sidewalk. My House is on a hill, and my yard is sloped downward, so all water goes to the sidewalk.

I've dug up around the area, and it's a broken pipe that has left water in the middle of the yard.

I'm pretty sure this isn't an incoming water pipe, our water bills haven't increased, and if I remember correctly, after we have several days of no rain, there isn't any any water streaming.

I'm thinking of digging a large trench from the broken spot, and putting in a new pipe to help channel the water directly to the sidewalk, instead of over the lawn (mudpit). As water will take the path of least pressure, will I need to "fix" the broken section of pipe, or would I be okay with just laying new pipe?

I'm assuming this pipe connects your gutters to the cities storm drain system, depending on the type of pipe and the damage it's probably a simple fix.
If the pipe is PVC and the damaged area is not too large, you may be able to cut out the damaged section and reconnect it using a coupling.

If the damaged area is larger (and PVC) you could cut out the damaged area, then patch it in using another length of PVC and two couplings.
If the pipe is not PVC you could use a flexible rubber coupling as @AWMoore suggests, just make sure the one you use is rated to be buried (and is permitted to be buried by your local codes).

If this is a storm drain you may want to contact your local water municipality, as they may be responsible for the maintenance of the drain line (paid for by your taxes).


Painting: How to recover from improper surface prep? My wife and I have been alternating some home refurb tasks.
Our normal workflow when painting:

Sand the surface.
Wash with TSP (trisodium phosphate).
Rinse the TSP and allow to dry.
Prime and allow to dry (latex primer).
Paint (latex).

Yesterday there was a mixup.

She sanded the surface;
She applied TSP, which dried;
Days later, I painted right over the unrinsed TSP.

The surface in question is tongue & groove wooden boards on the ceiling of an old farmhouse.  We are using latex ceiling paint.

This is obviously suboptimal.  What are some ways of recovering from this?  The paint is dry by now.  And if we can't recover, what is going to happen to this painted surface and when?

I have used tsp for years it will help remove any residue I usually wipe after applying but only time will tell if it will be a problem. I would check to verify the paint is adhered if so I probable would not worry about it. If the paint did not stick well it would be time to remove and try again. I know I don't get it all off when I use TSP but have not had issues if the surface was somewhat clean.


Metal camera housing sparking on a metal building When installing a camera with a metal housing on a metal building powered up by a POE switch located on a different building, sparks are generated when the metal housing touches the metal building. Why would this occur?

Treat grounding seriously

This is a "canary in the coal mine".  And what its warning you to do is do a serious evaluation of the Grounding Electrode System for each of the buildings.  However I would advise only a cursory inspection - that the Grounding Electrodes are present and intact, and that the main panel has an intact neutral-ground bond - until you have evaluated and eliminated from suspicion the PoE camera. See if they have done something dumb like grounding one side of the PoE.  (If the injector grounds one side, and a load grounds the other, poof!)

If the PoE injector and camera check out on the bench, then do an exhaustive search of the complex's Grounding Electrode System - ground rods on each building, netural-ground wired separately to each building with N-G bonds definitley absent in subpanels, etc. Start putting GFCI breakers/devices on circuits under suspicion. Etc.

Grounds first, then circuits

Other than that, this sounds like the classic "I hooked up the circuit and it works, but when I hook up the grounds the circuit fails. What's wrong with my grounds?"   The grounds are fine. This is a perception problem: the circuit is actually dangerous, and ground is protecting it.  If you hook up ground first, then you see things as they actually are... because connecting live conductors  is the last thing you do, so the problem is obviously there.

So ground that box.  Then hook up the camera!  The problem will "move" to where it actually is.


Safe to install Illumra wireless switch kit with 2-Pole wiring? I have 2-pole wiring in an old house and the switch is in a weird place. The Illumra wireless switch kit looks easy, but didn't want to overload anything and was wondering if it's safe to wire? (Think it's called 2-pole when you only have a black and white wire)

Assuming you have a conventional wiring setup, yo are looking for a single pole switch to control simple on/off of a single fixture. (Double pole or 2-pole refers to one switch controlling two separate lines or devices.)

In the US, the black and white wires would indicate that you are dealing with 120 volts. The black wire should be hot and the white wire should be neutral. If there is a bare wire or a green wire also present, that would be ground, a safety feature (but many older houses do not have these). A hot line can also be red, and two hot lines (red and black) are sometimes present.

A switch breaks or interrupts the flow of current on the hot. In wireless switch systems of the type you describe, the physical switch itself is not connected to the circuit at all. Instead, it controls a relay (called a receiver) that is inserted into the circuit that acts as a switch, making and breaking the flow of electricity.

INSTALLATION: The following instructions assume that there are two cables coming into the switch box and there are both a black and a white wire present.

If you want to use the wireless switch system in place of the existing switch, you can take out the existing switch and mount the receiver in that box. You will later cover it with a blank plate.

The receiver in that system has three wires. The red wire is the hot power going into the receiver. It is connected to the hot line (black) at the switch. The Receiver's white wire is the neutral and is connected to the white wire in the switch box. Note that the existing white wire in the box is probably not connected to the old switch but goes on to the fixture. You need to connect both the fixture white wire and the receiver's white wire to the incoming white wire. The receiver's third wire (black) gives power to the fixture and is connected to the black wire going to the fixture.

If you are not sure which black wire is hot (coming from the main power source) and which is the line to the fixture, this can be tested with a non-contact tester.

Once the wires are installed, the receiver is paired with the remote switch. The switch will then control the receiver and the fixture.

These types of switches are rated for 120 volts and up to 500 watts. Just be sure to order the right type.


What is the minimum roof slope to accommodate rainwater drainage? I have a patio with a 13ft(4m) by 26ft (8m) Roof, the slope runs vertically down the short (13ft) side.. and the height difference from the high point to the low point is only about 10in (25cm).

What is considered an acceptable angle for a roof to ensure that there will be sufficient run-off during rain conditions?

"What is considered an acceptable angle for a roof to ensure that there will be sufficient run-off during rain conditions?"

Generally, minimum slope for water to run off is 1% (1/8" per 1').
However, minimum slope for a flat roof by building code here is 2%. (1/4" per 1').

You have more than enough slope for your roof, however you will likely need some sort of membrane roofing since it is very low slope.

There are profiled metal roof cladding systems specifically designed for low-slope application. I don't know if any would be good for a slope as low as what you've got, so that is something you would have to look in to. Maybe call local roofing supplier and see if they have anything that would work for you.

The lowest slope you can do for a shingled roof (that I know of) is 1 in 4.


Septic system failed - should I try installing an aeration unit? My septic system's leach field is not able to absorb the liquid that comes out of the septic tank any more. It flows out of the pipes in the leach field and surfaces in the grass. Based on the reading I have done (the "Septic System Owner's Manual" by Lloyd Kahn which is very good) there is a chance of recovering from this problem by installing an aeration system.

An aeration system pumps air into the septic tank, thereby encouraging the development of "aerobic bacteria". The aerobic bacteria need air to survive, and are more voracious eaters than the an-aerobic bacteria that are typically present in a septic tank without air pumped into it. The idea is that the aerobic bacteria will clean up the fluid in the septic tank and then they will also make their way into the lines of the leach field, clearing away the "bio-mat" that has formed over the years. This bio-mat is the thing that is clogging up the leach field, preventing it from doing its job.

Anyway, there are quite a few air pumping systems out there that are designed to be installed into an existing septic system. My question is, does anyone have experience with installing such a pump to deal with this type of problem, and if so how effective was it at clearing up the problem? Is it worth the investment? For some reason these systems seem to cost around $1,000, which seems a lot for what is basically just an electric air pump.

Update: I had the air pump system installed in April 2011, so let's see how it works..!  It is an aero-stream unit which sits near my outside electric outlet and there's a plastic tube that is buried a few inches and that goes into the septic system via the outlet riser and down into the liquid. It pumps a lot of air in, the liquid churns around and bubbles continually. So far, I can say that the septic liquid is no longer foul-smelling. It has almost no odor any more. The level of liquid varies, depending on rainfall and water usage. Sometimes it comes to the top of the riser, at other times it's about 10 inches below the top. If this system works, I'm expecting that the level of liquid will fall gradually. This means that the lines are being cleared of gunk. Time will tell... I'll try to report back periodically.

Update June 30 2011
The level of liquid in my tank is about 18 inches below the top now. Very encouraging so far. Mind you, the Spring wet season is behind us, so it could just be due to the water table being lower in the summertime. Also my family was just out for a couple of weeks on vacation which took all the load off the septic.

Update Aug 20 2015
The aeration unit helped a lot but by itself wasn't enough. I ended up digging (by hand) a new "overflow trench" from the tank outlet. I used 3/4" gravel plus a piece of perforated plastic drainage pipe at the bottom. The trench was about 2 foot deep and 30 foot long and ended at a large flower bed which is slightly downhill from the septic tank. With the aeration unit plus this new overflow trench my septic tank is working well enough to not need replacement. The aeration unit ensures that the effluent that sometimes drains into the overflow trench is not foul smelling. This has been working for a few years now. Overflow will happen during periods of high usage such as lots of showering/dishwashing. It's not perfect but it's good enough.

I just had a breakthrough in my situation in the last couple of weeks.    My leach field was about 95% clogged, very little if any movement.    I had already diverted the graywater to another solution, which helped for awhile, but slowly the field failed to the point of essentially total failure.  I have a single septic tank and wanted to try aerating it without the cost of a second tank.    I learned a number of things that I haven't seen explicitly explained on any of the forums so I wanted to put it here to hopefully help someone.

I installed my aerator a few months back.    Too much air volume and placing it in the center of the tank caused to much churning and cause solids to exit the tank.    I did notice the smell though went from putrid to a smell like freshly turned soil (not coincidentally; the same aerobic bacteria live in airy soil).   I spent a couple months thinking it didn't work.    Water still not going out.   But in the last couple of weeks I'm actually seeing the water levels fall to STAY at the edge of the outlet pipe!!!!     First time ever!!     I used the techniques below to avoid replacing my field without buying a $1000 solution.

You CAN aerate a single tank, but it's imperative that the aeration process doesn't agitate the incoming solids.    They have to come into the first baffle and separate so the lighter material can rise and heavier solids fall.    To accomplish this you have to use very fine bubbles and they have to be generated as far from the incoming line as possible, or they have to act inside an isolation vessel (there are videos where people use 12" pipe to contain the aerator).    You can get diaphragm diffusers for as cheap as $35 if you search around, connected to PVC pipe, and use an air valve to supply JUST ENOUGH air pressure/volume to activate the diaphragm (air RELIEF valve, not cutoff.   You'll damage your pump if you restrict airflow inappropriately).    Too much and you get a rolling torrent (which you don't want).    Place this diaphragm(s) near the output baffle or let it work IN the output baffle.    This allows all the agitation to happen away from the settling part of the tank.    THIS IS THE KEY, and is the reason why a separate aeration tank is ideal, so there's no chance of agitating the incoming.    Also I had a 4" TEE on the outlet side which served as the separator.  I put the two diaphragm diffusers on EITHER SIDE of the outlet TEE.  You don't want bubbles going up INTO the TEE which could siphon some debris up in there.    I got a septic filter brush and put down in the pipe to help filter the effluent, though as clear as the water is going out I don't think it was necessary.

One suggestion I received from a local contractor for my single concrete tank was to empty it, get inside and build a cinderblock wall giving 2/3 incoming/settling, and 1/3 aeration, but the tank has to be pretty good size to do that.   You need several hundred gallons of aeration space.    I put this on the burner as a next option, but turns out it wasn't necessary.

If you have a way of opening the other end of your leach lines to extend your field, at least temporarily, you get this freshly energized aerated bacteria through there quicker to let it go to work.   My temporary relief is now closed off and the field appears to be working!!

Note I did NOT need to buy super duper amped up bacteria to add.    From everything I've read this is hogwash and money makers for people.    That's like buying weed seeds;  give dirt some rain and you'll get the weeds.   The bacteria will fill the space if they have oxygen.

My findings confirm for me that the low agitation solutions available out there for $500-$1000 would certainly work.    I just chose to play around with a DIY solution.

Hope this helps someone.


Allen Bradley 800 T psd16 c How do I hook up a 800 T Allen Bradley Dule input pilot light on my Ingersoll Rand 220 single phase 7.5 hp compressor

There should be a diagram right on the label of the pilot light itself.

The dual inputs is because it is for a system in which you have a common circuit, usually connected to a momentary push button somewhere, that you press to illuminate ALL of the pilot lights at the same time, to test whether or not the lamp is burned out. So (typically) your regular indicator circuit would go to terminal 1, the Test circuit would go to terminal 3 and the common (neutral) would go to terminal 2. There are diodes on 1 and 3 that prevent the circuits from back feeding to each other.


Add grounding to a 9th floor apartment in country with no electric code at all I live in a 9th floor 1940s-era apartment in a country with no electrical code and no professional licensing for electricians. My 'electrician,' such as he is, is a security guard who does wiring on weekends for extra money. He is obviously not a trained electrician, though he's done a bit of the work over the years. The building is concrete and brick. There's a steel framed elevator down the middle.

My brand new Bosch refrigerator seems to be adding a mild electrical charge to the floor of the kitchen when it's wet, which is somewhat concerning to me. When I plug my laptop into the wall, I am subjected to continuous minor electrical shock while trying to type, which is irritating and concerning. When I touch the TV I get a fairly painful shock. I have a couple of little kids, who I would like to keep from being electrocuted.

My apartment has mostly two-prong plugs (to which I would like to add grounding wire). There is obviously no grounding wire for the building as a whole, or for my apartment's electrical system (which does have a 220v main circuit breaker along with separate breakers for various circuits in the apartment).

My electrician is proposing to drive a 20cm (8in) spike into the concrete of the balcony and ground everything off of that. My opinion is that this won't work.
1) What do you guys think about that? Is there any potential value to his proposal?

2) I am inclined to try to get him to ground everything to the metal cold water supply of the house, which is hopefully, though not provably, metal all the way down. Does that sound like a better idea?

3) I presume not all circuit breakers (meaning mine) are GFCI's. If I add GFCI's to my panel, do I get most of the same protection? And presumably I have to run a third wire from outlets back to the panel in order to get GFCI protection right?

4) Any other things I should be doing/thinking about?

5) Once I get my electrician to implement some changes, how do I test that we've actually got things grounded? I am hoping he has a multimeter. What's the 'for dummies' guide to testing to see if a circuit is grounded?

Pick an electrical code

Pick an electrical code and follow it.  Pick one where your wiring system is normal.  If your power is 110/220V split-phase (220V with the neutral center-tapped with 110V on each side), then follow a North American code.  If your power is all 220V between neutral and "hot", then follow an EU code.

On split-phase, neutral is serious business

One of the scary things to be found in the North American split-phase system is if you lose a neutral wire.  The 120V circuits become imbalanced, and half of them are more than 120V and the other half are less (but they total 240V).  And they teeter-totter back and forth as devices blow out until eventually everything smokes.  Losing neutral is serious business, and if you can't get reliable neutral from the building owner, you may have to use the outer 240V(220V) lines and manufacture your own 110V service with your own transformer.

This is not an issue if you're supplied single phase 220V from a European style system, if you lose neutral you lose power.

Any shock is deadly shock

People often get "small" shocks and go "well, that's not dangerous".  Yes, it is. Remember, electricity needs to complete a circuit.  It flows when two things are connected.  You made a solid connection with a deadly amount of current from the TV/fridge, however, your connection back to ground/earth wasn't very good, so not much current could flow. Different deal if there's water on the floor or you happen to be touching the sink.

So any appliance that gives you a shock, is a 5-alarm fire and needs to be Dealt With Right NOW before someone else has a "better" connection!

GFCI's are great for shock hazard reduction

A GFCI (RCD in Europe) compares the current flow on the "hot" wire, to the current flow on the "neutral" wire.  In normal operation, they are exactly the same; that's what it means to complete a circuit.  Current seeks to follow all possible paths, regardless of resistance.  If current finds an alternate path (like through you), some of it will go that way, and the GFCI will see that the "hot" flow and the "neutral" flow is not the same, and it will trip.  This means  your shocking experience won't last for very long.

Note I don't mention ground at all.  Like the honey badger, GFCI's don't know or care about ground.  Obviously, ground may be part of the fault path, but the GFCI doesn't care about that, it cares that the current is NOT the same on hot and neutral.  This means GFCI's do not need ground at all.   They are often used to provide safety when a ground is not available - in fact, they provide far better safety when dealing with plastic-chassis equipment, since they are actually looking for electrocution situations.

GFCIs do not provide equipment grounding, however, and sometimes equipment cares about that.  Particularly, sensitive electronic equipment which does not like ESD (electro-static discharge, or that zap you get when you shuffle your feet across a carpet then touch a doorknob).  That's a ground for a different kind of reason: not personnel protection, but equipment protection.  That ground does not need to be tied to the electrical system "neutral".  An example of that would be the microcomputer inside a large machine tool connected to 480 3-phase (plain) "delta" power, all 3 wires of which are hot. (let's say that's protected by GFCI so a hot-chassis fault in the motor won't kill the operator). The computer is powered by a small transformer off 2 legs of the 480 delta, which isolates it from everything.  The computer needs a ground to give ESD somewhere to go.

Get a better ground than concrete

Concrete does have some conductivity, but I wouldn't rely on it for a long distance.  Anyway, "9 storeys tall" means not wood.  1940 probably means steel not concrete. The steel frame is most likely your best source of an equipment ground.  You can use reinforcing rod in a building designed for this but they weren't really thinking about that in 1940.

Do Not tie neutral to ground!

Neutral must be tied to ground in exactly one location: the main panel, as in the building's main panel.  That's because Neutral Is Not Ground, and there is a voltage difference between neutral and ground.  If you tie neutral and ground together in a second location, that voltage difference will result in current flowing, and potentially a surprising amount, since it could involve the whole building's current return!  This means ground is handling current on a regular basis, which it's not meant to do.  This also breaks any GFCI protection upstream.

You only tie neutral to ground in the main service, which is directly next to the supply transformers.  This is necessary since a supply transformer isolates the input power from the output power.  It would "float" (at indeterminate voltage from ground) unless you peg it to ground with a ground strap/bond.

Anytime you have current flowing on a neutral-ground bond, that is a very bad thing and needs to be corrected immediately.


How do you sister joists? I am replacing part of a floor because of water damage. I have removed three layers of flooring. The joists were unaffected by the rot (as was the bottom floor, but I removed it anyway).

I only intend to put in one or two layers of 3/4" plywood for the new subfloor. I don't want to build up ~2.75" inches of flooring and try to match the thickness of the original floor. Instead, my plan is to sister the joists in this area in order to lift them to the appropriate height. So the entire weight of the floor will rest on top of the new sisters.

The sisters will cover only ~6 ft of the original joists' ~9 ft span. The original joists are undersized by today's standards (they are 2x5s [4.5" actual—never seen that before!] spaced 16" o.c.), but there is no noticeable sag, and replacing the entire floor is out of the question at this point. So I'm not looking for the sistering to create a stronger composite system, but simply to build up the floor.

Is it enough to glue the joists and nail them? (If so, is a couple of 8d common nails every 8 inches good?) Or is there occasion to use screws or bolts also?

AFAIK, you don't even need the glue, though I'd probably use it myself.

8d might be a hair short. 10d driven at a slight angle (to avoid stickout with whatever size they shaved 2" lumber down to in the latest revision, 1-1/2" is so late 20th century...) might be better, especially if the old joists are from a thicker time in the history of 2" lumber.


Line Expansion Submersible pump Is it possible to take a regular submersible pump with a garden hose-sized line, and introduce it into a larger diameter line so that I may pull larger material from the water source? I'm thinking of some kind of jet pump type hybrid?

Only if it's a Dirty Water Pump. But, it won't pump any more volume than it does now & a bigger hose won't mean anything if the hose's mount isn't replaced with something bigger too.


17 light mason jar chandelier Please forgive the question if it has been asked before. I'm attempting to build 4 mason jar chandeliers for my daughter's wedding. Each chandelier will have 17 jars with bulbs. My question is what size wire should I use to wire the chandelier? Most evidence I've found says 18 gauge but I will be using an eleven watt bulb. Will the lower wattage bulb make a difference in the wire?

18 gauge wire is the smallest wire allowed by the NEC for wiring within a fixture or luminaire:

  402.6 Minimum Size. Fixture wires shall not be smaller than 18 AWG.


What is the power consumption of my LG refrigerator? Can you help me find out what is my lg fridge wattage from the attached pictures? These are pictures for all the stickers on my fridge. Unfortunately I cannot find the manual.

The reason i am asking is that I want to connect it to my voltage transformer, because the house I live in now has only 220 volts, while the fridge and the microwave oven are 110. I have a transformer that powers up to 1500 VA. Please advise.

The nameplate wattage is volts X amps, or 127V X 2.4A = 305 watts. That's what the fridge will draw when the compressor is running. The compressor only runs periodically (ballpark 25% of the time, depending on the model), so the long-term average will be quite lower.

However you should also be aware that all motors, including the one in a fridge compressor, draw significantly power power during the first few seconds of operation. Could easily be 3 times as high. So if you are going to be running this from an inverter, make sure it is capable of around 1000 watts. Sometimes inverters have two ratings, a "surge" rating and a "continuous" rating, for exactly this reason. However the exact definition of a "surge" rating on an inverter is ambiguous, and some of them are only capable of running at their surge value for a fraction of a second, which may not be long enough to get the fridge started.

You haven't posted many specifics about the inverter or microwave, but running both appliances from that inverter may be pushing it, especially if the fridge compressor comes on when the microwave is going. Microwaves can draw 1000–2000 watts or more. (The "wattage" rating of a microwave is the energy that the food gets... actual consumption will be higher because of energy loss, electronics, motors, lights, etc.)


Boiler system shows different pressures I recently had to change the expansion tank on our boiler. I decided to add a shut off with drain as well as a pressure gauge to make it easier going forward.
I've come across a problem. The pressure gauge I installed shows 12 psi when cold and 15 psi when hot. I was under the impression it was meant to stay at 12 even when hot? Which is even more weird is the pressure gauge on the actual boiler is showing higher psi.. around 18 cold and 22 when hot?
The only thing I thought might cause this was an air bubble, but I have bled the system.
Another problem I had was I attempted to run the boiler as a closed system to insure it wouldn't keep increasing pressure (just for a day as I was out of town) and it lost all pressure. In my mind the only thing that would cause this would be a leak somewhere in the system, could anything else cause this?
Thanks for help!

[3

The difference between cold and hot pressures is clear: the expansion tank is doing its work, but it only has a finite size, and so as it takes in the expanded water it raises the overall pressure. The tank has a diaphragm across its middle separating the air in the top from the water in the bottom. As the water expands, it pushes the diaphragm up, but that compresses the air and so increases the system pressure. The larger the tank the less the pressure will increase for a given amount of water displacement, but as this isn't a high-precision situation it doesn't really matter if the pressure changes somewhat, so nobody buys a 50 gallon expansion tank.

On the two pressure meters displaying different values, my guess is that they aren't very accurate, and so one is reading high and the other is reading low. Interesting note: your expansion tank meter displays a 25% increase in pressure from cold to hot, which is darn close to the 22% increase in pressure shown by the boiler meter. This implies that they're off by a scale factor, but they'll both read zero PSI when there's no pressure.


no electrical power to outlet There is a gcfi in both bathrooms but I only have power to the second one. I believe they each provide power to the bathrooms and also to outlets on the front and back of the house. The house is about 40 years old and has NEVER had power to the front gcfi and front outside outlet. Of course they have wires but I really don't think it is connected in the attic. I do have one of those devices that plug into the outlet to be detected in the breaker box, but nothing shows up in the breaker box, either light or signal. I am now too old and creepy to be climbing around in the attic. Does anyone have any ideas? An electrician from church tried to help, but did not want to go into the attic, having had bad experiences from a previous fall. I do not blame him. I really think it is missing a connection. I would appreciate any suggestions. Thank you.

Probably the most useful thing you can do is to get a young volunteer from church who is willing to crawl into the attic while the electrician volunteer stands below the hatch or whatever. The electrician tells the crawler what to do and the crawler tells the electrician what the crawler sees.

The protocol for reducing the hazard of this procedure is patience. No matter how much they yell at each other, the crawler must think before each step. If anybody feels unsafe at any time, everybody stops and you call a professional.


Ceiling fan light flickers whenever fan is turned off I recently remodeled my room and added in a ceiling fan. The room only had a dimmer switch installed which I didn't think would be a big deal because it would either be on or off. However, I'm now having a weird issue. When the fan is on and the light is on everything works fine. The different fan speeds are fine and it turns off when it's supposed to.

The issue is when the fan is off and the light is still on it flickers at a very annoying frequency and dims quite a bit. It's becoming a real issue because now it's getting colder and I can't have the light on in my room without the fan!

Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thank you!!

Two gotchas here.

You can't put a dimmer on a fan.  Fans require a fan speed controller which is a different sort of thing.  Even if you never use the dimmer in middle settings, most dimmers are also doing that dimming thing at lowest (nominal off) and highest settings.  Since you don't care that much about dimming, change it to a plain switch.
You must not put a fan on a plain junction box.  It doesn't have the strength.  A fan's vibration will tear a normal junction box out of the wall. So change that box to a fan-rated junction box if it isn't one already.