What can I do to avoid tripping over HVAC drain line? The drain tubes for the Furnace and AC run about 10 feet across the laundry room to the drain in the middle of the floor. Unfortunately this is a fairly high-traffic zone (seven people living in the house) and it is a bit of a tripping hazard. Does anyone have suggestions for different lines or something I could put around the line to avoid tripping?

I'm imagining it's only a 1/2" pipe, in which case maybe an on-floor cord protector might work: http://www.homedepot.com/p/Legrand-Wiremold-5-ft-Over-Floor-Cord-Protector-CDBK-5/100669770

Or you could re-route the pipe around the perimeter of the room to avoid the heaviest traffic.


Fixing Animal Entry at the Roofline After a raccoon finally left my attic, I had the roof repaired. The roofer pointed out a problem that has apparently existed since the house was constructed. As the first picture below shows, far back under the eve, there is a barely noticeable open spot. What I had thought were a lot of small twigs is actually chicken wire. Someone was obviously aware of the problem long ago.

The second picture shows more detail. Not only is this hidden area a nicely protected spot for an animal, there is an opening in the stucco on the wall. It looks as if it was too difficult for the builder to reach for him to be bothered with sealing it up. (It's too late to come to terms with the builder.)

My question is how should I go about sealing this up? I'm not sure if I actually have to seal the wall. Generally, these attics are ventilated, so air flow shouldn't be a concern. (Am I wrong about that?)

I thought I might fasten a piece of marine plywood behind the blocking shown in the second picture, contouring it to follow the wall and the shingles to within about 1/2 inch, and then doing the same behind the fascia, meeting the first piece at a corner near the outer end of the blocking board.

I might laminate a piece of aluminum on the outside of both pieces. These raccoons can be persistent in getting back in. Of course, I would paint this all to weatherize it and to blend in.

Am I making this too complicated? What else can I do? I want to start with a good plan that can be accomplished without going up and down the ladder too many times. How would a professional do this if this was his own house?

The simplest and most secure repair to keep pests out is to use 1/8 - 1/4 inch hardware cloth sold at any hardware store or building supply warehouse. The smaller the opening the more critters it will keep out.  The hardware cloth is made of galvanized wire the size is measured by the opening size (1/4 inch is how big each opening is). Purchase 8 inches more for the size you want to cover. It fastens to any surface material with any type of fastener. It cuts with metal shears so you can contour it to any shape and once installed it can be painted so it is less noticeable.   I'd start by screwing it to the bottom edge of the 2 x 10 look-out (blocking) shown in the second photo. Then screw the left and right side to the rafter above the stucco wall and the fascia board/rafter respectively. You'll have to cut around the metal flashing on the left. Install a short piece of treated lumber below the 2 x 10 blocking so the bottom edge can be screwed into place.


Chamberlain 045ACT Opener Button I have a Chamberlain 045ACT garage door opener.  It has a wired push button for opening and closing the door. I want to add a second button, so I can open and close it from two different places.  How do I do this? Have you tested to verify it works?

The pushbutton is an N.O. (normally open) switch.  When you press it, the circuit is closed and the opener starts its cycle.  It's easy to add a 2nd pushbutton by wiring it in PARALLEL to the first one.  That way EITHER one, acting alone can control the door.

For a diagram of this see the 'Switches in Parallel' diagram at:

Switches In Parallel


How thick should a plate steel stringer be? We are goind to built a stair like this one:

But instead of two "floating" stringers, since ours will be against a wall, I thought about using plate steel and making it more flush with the wall. The fabrication is simple enough, angle iron for supports welded to the plate steel. The stringer will the be affixed at 4 points along the wall (1.5 meter intervals) like the sketch below:

I was thinking about using 1/8" or 1/4" plate but I'm not really sure how much plate steel could move or be "springy" in this situation. How thick should I go?

Given that your stringers are going to be about 8" wide, you'll be fine with some pretty thin stuff. Heavy Jeep frames from the 1970s were only about 3/16" thick, and only about 4" wide. I've seen truck frames around 1/4" by 8", but they were larger single-axle agricultural trucks. Really large single-axle trucks only have about 1/2"-thick steel frames.

Come to think of it, I've walked stairs made with no heavier than 3/16" stringers in penitentiaries. They felt nearly like STONE.

If you're concerned about racking, remember that every tread will act as an anti-rack brace. Until your treads go on, the stringers will feel pretty flimsy if you push them sideways. AFTER the treads go on, they'll be train-wreck rigid.


What is required to relocate a garbage disposal? I have a garbage disposal in my two well sink, only problem is when it was installed, it was placed on the left side of the sink -- closest to the dishwasher, further from the stove. When I'm cooking, which I do frequently, I abuse the right side of the sink constantly rinsing and clearing plates and tools of food into it, since it's closest to where I'm working.

Aside from learning how to cope with a disposal being too far away, is it fiesable to move the disposal to the other side of the sink, will it fit, if it will what types of tools will I need to complete the job.

I'm assuming, if it is possible, I'll need to re-cut some of the pipework to fit the new setup, though I imagine I'll be able to salvage most of the current joints.

This project is fairly straight forward. You need to completely disassemble both sides including the in sink trims.  You will need an adjustable wrench, a large pair of pump pliers or monkey wrench, screwdriver, nothing special.  Be sure the electrical wire will reach the new disposal location, it not, you will need a j-box and some wire,  you will also need some plumber's putty to seat the drain trims.  You definitely will have to replumb the drains and traps, but you may be able to salvage a few pieces.  It's gonna take you a few hours so be prepared to spend the day without water in the kitchen.


Transition piece first or baseboard first? I installed new floor so the transition height has changed from one room to the next. I took off the baseboards first before installing the floor. The problem is I am not sure what's the cleaner, nicer way to combine baseboard and transition. Do I put baseboards first then try my best to get the transition piece the perfect length or do I put transition piece first and then cut a notch/es on the baseboard so the transition looks like it goes into the baseboard?

I would imagine it's a matter of preference, but IMO the transition is part of the floor and the baseboard is part of the wall.  Given that the transition will blend in with the floor, I'd be inclined to put the baseboards on first and then cut the transition to fit.  It's also generally simpler to cut something to length than it is to notch something cleanly and precisely.

Ultimately I don't think there are any severe consequences for doing it one way rather than another.


How do I introduce slope on a rooftop deck? I recently purchased a 1937 house with two decks on the upper floor. One of the decks has a draining issue. While hosing it off, I noticed that a small puddle accumulates near the middle of the deck. The puddle left over is very shallow (maybe on the order of 3mm or so), but I don't like the idea of any standing water above a living space. I'm not sure the material that was used for the deck; it is white and has a rubbery feel to it.

So I trying to figure out how to get a bit of slope, or at least figure how to ensure that there isn't any water damage in the future. I seem to remember hearing about some kind of foam that could be used to build slope and seal the deck, but I can't find details.

What material should I use to introduce slope to the deck? What should I use/do to ensure that it doesn't leak if a slope isn't possible?

Thanks,
Erick

EDIT

I've added a couple of pictures, but I'm not sure how helpful they will be to know what the surface is. The carpet was in the middle of the deck, and probably helps keep the water from pooling in one place. I'd still like to know how to maintain a deck like this, as water leaks are the last thing I need.

You need to know exactly what the surface of the deck is, and probably what the structure under looks like. Otherwise, you'll probably only make the problem worse.

But without that info, 3 mm is not much. You didn't mention the other 2 dimensions, but a few minutes of sunshine will probably dry that up. I probably wouldn't do anything at all.


Are electrical screws a standard diameter? I've just had to reset the thermal cutout of my immersion heater. Whilst removing the cover, I've stupidly dropped the nut somewhere behind the tank. Fishing around with a magnet has pulled up all sorts of metal objects, but unfortunately not the nut.

The long threaded screw/bolt in the above picture goes through the hole in the cap. The nut then secures the cap in place.

Will this screw (or threaded bolt, I suppose) normally be a standard size? If I were to try and buy a replacement, what should I be searching for? Or will I have to get hold of some calipers and measure the darn thing?

There's no reason it would not be a locally standard size (given a British location based on the label, presumably metric or pre-metric British Standard threading) so some basic measurements (no calipers required, if you are willing to use a ruler carefully and buy 2 or 3 nuts, one of which will be the right one) and a trip to the hardware store should find a nut to fit.
You might also try putting fine net mesh over a vacuum cleaner inlet and vacuuming for the nut, first.


Recommendations for finishing a workbench So I was successful in building a workbench for my garage. The final part is finishing it. I was thinking of just applying 1-2 coats of Zinnser Bulls-Eye Shellac Clear Traditional Finish and Sealer. Is this a good choice? Any other recommendation? The workbench is made from standard 2x4s and baltic birch plywood, so nothing fancy.

I use Water-based polyurethane. Drys fast and you can get one for floors so it will be a little harder. Put at least three coats on.

You can get a big can and before you use it, divide it into small air-tight plastic bottles, so you always have some around for re-coating the bench if it needs it or other projects. You might consider soothing else than plywood for the top. You can get cheap solid-wood countertops at Home Depot or even Ikea. A thicker top will let you eventually sand the top and re-finish it to make it look new again in 5-10 years. Thicker also = more mass and will feel better it you are hammering etc.


What backer board should I use in shower ceiling? I'm tiling my shower up to about 7' and the rest of the shower and ceiling will simply be painted. What material should I use on those?

I am using RedGard as my waterproofing method so there will not be any waterproofing BEHIND the backer board.

You don't have to use a backerboard on shower ceilings - especially if you aren't tiling it.  You can drywall it.

If you do use a backer board I would suggest Hardieboard.  You would then just put a skim coat of joint compound (mud) over and sand.


What size wire do I need? 225' run/100 amp subpanel I am looking to install a 100 amp sub from my main. The run is aprox. 225' from the main panel down into my lower front yard.
The panel will be used to power a:

30amp service for my RV
provide power for my recording studio/office in a 12x16 shed with:

10 15 amp receptacles
a 120v electric wall heater
a 5k BTU 120v window ac unit (later I will switch to a mini split).

I am trying to figure out what size wire to use and the breaker I need for the main panel to supply power to the sub.
I have 1 unused 20 amp breaker/spot open in the panel (old electric dryer line no longer in use available).
I will not be buying a larger RV and there will be no shop tools used in the shed
THANK YOU to everyone who has commented, I really appreciate the input!!!!

Yikes.  All your load is 120V.
The 30A RV is almost certainly a "TT30" which is 120V/30A.
Receps are all 120V obviously.  The good news is, receps are 0 amps.  The bad news is, things which plug into receps are various amps, and since you haven't discussed what those will be, we have to punt over to the usual assumption of  180 VA per recep, or 1800 VA the bunch, or 15A.
120V electric wall heater will be 12 amps typically.  However presumably you will not be running it at the same time you are maxing out the RV.  You won't be running the A/C at the same time as the heater, and it's less than 12A, so we'll count it as part of the heater's allocation.
There are too few simultaneous loads here to be able to effectively balance them on the two 120V phases included as part of 240V.  Therefore while we can try to balance them on the 240V, we can't count on that balance existing. Therefore we must think about voltage drop for a single load.  The worst case (for balancing and voltage drop) is the RV is maxed out @ 30A and nothing else is on.  That must be the basis of our voltage drop calcs.
(so for folks who do voltage drop calcs... just plugging 240V and breaker trip into your friendly neighborhood voltage-drop calc won't tell the whole story.  Loads this lopsided require thinking about drop in instances of pure 120V load.)
It's a pity; if only we had a way to guarantee balancing of the 120V loads, we could do our calcs based on your 240V draw, and the wires would be a lot thinner.  A 10 KVA or even 5 KVA transformer could do that... but realistically, unless you get lucky on Craigslist (and know exactly what you are buying), the transformer would be more expensive than fatter wire.
Failing to run this 240V would be nuts
So you might think "Why not run it as 120V-only?"  Because your future mini-split won't like that.  And you may get a bigger RV someday.
I think we need to plan for 40A @ 240V of service... but also watch our voltage drop at 30A @ 120V.  (24A [80%] for the RV and 6A for other misc loads.)   3% is a wire salesman's ideal but try earnestly to keep it under 5%.
So this looks like #2 aluminum.
#3 aluminum would work, but it's generally a unicorn.
And the limiting factor is the ability to support a lopsided 120V load based on the RV being most of it.
On the upside, since you're not in Canada, you could breaker the #2 aluminum at 90A. That means it will be totally ready for that mini-split and larger 240V/50A RV should you ever get one -- at 60A actual, voltage drop @ 240V will only be 3.3%.
If you wanted to super-chintz this thing, you might be able to swing #4 aluminum, but under certain conditions voltage drop would be noticeable. The cost differential #2 vs #4 will be tiny compared to total project cost.
Also, get a BIG panel
This wire can be breakered at 90A, which is enough to run a pretty big house.  Given how ridiculously cheap breaker spaces are, and how expensive and project-blocking running out of spaces is, a 30-space panel is not excessive.  Disregard number of "circuits" in a panel spec; that number is useless. So a 16 space/32 circuit panel is only a 16.


What are the methods of attaching cable to OSB I'm making a shelf from a sheet of OSB,
I'm planning to rig it with 4 cables in the corners.

From the answer to this question:
How should I attach the cable of a cable-supported shelf? -

I get it that I should get an eye bolt through my shelf.

The question is -- what's the necessary size of the washer, and the distance from the bolt's hole to the edge of the board. For 18 mm OSB. Overall load up to 80 kilos. Planned size 1.5*1.2 meters (It'll be accessed from both of the longer sides hence the width). I've used this tool  to find necessary thickness.

Tear-out of the bolts isn't the primary concern here, even with standard flat washers. Sag is one, and complete snap-off of the sheet corners is another.

If you must use the sheet without a frame, I'd move the cables inboard substantially--cantilever the shelf about 20% of it's length and width. This gives assurance that the corners won't break off and distributes the load much better.

If you can't do that due to the load objects' size or shape, put a proper frame under the shelf. This can be as minimal as lumber under the front and back edges to spread load.


Meaning of the applicance wattage range 2000-2400W that is written on a tally Checking power consumption of a kettle with a wattmeter it shows constantly about 1970W (close to the lowest value of the wattage range on the ketler that is 2000W).

What does mean upper up to 2400W wattage range provided on the kettle's tally?
In which circumstances 2400W consumption can happen when boiling water?

Update to answers:

In dockerhab, when kettle is in use, I can see constantly ~2000W power consumption until the end when kettle powers off / water is boiled (values arrives via mqtt broker)

2020-05-28 07:44:30.618 [vent.ItemStateChangedEvent] - GosundSP111-7 changed from 1973 to 1970
2020-05-28 07:44:30.621 [vent.ItemStateChangedEvent] - GosundSP111-7 changed from 1970 to 1973
2020-05-28 07:44:31.617 [vent.ItemStateChangedEvent] - GosundSP111-7 changed from 1973 to 1987
2020-05-28 07:44:33.625 [vent.ItemStateChangedEvent] - GosundSP111-7 changed from 1987 to 1973
2020-05-28 07:44:34.622 [vent.ItemStateChangedEvent] - GosundSP111-7 changed from 1973 to 1983
2020-05-28 07:44:35.624 [vent.ItemStateChangedEvent] - GosundSP111-7 changed from 1983 to 1973
2020-05-28 07:44:38.629 [vent.ItemStateChangedEvent] - GosundSP111-7 changed from 1973 to 1984
2020-05-28 07:44:39.630 [vent.ItemStateChangedEvent] - GosundSP111-7 changed from 1984 to 1973
2020-05-28 07:44:41.635 [vent.ItemStateChangedEvent] - GosundSP111-7 changed from 1973 to 1987
2020-05-28 07:44:42.635 [vent.ItemStateChangedEvent] - GosundSP111-7 changed from 1987 to 1973
2020-05-28 07:44:42.937 [vent.ItemStateChangedEvent] - RaspberryOpenhabTemperature changed from 48.3 to 47.8
2020-05-28 07:44:44.640 [vent.ItemStateChangedEvent] - GosundSP111-7 changed from 1973 to 1970
2020-05-28 07:44:45.640 [vent.ItemStateChangedEvent] - GosundSP111-7 changed from 1970 to 1982
2020-05-28 07:44:46.640 [vent.ItemStateChangedEvent] - GosundSP111-7 changed from 1982 to 1970
2020-05-28 07:44:47.643 [vent.ItemStateChangedEvent] - GosundSP111-7 changed from 1970 to 1973
2020-05-28 07:44:49.943 [vent.ItemStateChangedEvent] - RaspberryOpenhabTemperature changed from 47.8 to 48.3
2020-05-28 07:44:50.646 [vent.ItemStateChangedEvent] - GosundSP111-7 changed from 1973 to 1970
2020-05-28 07:44:51.647 [vent.ItemStateChangedEvent] - GosundSP111-7 changed from 1970 to 1973
2020-05-28 07:44:53.658 [vent.ItemStateChangedEvent] - GosundSP111-7 changed from 1973 to 1970
2020-05-28 07:44:53.667 [vent.ItemStateChangedEvent] - GosundSP111-7 changed from 1970 to 1973
2020-05-28 07:44:54.653 [vent.ItemStateChangedEvent] - GosundSP111-7 changed from 1973 to 39
2020-05-28 07:45:02.661 [vent.ItemStateChangedEvent] - GosundSP111-7 changed from 39 to 3
2020-05-28 07:45:04.663 [vent.ItemStateChangedEvent] - GosundSP111-7 changed from 3 to 0

Does the nameplate also state a voltage tolerance range, such as 230-240V? Because that would make a difference in the wattage. In a load that is a fixed resistance, Power (watts) varies at the square of the voltage change. So if the kettle is rated for 2000W at 230V, but you apply 240V, the new voltage is 240/220 = 109%, so it will consume 1.09sq. the amount of power, so roughly 120% power, i.e. 2400W.


How wide should the framed opening be to accommodate double shed doors? I'm building a shed/barn with a 6ft doorway for two 3ft doors.  If I assume the doors will be exactly 3 ft each, do I need to add extra space in the framed opening to allow them to swing easily, and if so how much?

You'll add a list of things to get your R.O.:

The width of both door slabs together
The width of both side jambs together
1" gap +/- for shimming the jambs plumb inside the framing (1/2" for each side)
~3/4" for slab gaps (1/4" each left, center, right)

The slab gaps may need to vary from 1/4" depending on your hinge and latch hardware. 3/16" (9/16" total) is more ideal, as it makes for better latch engagement, but requires fairly precise carpentry.
Of course, you can frame your opening and build the doors to fit it instead. Just work the same numbers.
Assuming standard outswing doors and 3/4" jambs, your 36" slabs would need:
1/2" + 3/4" + 1/4" + 36" + 1/4" + 36" + 1/4" + 3/4" + 1/2" = 75-1/4"

If, however, you don't use floating jambs, disregard the jamb thickness and the outer (1/2") gaps. You'd then simply have:
1/4" + 36" + 1/4" + 36" + 1/4" = 72-3/4"

An astragal doesn't usually add to r.o. in a simple shed scenario. It simply mounts to the face of one slab and laps over the opposing slab. There's really no need for it to be mounted to the edge of the slab. If you do want to use an astragal between the slabs for more stable latching, take that width into consideration.
Also, you mention that there's no space needed for your hinges. Even if you're using strap hinges you don't want the slabs tight to the jambs. That would be a recipe for binding and noise.


Subpanel breaker size and wire size I'm looking to add a subpanel for a basement kitchenette.  Here are the power requirements and intended new circuits.

 Appliance  Voltage  Amps       Slot    Circuit Amps

 Oven/Range 220      28.0       1/2     40

 Macerator  110      4.5        3       15

 disposal   110      4.0        4       20
 Range Hood 110      2.0        4
 Microwave  110      9.1        4

 dishwasher 110.     15.0       5       15

 Fridge     110      6.0        future? 10

What size sub-panel breaker do I need and what size cable is required (indoor 30 ft away)?

Currentwise, I think a 60A supply breaker will suffice.  You use #6 copper or #4 aluminum wire for this. There's a case to be made for either one. Copper can be spliced in smaller boxes, but it's stupid expensive and it invites a dissimilar metal issue on the panel lugs (which are typically zinc plated aluminum).   If you run this cable in conduit, and you use THHN/THWN-2 wire, then you might as well use a 70A breaker since the #6Cu/#4Al 60A wire is good for 70A when it's in THHN.

Panel-wise, we need to have a conversation.  The most difficult problems we see here (the ratio between simplicity of project vs cost to do it) is "Panel Full" situations.  "My panel is full, how do I add a circuit?" often means a $1000+ panel replacement for a simple circuit add.  In practicality, that means the on-demand heater, table saw, or EV charger simply does not happen.

So, you have to size up your own house. If you've got a 40 space panel that's half empty, this may not be much help.  But not knowing all those details, our default reco would be for something on the order of an 18-space panel - that would give you a lot of expansion room for future circuits.  For instance if you needed room in the main panel, nearby circuits could be rerouted here.  The cost differential is not that large, and the protection it gives you is considerable.

The subpanel does not need a main breaker, and the bus rating is just a rating, like the 130 mph rating on your car's tires. So there's nothing wrong with feeding a 125A or 200A panel from a 60A breaker for instance.


What are these lines on the ceiling from? I'm looking at buying a house and I noticed it has lines on the ceiling in one of the rooms:

It looks like the white lines are where the rafters are, and there seems to be some kind of stain occurring between them. What causes this and is it a cause for concern?

Technically those lines appear where the ceiling joists are located. Depending on the building construction the joists may or may not correspond 1::1 to the rafter locations.

Those lines could be there for a number of reasons. Here are some I can think of:

There could be drywall joint lines under the ceiling paint that were not properly primed and the paint has been affected differently over time by the drywall versus the mud lines.
There could be an unevenness of ceiling surface that makes it reflect lighting in that pattern. This could be particularly pronounced if the ceiling material was cheap thin material.
This could be a somewhat porous ceiling material and over many years there could be discoloration due to material aging and dirt bleed through from above.
Similar to the previous item there may have been a roof leak or other flooding problem above at some previous time that has left water marks. Old dirt and dust accumulate over years and water comes and leaves dirty marks because of this.
Temperature differences, possibly caused by inadequate insulation, may cause condensation and/or staining in the spaces between the rafters

The main area of concern for you is to discern the cause and find out if the source of the problem is still present. This would be particularly important for item 4 above. If you really wanted to move forward to buy this house the best course of action is probably to make the purchase contract contingent upon a home inspection. Best is for you the buyer to contract for the inspection so it is not seller biased. From this you can be more sure if there is risk with this and you leave open the possibility to negotiate with the seller to make possible repairs or adjust the price to cover the risk potential.


How to wire three-way switches to light fixture with a fan? I have a light fixture with a fan, and two switchboxes with space for two three-way switches each.

I would like each switch box to have two switches, one which operates the fan and the other which operates the light.   How can I wire this correctly so that two switches from different boxes operate the light, and the other two switches in different boxes operate the fan?

You can't. You don't have enough conductors between the switches. It takes 2 "hot" traveler wires plus a neutral and a ground to do a single 3-way "traveler" circuit; that's 4 wires total. The neutral and ground can be shared between multiple devices, so to do what you want you need 2 more traveler wires for the other device (fan).


What kind of pipe should I install between my water meter and my house plumbing? What kind of pipe is used to hook house water pipes up to the city water meter?

I have a blue flexible hose between the meter and my 3/4 inch galvanized piping to the house.
The blue flex hose is prone to leaks, primarily at the connecting ends.

What kind of pipe should I replace it with, and what kind of adapters should I use?

You should be able to replace the flex pipe  with a 3/4" PVC pipe using a threaded 3/4" connector. For a easier installation use a 3/4" union fitting at the meter. You could also install a shutoff valve at the same time.


Installing 7 exterior lights on my new garage, motion or photo electric eye? As I said 7 lights, 4 on the front and 1 for each man door which is 3. What I am looking for is, if I walk up to any side of the garage at night with motion detection added on I want all 7 lights to go on. Each light will have its own motion detection unit added on,  and connected to the rest.
Or would a single photo cell wired across all 7 so at nite the garage lites up. Will be using LEDs in each of the single bulb exterior lights. Can this be done to have all the lights turn on with only 1 motion detection unit added to one light or all 7 lights?  Even though all lights would have their own mini motion detection unit added and mounted 3 to 4 feet lower than the light fixture.

Yes, you can crossover motion detectors if you set it up properly.  You would use discrete motion sensors and lights, not combo light-sensor units.  If you're married to the idea of combo units, you will need to "hack" them, which is off-topic here.

All motion sensors have day/night detection, and will not activate in daylight.

However, motion sensors's light level detectors read absolute lux (the human eye cannot see absolute lux; the eye auto-adjusts to ambient light; sensors can't/don't/don't need to).  Light sensors are programmed with defaults for the lux of day vs night.  In very shady locations, or locations with a high level of artificial light (e.g. in the bask of a street light), those default values will fool the sensor. However after it experiences a couple of day-night cycles, it will calibrate to the appropriate lux levels.  Thus, do not angrily think "what is wrong with this thing!?" until day 3. However, if you cut power to the sensor, you wipe its memory and it must start over so having it downstream of a light switch etc. is a bad idea.

So to wire this, you must

bus a white wire from supply to every sensor AND lamp (netural)
bus a red wire between every sensor and lamp, but no need to go to supply (switched-hot)
bus a black wire from supply to every sensor (no need to take it to the lamps), this is supply hot.
Do not put a light switch on a black wire.
At the lamps, connect their black wires to the red wire.

You can use /3 cable for this.


Can I connect two LED lights to the same power driver? I have two Lights (12V, 18W each) originally designed to be installed in automobiles (trucks for flood lights). I want to use them as work lights and install them both on the same support. I would like to power them through my home electrical system (110vac). Could I power them both from the same LED Driver so long as that LED driver was rated beyond 36W (18Wx2)? How should I connect them together (i.e. before entering the DC input on the power driver or at the power driver input)? Thank you.
These are the lights: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00W6QBJNI/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Judging by the specifications given for those Lights, an LED driver is not what you need.

They're listed as supporting "10-30v DC Voltage", which means that they must have their own LED driver circuitry already inside them, so all you need to supply is an appropriate DC voltage in that range from a power supply which can handle the load.

You are correct that the supply (driver) must be rated for at least 36W to support both of the lights, so for example if you have a 12V supply, it must be able to provide at least 3A (since 12V x 3A = 36W). If you use a 24V supply, then 1.5A will be enough.

Once you have an appropriate supply, connect the lights in parallel to its output (that's + from both lights going together to + out from supply and - from both lights going together to - from supply).


Replacing shower head - thread sticking out of wall is too long I'm retrofitting a new showerhead to an old shower.

The old showerhead had an escutcheon plate, the new showerhead doesn't. The result is that the new showerhead sits 10mm off the tiled wall of the shower.

The bit of threaded pipe sticking out of the wall, sticks out by 20mm. I have measured the internal depth of the screwed part of the showerhead, and it is only 10mm deep.

Do I simply need to hacksaw off 10mm of the screwed pipe coming out of the wall, or is there some better way of fixing this?

Edit:

Cutting the pipe back 10mm worked fine.

I did encounter a problem when installing the wall fitting ('wall elbow').

When screwed down fully, flush to the wall, the outlet fitting on the wall elbow pointed to the left. This is against manufacturer's recommendation as the hose to the handpiece needs to hang straight down.

I tried to forcefully turn the wall elbow to the correct, outlet-down position, but wasn't able to do this without applying excessive force.

I ended up unscrewing the fitting one turn, so the wall-elbow's outlet pointed down as recommended. This left a small gap behind the fitting which I used silicone caulking to seal up. I left a small gap in the silicone at the 6-o-clock position on the fitting, which should allow any trapped water to drain out.

It is really hard to tell from the picture. Is the pipe from the wall threaded all the way down to below the tile surface?

If the answer is no then I would be concerned that if you were to saw off 10mm of the threaded pipe coming out of the wall that you may have one or two problems.

You could be left with so few threads that it will be hard to seal the threaded joint without a leak.
The new shower head attachment could bottom out on the threaded portion of the pipe and still not be tight to the tile surface.

+ + Edit + +

Based on the comment left by the OP I would fully agree that the extending pipe can be cut to a shorter length. As a matter of fact, when looking closely at the provided picture it is easy to see that this pipe has already been cut from a previous install.

When cutting off a threaded item like this there should be some post cutting dressing of the first thread using a file. The tapering down of the leading edge of the first thread and a general beveling all the way around the outside corner will greatly ease installation of the mating shower head assembly. It the sawing leaves any sharp edge or burrs on the inside corner of the pipe those should also be removed.

When cutting off this pipe to the requisite 8 to 10mm protrusion it will be best done using a hand tool such as a good quality hack saw with a new fine toothed blade. I would recommend taping some cereal box type cardboard to the tiles before starting the work in order to prevent the hack saw from rubbing on the tile and grout lines and leaving metal markings which can be hard to clean away. It may also be suggested to wear some of the thin hand forming gloves similar to "Gorilla Gloves" to avoid getting skinned up hands working in close to the wall.


Dangers of connecting Neutral to case of blower? (Not an Electrician) I have a 220V air handler (not part of the HVAC system its for a homemade wind tunnel) that I need to get power to. There is an old dryer receptacle (10-30R) in the basement that I'd like to use. My plan is to use L1 and L2 to power the air handler and connect the white wire to the case of the air handler like it would have been in an older dryer. I know that this wouldn't be to code but my question is about safety. How big of a risk would I be taking and what horrible things could go wrong?

The fact of the matter is that 99.9% of all electric clothes dryers and electric cook stoves in USA operated under these very conditions from the time of the WWII until the very late 20th century. At that point America was ready for another layer of safety.  Does the 4th wire make it safer? YES. As long as the neutral wire never comes loose from the neutral bus bar and all other connections remain clean, tight and dry you are relatively safe. Would I do this in my own shop? Probably.  Would I do it around children or family conditions? NEVER!


What kind of siding is this? I need help identifying the siding in the picture. I like the style a lot. Fwiw this house is in the middle Atlantic on an area that has a decent bit of humidity and moderate winters.
Overview:

Detail:

Your photo leaves a lot to be desired but this looks like multi-colored hexagonal SHINGLES instead of actual siding.
UPDATE: Your new photo is very helpful.  Clearly those are colored hexagonal asphalt shingles applied as siding.


Span calculator using arbitrary spacing? My "new" 72-y/o house is... interesting. The garage is much younger but still I just raise my eyebrows at some things.

One of them is the loft/attic area in the garage. I wanted to move all my computer hardware up there, of which there is a LOT. But just walking down the middle of the floor got me uncomfortable. It deflects too much.

The previous owner used 2x6 as joists, nailed (3x) to the side of the 10' stud ~8' up. The span is 15.5' ... since the ends are not on a sill and nailed IDK if the full 16' would be considered as the span. Regardless, SPF 2x6 with 16" spacing are rated for about a 9.5' span.

I'm trying to avoid removing  and reinstalling the floor if possible. My intention was to double up the joists in 5 evenly spaced spots (every 3 stud spaces)... I'll do everyone if needed though. I can't find a span calculator with arbitrary spacing or joist dimensions.

Would this work? What is the resulting span from doing this?

My intention is 2x6 joist - 2x4 stud - 2x6 joist. I'm using it for business purposes but want it to remain usable as a garage whenever I leave this place.... so no beams and posts down the center.... if the thought had occurred to you. :)

Update - Picture

There are several issues: 1) true load on joists, 2) true existing joist size, 3) joist spacing, 4) joist bearing/ support,

1) The Code requires a minimum of 40 psf for usable loft/attic rooms. However, the equipment you describe could easily exceed that amount, but that load would be near the perimeter of the room probably. You have about 2’ of head room on the rave sides, but could be substantially higher on the rake sides. (“10’ stud nailed 8’ up.”) of course the sides with substantially more load will require substantially more support. So, a uniform joist installation will probably not be sufficient.

2) The existing joists appear to be 2x8’s not 2x6’s. However, I’ll use your notation.

3) Existing joist spacing appears to be 16” o.c. (To match stud spacing.)

4) Existing joist support is in shear (balloon framing) with 3-16d (I assume) at each existing joist. Additional load will require additional support.

So, in order for the new attic load to be transferred to the footing, the new joists will need to be secured to the existing studs, (because there is no double top plate).

Without knowing the actual load from the equipment, I’ll assume a minimum of 50 psf plus an additional 30 psf along the gable ends.

I’d sister 2-2x6’s to the existing 2x6’s (1 on each side of the existing 2x6). I’d add a 2x4 under each joist down to the sole plate.

Along the gable end, I’d add 2-2x6’s on each side of the existing 2x6 joists for the first 2 spaces (32” or 2 joists) with 1-2x4 under each added joist. (I’m assuming the first joist will be nailed to the studs on the gable end.)

Btw, with that much equipment, you’ll need to consider adding cooling equipment too.


How can i remove my rusted and stripped deck screws from my deck boards? I am planning on replacing my wood deck boards with azek..some of my deck screw are rusted and stripped.can i use a reciprocating saw with a metal blade to cut between my deck boards and joists to cut the screws and joist level?will this affect the screws going into the joist when i lay my azek and screw to joist using screw going into the sides of the azek?

You can do that, but some screws are very hard and you'll have a slow, noisy time of it. You'd want a high quality metal-cutting blade. Getting a gap between the decking and joists makes it much easier, too.

If you aren't trying to salvage the decking, just pry the boards off the joists and then bend the screws that remain back and forth a few times. They'll snap off fairly easily, and you can pound any sharp stubs flat. You could make some circular saw cuts through the decking between joists to help you pry things loose.


What to do about furnace that's drawing gas odors into the room instead of heat? I have a gas furnace.  It was heating up the place fine and worked for years until the other day.

All of a sudden it started drawing air that smelled like strong gas odors into the room rather than heat.

Is this repairable?  Is it something I can fix myself?

This is quite possibly an emergency. Call your gas utility company and have them come check it out immediately. Also, open some windows to draw fresh air into your home, if you have a gas or exhaust leak it can be a fire and suffocation hazard.


How to cover old stair risers? I recently had my 100-year old hardwood floors and stair treads refinished. No local contractors would do the risers due to the adhesives from the carpet that was removed. The risers are uneven due to the adhesive, and also have lots of nail holes. I patched and painted a couple risers, but it looks like several coats of paint will be needed and it still won't look great in the end.

Would it make more sense to cover up the risers with lauan or something similar? I about 1.5" of clearance under the treads, so I have room to install some sort of covering and cove molding at the tops of the risers if needed or desired.

If I do cover the risers, what material should I use? I want something thin, but also something that won't warp. Are any current adhesives good, or should I stick with a nailgun? Also, I am planning on painting what I cover the risers white.

If those refinished stair treads are a common type type of hardwood such as oak, maple or beech you can get 1/4 inch thick plywood with an hardwood veneer on one or both sides. Looks like one sheet of the material would be more than enough to to make your riser skins.

Precut the pieces to fit without fastening right away. When you cut them you will want the grain direction of the veneer to be horizontal for best look. Mark each piece on the back as to which step it corresponds to and the which side is up.

Also cut yourself several small pieces of the plywood to be used for color and finish samples. Experiment with these pieces till you get an idea of the finish that looks correct against the re-finished treads.

Once you like your finish samples you would be ready to pre-finish the riser skim pieces on the good veneer face side. Doing so works well because you can work in a flat place where it is much easier to do a nice job.

When all the pieces are dry it is time to install the riser skin pieces. If I was doing it I would use a light coating of construction adhesive to glue them in place. You will want to select an adhesive that is compatible with the left over residue from the carpet. Even so you will want to remove as much of that old adhesive as possible. A tool like shown below should work well to scape it off.

Take note that the blade will dull so be prepared with spare ones or cleaning up and re-sharpening them. With a good scraper and a bit of elbow grease you can most likely remove all the old adhesive down to bare wood. This would simplify the selection of construction adhesive for gluing in the riser skins.

It may take some clever fixturing or clamping to hold the risers in place for a few hours while the adhesive sets up. Alternatively you could use some colored hard steel "paneling nails" to tack them in place. With careful selection of where you place the nails they may very well not be distracting. Using a nail gun may mar the surface of the riser skin and make a more noticeable scar than using the type of nails that I suggested.

It is my belief that if you fit the riser skins carefully there should be no need to add moldings along either the top edge or the bottom edge of the riser skin. You can favor the fit to lower edge skin even using a small plane to get a perfect fit. Then tip the piece into position under the nose of the next tread above. Even if you have a 1/16 inch gap along the top edge no one will be looking intensely under there anyway.


What kind of electrical projects are safe for DIY in the US? I have a lot of ideas for electrical projects — upgrading electrical sockets to USB combo sockets, changing light fixtures, adding new sockets...ect.

As a general rule of thumb, what kinds of electrical projects are safe to as a DIYer?

It all depends on how much you are willing to learn. If you are confident in your ability to do it safely, go for it. If not, do more research until you are or hire an electrician.

Personally I am confident doing anything up to replacing a main electrical panel. That is something I would have to hire an electrician for, even though I could in theory do it, because you need permits and the hydro company's involvement and such.

Replacing outlets and light fixtures is pretty easy once you know how to work around electrical safely.  One small tip though - when you pull them out, but before you disconect anything - take lots of photos of how all the wires were hooked up.  Just having those photos would prevent tons of the electrical questions we get here.


How do I figure out my door latch and strike plate alignment I have two interior doors where the latch doesn't catch anymore. I see the contact points and the wear lines on the strike plate but for the life of me I cannot figure out if the misalignment is horizontal or vertical. So I'm not sure if the strike plate should move up/down or sideways... I've looked at tons of Youtube videos and none of them explains how to figure out the misalignment. Any pointers are much appreciated.

Thanks

Put something on the latch that will make a mark - wet ink, paint, possibly even chalk, crayon or graphite from a pencil. Close the door and look at the mark, or if feeling like that will be too messy, tape paper over the strike area and then close the door with the prepared latch.

If you have old, now uncommon, typing materials, "carbon paper" could be laid on top of the paper on the jamb/latch and that would allow the latch to make a mark without having anything directly applied to it. But the stuff is so rare now I don't assume you can easily get it.

In the vast majority of cases the strike needs to move down, unless something like tightening the hinge screws will bring the door back up. Doors tend to sag under the influence of gravity. But if the house itself has shifted, some other direction may be required.


How can I stop primer from eating my roller handles? Whenever I use primer, it seems like I get about one room's worth of coverage before the roller handle seizes up, so that I'm pushing the roller along the wall instead of rolling it.  I'm conscientious about cleaning my painting tools immediately after use; I've tried cleaning the handle during use too, but this still happens.

Is there any way to prevent this, or should I just buy cheaper roller handles for priming, and keep the higher-quality tools for the paint (where I don't have this problem)?

A better roller frame may actually be the right solution. I used this roller to paint most of my house after giving up on the cheap ones. It does a pretty good job of sealing the ends so that paint doesn't get inside to the rotating components. It's also got bearings to help it roll smoothly.

Unfortunately, I've used it only with Behr interior eggshell paint, so I can't tell you how it will do with primer.

EDIT: Mike B. reports good results with primer for the same roller.


Can I screw a ceiling fan electrical box directly to the joist? I am putting in a ceiling fan in a bedroom.  It is a smaller one approx. 18 lbs.

The remodeling-type expander brace failed, so can I just screw one side of the box to the joist? (I cannot access the area through the attic.)

Well I know I can, but how bad would it be, really?  Is there a type of box that is more suited for this purpose?

Check the markings on different electrical boxes. According to the National Electrical Code (NEC) (which is not applicable in all areas, so check local codes), boxes that support ceiling fans should be listed for the purpose.

National Electrical Code 2008
ARTICLE 314 Outlet, Device, Pull, and Junction Boxes; Conduit Bodies; Fittings; and Handhole Enclosures
314.27 Outlet Boxes.
(D) Boxes at Ceiling-Suspended (Paddle) Fan Outlets. Outlet boxes or outlet box systems used as the sole support of a ceiling-suspended (paddle) fan shall be listed, shall be marked by their manufacturer as suitable for this purpose, and shall not support ceiling-suspended (paddle) fans that weigh more than 32 kg (70 lb). For outlet boxes or outlet box systems designed to support ceiling-suspended (paddle) fans that weigh more than 16 kg (35 lb), the required marking shall include the maximum weight to be supported.

A box like this 4 in. Octagon Box, is rated to hold 50lbs, however, that's only when it's properly installed.  Since it sounds like you don't have much room to work, you'll probably have difficulty installing it properly.

You're obviously not going to want to use a box like this Ceiling Box, which only attaches to the drywall.

The best choice in this situation is a box supported by a brace.

I'm not sure what you meant when you said "The remodeling-type expander brace failed", but not all braces are created equal so it may be worth a second try.  With this Westinghouse Saf-T-Brace (and others), installation is fairly easy even when you're working through a small 4" hole.

Remove the electrical box and saddle from the brace (if it's not already).
Slip the brace up into the ceiling, and rest the "legs" on the drywall.

Using an adjustable spanner or open ended wrench, rotate the center part of the brace. This will cause the ends to expand outward toward the joists. Continue until the brace is firmly in place.

Slip the saddle back over the brace.
Affix the cable to the box, and mount the box to the saddle.


Should the sight glass of a steam boiler always be within the recommended range? Or only when firing? We just had a new steam boiler installed and it is working great; all radiators are hot when the heat turns on etc.

One thing I noticed though is that the site glass for the water level reads too high when the boiler is off:

notice the water level is above even being visible in the sight glass.

When running the water level is within the recommended range:

I've tried draining the boiler when it is off to bring the water level down, but when the boiler fires up, the water level goes lower, hovering around the lowest acceptable level.  This triggers the auto-feeder, and I end up back where I started.

So the question is, is this ok?  Or should I try to tweak the auto-feeder?

FWIW, it is a Utica pg-150 which seems to have plenty of capacity for our 1600 sqft home, and is of a similar capacity to the one another heating and cooling company quoted.

I talked to the guy who originally installed the boiler and he suggested that the pressure was probably a bit high (was set to 1.5 PSI) for our house; if the pressure is too high, then more steam than the radiators can handle is sent out at a time, and therefor the steam doesn't condense back to water at the radiators at first, so the water level gets low and the auto feeder turns on.

I turned down the pressure to just below 1 PSI and it seems to have done the trick, the water level on the site glass doesn't go down as far while the boiler is operating.  Also, according to this article, steam heat pressure really does't need to be high at all, so there is no worry on my end about turning it down.

In order to turn down the pressure I adjusted the screw at the top of the box next to the pressure gauge:


Substance to help cold patch adhere better? I moved into a house recently that has an unmaintained driveway.  It looks like it hasn't been sealcoated in 20 years.  I plan to use "cold patch" to fill one small pothole (4 inch diameter) and fill some low depressions that tend to become puddles when it rains.  Note that I have already pressure-washed the driveway and there are no crumbling bits present on the driveway.

Is there some substance I can put down on the old asphalt first, to help the cold patch adhere better?  For instance perhaps Quikrete Concrete Bonding Adhesive?

FWIW: I like to use the liquid crack filler for that purpose.  Pour/smear it around on the joining surfaces.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Latex-ite-1-Gal-2X-Premium-Blacktop-Crack-Filler-2XCFC/100080909


Frigidaire dishwasher won't start (LED flashes instead) I have a Frigidaire dishwasher model FDB1050REC2.

It's been working mostly fine for the last year. (Occasionally it doesn't start, but opening and closing the door and moving the dial to Rinse Only and back to Normal fixed that.)

As of yesterday, it won't start at all — pressing the start button causes the "Washing" LED to flash in approximately one-second intervals.

Things I tried:

cutting the power to the dishwasher (via the circuit breaker)
after restoring power, put the dial to Rinse only and pressed and held Heat Dry + Start/Cancel. Test mode did not fire.
from idle, put the dial to Rinse only and pressed and held Heat Dry + Start/Cancel. Test mode did not fire.
removing the front panel, disconnecting the two halves of the wiring harness and reconnecting

I tried cutting the power a few times, from a few seconds to a few minutes.

Documents:

Wiring diagram: ftp://ftp.electrolux-na.com/ProdInfo_PDF/Kinston/154547901.pdf
Manual: ftp://ftp.electrolux-na.com/ProdInfo_PDF/Kinston/154591101.pdf

I have a multimeter and other tools.

The problem turned out to be the door latch. One of the two sets of leads failed a connectivity test.

Replacing the latch fixed the problem.


Can't find SEER rating for Bryant Split AC system I own an older house with a hot water heat system and I am want to get a Split AC system installed. The setup involves 2 9,000 BTU units, one in each 2nd floor bedroom and a 12,000 BTU unit on the first floor. I am on the fence between the Bryant Legacy system and the Evolution system. I would feel better about paying a premium for the evolution series if I could figure out the difference in efficiency. But I have not been able to find out that information. Both quotes point to the same condenser. So if the difference between the two is based on the condenser, than I might as well go with the cheaper quote. The more expensive units are quieter, but compared with a window AC unit both quotes are going to give me quieter cooling. Thanks.
I added the quote for the split ac units in case anyone is curious.

Is the Bryant website unavailable to you?
Taken directly from https://www.bryant.com/en/us/products/ductless-systems/


How should I route my dryer exhaust pipe? My existing dryer vent run enters the crawlspace behind the dryer and exits through a vent that is part of one of the normal crawlspace vents. Since the house sits on a slight slope, the crawlspace on that side of the house is very short - when I am in the crawlspace there I cannot turn over. This means that the vent is only a few inches off the ground.

I was told by a contractor who cleaned out our air ducts that this was a fire hazard as leaves could accumulate and warm air exiting the vent could cause a fire. He also noted the vent in the crawlspace was a flexible type and that was bad (I understand and agree).

First question - is it really critical to move the vent so it is more than a few inches above the ground? If not, I will replace the flexible dryer vent with the 4" galvanized tube and call it good.

Assuming that I need to move the vent, I don't think I have any good options due to the length of the required run. As you can see from my diagram below, the dryer is not against an exterior wall and there is a door between it and the nearest exterior wall. The furnace is to the right of the dryer and that prevents me easily running the vent to the front of the house. Moving the dryer is not practical because I'd have to run electricity to the new spot, and unless I also ran plumbing I'd have the dryer and washer in different locations.

I considered running a vent through the roof but I understand that is not advisable due to the height of a vertical run.

It looks like my best option is to go over the door to the left of the washer and then out through that exterior wall. The total length of that run would be about 18 feet, plus two 90 degree bends, plus two ~ 30 degree bends, which by my calculations, works out to about 33 feet of effective length. This does include an 8 1/2 foot vertical run. Is this acceptable?

If that is acceptable, then I will need to exit the exterior wall (aluminum siding), at l east 12 inches below the eaves. Any guidance on how to do this? All the online guides I see have it going through the rim joist, which won't work for me b/c the water heater is in the way.

International Residential Code (IRC) says the maximum exhaust duct length is 35 feet. However, it also says that this length can be overruled by the manufacturers instructions, if the instructions are provided to the inspector.

2012 International Residential Code (IRC)
Chapter 15 Exhaust Systems
Section 1502 Clothes Dryer Exhaust
M1502.4.4.1 Specified length. The maximum length of the exhaust duct shall be 35 feet (10 668 mm) from the connection to the transition duct from the dryer to the outlet terminal. Where fittings are used, the maximum length of the exhaust duct shall be reduced in accordance with Table M1502.4.4.1. The maximum length of the exhaust duct does not include the transition duct.

M1502.4.4.2 Manufacturer’s instructions. The size and maximum length of the exhaust duct shall be determined by the dryer manufacturer’s installation instructions. The code official shall be provided with a copy of the installation instructions for the make and model of the dryer at the concealment inspection. In the absence of fitting equivalent length calculations from the clothes dryer manufacturer, Table M1502.4.4.1 shall be used.

I couldn't find anything that says the termination has to be a specific height above the ground, just that it must be 3 feet in any direction from any openings into the building. And that it should have a backdraft damper, and no screens

2012 International Residential Code (IRC)
Chapter 15 Exhaust Systems
Section 1502 Clothes Dryer Exhaust
M1502.3 Duct termination. Exhaust ducts shall terminate on the outside of the building. Exhaust duct terminations shall be in accordance with the dryer manufacturer’s installation instructions. If the manufacturer’s instructions do not specify a termination location, the exhaust duct shall terminate not less than 3 feet (914 mm) in any direction from openings into buildings. Exhaust duct terminations shall be equipped with a backdraft damper. Screens shall not be installed at the duct termination.

The code also says that the ducts must be 4" smooth walled ducts, and sections can't be attached using fasteners that protrude into the duct more than 1/8".

2012 International Residential Code (IRC)
Chapter 15 Exhaust Systems
Section 1502 Clothes Dryer Exhaust
M1502.4.1 Material and size. Exhaust ducts shall have a smooth interior finish and be constructed of metal having a minimum thickness of 0.0157 inches (0.3950 mm) (No. 28 gage). The duct shall be 4 inches (102 mm) nominal in diameter.
M1502.4.2 Duct installation. Exhaust ducts shall be supported at intervals not to exceed 12 feet (3658 mm) and shall be secured in place. The insert end of the duct shall extend into the adjoining duct or fitting in the direction of airflow. Exhaust duct joints shall be sealed in accordance with Section M1601.4.1 and shall be mechanically fastened. Ducts shall not be joined with screws or similar fasteners that protrude more than 1/8 inch (3.2 mm) into the inside of the duct.

NOTE: Always check with your local code enforcement agency before begining any project, as codes vary from location to location.


How can I get my shower head to increase water pressure? My mom has very thick hair and typical low flow shower heads take a very long time to rinse her hair.  I decided that I would look online for some high flow shower heads and can't seem to find anything with a flow of more than 2.5GPM.

I've seen some where people have commented that they were able to remove a flow restrictor to improve flow, but no one states what the new flow rate would be.

While I would prefer to find a shower head that has a high flow without modification, I would be amenable to one that the restrictor can be removed but would still want to know what the flow rate is once modified.  Can anyone provide direction?

First as Henry Jackson mentions the low flow shower heads are part of the the water consumption laws passed in the US.  I am not sure how the US compares to other countries.  I have done construction in France and in Spain and nobody has mentioned this to me and I never really thought about the pressure after installation - if I were to guess they seem to have a lot of pressure.

Removing the restrictor (sometimes referred to as the flow control by some manufacturers) is probably the easiest thing to do.

Actually let me take it one step further.  Given the green restrictor you see in the picture above, I don't want to totally take it out.  This is because the depth of the gasket that is over this may not match up well with this out and could be loose.  So I like to just remove the center part of the restrictor and put it back in how it was.  Boom - half of the shower heads I had issues with are fine after this.

The next factor we have to think about is how much water is making its way to the shower valve.  The size of the plumbing will determine how much water your shower is getting.  Most showers in the US are fed with 1/2" PEX or copper.  This should be plenty to get a pretty powerful shower.  If you have 3/8" or 1/4" feeding your shower this could cause low flow.  But this is usually pretty costly to fix and includes opening bathroom walls.  Some people will differ with my take on the 1/2" being enough and say that a shower head needs 3/4" - this is more personal preference but you can get a good shower from 1/2" in my opinion.

Then to go along with the amount of water pumped to the shower head another restriction point is the filter of your shower valve shown below.  If you have a newer shower valve they will come with on or two filters (hot/cold).  These become clogged and restrict water flow.  In the picture below there would be a mesh filter under the two smaller gaskets.  These can get clogged with mineral deposits or "dirty" water.  To clean these you can get a new filter from manufacturer or often you can just soak the screen in vinegar.  If the filters are really clogged often they will have damaged the filter mechanism enough that you will have to replace.

The next factor is if the head pressurizes the water.  Some manufacturers do a turbine type of effect that pushes out the water faster.  Others restrict the water before outputting which increases pressure.  Others add air into the mix to create pressure.  And others do something else or a combination.  This is really "what to buy" thing.  I don't want to get buying advice but I have bought these types and have been happy.  Read reviews.

The last factor that I can think of is how many outlets the shower head has and how big they are.  The less outlets for water to go through and the smaller they are will lead to more PSI output.  This is really a buying question too and one where you want to read specs and reviews on a shower head.  I tend to go for the mulit-function ones below that can adjust through 5-10 stages.  Usually 2-3 of them outputs pretty high.  (The picture below is not a recommendation, just an example)


What equipment is needed to drill into high carbon steel? I need to expand an existing 6 mm hole to 8 mm, through a thin, but strong sheet of high carbon steel. The hole should be drilled very straight and cleanly.

Can a hand crank drill (such as the one shown here) and regular wood-drilling bits be used? Or do I need to buy an electric drill or some special kind of bits? If the hand crank drill and ordinary drill bit are unsuitable, what tools will I need to get?

Drilling metal is not a hard problem, but it requires a little more finesse.  When you get your tools, feeds and speeds dialed in just right, it cuts like a dream. But do it ham-handed, and you can work-harden the steel. No fun!

They make combo bits for wood and steel meant for power drilling.  A drill bit intended for wood will not work. A drill bit will tend to be rough to control; it won't cut clean or neat.  Normally you punch holes in metal with a drill press or punch, e.g. a floor mounted Rotex or turret punch.

Doing it with hand tools is a challenge.  Your best bet is a punch, especially since you've already got a hole there.  Here's one punch for instance.  Drill a pilot hole, assemble it, tighten the bolt, and it cuts the hole. This particular one is for ~20mm holes, but they make them in many sizes.

If you can get a power drill, I would use a step drill bit to expand an existing hole.


How can I protect my foundation when removing old retaining walls and regrading? I have this old and crumbling tiered stone wall in the back of my property. My deck sits on top the wall. There is a covered porch next to the deck, that’s built on top of block walls (not part of the foundation or basement walls of house.
I want to tear down the stone wall, remove the dirt under the deck so I have space under there for my lawn equipment (and reclaim space in the garage).
Is there any potential issues with stability to the foundation of the house if I do this? My yard slopes away from the house, and I will ensure proper grade under the deck so rainwater continues to flow downhill.
Also I’m assuming the deck footings will need to be replaced once the dirt is gone, any tips for temporary supports for the deck while the dirt is being removed?
I plan to also remove the concrete blocking under the porch and replace with footings similar  to the deck. Any recommendation on safely removing the blocks and supporting the porch in the process?

Let's address the safety issues first...
Working under your deck and porch obviously presents serious safety concerns. A wrong move here could be deadly. I'd follow these guidelines and good sense in general:

Block access to the deck during all work. No one should be allowed on it.
Work one footing (or maybe a few) at a time, relying on existing (and eventually replacement) posts for ongoing stability.
Excavate around the footing to the new grade, then set up temporary posts. These should be on solid bases, which can simply be crosswise lumber, to prevent settling if it rains. Use multiple posts, with one on each side of the deck. Be sure to leave adequate space to dig the new footing in below grade. Posts should be equal to the task. Two 2x4 boards in a well-fastened T configuration are ok, for example. A single 2x4 is not adequately stiff. Posts should be screwed to the beam at the top to prevent accidental displacement.
Once the deck is securely supported, remove and replace the original post and footing. Before cutting the post to length, evaluate the overall level of the deck and make any adjustments.

Then, about your foundation...
Barring any odd, unknown issues, your foundation does not depend on backfill for stability. It's stable with nothing around it. In fact, more problems occur during backfill and as the soil settles if it's not done properly.
However, your home may be taking advantage of the insulation and ground-source heat properties of the existing grade. Consider whether your energy walls are adequate to handle the new exposure to the elements lower on the wall.
I would advise you to work slowly and carefully and regularly check inside the foundation for signs of movement or other effects. Otherwise you should be fine.


Can I safely use (2) 40 W fluorescent tubes in a 70 W fixture? I have a 70 W 2 bulb fluorescent light fixture which I want to put a couple of 40 W bulbs into. I know it's generally a bad idea to exceed the wattage rating of a light fixture, but there are 2 things that make me think it may be OK in this case

1) I asked an ex-electrician at my local home improvement store told me that 35 and 40 watt tubes are interchangeable and not to worry (he said the 35 is just an energy saving 40, and the manufacturer put 70 instead of 80 to make the product sound more energy efficient)

2) People on the internet have vaguely suggested that any tube of a certain pin type (in this case T12) is designed to be safely used in a fixture that fits said pin type

Can I use the 40W tubes in the fixture without shortening their life or the life of the ballast?

EDIT: I see a lot of you are suggesting LEDs. As much as I love LEDs, they're not practical for this particular application

First, the internet is wrong, bulbs will fit that won't work.  Especially with T12 sockets which are the same for T12, T8 and several wirings of LED conversion.  Some LED conversion wiring is violently incompatible with real fluorescent tubes or even other LEDs.

For instance a T12 on a T8 ballast will be very dim and flicker.

Now the way you find out what works is:

Pop the cover off the ballast compartment.
Look at the sticker and Read the list of tube sizes permitted.  Most likely either F40T12 or F32T8 will be at the front of the list.
Also get the ballast model number and search the web for the ballast's data sheet. It will have some additional lamp sizes and combos.
Buy a compatible tube.


Will this 3 way switch wiring plan work? I am in a situation that is Hot - Switch - Fixture - Fixture - Switch.  The Hot is supplied with 14/2, and the remainder romex is 14/3.  Both switches will be 3way.  I found this drawinng on the internet, but not sure it will work.  Do I have to run an additional conductor between the two fixtures?  I predict this wiring is not correct.  But trying to wrap my head around it, so to speak.

Also found this, which I believe will work but requires an additonal conductor.  Any thoughts?

Don't waste your time.  Have a /3 cable bypass the lamps.
This is a rather straightforward problem if you aren't trying to snake the travelers through the bulb sockets.  I know you imagine some great cost savings in wire by doing that... forget it.
Besides... running travelers through the bulb sockets is pointless, and takes up a LOT of splice space inside the box.  The common octagon box doesn't have the cubic inches to spare for those splices.  (you need 2.25 cubic inches per wire entering the box, so passing the travelers through just wastes 9 cubic inches, leaving precious few for the task at hand.
Unless you want to do this with smart switches. Then your "/3 for everything" plan is fine.
The drawings above don't work anyway
The upper drawing, I can't believe it was drawn out in "pro grade" quality, since it's utterly incompetent.  (Here's a paid JustAnswer this was told to a customer; comedy follows.)  With the left switch down, all bulbs are dead (no power enters the system). With the left switch up, your choices are either L2 lit, or both wired in series. "What were they thinking?"
The lower drawing is a is a hillbilly hack to avoid paying for the proper /4 cable, and violates NEC 300.3.
Again, no reason on earth to drag travelers through octagon boxes.  Just have a /3 cable fly from switch to switch, bypassing the lamps.  Then make the lamp string a "spur" off ONE of the switch boxes, all with /2.  And you're done.
Or use smart switches. You need /3 between the smart switch master and all lamps.  (black=always-hot, red=switched-hot, white=neutral).


What's the significance of orbit diameter in a random orbit sander? I've been looking at random orbit sanders and noticed that they have different orbit diameters, and some models even offer settings for it. Does the orbit diameter affect material removal, or smoothness of finish or what?

Orbit diameter is related to how aggressively the sander removes material; the larger the orbit, the quicker it removes material (all else held equal).  This article on American Woodworker's site seems to agree.  It also mentions that larger orbits leave more visible swirl marks.

However, orbit size is not the only determining factor in how quickly material removal happens.  Your best bet is probably to find a good review that compares sanders rather than relying solely on the orbital diameter.  For example in this Popular Woodworking article, the sander with the largest orbit wasn't the most aggressive.


Paint color with same codes do not match I ran out of paint after the first coat.  I had the paint custom made to match a specific color.  I still had the numbers/code so I thought it would be easy to match. The sample the store put on top of the can sure looked like it would match, however after the paint dried it wasn't close to the sample on the can.  I was expecting a burgundy, but instead it dried a pinkish color.

I double/triple checked that the numbers on the new can does indeed match the colors on the old can.  The sample they put on top of the can does look correct, so I do not think that the store mixed the paint incorrectly.  The paint is Sherwin Williams Satin, Deep Base from Lowes.

What can I do differently to help make the paint match better when I repaint next time?

Unfortunately I did not take a picture when it was completely dry.  However it did not change much in color.

This is the color I was expecting:

This is the color I ended up with:

The codes are nice, and they're usually pretty close.  But, especially at the retail level, it's not an exact science.  There can be variations even between buckets in the same purchase.

Based on advice from family who have worked as a painting contractors for decades...

When you buy paint, make sure to get enough for the entire job in one go.  Make sure it's all the same base.  I tend to go to dedicated paint stores rather then Lowes or Home Depot for significant jobs.  That's where the pros go for a reason.  They have better equipment & training and - in my experience - do a better job.

Mix well, scraping off the bottom - particularly if it's set awhile since the store shook it.  Get one of those drill operated paddles.

Have a few extra empty 5 gallon buckets (depending on size of the job)

Start the job by using those extra buckets to mix all of your buckets of paint together and stirring thoroughly.  This ensures that you'll have a consistent color for the entire job.  I've definitely noticed differences in tint when pouring buckets together in this step.

Back to your situation.  I think your only solution is to get another batch of paint and re-paint both pieces.


Hanging Internal Doors - is a frame made from 2 x 2's strong enough I have recently removed some light hollow wardrobe doors from a frame made of 2 x 2's and have just had delivered some reclaimed pine doors to put in their place.
I want to know if the frame made of 2x2's will be strong enough to hold the doors.
They are 78" x 27" and both doors would be hanging off one of the 2 x 2's. The frame is attached to the ceiling, floor and walls at both sides.

Weight of doors is critical here.  A solid pine door 1.5" thick = 1/8 cubic foot per square foot * 30 lbs/cubic foot = 4.25 pounds per square foot.  If it were a normal sized door 6'6" x 2'6" you have about 16 square feet so something like 70 pounds.

If it's pine veneer on particle board it may be over 100.  If it's 5/16" cottage plank with Z bracing is could be almost as light as your present doors.

A normal door is hung from doubled studs.  One goes up to the ceiling, one goes to the top of the frame.  Is it actually a 2x2 or is it a 2x4 mounted edgeways?

Try this:  Open the door a few inches.  Put a level along the length of the top of the door, or use a clamp, and clamp it to the door.

Now hang your weight on the top corner of the door.  Does the level deflect?  How much?
Repeat this test with the door at 90 degrees.  If you get more deflection here, you likely have a 2x4 set edgeways.  It's stiffer in that direction.

Repeat this test with your front door.  Compare the deflections.  If your closet door only deflects a bit more than your front door, you are fine.  If it deflects a lot more, then you need to beef up the frame.


How do I get the sheen even? I am using Behr eggshell paint, and I have put 2 coat of primer and 2 coats of paint, but the sheen is not even in spots.  I'm almost ready to give up and get some flat paint.  Is there any trick to getting the sheen even across an entire wall?

Couple things come to mind:

Don't go back to previously painted areas until that area has completely dried.  While the paint is drying it will look splotchy and uneven.  Walk away, don't touch it, and come back in about 4-6 hours when it has dried.  It will then look even.
Make sure you are putting enough paint on the wall and don't try and stretch a roller too far between loading it with paint.  For example, load up your roller with paint and then put the paint on the wall in a wide "W" shape.  Then roll it out in that general area but don't try and push the paint too far on the wall without going back to the paint tray.
Let the first coat dry thoroughly before putting a second coat on.  If you start putting the second coat on too soon (or come back to an area that started drying but has not dried completely) then you will disturb the first coat and get blotches where the portions of the first coat that began to dry already become pulled up and absorbed by the second coat.
Roll out an area and then walk away.  Don't keep rolling it out trying to get it perfect.  Just put the paint on nice and even with about 4 to 6 passes with the roller (ok maybe I do more like 10 to 12) and then move onto the next area of the wall.  Rolling the same area out over and over again just makes the coat of paint very thin and also you can end up pushing any dried areas of paint around the wall.


How to prevent mold in ceiling below upstairs bathroom TLDR;
Had previous mold issues in kitchen ceiling due to frequent leaks from upstairs bathroom.
Source of leaks resolved to the best of our ability, but long term permanent fix probably some years out.
Are there any ways we can mitigate the risk of future mold growth (from now infrequent spills) in the closed space that would allow us to close up the hole in kitchen ceiling?
Background information:
Shortly after moving in to our home last year, we had a problem with water escaping from the upstairs bathroom causing mold in the kitchen ceiling below. This was primarily from a deteriorated gasket on the tub overflow and a smaller leak in the old drain pipes, but also from water spilling onto the floor from the tub/shower due to people leaving the shower curtain partially open, or from excessive movement with a full tub.
The damaged ceiling drywall has been removed, leaving about a 2' x 2' hole in the kitchen ceiling, and I  also (while searching for the source of the water) cut a about a 1' x 2' foot hole in a bedroom closet wall which the pipes for the shower run through. These have remained open since December.
What I've Done:

The mechanical sources of water have been repaired or replaced.
The kids have been retrained on the proper use of shower curtains and the importance of not causing waves while taking a bath which has greatly decreased the incidence of water on the floor.
I've re-caulked the floor around the tub which has lessened the impact of minor infractions of bathroom etiquette.

Even with these improvements we still get the occasional very large spill which results in water dribbling into the kitchen. These happen roughly every other month. The more recent ones since the re-calking occur when water gets further from the tub and finds a crack in the old plastic tiles, and thus not directly above the existing hole in he kitchen. The water instead flows along the top of the drywall to the hole before dribbling out.
Despite the (now infrequent) water issues, we've not had any additional mold problems. I suspect the open holes in the ceiling and closet wall have provided enough airflow to allow whatever is getting wet to dry in a reasonable time.
I'm thinking short of getting rid of the kids (which we can't do for reasons...), the only real solution would be a drain in the floor near the tub to collect the spills before they find an uncontrolled path into the floor. I'm not really comfortable with doing that myself, and the we are avoiding having professionals in to work on the house for non-emergency issues at present.
We would like to close up the hole in the kitchen ceiling.
Is there something we can do to repair the hole in the kitchen ceiling while still mitigating the risk of moisture buildup in that closed space?

As long as there's any water leaking in the bathroom, you shouldn't permanently seal up the ceiling in the kitchen. I would be installing an access panel in the ceiling similar to the one pictured below. It would cover the hole, could be painted to match the ceiling but would also provide access to the area if water did leak and you could spray the area with some mold killer. The frame for the access panel could be regular base board molding or something fancier to keep the wife happy.The panel could be regular drywall so if water did leak on it, you could just replace the piece of drywall. If you don't need access to the pipes in the closet you can just repair that hole or install a similar access panel there too.


Electrical: Wiring a dimmer switch in a circuit with fixture, outlet, another switch powering 2 other fixtures I have a 3 gang box, and the following is all on one circuit.

Power is coming from the breaker box into a grounded outlet receptacle.

Outlet receptacle continues along to two switched devices: 1 switch controls 1 light fixture; 1 switch controls a second light fixture plus an exhaust fan.

Everything was working when I disassembled.

I replaced the light/fan switch with a new single-pole switch. I replaced the light switch with a new dimmer switch. I replaced the outlet with a new outlet.

Wired everything up the same as it was originally.

All are working, BUT: Now, the outlet and light/fan are not hot until the dimmer switch is turned on. Furthermore the outlet and fan are reduced by the dimmer.

Obviously the load wiring is not correct.

I don't believe I mixed up any of the wiring.

Dimmer switch wiring diagram shows "Wire to Light or Source" at both connection points. The dimmer switch supports single pole and three way configurations.

Does a dimmer switch not support my scenario?  Do I need a specific configuration for the dimmer not outlined in the instructions?

Did I mix up wiring somewhere? Everything originates from the outlet receptacle. The only wiring into the dimmer is from the outlet, and the only wiring out goes to the fixture.

Appreciate any help or insights.

EDIT: Here are some photos of the setup.

https://1drv.ms/f/s!AigE1xgH6ghqgqBZfwJEMK7GtYoJ3A

Did I mix up wiring somewhere?

Yes.

  All are working, BUT: Now, the outlet and light/fan are not hot until the dimmer switch is turned on. Furthermore the outlet and fan are reduced by the dimmer.

Apparently, you wired the outlet and fan in series with the dimmer.

Re-check your wiring and make sure the outlet and fan are fed by the hot feed in the circuit NOT from the load side of the dimmer.

Good luck and stay safe!


How do I wire an old furnace motor so I can use it as a garage exhaust fan? Since last I posted, I moved WAY south (lil warm down here) and the house I moved into was a foreclosure so a few things needed done, namely the AC and furnace.  When the guy did the job he said he would (did?) leave the old motor behind so I could use it for some airflow in the garage.  Here's what it looks like...

Onto my real questions -- I don't have the wiring diagram, but if I had to guess, I'd say that plug is a speed control (black the common?), and the white is the hookup.  Is that right?  And
 has anyone rigged one of these up and if so, how'd you do it?

==== updated 7/1/2012 ====

I got motivated today and started to clean it and look for tags that might help identify what it is -- and well, I think this answers everything (and I got a good picture of it!).  It's a Westinghouse 323P683 1/4 hp, 115v motor so xcythe you we're close on those wires (much better than my guess).

If I'm reading this correctly...

White-Red : low speed
White-Blue : medium
White-Black : high

Squirrel cage blowers make great fans. Black is ground, white-negative and red-positive. Looks like blue, white and red coming from the motor. Read the info on the motor, it should have split capacitor in it, may have to change the wiring from 220 to 110. Looks like a 1/4-1/5 horse. Ask a local HVAC guy, feed his ego and be rewarded. If its a 110 just throw a three prong on it and breeze away. I pulled some romex off the coil and pulled a spare heavy duty three prong outta my tool bucket and had a great workshop fan w/ a super long cord.(put a triangle shaped piece of plywood on one side to stabilize it, and a small board 1x2 across the front as a foot/stabilizer, made it quiet)


Breaker box one 120 slot left but need one for a second 220 or 240 breaker. My breaker box has only one breaker slot left for a 120 v breaker. I want to ad a 2nd 220 or 240 breaker to a new outlet to plug a heater into for my basement workshop. Is there any way I can do this without having an electrician install a new box or panel?

If your panel can take more half-height (sometimes known as "cheater" or "tandem") circuit breakers, you can replace two existing 120V breakers (on the same phase!) with a tandem pair of half-height breakers; this will then free up a slot in your panel that you can then use for a full-height 240V double pole breaker.

If your panel does not accept tandem breakers, or has all its tandem-capable slots filled already, you will need either have the panel replaced or a few circuits moved into a subpanel placed next to the main panel.

If you can't tell what your panel is capable of, the listing label (usually on the inside front cover) should provide a diagram that will mark tandem-capable slots in some fashion (you can also tell by comparing the number of circuits the panel is listed for to the number of physical breaker slots in the panel).

A further issue, as Ecnerwal helpfully pointed out, is that a heavy-duty heater may simply be too much additional load for the panel itself to handle.  In that case, you're stuck.


Building fitted desk for home office I have a spare bedroom which I'm converting to a home office. It's been stripped out and I'm about to start painting it. I'm looking ahead slightly to the next (I think!) step which is fitting a desk system.

I'm a software developer by trade, and I have a lot of PC's. I also need space for electronics and other physical building, space for drawing - I need a lot of desk space in short. On top of this, the room is pretty small 2.5m x 3.5m ish.

I have a plan for this which involves a single desk which runs around 3 walls of the room, with an T shape part in the middle of the longest side:

Potentially subject to some change, I could live without the second seat and turning it into a simpler C shape

I am already under the assumption that a modular desk system would be expensive, and difficult to fit precisely into the space, so my current plan is to use kitchen worktop.

I was intending to use kitchen units to support the ends of the runs / the corners. The shelf space will likely be handy anyway. I was also thinking of using wall brackets to prevent bowing in between.

I know I'm hardly the first person to do this, but I've never tried using worktop as desk before, and I have several questions:

1) Laminate or real wood? I much prefer the appearance of real wood, but is it hard wearing enough to use for this?

2) Height. My kitchen top is noticably higher than my current desk. Is there anything I can do to cut that down if I use kitchen units to hold the corner weight? Can I remove the feet instead of using kickboards?

3) Carpet. Do I carpet the room then put this on top, or fit all this and carpet around the units?

I have many more other questions relating to the task itself, i.e. one of the walls has a radiator on, one of the walls is just a party etc. but I'll save all those for future questions.

To answer your questions in reverse order: 3) Install your floor coverings first. It will go faster and easier if you have no obstacles to work around. You can always cover the new floor with tarps if you need to paint, drywall, etc. in the future. 2) If you need to lower the height of the cabinets ,as you noted, the toe-kick can be sawed off so as to decrease the cabinets height by (+/-) 3 inches. If you need the height lowered further you will have to modify the cabinet carcass (think auto body chopping). 1) Laminate or wood? Completely discretionary. Whatever appeals to you. Laminate will take more abuse and more scratch resistant. Wood, on the other hand, is pure and elemental. Sealed with the right product wood will endure years before it needs to be re-sealed.


Concrete Block Wall Has Ugly White Stains The concrete block wall in our back yard separates our backyard from the neighbors, whose property sits several feet higher than ours. So standing next to the wall his grass is about head high. Parts of the wall have what I can only guess is seepage from his grass yard where the water and chemicals in the soil seep through the concrete. What can I use to cover that up permanently, without having to re-do it on a regular basis.
Thanx!

Two things come to mind -

if you have white stains, they might be a lot less noticeable on a
whitewashed wall. And a porous whitewash is more likely to stay put
than an attempt to seal the wall with paint.
Even without proper porous backfill, it  would probably be worth trying to drill some weep holes in the bottom of the wall, to relieve pressure.


What's causing my carpet to squeak? I had carpet installed just under year ago but have started to notice it's squeaking in certain places and was wondering what could be the cause.

The original floor is tiled rather than wooden planks and the carpet was installed with underlay.

I've started noticing it in more and more places and it's getting to a point I need to consider taking it up with the installer if this is something caused my a bad installation.

What may be happening is the padding under the carpet is not attached to the floor. Since the installer could not hammer staple the padding to the tile (ceramic?) floor it should have been glued with an adhesive made specifically for carpet padding. Glue is applied to the floor so that a continuous bead of glue will contact the edging of the pad. Also, a less likely cause maybe the carpet itself is loose. To check, at the center of the room that is producing the noise, pinch the carpet nap and pull upwards. The amount of carpet that is pulled away from the floor should be minute. If not it will need to be re-stretched and the tackles checked.


How to Secure a ceiling register tight? I've bought some very nice oil bronzed ceiling register ( 4 x 8 inches)for the bathrooms, while re-modeling an old English Tudor. They came with clips that fit on each side of the register and when inserting them into the duct opening they are not holding the heavier new register firmly against the drywall. One register does fit solid but I attribute that to the opening of the duct being slightly smaller in its width and length, so it fits solidly. I would rather not put screw holes in the new registers and my wife doesn't want me to use an epoxy metal to metal glue ( Gorilla or K & L) to hold them in place. Any suggestions?

If I understand the problem correctly , you may be able to get a piece of metal (like a scrap piece of duct or just buy a small piece) fold it so it is not wider than the register on the register side and 2" or longer on the inside the width of the opening is best but a 1" wide strip can work. Use a 3/8 self piercing (not self tapping) screw to hold this piece in place, do this on each end. If the fit is not tight enough I have stuffed some fiberglass insulation behind the metal until it will almost hold without screws, then add your screws they will bite the fresh metal and pull on the old duct providing a better anchor point. I have done this especially when the hole in the duct has stripped out. (I do open the original hole so it will all the torque on the new metal). I mention to hold the new piece with self piercing because self tapers cut two much metal and don't hold as well. The self piercing are just a very sharp tapered screw this works best with duct work. 3/8 so you don't punch through the 2 layers of metal and sheetrock. Hope this helps I have used this trick many times on remodeling jobs it really is quick and cheap.


How to deal with sharp door latch corners? There is a doorway that sometimes people walk through and get scratched on their arms by the latch on the door and occasionally it even draws blood. I think it's because the two external corners of the door latch are too sharp.
How can I make the door latch safer? Is it OK to use a Dremel rotary tool to round out or flatten the corners a bit?

A Dremel may be able to work but it is also possible to way overdo the grinding that a high speed tool like this can do.
If all you want to do is to break sharp corners all you need is a low cost hand file. File with a cutting surface called a mill file will give you nice smooth cuts of the sharp edges.
Here is a typical mill cut file.

Picture Source


3-prong tamper proof screw type? Anyone know what bit would fit this? I have only seen the 2-prong spanner bits...

These are indeed very rare.  And old.  Google image search kept showing old radio sets.

After a lengthy search I found one source that should do the trick for you.

Microtech Medium Domed Tri-Wing Wrench Tool Bit (bladehq.com)


Wiring a house to prevent light flickers and overloaded breakers Most of the places I've lived in have had the following issue. My computer is running on the same physical breaker as a refrigerator and the overhead lights in a room. The refrigerator kicks on, causing at best the lights to flicker and at worst the breaker to trip.

Why does this happen?

Better, if I were designing a house from the ground up, how could I account for this potential problem in the electrical layout of the house and prevent it from happening altogether?

The problem is that when the fridge turns on and draws a lot of power, causing the voltage on that circuit to dip. Anything else on the same circuit (lights, etc) may be affected by the voltage drop. In addition, as you say, the high initial electrical draw from the fridge combined with anything else that's running may cause your breaker to trip.

The solution is to put major appliances on dedicated circuits and then have separate circuits for outlets (making sure not to overload those either). The fridge should be on its own circuit for exactly this reason.

Any new building or old one that is up-to-code should not have this problem.


Can I route a drain pipe under a gas line? I want to reroute an outdoor drain pipe (rain water) to a better location but there is a gas line that is in the path that the drain pipe needs to go. Can I route the pipe below the gas line? I'm open to any suggestions on how to get the pipe routed properly.

Here is my poor illustration and photo to help understand the issue.

If it's standard ABS drain pipe, I don't see any reason why this couldn't be done. Your gas line is metal. As long as the plastic stays below it it should be fine. I would contact the gas company and just double check that they're kosher with it. Be sure to call the local utility dig locator and have them mark things too, or you'll be liable for damages.


What parts needed to finish exterior door? Some background before my question:

I had a bad installer for my exterior door that faces the backyard. We are no longer in touch because of this and other bad jobs he did for me.

Moving on, I have two issues which I'd like to address in order to complete the door.

Overall Picture: http://imgur.com/Rhywhsa
Closeup 1: http://imgur.com/7Bd6ord
Closeup 2: http://imgur.com/v3Qry17

In order of priority:

Door Sweep: The door was installed unevenly in terms of the jams, and you can see from my pictures that there is a bigger gap on one side of the door bottom than the other. A downward slope, if you will. I'm willing to live with this, but I need to understand what's the best door bottom/sweep/etc to put in there. As it stands now, cold air loves to rush in and I am temporarily covering it with a blanket. The 32'' door did come with one, but it's missing in action for now. My concern with the sweeps I saw at home depot was that I barely have any room to work with before the bottom of the door hits the threshold (As you can see in the pic), so what do I do in that scenario? Can someone please link me a sweep they would recommend knowing the bottom of the door and threshold are almost touching?
Transition piece into the laminate - I saw T-molding and 'Reducer' moldings at Home Depot as well, but neither seem applicable here where the wood ends and the door threshold starts. The gap is less than an inch between the two, around 3/8 of an inch. Advice on how to address the gap?

If this was an interior door I would say just live with it but since it is an exterior door I think you need to have it reinstalled.

Issues:

The biggest is that the threshold should be at most a minimal bump to your house.  This is just odd and a tripping hazard.  There is really no way to fix this.  You in theory could cut off the head of the threshold but...
The gap underneath the door is just way too big.  So even if you could cut a 1/2" off the threshold, this would just make your issue worse.  You can install an extension on the door here and they make some great rubber ones that will form to the gap but this doesn't look great even if it works.  And this gap at the bottom is just inviting all bugs in your area into your nice home.
The gap on the bolt side is way too big.  You can add weather stripping but it will require so much that it won't look great.  Also since this is the opened side you will be replacing it constantly.  I don't want to focus on this too much but with a gap that big it would be pretty easy (by force or pushing lock) to open from the outside.
The door isn't true.  A slight slant will eventually have even more issues and may compound the other 3.

If I were to guess this guy left some of the existing "subfloor" under the door frame.  And it probably wasn't even.  This jacked your frame up higher.  Which means the sides are higher... The threshold was installed too high too.   The thing about this is there isn't a fix.  If there is, it is shady and ruins other aspects of your house.  You have one glaring problem, the door is installed wrong.  Take off the trim, cut out the door and have it reinstalled.  A good handyman can have everything back together in 2-3 hours max.


Why doesn't the top half of my outlet work? Outlet top not working. Has black wire on each brass screw / white wire on each silver screw. Tabs are not broken. No fixtures attach to this. Is this ok?

Outlets wear out (especially the cheap ones). Replace it. Be sure to use good technique. If you don't know good technique, have a look at a house wiring book or other reliable resource.