Why is my plumber suggesting that I replace the poly water supply line to my house? All the houses in my subdivision were built in 1985, and they all have poly main water lines to the house. My line is spraying water right at the fitting that connects to my water meter.
The plumber tells me the fitting for this type of poly pipe is no longer made nor available, and said everyone with this poly usually just replaces the whole line, (for $4500). He recommends Wirsbo Propex. In other words, he says that he can't just cut off the leaking section of line because he has no fittings to reconnect it to the meter. (I'm not sure I can believe all this, as naturally he'd rather do the $4500 repair.)
There are plenty of YouTube poly videos showing how quick and easy DIY it is to add connectors to this line. Some are simply metal inserts that are barbed on one side (inserted into the poly after heating it) and threaded screws on the other, then you screw an adaptor on to connect to any type of line you want, copper, PVC, pex, etc. Thing is, I can't find any of these fittings online, but maybe I just haven't searched enough. I could repair this myself if I could find these fittings.
It also just occurred to me that this poly line is really large, diameter wise, much larger than the 3/4" pipes used in the house. Instead of digging up the whole yard, I'm wondering if I can't snake a smaller diameter (1/2") PEX line through the poly, from the meter to the house. It's a fairly straight shot from what I can tell. It has the added bonus of acting like an insulator/protective covering.
Any thoughts or comments?

I have a feeling that we're actually talking about polybutylene, which is obsolete and could account for the confusion. I think most of us assumed you're talking about polyethylene, which is commonly used today.
Your home was built during the window in which polybutylene pipe was used for runs from the street to the meter. It was discontinued due to lack of durability:

While scientific evidence is scarce, it is believed that oxidants in the public water supplies, such as chlorine, react with the polybutylene piping and acetal fittings causing them to scale and flake and become brittle.

This would also explain your plumber's suggestion, which seems reasonable in that case. Due to slightly different wall thickness, commonly available fittings cannot be used. Any plumber who cares to stand behind his/her work may also be reluctant to work on PB, since it's more likely to result in a callback. You might point out that SharkBite offers transition fittings, which can be identified by their gray plastic sleeves. So a solution may be at hand.
"Black poly" isn't really a thing, officially. It's a layperson's term for an unknown plastic or a tradesperson's nickname for polyethylene that happens to be black. Color is irrelevant with these materials, though.


Connecting a Stove Top I have a cook top, it has a black and red wire along with ground completely exposed.  I need to connect it to a black, red and white along with ground...

I know the red and black wires connect, what do I do with the white one, and how do I connect the ground from the stove top to the main wires of the house?

Please advise.  Thank you in advance.

Cap off the neutral wire

Despite being neutral, it can have lethal or fire-starting currents on it.  (not least if your utility's drop wire has a problem). That's why neutral wires have insulation.

Your situation is not uncommon; range tops have no need for the neutral wire.   Generally ovens and ranges are entirely 240V beasts.  The only reason they ever wanted neutral is to have 120V available, to allow you to use a cheap, common incandescent light for the oven light, and sometimes for a 120V clock or electronics, and sometimes for a convenience receptacle on the oven.  (old incandescents inside a 500 degree oven are as happy as Br'er Rabbit in the briar patch).  Obviously, cooktops don't have oven lights, electronics have evolved to where they work fine on 240V, and UL won't let them fit convenience receptacles anymore.


What is this low voltage power supply leading into the wall? I found this in the back-corner of our second-floor closet:

Presumably this is not to code. Has anyone seen anything like this before, or have any ideas what it's for?  Unplugging it doesn't seem to have broken anything, and there aren't any small electronics on any of the nearby walls.

It looks like the power supply for an old alarm system.


Suggestion for fixing leaky exterior door handle We have a newer door and handle (fiberglass door and Schlage handle and lock) that I caught leaking during the storms last weekend. The door and handle are less than 2 years old so shouldn't need replaced. The door does not have a storm door and is subject to strong direct wind and rain.

This is an odd place for a leak as normally it's around the perimeter of the door but this leak is coming through the handle itself. As you can see from the pictures of the leak, there are water marks where the handle was removed, and oxidation starting to build on the bottom of the lock cylinder so definitely a presence of water.

This must be an odd place for a leak as my searches and remedy possibilities turned up nothing. My initial thought is place a bead of caulk on the outside of the handle on the exterior facing portion but I didn't find anyone doing this and it will make removing the handle (when needed) a bit more messy. I also checked and the lock was tight. However there is no inner rubber seal on the door handle so metal-to-fiberglass tight isn't obviously water tight.

How should I fix this? Is there like a rubber seal made for handles I can put on the exterior of the handle to help it keep water out? Should I try to seal the lock cylinder too on the side of the door? Should I just go ahead and use caulk/sealant? Thank you

I would remove the handle, clean it as well as the door, and use an exterior grade silicone caulking (and plenty of it; enough to squeeze out a little) on the inside of the bell's perimeter as well as screw holes of the outside handle, and re-install it. Clean up any squeeze out.

I would not caulk the inside side of the knob as you want it to leak again to alert you that is leaking once more (your fix has failed) rather than your door becoming squishy.


How do I move a door hinge out 1/8" (door is too tight to the stop molding, makes "paint popping" noise)? In an older home, due to layers of paint, I have several doors that close too tight to the stop molding.  If left closed the paint binds up and "pops" (it must be left closed for two or three hours for the pop to happen).

While I could sand the inside edge of the stop molding, the bottom layer is lead paint, and it's not my first choice to manage the dust.  Moving the stop molding also impacts the lead paint layer.

Where can I find a tutorial on adjusting the hinges out a small distance?
What else might work on an older house with layers and layers of lead paint on each door and jamb?

The brown stuff in the photo is paint that apparently stuck during a repainting covered with wax that kinda sorta fixed the problem for a while.  See also Why doesn't my freshly painted door fit back in the frame? and the classic Doors are sticky and noisy when opened?

In almost all cases its better to move or adjust the strike plate, the stop, or both rather than move the hinges. Here's a series of diagrams that demonstrate why (dimensions are exaggerated for effect) :

This is an ideal door set up. The gap between the door and the stop is an even 1/32 to 1/16 all the way around. It is not supposed to be tight to the stop. I use a credit card to space my stop off the door when setting a new door. Note that the door is held in its position relative to the stop on the swing side by the opening of the strike plate. In newer strike plates there is a tab inside the opening that can be adjusted without moving the plate itself but older hardware typically does not have this feature.

This shows how if you only move the hinges as you're suggesting, it will not fix the problem on the swing side if the stop and/or strike are not moved as well.

This shows moving the strike but not the hinges. It will only open the hinge side reveal a small amount but that may be all you need. The down side is, as you can see, you can only move the strike plate a small amount (which is all it takes in most cases) before it brings the face of the door out alignment.

This shows moving the stop which solves the problem without having to move either the strike plate or the hinges but it will require you to disturb the paint. I understand your reticence in tackling lead paint mitigation but it's not insurmountable. Here is a thorough homeowners guide to properly handling lead base paint posted by the state of New York's health department. Take the precautions specified, and you should be able to safely relocate the stop and get the results you're after without too much risk.
If you do absolutely need to move the hinges, follow the instructions Diceless posted, they're right on. I'll only add that you might want to place a shim the width you're trying to offset the door in the back of the hinge mortise to keep the hinge from settling back into its original position before resetting your doors and to fill the void that will be left behind.


installing electrical boxes for out door light fixtures want to install light fixtures on each side of my garage door if I use weather proof boxes should any type of light fixture fit over them?

If you are wanting to install a wall sconce, you need to install one that is rated for outdoor use.

Note: The shape box you need to use will be dependent on what fixtures you would like to install. Some fixtures need round boxes while others require a rectangular box. My examples show round boxes, but this is not the only choice.

Aside from being constructed for outdoor (ab)use, outdoor rated fixtures typically include a foam/rubber gasket, a specially designed fixture base, or some other means for ensuring water resistance. Additionally, in many cases, you should use silicone caulk around any possible points of water incursion (if possible).

Some fixture bases come with extra holes for mounting flood lights. These extra holes should be plugged and then caulked around the seams.
Note the fixtures are installed in the side holes, and the hole in the middle that has been plugged.

It is also good practice to use wire nuts that contain silicone sealant, known as weatherproof wire nuts among other names, or to wrap normal wire nuts in electrical tape. This provides an extra layer of moisture defense for your electrical connections.


Should Water Sediment Filters Come Before or After Water Softener? My question is:

In a water system, should water filtration come before or after the water softener? Edit: or even before the pressure tank?

At my cottage, we have a shallow well with an above ground jet pump. The "water system" is housed in an external pump house (basically a shed). The current flow is as follows:

well --> pump (pressure switch is on the pump) --> pressure tank --> water filters --> softener --> heater --> cottage

Water is pumped out of the well by the pump, then next is the water pressure tank, followed by three water filters (two for rust - different particle sizes, and the third is a "smell and taste" filter). Next is the water softener, then the water-heater inlet (where hot and cold splits) and then into the cottage from there.

It has been this way for three years, and no issues, but recently a plumber mentioned he would always have water flowing into the softener first and THEN through the rain fresh filters (opposite to what I currently have).  I asked why and he couldn't articulate it other than it was what he had always done/was taught.

Based on the above components, is my current flow correct or are they in an improper order?

NOTE: we have incredibly rusty water... so rusty that without filters and softener, it would completely clog faucet aerators and shower heads after a few months. The pump is unhooked and drained before each winter, and every year it is seized from rust by the time I go to hook it up in the spring.

A few photos to give you an idea of what the water filters are:

I'd prefilter (based on your other question calling this "ridiculously rusty water") ahead of your replaceable cartridge filters with a cleanable/dumpable screen filter (a vortex with a permanent screen in the middle and a catch chamber and dump valve on the bottom) between the pump and the pressure tank. That type of filter works best with fast flow.

In fact, I do on my own system. Put a bucket under the valve and it removes what's caught in the chamber and blows the screen clear (since the pressure tank is on the "clean" side of it.)

The cartridge filters will be better on the upstream side of the pressure tank (where they are now) since faster flow does not help them work better.

As for the plumber, sounds like "future plumbing work guaranteed" to me. So the plumber might like it that way - having fought a water softener with valves that got funky in a "rusty water house" I'm not in favor of dumping rusty water into one unfiltered.

Edit - if you WANT to rearrange your filters you could make some small argument for putting the activated carbon (taste and odor) after the softener, but it's a small argument and probably not worth the hassle. You might want to take off the "watering gardens" water before it and the softener, though.

This is the type of filter I use - "spin-down" or "vortex" or "sediment trapper" with a sediment trap below the actual filter screen. water enters and is spun around the outside at high speed, then drawn through the screen - a fair bit of the junk slides down the walls where it's thrown & falls into the trap and thus is not clogging the screen.

I use the 200 mesh (finest) stainless steel element, as I'm dubious about the longevity of polyester screen elements, which go finer. And I very specifically put it between the pump and pressure tank, which is not where the manufacturer suggests, but it makes the best engineering sense (since having the tank upstream means that dumping the sediment trap automatically backwashes the filter, & it does not have to be opened in normal circumstances.) If the water shed is not dark you might want to give it a box or a black bag over it to keep it from growing algae. Look occasionally and dump what it's caught.


motion sensor lights constantly on, motion only, or off I have some motion lights in the back of my house, I want to also be able to use them to illuminate the back when I'm out there. I drew up the following schematic, the idea is to have the motion lights "on" when the switch is in one position, "constantly" on when the switch is in another position, and off completely when the switch is in the middle.

Is there anything wrong with my schematic? Is it ok to override the motion sensor this way? Do i have to worry about back-feeding it with power?

Side note: I come from the electronics world as a hobby and the only switch I could think of is called an SPDT, is there an equivalent version for home switches? I don't think its a 3-way switch as that is used when you have more than 1 switch (although I could be mistaken).

The problem with a regular "3-way" switch it that it doesn't have an 'off' position where neither of the sides is connected. For that you'd need a 'center-off' switch like this Leviton 5685-2W.

Then, as others have commented, it may not be a good idea to cut power to the sensor as it could take some time to get itself restarted and operational.

So, how about this instead:

This way, the sensor is always powered, but you're switching the light between the sensor's output and the always-hot line (with the off position in the middle).
The down-side is that you'll need an extra wire in the cable so that you can bring the sensor output back to the switch.


Will a To-5 kickstart cap for 1 to 3 ton units possibly be able to help a 4 ton unit compressor start at all? Ri Will a T0-5 kickstart capacitor be strong enough to help start a 4 ton unit?

You need to call an HVAC company to have that A/C unit serviced. It sounds as if the compressor may need attention, the existing capacitors are in need of replacing, or the unit has been grossly overcharged. Any of the above could cause the condition that you mention. Do not add any "starting kit" until the unit has been serviced by a competent service company. If there is a problem with the unit you cannot fix it by adding a kickstart capacitor.


How does water supply enter into a pedestal house in cold climates? I do a fair amount of traveling through West Virginia and other Appalachian destinations and I have noticed a number of pedestal houses (that stand on concrete piers, wooden posts or a combination of the two), most of them looking like 2nd homes or cabins.

My initial confusion is, having installed water supply into my detached shed and having to dig 3 ft to reach below the frost line so the pipe doesn't freeze in the winter and having a frost hydrant inside the shed to turn water on/off down below so that no water remains in the frost accessible areas, how is this problem solved with pedestal homes?  I mean, if the whole house sits on posts, and the water supply plumbing comes from the ground, then the section of the pipe between the ground and where it enters the house is unheated and could freeze no matter how much insulation you wrap around it.

For regular homes that sit on a slab, assuming the inside is always heated and above freezing temps, the pipe goes in from under the frost line straight into the heated area, i.e. it is never exposed to the cold, unlike is the case with pedestal homes.

Typically in an insulated chase, with heat tape. A more minimal install may just use heat tape and insulation without a chase, but it does not last well - but that's usually what you'll find under mobile homes that are not "on a foundation" in Maine, for example. A high-class operation will use internal "heat tape." A low end operation, or one with a gravity pressure water system (well higher than the house) may simply have a faucet they leave dripping all winter.

For a second home or cabin, the water may just be shut off for the winter. Drain everything, put some antifreeze in the toilets and sink traps.


Greenville County, New Home Electrical Grounding Requirements I have two separate ground rods in the ground for my NEW house.  The BUILDER contractor electrician used 2 separate 1/4" copper ground wires.  By Code, should have he used ONLY 1 contiguous ground wire vs two separate ground wires.  (Greenville County, SC)

If you have more than a single panel, such as a 400A (class 320) meter that feeds two adjacent 200A panels, a single grounding electrode conductor needs to connect the two panels to the grounding electrode. Other supplemental electrodes such as an additional ground rod, concrete encased rebar, building steel, water piping, are not required to be connected all to that single conductor that goes to the primary grounding electrode. Supplemental electrodes can be connected by a continuous conductor or irreversible tap connection to the primary grounding electrode conductor, but it is not required to be connected that way.


3-phase power to run lathe I've got a lathe that runs on 3-phase power but my home obviously has single phase. The lathe came with a power supply separate from it that looks home made. It has a 220 volt motor hooked via v-belt to another motor which is 3-phase 440 volt. How do I use this setup? There are no wires connecting this power supply to the lathe motor wires. Can anyone help?

You likely have what is known as a three-phase rotary converter. A quick google search will present uncounted returns for various designs. A friend of mine had one that required a kick-start in order to operate. He had a flywheel attached to the 220v motor which when switched on would not rotate until he struck it with his foot. Once up to speed, it then provided to the lathe motor the necessary power configuration to operate.

I would not begin to suggest that your configuration matches his, as his was home-spun and created without access to the internet! The links I've found have variations which may be challenging to match to yours.

One option you have is to replace the rotary converter with what is called a VFD converter. It is going to be a simpler device, with the added benefit of speed control as well as likely a more reliable bundle for your application. Unfortunately, it is an additional purchase, while you already have the devices on hand for the rotary phase converter.


Adding an outlet to a switch box I want to add a hot outlet to a light switch box. The power comes into the light and then down to the switch. How should I be adding the outlet in this scenario? This is also old wiring so it is not 3 wire cables.

The proper way to do this would be to replace the 14/2 or 12/2 with a 14,12/3 cable. At the ceiling connect your new black to hot, new white to existing white and white from light fixture, and red to the black from the light. At the switch box, pigtail hot to brass screw of outlet and to top of switch or follow directions on box if using combination switch/outlet. Connect white to silver screw on outlet and red wire to bottom of switch or follow directions if using combination switch/outlet. Don't use any backstabs if present. Turn off breaker before doing any work.


Powerline Adapter Into Cheater Plug We live in a pretty old house that is brick and plaster all over the first floor where our AT&T Uverse wireless router is set up. Although we have fiber internet, we get very poor wifi speeds in our basement. I purchased these powerline adapter to overcome this issue.

However, our router is also on the floor that doesn't have any three-prong outlets, so I am using cheater plugs. (Note, I have tested the outlets with the cheaters on and I am getting a good ground.) My question is will I have issues if I plug my powerline adapter into a cheater plug? I have read that using power strips/surge protectors can result in adverse signal effects but I haven't found anything conclusive about cheater plugs.

Thank you.

The adapters that you purchased should be unaffected by the so called "cheaters".

Power strips and surge protectors include basic electronic components that can cause noise or other interference to the powerline adapters, but the basic two-prong adapter is just a few sicks of metal.

Also, the adapters you chose use the "AV1000" standard.  That, along with AV500 and the newer AV2 HomePlugs only use two wires for communication.  The newest HomePlug, AV2 MIMO, makes use of the grounding conductor for better reliability and faster speeds.

http://www.homeplug.org/explore-homeplug/faq-consumers/#AV2a

You should be fine.  I haven't used any of the newer Poweline/HomePlug adapters, but the older ones that I used never delivered anywhere near the speed they promised, so keep that in mind.  Maybe they are better now, but buy the books at least, your two conductor solution shouldn't be a problem.


Stain, poly, cut… What order should I use when installing window trim? This is my first carpentry project where 'looks matter'… I recently installed a new window in my living room, and it's now time to trim out the interior. The other windows in the house have simple stained pine as moulding, so I will attempt to do the same for this window.

Obviously I will need to stain and polyurethane the trim, cut it to size, affix it to the wall, and fill the nail holes with wood putty. What I'm not sure about is what would be the best order to do these tasks. What would you recommend?

Some orders I've considered are:

Stain → Poly → Cut → Install → Putty
Stain → Cut → Install → Putty → Poly
Cut → Install → Stain → Putty → Poly

I usually stain & poly the pieces, cut to size, stain the exposed end-grain, install, putty, then one more coat of poly.

So...
Stain -> Poly -> Cut -> Stain -> Install -> Putty -> Poly

Staining & poly before you cut makes sense when you're doing alot of trim - you can fit alot more material on your saw horses when its in 10' pieces.  But if you're just doing one window it probably doesn't matter.  Staining the ends again after the cut helps them to not stand out if your joints aren't perfect.  And the final coat of poly after everything is done helps the putty and other dings, imperfections, etc. that may accumulate during the install to not stand out so much.

And as Chris C points out - lots of sanding.


How can I prevent water from collecting near the blower fan blades of a portable air conditioner? I have a GE portable Air Conditioner (APH10AA).  It's about 10 years old (I guess; we got it used).

It works good (blows cold air), but in the last year or two it's regularly been getting water built-up in the blower fan area, so it sounds like a small waterfall and spits water (into the room).

We assumed it was because of plugged up drip lines between the intake coil and the blower fan area, where the condensation from the coil is supposed to collect/drip down (and drop across the exhaust coil for evaporation).

So we disassembled it, cleaned the 10+ years of dirt out of it (surprisingly not too bad).  Ensured the water pump worked, and that the drip lines were clear (ran air through it, ran a wire down them, plus some bleach to kill any mildew).

As far as I can tell those lines are clear, and water runs though them fine.  I can pour a cup or so of water into the collector cup, and it goes out the drip lines down the coil and into the bottom container in seconds, as fast as I would expect.

OK, so the problem: it still manages to suck water into the blower fan area.  It's like it just pulls the water off the coil, past the collection area, and right into the blower area.  I emptied the area yesterday (took it apart a 2nd time to check/do it) and less than 24 hours later it's got a couple table spoons of water already.

I can't find any path for the water to leave this area and it seems to take hours for it to evaporate (if the AC is off), so it just doesn't seem "right".  Also, since it's not part of the regular drainage path emptying the water (via bottom spigot) doesn't drain any water from that area.

As far as I can tell by the design/openings in the area, unless those lines are blocked (which mine are not), it should not be able to get enough water built up for it to ever get into the blower's axle/bearings/motor; So I'm not really worried about blowing a circuit, but the water is spitting onto the electronic controls, so that can't be good. ;)

Got any ideas on how to prevent it?  Am I missing a drainage path someplace perhaps (can't see any traces of one; the area is mostly full of the blower cage and shaped Styrofoam).  Are we just leaving the blower on "High" too much (ie: most of the time) perhaps?

Some experienced opinions/idea would be greatly appreciated. :)

1 verify that there is a slight slope downwards in the drain pan. the manufacturer usually specifies how much. 1-2 degrese i believe so that the water naturally drains away from the house and out the back of the ac unit or gets hit by the rear fan and spashes on the external radiator for extra evaperative cooling. they may have left some corner or such open just enough to let the water drain under the foam from the front section in the house to the rear one outside.

2 if it has an eco/auto mode where it will activly evaperate the water use it if possible.  running the unit at full blast for long stretches will build ice on the inside and outside coils, usually outside first. keeping the temprature in the room constant instead of large swings every few hours should help some to.

3 verify in house humidity is not high you will get more condensation and possibly mold problems from it.  you will have to verify but i think 40% or so is about as high as you want it.


Would increasing pipe size before a pressure reducing valve increase flow? I've read a lot of variants of this question but I still haven't quite figured it out. I'm adding a 3rd bathroom to my house and I want to make sure I've got enough water flow to run 2-3 showers and an appliance (e.g. washer) at once, if necessary, without a problem.

Right now, my main supply looks like this:

5/8" meter -> 30' 3/4" copper -> 3/4" PRV -> Sharkbite -> 30' 3/4" PEX -> Tankless water heater

My best guess at what would provide optimum flow:

5/8" meter -> 30' 3/4" copper -> 3/4" to 1" reducer -> 1" PRV -> 30' 1" PEX -> Tankless water heater

I haven't measured it, but according to a memo my city supply (a 5/8" meter) has at least 80psi coming down the pipe (haven't measured it but maybe I should?), and I want ~50PSI coming out the PRV.

Other details, if relevant:

The heater is a Rinnai RUC98iN which can theoretically output up to 9.8GPM of hot water.
Right now, there's a noticeable, if small, pressure drop when someone fires up the 2nd shower.
There are noticeable intermittent pressure drops if I'm taking a shower and the washing machine is running, for example.
The 45-year-old gate valve in the supply is leaking, and I'd love to put a leak detection Z-Wave water valve in the "stack" there too. Can't get the PRV specs because somebody painted over it...

I have a couple of questions:

Would doing this accomplish what I want?
My gut tells me that increasing the size of the supply line to 1" before the PRV is better than after. Is this correct, or not? Why?

My basement is currently unfinished, and the 3rd bathroom would be in the finished basement. I have (pretty) easy access to replace this line right now, and it would become harder later - it's going to have to be cut up anyway to feed the new fixtures. .

Three showers running simultaneously with a hypothetical flow of 2.5 GPM plus an unknown appliance sum to about 10 GPM. To explore the effect of up-sizing the PRV I consulted the spec sheet for an arbitrary PRV -- in this case, the Watts LF25AUB-Z3. It included a graph showing pressure drop vs flow curves for several sizes of valve. I've drawn lines on the chart to show the pressure drop incurred at 10 GPM flow through the 3/4" and 1" valves. It looks like about 12 psi for the 3/4" and 9 psi for the 1".

Of course there's pressure drop in pipe as well. There's a nice set of charts and graphs at Engineering Toolbox to help estimate this. Since I don't know what type of copper tube is used in the line from your meter into the house, nor how long it is, I've assumed/estimated using the numbers for Type L at a length of 60 feet. The pressure drop in 3/4" Type L at 60 feet for 10 GPM flow would be about 6 psi. If the line were increased to 1" instead the drop would be 1.7 psi.

There's going to be some pressure drop in the meter too, but I'm not going to try to track down a meter to hold up as an example. It's probably reasonable to say that if the static pressure is 80 psi and the PRV target is 50 psi then you've got a pressure loss budget of 30, maybe 6 is spent on the tube and there's 24 psi left to lose in the meter. It'll likely be lower than that. If the supply pressure is high enough it doesn't matter whether the drop happens in the plumbing or in the PRV. In other words, assuming there's no damage to the buried tube outside, replacing it with larger tube may not make a difference. Up-sizing only the pipe inside the house feeding the PRV definitely won't be worthwhile. Up-sizing the pipe downstream of the PRV may be helpful since it's on the low pressure side of the system, but the length of the pipe on that side isn't tremendous anyway.

The whole exercise may be somewhat moot -- how large is that water heater? The 10 GPM fed to the showers is going to be a hot/cold blend, so maybe 8 GPM is drawn from the water heater. If it's a 40 gallon tank the water will have been completely flushed in 5 minutes but people in the shower will notice it going cold sooner than that. I imagine hot water capacity will become a problem before pressure drop does.

Tankless water heater changes the game

An update to the question clarifies that there's a Rinnai instant hot water heater. I happen to have an earlier generation of Rinnai heater (RL75i or some such) which I've been running for about 11 years (love that thing!). The way mine works, and maybe yours too, is that it first modulates the gas valve to control water temperature. If it can't achieve enough temperature rise with the gas fully on then it restricts water flow as necessary.

Supposing your model works like mine this is important to note. Even if you had 2" pipe feeding the water heater it'll limit the flow to ensure that what water you do get is at the temperature you've set. That'll feel like a pressure drop in the shower but it may not be caused by the PRV or pipe sizing. If you're willing to adjust the heater set point, though, this can be put to the shower user's advantage.

Ironically, your current 130 F setting actually makes this more likely. I note that the Rinnai user guide says "Minimum Water Pressure: 50 PSI (Recommended 60-80 PSI for maximum performance)" on page 47. On page 49 there are a pair of graphs; one shows flow (GPM) vs temperature rise. If your incoming water is 50 F and the setting is 130 F then you're asking for 80 F rise and RUC98i will yield just 4.8 GPM. However, if you set the heater to 106 F and thus need only 56 F rise it'll give you about 6.8 GPM. Blending the 130 F water with cold water balances the score somewhat, but I'll wager you'd still get more water to the shower with the heater set to 106 F.

Rinnai offers wired remote controls and I installed one beside my shower a few years ago. I use it to set the heater for my preferred temperature while showering and then turn on only the hot water tap in the shower. The result is that even if another person starts another shower, somebody turns on the clothes or dish washer, or a toilet gets flushed my shower temperature remains steady. The pressure at my shower head may fluctuate but the water temperature holds steady and my shower goes on blissfully.

I've just discovered that Rinnai also have introduced a wireless controller option and smart phone app (of course they have!). Find more info at their web site.


How is this plan for repairing load bearing rotting posts with epoxy (pics included) My carport has five 4x4 posts with two of them are showing serious signs of rot. I have attached a photo of the worst and 2nd worst looking one, and what the other ones look like. At first I thought the only way to repair the posts was to replace them. However some epoxy’s have incredible bonding stength, load bearing strength and water resistance properties. My plan to repair them with epoxy as follows:

On each side of the post, cut the blacktop a couple inches away from the post, and expose the full length of the post.
Remove as much rotting material from the posts as possible with a small chisel
Liberally Spray a wood preservative solution of copper napthenate (green preservative) to halt the rot’s progression
Prebuild forms that will be put around the posts once the resin mixture is ready, and spray them with silicone spray so they will come away from the resin a little easier.
Mix West Systems 105 Resin with West Systems 206 Slow Hardener, and thicken the mixture with West Systems 403 Microfibers. Note, I may not necessarily use West Systems products, but something similar such as from conserve: http://conservepoxy.com/category/Rot-Repair-Epoxies.htm .
Let the Resin cure for a day or so and remove the columns.
Prime and Paint the posts, including the repaired area.
Repair blacktop and raise the blacktop enough such that rain water will slope away from the posts.
I got this idea from a blog here: http://www.westsystem.com/ss/saving-the-deck/

What do you think, is my plan sound?

The plan will make the 4x4s look good. However, you did say they are LOAD BEARING, an epoxy is great for holding things together or protecting things, but terrible at withstanding stress from a load. The posts function is to transfer the weight above it to the ground, so filling in the rotted parts of the wood with epoxy is just hiding the problem. Most epoxy adhesives rely on the stress being directed against thier cohesion to the material. When the stress is in a direction that is contrary to that the epoxy fails. If you wanted to glue two pieces together to double the load bearing capacity it would work great for that, but it can't take the load and replace the structural member yet. Maybe in the near future they will come up with something that can. Sorry to tell you this, but you are going to have to replace the 4x4 posts, or you run the risk of them tipping, or collapsing so that the structure comes down. It aslo would be a good time to bring them up to code. The good news is you can treat them so they are rot resistant for far longer now, and it is far cheaper than having the carport fall on your transportation.


Hot water valve not working Trying to replace my kitchen faucet and I went to turn off the water -  cold water valve works fine - hot water just turns and turns and doesn't stop water flow.

I'm in a condo and have access to our water heater. Is there a quick way to fix/shut off hot water here so I can replace my faucet?

Or do I need to shut water off to the whole building :/

Thanks!

If you have access to your water heater, it will typically have a shut off valve on its entrance to allow being serviced.  If you can shut that off, that will kill the pressure on the hot water line, and you should be okay.
Open the hot faucet to confirm.

Given that, I would consider taking that shutoff apart and fixing it if you can.

Probably a worn out or deteriorated rubber washer.  Worse case if that is just attached to the plumbing by the nut behind it, you can replace the whole valve.

Take it with you to a store.


Removing burnt plastic residue from gas cooktop cap Initially, a grimey cooktop:

After a round of heavy-duty oven cleaner it looks almost brand new:
https://www.woolworths.com.au/shop/productdetails/233881

However... The burnt stain was me getting a plastic bag too close to the burner and it caught fire. I quickly put it out, but some plastic residue remains on the cap.

How can I get it off?

If you have a self-cleaning oven, put the caps on one of the racks the next time you run it. Self-cleaning gets much hotter than a regular oven or cooktop and is much safer than using a torch. I run everything (grates, caps) through in the self-cleaning oven once a year for Passover cleaning.


Why won't the bulbs light even when the fixture is has power? We thought the bulb went out only to find that a new one did not work either.  When i got out my tester, the fixture seemed to worked fine in relation to the switch...on/hot, off/not.  But no matter what bulb i put in it wont light. I've lifted the tab to get better contact but nothing. When the bulbs are in they show how as well when the switch is on.

You probably need to replace the base (where the lamp goes) in the fixture. Keep in mind that your tester does not draw much of anything at all, so it won't detect a bad connection in the base that shows up when the lamp itself is actually pulling something.

Check also that the connections from the box to the fixture are solid.

If the fixture itself is cheap, consider just replacing it completely. If you continue to have problems, the loose connection isn't in the light fixture.

You can quickly determine this by attaching a pig tail light:

.. directly to the feeders in the light fixture. If the pig tail works, the problem is the fixture (most likely the base). If the pig tail doesn't work, you may have a bad switch, loose neutral, or something else that an electrician should probably inspect.


Am I using the correct ABS fittings in my final design? This is the last installment of a long design and learning process. Thanks to all of you who helped me on my way to this point. Below is the final solution and I would like to check with you if I selected the right fittings
The overall diagram is in the second picture attached to this question.
I am building the green pipes now and the orange ones in the second step (when I renovate the main floor bathroom). This green segment is mostly dry vent. There is a drain portion from the new sink to the shower drain. Also there is a wet vent portion for the shower
The orange pipes are to be build in the second stage in order to connect the green vent to the upper part of the soil stack that works as vent for its upper segment
The yellow pipes are "good to have" but I think this should work without it. They might possible be required for the bottom level toilet which used to have a vertical dry vent where the grey pipe left over is (that segment will be capped and under the slab). That vertical segment was cut.
In the first picture I have numbered the fittings and below is their description.
❶,❷,❼ -sanitary tee
❸,❹,❻,❽ short 90 elbow
❺ 45 wye that connects the shower
❾ 90 elbow if they yellow segment is not built, sanitary tee if it is built
❿ 90 elbow if built
I have doubts regarding ❸ and ❹ as these points are prone to clogging These should be long elbows. While ❸ will be ok if it is like that ❹ will push the pipe to low and since I will be connecting to an existing pipe I will need to open the floor for a segment longer than I might want.
Do you see any errors with the above ?

I cannot speak for the rest of the states, but in WA state, there are clean-outs needed at the sink location, and perhaps at the toilet too. The sink clean out would go between 1 and 3, just below 1 in the cabinet so the tail pipe and trap would not need to be removed in case of a clog.
The green line is needed, but the yellow line is not, as long as the toilet is already vented with an existing tie in. I suppose that is what the un-terminated gray line is depicting.
Otherwise it looks good, but to let you know, I am not a licensed plumber, nor plumber, I just been in the business of home building a really long time and I know a few things... Not a lot, just a few....


U-Socket USB Wallplug I am curious to know if this new wall USB/Receptical is even legal to install? As I got talking with friends on Facebook, the question came up about low-voltage and high voltage in one box and what protection there is to prevent a 110 spike through the UBS ports. Also, ThinkGeek doesn't mention if it is UL Listed.

The concern that I know of is that you don't want the wiring to risk shorting high voltage wiring to a low voltage wire or device.  For that reason, you don't run phone and cable lines within the same wall cavity as electrical (and I also keep plumbing away from electrical).

It's hard to tell from the pictures, but I'd hope the USB components are fully enclosed, just as the internals of the outlet are.  Assuming that's the case, and I'd be surprised to see thinkgeek selling it if it wasn't, then it's no different then worrying about the possible short when a USB adapter is plugged into the outlet.

Edit, looking at one of the zoomed pics I'm seeing what appears to be part of a metal enclosure around the USB, which should be grounded.  That should prevent any shorting risk to the USB.  That said, my concern is that the thin parts of the wall plate could easily crack on this, and then you're getting yourself into the task of creating a custom wall plate to fit the USB plug openings.

Edit2: As much as I love thinkgeek, you can pickup something like this surge protector/usb plug for less.  No turning off of the breakers needed.


Checking my understanding - How to add C-wires for smart thermostat install x3 I'm in the process of installing some smart thermostats (Nest Thermostat E) to replace my old ones. I have a boiler radiator heating system with three zones. Two zones are straightforward heat only (main floor and basement). The third zone (upstairs) also controls AC and uses an air controller for forced air. The air actually blows over a radiator coil (I think this is the right term?) to supply the heat in this zone. In other words, there are no traditional radiators upstairs, just the forced air system blowing air over this radiator coil inside the ductwork.

I want to replace all three thermostats with Nests. None of the current thermostats are using a C wire. I understand it's not strictly necessary to have a C wire for the Nests, but they will function better if they have one. I'd like to wire them with C-wires and I think it's doable with my system. After studying up on all of this and researching what I have, I think I understand what I need to do, but I want to double-check and see if anyone can point out anything I'm overlooking or not understanding correctly.

Background

Here is the diagram I put together trying to map out how everything connects together in the current state. A few notes:
Bottom left transformer, the boiler (controlled by Hydrostat 3200-Plus), and the three zone values are all in the basement.
The bottom right transformer and the air controller unit are in an upstairs closet.
"Air Controller #1" and "Air Controller #2" are both components that are located inside of my air controller unit. One seems to be controlled by the W1 wire from the thermostat, and the other from the G wire from the thermostat. So it seems like the W1 wire triggers the boiler as well as the air controller. I'm not sure why the G wire doesn't just power the air controller in the event of both calls for heating and cooling though?
I didn't see any labels for the bottom right transformer, but I'm assuming what makes sense is that the red wiring coming off the transforming is the "hot" (R) and the green wire coming off is the "neutral" (C). That seems to make the rest of the diagram wiring make sense in my mind at least. FYI this transformer is a Supco T45.

Adding C-wire

I think what I need to do is:

For main floor and basement zones, make a connection between C coming off of the transformer (bottom left, where green wire meets the two orange wires) and an unused wire in both of the wires going to the main floor and basement thermostats. There are spare wires to be used in these.
For the upstairs zone, make a connection between the splice that joins the 5 wires (4 red, 1 green coming off the transformer) which is located in the air controller, and the thermostat. There's no extra wires available going to the thermostat, but it'll be easy to add something here since they are close. Again, looking for confirmation that this 5-wire splice is where my "C wire" should originate from.

Does this seem like the correct interpretation and approach to take?

Other Questions

Should I worry about the number of items on a transformer? For example, the transformer in the basement (bottom left in diagram) is currently powering two zone valves. If it is also powering two Google Nest Thermostat E's, will that be too much? I can't find a VA rating on this thermostat, nor any model or labels at all other than the R and C terminals.
In reading up on adding C-wires, I saw mention a few times of isolation relays (for example, this thread). My interpretation is that these are necessary sometimes when you need to add an external transformer, and that they separate the circuit that is supplying the C wire to the thermostat from the circuit running within the boiler controller. I'm assuming I'm OK in my situation because the zone valves are "isolating" the circuits involving the external transformer (bottom left) from the circuit within the Hydrostat boiler controller. Is this correct?

Your wiring plan looks good and you seem to have a correct understanding of the wiring and how it should work.  That bundle with the one green and 4 reds is the "C" wire.  The color makes it hard to follow in your diagram, but I guess you used real world colors, so that makes sense.

The 24v transformer will be AC power (alternating current), so it doesn't really matter which terminal is R and which is C.  One wire goes to the R terminal on the thermostat and the other one is C.

The W wire controlling the fan is sometimes done for safety to make it impossible to call for heat without the fan also being on.  That can also be done to get away with using one less wire, but either way that happens and I wouldn't worry about "fixing" that unless you have a strong need for turning the fan on by itself.

The transformer only powers a small coil in a relay to turn the devices on and off.  It might also supply a small amount of power to the control boards, and after the update it will supply power to the Nest.  These are all so low power that you shouldn't need to worry about it.  You can check the voltage of the transformer while the system is running to make sure it's not dropping low, but I don't see an issue with what you are planning.

Isolation relay is used if you want to power the thermostat with a different transformer than the equipment.  So, for instance if it was convenient for you to power the upstairs thermostat from the transformer that powers the basement unit, that would be a problem.  The thermostat must be powered by the same transformer as the equipment, which is what you plan on doing.  No addition relays should be needed.


Why did I have issues scraping off a popcorn ceiling? My house was built in 1971. After removing a think layer of popcorn, I found cardboard behind it. Does anyone know what that is? Is it safe to just paint over it?
=======
Edit:
Technically, JACK has the correct answer.
Realistically, here's the issue. The reason why all these holes appeared is that I didn't spray enough water at a high pressure onto the ceiling in one go. The bond between the popcorn and the ceiling was too strong for me to use a knife to separate them. To make it worse, I subsequently sprayed more water with low pressure (little by little) and try to scratch. So you see some of the ceiling is totally wet and some lost the drywall paper.
What I should've done is to use a 1 gal. pump sprayer (cost $10 in HD/L) to spray pressured water onto the ceiling and then scratch.
After learning my mistake, the rest of the ceiling got scraped off very smoothly.

What you have is a drywall ceiling that has had popcorn sprayed over it. You can paint over it but you'll have to repair any gouges made from scraping off the popcorn and then prime it.  To remove the popcorn, spray water on it, let it soak in for a few minutes and then scrape it off with a mud knife. The larger the mud knife, the less you'll damage the drywall ceiling.  It's really a messy job so cover the floor up real good.


Is it common, or even correct, for both wall switches in a double gang box to provide power to a ceiling fan/light fixture? I have a new home with a ceiling fan with light kit installed in the living room.

The Fan and light are controlled by a remote control, but there are 2 wall switches in a double gang box that ultimately control power to the fan/light.
I'm guessing the original idea of having 2 switches wired was to allow one to control the fan and one to control the lights, and this setup
was not needed when they installed a fan/light combo that used a remote control.

Whats befuddling to me is why it's wired so that both switches control power to the fan/light unit, i.e. if the fan/light is off, either switch will provide power to unit.

Looks like a 2 conductor (black & white) wire enter the bottom of the box, and a 3 conductor (Black, White & Red) wire enters the top of the box.
Both switches are pigtailed to the the black line/hot wire and the line & load side neutrals are connected. Switch 1 is then connected to the load side
black wire & Switch 2 is connected to the load side red. All grounds are connected.

Is this correct wiring, and if so, is it a common practice?

What would I need to do if I wanted to replace the two switches with a wireless enabled in-wall switch so that only it provides power to the unit - disconnect switch 2 and cap its current load side red wire?

I believe you are correct in assuming that one switch controlled the fan and one controlled the lights originally.

My guess is that the wiring at the fan just has both the red and black wires connected to the line side of the wireless receiver, which would let either switch turn the fan/light on.

I would look at the wiring at the fan to confirm this. If I am correct, then yes, you should be able to disconnect the red wire. I would disconnect it from the fan and from the switch in the box and cap both ends.


Black to ground connection? I was rewiring a room in my house and noticed a ceiling light was wired black to ground connection. Apparently it has been working correctly for years. Previous owner said they separated switch from outlets to change switch to light fixture and that is only way it worked.: White to white with black to ground.

That is quite wrong for small 6-40A branch circuit wiring:

Anywhere in the world, grounds can only be green, yellow/green stripe, or bare wire.    And the reverse applies: wires of those colors can only be grounds.

Anywhere in North America, neutrals can only be white or gray. The reverse isn't true in multiconductor cables - whites can be re-tasked to be hots if neutral isn't needed.

Hot is any other color.

While using a black for a ground isn't a red-alert safety problem, the question is, what's he using for a hot!!!??  Using a bare ground wire for hot or neutral is downright unsafe.

Map the wiring, find both ends of a cable, and reallocate its wires to the correct usage by changing it on both ends.

Beware: sometimes color changes like that are done as a workaround when a wire breaks.

As Ed Beal points out, none of this applies to large 50+A circuits or to feeders and service entrances.


Older gas stove is hot to the touch My new apartment has an older gas stove--I'm guessing its from the 70s? All the markings are gone. Anyway, on the stove top there are two hot spots where the pilot lights are underneath. It's hot to the point where you cant hold your hand there for more than a second or so. The pilot lights are not huge, I'm estimating a half inch tall, but there is zero insulation. There is just a thin metal piece in between the stove top and the pilot. I'm assuming standards were a little more lax 50 or so years ago. It seems like a fire hazard to me. What do you guys think?

This is not an improper fire hazard. In operation the stove top near a burner will get a lot hotter than that.

You are not supposed to lay flammable materials on top of the stove, but I doubt it would start a piece of paper on fire. You could place a 1 inch square of paper towel over the hot spot and see if it would ignite.

EDIT

AFIK modern gas stoves have electronic spark igniters (they do not have standing pilot lights) so one cannot compare modern stoves to old ones which do have a standing pilot light. I don't think a hot spot over a standing pilot light is an out of specification condition.


How to wear eye protection if you already wear glasses? I wear glasses with relatively large frames (due to the shape of my face, smaller frames don't really work). I'm nearsighted and can't see without them. Unfortunately many safety goggles don't fit at all on top of my glasses, and the few that do are still offset too much from my face and allow debris to come in easily from the bottom.

Is there a better solution for eye protection, if you already have to wear glasses?

Pretending that my prescription glasses are eye protection won't work. See slide 8 in this presentation.
Most safety glasses that do fit over glasses protect inadequate protection from debris flying up from below.
Contacts are probably a bad idea, because they create additional risks from chemical fumes and getting dust in your contacts is really not fun.

I would suggest getting prescription safety glasses. If the cost is unreasonable wear your regular glasses with a face-shield. Face-shields offer maximum protection they are however prone to fogging up in humid areas.


Outlets in bedroom, top outlet is working, bottom outlet is not I have 4 outlets in one of my bedrooms.  One of the outlets is working with no problem at all both the top and bottom plug work.  The other three outlets in the bedroom, the top outlet works but there is no power going to the bottom outlet.  This has occurred on all 3 separate outlets.  What could be the cause of this, should I be concerned.  I tried resetting the breaker just in case, but that did not work.  Thanks in advance

In addition to Daniel's comment above about any wall switches in the room with unknown function, I suggest adding one of these 6-dollar outlet tester tools to your DIY bag.  Just plug it in and it will diagnose/report many common issues with wall outlet wiring (just in case.)

Note, if you plug one of these into an outlet that is 'switched' by a wall switch somewhere, then the lights will show the 'open hot' condition which is all three lights out. (I know, it's not intuitave: "no-lights means what?")

So you plug it in and leave it in one of the bottom outlets, then go around flipping only one switch at a time until it shows "off-on-on" which signals "correct."

Remember (while it is unlikely) it could be that the lower plugs are wired in 3-way so, continue flipping switches one at a time, just to make sure the plug doesn't go on then off again.


Composite Deck Surface Mount Post Bracket I noticed that for wood decks, there are surface mount deck brackets for the 4 x 4 posts.  I just resurfaced my wood deck with composite.  I have been unable to find those brackets for composite deck material.  Are there surface deck mount posts for composite?

link to the wood version

These brackets will also work for composite material. The composite material might be harder on a cheap drill bit, but so long as you can drill a hole through the deck, you can mount a bracket to it.


How can I add insulation above my finished ceiling? What is the cheapest option for adding insulation above a finished ceiling? There has never been any in the spot that I need it. Should I take the roof off or have it sprayed in? The space is 20 feet long and 9 feet 9 inches wide.

Depends on construction details. if it's merely "the contractor was too cheap to provide attic access" (a very typical issue of cheesy contractors), you cut a hole and put in access, then apply insulation as you like. If it's a cathedral ceiling sort of arrangement (roof deck on one side of rafters, ceiling on the other) then some sort of spray/blown insulation (might be foam, might be cellulose, might be fiberglass but I would not go there based on published research results) is the most likely option, though not the only option. If you are considering "taking off the roof" then it's usually more cost-effective (labor cost, mostly) to leave it in place & build on top of the current roof with a layer of insulation, for instance.


How to cut a concrete block without expensive tools? I am building a wall from concrete retention wall bricks. I need to cut one brick in half so it can fit in the wall. The solutions here are too expensive, I only need to cut one brick. Is there any low-cost way to cut a brick? I'd prefer not to spend more than $20 USD on a tool to cut it, so perhaps there is a hand tool that can cut through that?

A mason's chisel is the traditional hand-tool approach.
You might be able to find a "grit-edge" (tungsten carbide abrasive) blade for your sabre saw. You might get away with a tungsten carbide toothed blade for it, but that's more prone to get ruined than the grit-edge version.


Switchable 50A outlets for arc welder I'm hoping to run two 240 V 50 A outlets for an ARC welder.  One will be outside and the other inside the shop.  If I install a double pole double throw switch such that only one receptacle  can be energized at a time, would the two receptacles be allowed by NEC to be on a single breaker in the load center?

When properly sized the breaker is sized to protect the conductors and will not allow you to overload them.
Consequently, you can put as many receptacles on a circuit as you want and if the circuit is overloaded the breaker will protect it.
You don't need a switch, especially if you only have one welder since you can't use more than one receptacle at a time anyway.
Just parallel the outlets and you are good.
Just to add some context here are some pertinent Code articles:

210.19(A)(2) Branch Circuits with More than One Receptacle.  Conductors of branch circuits supplying more than one receptacle for cord-and-plug-connected portable loads shall have an ampacity of not less than the rating of the branch circuit.

And

210.21(B)(3) Receptacle Ratings.  Where connected to a branch circuit supplying two or more receptacles or outlets, receptacle ratings shall conform to the values listed in Table 210.21(B)(3), or, where rated higher than 50 amperes, the receptacle rating shall not be less than the branch-circuit rating.
Exception No. 1: Receptacles installed exclusively for the use of one or more cord-and-plug-connected arc welders shall be permitted to have ampere ratings not less than the minimum branch-circuit conductor ampacity determined by 630.11(A) or (B) for arc welders.

This last one means if the welder has a duty cycle the circuit can be downsized.
Good luck and stay safe!


Is it possible to recognize a flickering LED from its technical data? LEDs often flicker and I hate it. You rarely see it directly, but you can recognize it when you do fast movements with your hand or so, while the LED is the only light source. The movement then does not appear smooth.

Focussing on LED without driver, can you recognize just from the technical data, if an LED flickers? Is there something hidden in the numbers of watt, lumen, or something which might gives a hint whether an LED flickers or not?

Would be great, because I am sick of buying and being disappointed...

Is there something hidden in the numbers of watt, lumen, or something which might gives a hint whether an LED flickers or not?

No.

Flicker of LED based lamps is dependent on technical details of the implementation of the driver electronics. Any flickering LED won't flicker if driven with a continuous stable regulated DC current.


GFCI is popping for no reason This morning we woke up to the bathroom lights not working.  Investigation reveals that the culprit is the GFCI that serves two bathrooms and the laundry room.

It still pops in 10-15 seconds with no draw whatsoever on anything that appears to be connected to the circuit. (I haven't gone through the house looking for stray outlets on the line, though.)

My first thought was a bad GFCI but a couple of other things come to mind also:

1)  Two days ago we replaced every bulb on the circuit with LED lights.

2)  It's pouring rain, something that happens a few times a year here.  We certainly aren't aware of any water leaks but I could imagine water coming down a vent pipe and then going somewhere.

Do I just replace the GFCI and hope it works?  Is there some means by which I can test if there is an electric problem?  (With the GFCI popped wouldn't it show infinite resistance between the hot and the neutral and between the hot and the ground?)

Edit:  Replaced the GFCI, I get exactly the same behavior.  I've loosened every bulb on the circuit, no change.  Notably I'm getting very low (the highest I observed was 2v) but non-zero voltages downstream of the GFCI when the wires are hanging loose.  That's with a decent multimeter so it's possible this is just induced current from somewhere.

Edit again:  It apparently is water related somehow.  In the days after the rain it was slower and slower to trip, now it's behaving correctly.  I can't see how water could get anywhere near the wires, though, let alone to any junctions.  If it happens again I can try disconnecting things to find the culprit.

You say that after the rain and some period of drying the GFCI returned to normal working condition. Indicates your problem is "outside" related or influenced. Take a real good look around the outside of your building. Look for any plugs that may be catching moisture from above as the rain comes angling in.

Often as an electrician I come across previous wiring in homes where they jumped the inside GFCI to outside plugs to save money on spec homes. Home owners complain that outside plugs are not working yet breakers are un-tripped. I always say go look for a GFCI in one of the bathrooms, if it is tripped then reset it.

So if you have a non-contact tester you could turn off the breaker that supplies the inside GFCI, and test to see if any plugs on the outside of house are off. If so, make sure that any waterproof covers are in good state and replace them if they appear to be in poor state. If you have a cord plugged in for any length of time you should have a "in-use cover" installed.

Even a small amount of moisture leaking over the receptacle will cause small current leaks to neutral and therefore trip the GFCI and you will not be able to reset it till it is dry. Also any foreign materials will exacerbate the situation. So surfaces should be dry and clean on the receptacle.


Does painting roof tile improve longevity or performance? I would like to know if painting a tile roof is a must or is it just cosmetic? Should I just repoint the roof and the ridgecaps?

Simply using paint is a cosmetic application. Using a silicone or other sealant based paint would actually improve water protection. If the goal is to seal the roof then it might be a good idea to apply silicone sealant and then paint. For cosmetic applications, any outdoor latex or acrylic would do just fine.


what size wire is a float switch for a HVAC unit I need to cut out the existing wire and splice on new wire since the insulation is torn up beyond repair (shorted out the 5A fuse) , obviously a Temp repair until the part can be ordered

I would use an 18AWG multi-rated TFFN/AWM/MTW here

The most commonly available wire that I can reasonably say is usable for this application would be an 18AWG wire that is multi-rated as TFFN (fixture wire), AWM (appliance wiring material), and MTW (machine tool wire).  This wire is generally a stranded copper, with PVC insulation rated for 105°C in appliance (AWM) applications, and should be available from any competent electrical supply house (as it's also used for internal wiring in light fixtures, hence the name "fixture wire").

UL 486 listed wirenuts or insulated butt crimp splices suitable for connecting 18AWG to 20AWG (the latter applied using an appropriate crimp tool) should be used to splice the patch-wire into the float switch wiring, by the way.  You are correct, though, that the low-voltage fuses used on HVAC control boards are typically of an ATO (automotive) type (rated for 32VDC/VAC), so replacing the fuse with a plug-in automotive type of the same amp rating will work.


Installing a new 4-way switch troubleshooting I'm installing a new 4-way switch.
When I flip any of the switches, it's not toggling the on/off state of the final hot wire. The final hot wire (which will supply the light) is always hot. All the travelers are always hot.
Something is supplying continuous power. I'm not sure what I did wrong. I checked these things:

I tested each switch, they're not faulty and are all showing correct continuity.
I checked the neutrals and the grounds, they're not hot.
I turned off all other circuits in the house, it's not accidentally connected to another circuit.

Any ideas?
I wired it like this:

Here are some photos of the actual wiring:
Switch 1 -- the three-way switch is on the left, the other is a single-pole switch supplying another light. They're both connected to the supply power.

Switch 2 -- 4-way switch

Switch 3 -- last 3-way switch (connected to light)

It was this: https://diy.stackexchange.com/a/10982/38476
I was testing it without a load on it, and once I put a light fixture and bulb it behaved normally. It’s common for 3-way switches to have phantom voltage when there’s no load.


Should I use self leveling concrete to repair settlement cracked concrete slabs? I have a concrete slab in the breezeway of my house that has several settlement cracks in it.

Can I use self-leveling concrete to repair this?

You should check the label/product literature for the cement products you intend to use. From what I remember self leveling cement is not recommended for filling cracks deeper than 1/2". If you want to use it then you should patch any deep cracks first. Self leveling cement is also about 10x the cost of a bag of regular cement mix.

If the ground is still settling underneath it's best to just break up the section, compact the ground underneath and then pour in that new section. That's going to be your longest strongest fix.

If you're not sure if it's done settling I would just fill in the cracks and see if they patches crack again.

A lot is going to depend on the size of the cracks as far as the best product to use but for most cracks I like to use a fast setting concrete patching mix. Can fill large gaps and can also be feathered out at the edges. It sets up in less than an hour which I like for walkways. You can also use a regular cement with an acrylic fortifier added to it if you can keep people off the repair for 2-3 days as it will be much cheaper.

With the fast set you need to clean out any loose chunks, wet the concrete, make a thin mix of the cement that you paint on the crack to aid in bonding, then mix the regular thickness mix, trowel in the crack, trowel it smooth then use the paint brush to smooth out the edges. I like to build up the level a little higher and then scrape it off with the trowel after a few minutes.

All the concrete repair products I've seen are polymer modified but not to the same extent that self-leveling cement is. Adding an acrylic fortifier to the mix will give you a stronger bond.


Can I mount an electrical box on a non-stationary surface? I am setting up a small rack panel and I'm mounting it to 1" ply on a piano hinge to make it easier to get behind.
I'd like to attach the electrical box on the same board. This means that the electric box could move but it won't be very often.
I was thinking I would use a stranded whip to connect the one on the board to a stationary box nearby.
Can I mount an electrical box to something that moves? In CA, USA.

Absolutely, we use flexible conduit all the time. If flex conduit is installed for flexibility it is limited to 6’ in length. I would suggest stranded conductors for longer life but code is not specific on that. metal flex is handy and industrial plants do just what you want to do routinely it is code compliant so FMT or flexible metal tubing (usually just called metal flex).


Will a 1500VA autotransformer do the job for an appliance with 13A and 120V? I have a device that says it is 1500W. However looking at the specs, it says it is 13amps at 120V. If I multiply A x V then that is actually 1560W.

I'm just wondering, if I then get a transformer rated for 1500VA(1.5kVA) is that actually enough or am I starving my device from that extra 60watts?

You wouldn't starve your device. You might cause the transformer to run a little warmer than normal but probably not by a measurable amount. Although transformer current is also limited by the magnetic field in the core, this limit won't be so close to the rating that you should be concerned.

The rating plate may not be this clear but I strongly suspect that it's not that your appliance draws 13A, but that it's fused at 13A, drawing less. Initial current may be another matter especially if most of the load is a motor.

If I already had the transformer I'd try it (but maybe measure the current). If I was buying the transformer I'd probably go for the next size up if possible


How do I add an electrical switch to a series of lights from an additional doorway? My basement shop has been fully wired to operate by one power switch.  I would like to add another switch to power up the shop by entering from another door.

Ahh, the miracles of modern science. You can control your light from multiple locations and you don't even have to run any additional wiring.

wireless 3-way switching, no power needed NOT EVEN BATTERIES!


Why won't my Levitron Z-Wave dimmer switch turn the lights off? Recently purchased and installed a Z-Wave Dimmer switch which seemed to be an easy installation. However, the only way I can get the light to turn off is to enable the air gap on the switch. If the air gap isn't open, the light is on no matter what.

Neither the physical switch on the dimmer nor turning off the switch off via zwave turns off the light--only the air gap.

White bundle are neutrals.
Blacks are hot.
White/Red combo is to the light.
Green is ground.

From what you described and showed, and assuming that it was just a regular single pole switch you replaced that worked fine before, the wiring does look correct (though I'd skip the extra black pigtail wire that goes between the white and orange wire nuts).

Sounds like the switch itself is defective, and the best course of action would be to exchange it where you purchased it. Remember, these things have a fair bit of electronics in them, so it can happen. Sorry for your luck.


How can I extend an electric wire without a large cross-section connector? I want to extend a couple of electric wires coming out of a ceiling to get to a hole at the top of a lighting fixture. Let's assume for the sake of discussion the lighting fixture is fixed and will not be moved, rotated etc.

I'm used to this kind of wire connectors:

(obviously I'll need just two 1-to-1 units in this case.)

and I could use those - except that I don't have enough cross-section for them. The wires will be located between the top surface of the lighting fixture and the ceiling, and will not have more than a few millimeters of spare height. Here's how it looks (black blob is the hole):

How do I connect the wires in a stable fashion, hopefully without too much fuss? Are there special thin-profile connectors I could get?

PS - I live in Palestine/Israel in case that matters w.r.t. tools/equipment available to me.

Use a crimp joint with heatshrink
Join the wires with a crimp. This is a permanent means of connecting wires that, done properly, will never come loose. It involves crushing another piece of metal into the wire with a special tool.
It is, however, critical that you use the correct size crimp for your cable, and the correct tool. Test the crimp by trying to pull it apart - they should hold at least 5-10kg force.
Insulate with heat shrink tubing. This is a special type of tubing that can be slid over the cable then heated, causing it to shrink radially and seal onto the wires/cables. Ideally you would use one sleeve over each individual crimp/conductor, then another larger diameter layer over the sheath of the whole cable (assuming you are joining sheathed cable).
Apply heat using a hot air gun or blow torch - avoid applying too much heat.
The shrinking effect prevents the sleeve from moving, and reduces any gaps. Glue lined heat shrink is available if the joint needs to be watertight.

Image courtesy Smial of Wikipedia under CC BY-SA 2.0 DE.


Providing personnel shock protection, AFCI VS GFCI House built in 1960's, upgraded to 200A service with new panel in 2009. Original wiring (2 wire w/not ground) and  wall plugs are without ground prong provision and were not replaced. Want to provide personnel shock protection, but GFCI's trip immediately. AFCI's don't trip. If I install all AFCI's, will they provide any personnel shock protection (as well as fire protection)? Will a dual AFCI/CFCI have the same tripping problem?

AFCI does nothing for shocks --- Hold on.

I gather you are inside your service panel trying to fit GFCI or AFCI breakers.  There are prerequisites to GFCIs being fittable.

Fix your multi-wire branch circuits

Search all the entering cables for cables that have 3 conductors (disregarding ground).  Modern cables would be black white red, no idea on older cables.  You are looking for cables where the neutral goes to the neutral bar, then there are 2 hot condutors each going to a circuit breaker.

On each and every one of those, no exceptions, the two circuit breakers need to be pulled and, the two hot wires landed on a 2-pole circuit breaker, and that reinstalled in your panel.

A 2-pole breaker will occupy 2 spaces.  It is not to be confused with a duplex/twin/tandem/double-stuff breaker, which squeezes 2 circuits into 1 space.  A defining characteristic of a 2-pole breaker is that both "sides" must trip together.

Once you have corrected all your multi-wire branch circuits as I describe, it will now be possible to contemplate GFCI breakers on those circuits.  You will need 2-pole GFCIs for those circuits.

Search for promiscuous neutrals

When wiring the equipment safety ground, it's perfectly normal and common for grounds to spiderweb, loop, or interact among circuits.  Say you have a basement lighting circuit, and an upstairs lighting circuit that brings a 3-way switch to the bottom of the stairs, in the same junction box as the basement lighting.  Can the grounds from both cables intermix? Sure.

Not so for neutrals.  Neutrals must remain entirely with their partner hots at all times.  In the basement case, if you wanted a smart switch at the downstairs 3-way location, but the smart switch wanted neutral, you cannot steal it from the basement circuit.  Not allowed.

Why is that?  Neutrals aren't a big old spiderweb like grounds are.  They are the normal path for returning current.  Currents need to be equal in each cable or conduit, so what goes out must come back the same way. What's more, neutrals don't have fuses so if a neutral inadvertently returns current for 2 hot wires, it could overload, and you'd the neutral wire on fire!  (The MWBCs above intentionally balance the circuit on opposite poles, and the 2-pole breaker enforces this.)

So you have to scour the circuit for places like this.  I find them via careful inspection.  The only formulaic way I can think of is to identify a circuit and plug a load (I love dollar store nighlights) into every socket. Then for the circuit under test, turn off every circuit, lift the circuit's neutral off the neutral bar, and power up all its hot(s). If anything powers up, it is powered by this hot and is poaching neutral from another circuit.   The problem is, this tells you nothing about whether another hot is poaching from this circuit's neutral.. So you need to repeat the test for each circuit.

Hunt down actual ground faults

If the above methods don't make a GFCI happy, then you have something with a bona-fide ground fault.   The place you start is plug-in appliances. Unplug everything, then plug things in one at a time until the GFCI trips.  That's the problem appliance.

If all that does not fix it, then you have a genuine ground fault in the wiring, and you will need to find the middle of the circuit, disconnect it there, see if it clears, and continue to divide and conquer.


Should I spray down the shower with a diluted bleach solution after using it? I have a tile shower in the basement that is not very well ventilated.  My mother-in-law suggested a spray bottle of 1/2 bleach, 1/2 water, and spraying it around the surfaces of the shower after using it to help prevent mold.

Is mother-in-law always right?  Is this a good idea?

Vinegar works just as well, without all the worries - use 30 percent vinegar to 70 percent water.

Also, make a habit of wiping down the shower with your towel after you dry off. It'll collect all that water, which will then be vented out of the house when you wash & dry it.


Outdoor bayonet light fixture stopped working I cannot for the life of me figure this out, it isn't important enough to call an electrician out and it doesn't warrant the expensive cost but I'd really like to get it working.

During house viewings, the outdoor front porch light (protected from rain & wind) housed a 100W B22 bulb that functioned fine. It must have blown out a bit before we moved in. I've tried two new 8W B22 bulbs on it and it simply wont turn on. The light switch panel and wiring behind it seems relatively new and all wired up correctly. The socket itself seems clean and nothing is broken.

Could anybody help out? Thanks.

Since you have no measured voltage , I would be looking for a fuse or circuit breaker that has tripped. That bulb style in not used in my area for mains lighting. In my area I would work back to the switch then to find what feeds the switch sometimes a receptacle looking for another dead device that could have caused the open circuit or no voltage continuing to work back to the main power panel verifying that any branch fuses are good.


What do I use to level out with between green board and hardy backer board? I have a few points where the sheetrock is (already) not level between joints.  About 1/16" or so.  I will be adding hardy backer board which needs to span this joint.

I want to avoid (obviously) a non-level sub-surface for the hardy backer board and "float out" this section.  What material should I use?

Since I am new to doing this, a specific type-of material name would be helpful, though I suppose specific "brand" names are OK as examples.  Thanks.

Pictures attached, they show the gap a little bit.

You can use thinset mortar to float the gap. If the difference in surfaces is significant then you will need to float it out on the low side quite a bit.

It does not need to be to pretty but it should be relatively smooth. Use fiberglass mesh tape made for hardy backer on the seams to add strength; make sure the screw heads are counter sunk properly.

For 1/6 inch I am not sure it is necessary.


Does my utility room need fresh air? If so, possible solutions? Our home has a ~ 13' x 12' utility room that houses our HVAC system and gas hot water heater.

Adjacent to this room is another room that we would like to use for an office. Currently those two rooms are connected by a louvered door. The problem with this is that when the heat or AC is running the blower is too loud to be able to really use the adjacent room if e.g. one were to be on the phone. We need a way to replace this door with a solid door to minimize the sound without violating any building codes and/or putting ourselves at risk.

This is all fairly new (~ 2 years) construction, so the furnace (as far as I can tell / understand) is drawing in fresh air directly from outside (see pictures in link below). I'm less clear about what the venting requirements are for a gas hot water heater.

Pictures of the space

So, my questions are:

How would I go about determining if a source of fresh air is a requirement for this room?
Even without the louvered door it's not as if this room is air-tight. For example, you can see that the drywall does not go above the bottom of the rafters. What exactly qualifies as a "source of fresh air"?
There's a small window in this room. If we determine that we do need to provide fresh air to this room, could we utilize that window in some way, or is there a certain size requirement for the source (and if so, how would we figure out what that size requirement is)?

Edit #1:

As requested, additional photos of the top of the hot water heater:

Hot Water Heater

Edit #2:

OK, did a bit more reading, in particular about combustion air requirements (secondary source)

As I understand, the calculations then are as follows:

The input BTU/hr for the hot water heater is 38,000. The furnace is ignored since it is enclosed and draws directly from outside (is this correct?)

The room is 12' x 13' x 8', which amounts to 1248 ft^3.
For 38000 BTU/hr a minimum of volume of 1900 ft^3 is required (38000 * 50 / 1000)

The required area for a vent is 1 in^2 / 1000 BTU/hr, so 38 in^2 (but I guess the minimum vent size is 100 in^2 - this part isn't clear to me)

So if we were to replace the door, we would need to install two, 100 in^2 vents, one within 12" of the ceiling and one within 12" of the floor? Is this correct?

Can the space between the top of the drywall and the floor (see the first set of pictures) serve as the top vent? The basement is a drop ceiling, otherwise that would be a free gap in to the room next door. I would think that combined area would make up for the fact that the drop ceiling adds resistance to air flow.

In the remodels I have done with open combustion inside a house we were required to have the 2 vents  I normally put 1 in the wall close to the ceiling and one in the wall at the floor with each being ~1 sq ft vented to the attic on single story.
 This is for fresh air not exhaust and I was told having the 2 zones helps to mix the air in the room and the exhaust goes out the vent on the water heater. I thought it sounded excessive but was easy to bring the vent’s in a non load bearing stud chase both were on the same one and by cutting out most of the walls top plate between these 2 studs on a non load bearing wall provided enough to pass inspection. This passed inspection the handful of times I did it, one being on my own home when I converted it to gas.  On 1 home I was required to install duct work in the stud bay and connect the vents , the vents must be fixed no dampers. The home that I was required to use ducting was a multi family dwelling and the wall I was using was common but not load bearing, the duct is easy to install remove the Sheetrock down 1 stud bay and purchase square duct put it in the bay replace the Sheetrock install the vents and it ends up looking like part of the heating system. If you can just use the stud bay cut the holes for the vent registers cut through the top plate I used a reciprocating saw so those were easy.


How to remove a single remote from liftwaster garage door opener I have a garage door with a red auto-learn button that is used by several people. I would like to remove a single programmed remote from the opener without deprogramming all the other remotes that are currently in use. Is there a way to deprogram a single remote? Can I reset the remote itself back to factory default?
When I search, all I can find is instructions on resetting the garage door opener itself by pressing and holding the learn button until all the programmed remotes are deprogrammed, but that requires everyone to reprogram their remotes. I would like to avoid this.
The remotes are GD-R12 three button Generics design to replace 973LM by liftmaster.

They all have to be reprogrammed.
When you teach the system you add remotes 1 by 1.
To remove 1, all remotes are erased from memory.
they have to be taught 1 by 1 again sorry.


What could cause a "smelly sock" smell seeping into our living room from the crawlspace? Our living room floor is wooden so there is a gap between the footings and the floor. In late fall, we get a horrible smell in that room. It smells like smelly socks but worse.

I thought it was because of rain in winter since it seems to start around November or December. It lasts for about a month but then seems to disappear. We do not get it in summer even if we get loads of rain at that time. then so not sure nut really nasty and nothing takes the smell away.

What could be causing the smell at this time, and how can we prevent it?

Access the crawlspace and inspect it with a bright light. Assess for damp areas indicative of water penetration from exterior or from leaky pipe(s). Moisture = mildew/mold which can smell. Use coveralls and a dust mask. Look for any dead critters that could be causing this.

Certain plants and trees drop leaves and stuff that smell (eucalyptus, for example) if left sitting to get damp, ensure accumulated plant matter and debris are raked away from your home.

Whatever issue is found, fix it. Damp nasty soil can often be treated with hydrated lime powder to remove and prevent future odors.


Test for lead over wallpaper If the walls are covered with wallpaper, eventually to be removed, can one test for lead in the paint under it without stripping the wallpaper?  Or does one first have to strip everything, and then test?

You don't need to remove all of the wallpaper, but you will need to expose the paint so it can be swabbed / tested. Looking online, you can just make a small slice through the wallpaper / paint and swab your test kit that way. Other test kits may need more paint exposed, in which case you'd just remove a small section of the wallpaper.


Can I use construction adhesive to mount a 4' LED Shop light on a Flexicore ceiling? I am about to move in a a new (to me) condo with a Flexicore (precast concrete panel) ceiling.  I am not sure if I can drill into the ceiling or not so I am looking for alternate way to hang a 4' LED shop light in a closet.

Ignoring any electrical connections, as I can deal with that part of it, would it be possible to use construction adhesive to mount a 4' LED shop light to the Flexicore ceiling?  Would it have enough strength to hold up that light?  If not any other suggestions?

I would not use adhesive to mount a LED fixture. The LED fixtures I use have large heat sinks on the top of the fixture to dissipate the heat generated. Gluing the fixture could cause 2 problems:

The glue would not allow free airflow on the top of the fixture causing a higher temperature than the LEDs are rated for and this could severely reduce their life.
How to remove a dead glued to the ceiling fixture.

I guess there could be A 3rd reason what to do when my closet catches fire from a fixture that was not installed per the listing instructions ( ok this one is a stretch because the drivers usually shut down when they overheat).

I would check into flexcore and see the mounting methods available.


Please help on this cable conections I have a 2 water pump and a controller with a timer that need to be connected. The controller had two outlets for the pumps, and in the back has 3 terminals: HOT Neutral HOT.

But my 240 volt supply just has 2 hot cables but not neutral so how can I supply the neutral pole on the controller if I only have 2 hot lines?

If it's a small load like a timer motor, the appliance could be "hacked" by adding a tiny 240/120v transformer to produce the 120V within the appliance.

I would consult with the factory to see exactly how they use 120V within the appliance and if they have any sanctioned kit or instructions to do just that.

Very often, 240V appliances have some control that is 120V.  When they sell that same appliance in East Asia, which is all 240V-only, they add a tiny 120V transformer just as I describe.    That "East Asian" spec is perfectly compatible with US power and they could market them here... but they want to pinch pennies, so they remove the $2 transformer and require a neutral.

So if it's possible to convert the appliance to East Asian spec, that may be cheaper than running new cable with neutral.


How many horsepower does a 159cc engine have? This device has a "159cc Cub Cadet OHV Engine."

Approximately how many horsepower would that have?  I'm comparison-shopping and I'd like to know if this is more or less powerful than a Lawn Machines unit that has a 4.5 HP engine.  Thanks

The cubic centimeter displacement spec of the engine does not directly specify the horsepower. There are other factors such as compression ratio, spark timing and operational RPM at which the horsepower is measured.

You really need to look closely at the engine name plate to see if it specifies the horsepower or contact the manufacturer for details.


What are good ways to deal with an area that needs temporary floor covering? I recently posted a question about using peel and stick tiles on chipboard substrate as a temp fix.  I started to write this as an answer to that questions, but realized that my answer was becoming far more general than my question.

Situation:  Toilet tank cracks, dropping about 10 gallons of water on the floor before discovery.  Most of the water went into the joist space, but some made the hall carpet and foam underlay soggy.

I immediately ripped up the carpet and underlay, vacuumed the loose water, and set a fan to dry the area.  I have minimal swelling of the porridge board.

This hallway area is in a loft with balcony overlooking the great room, and two bedrooms.  We want to redo all of the flooring on this level.  My work is seasonal, so doing it now isn't practical.

So I need a temporary floor covering until the time comes to do the great reno.

A similar situation arises if you buy a 'handyman special' house to fix up.  Often a workable temporary solution can help turn a barn into a house.

I'm going with paint.

Research elsewhere on the net found some interesting stories about people putting down a new floor after a P&S floor.  Getting the old tiles up, and removing the glue was a serious PITA, right up there with older style glue down floors.

So...

A "Temporary" floor should be done in such a way that it is easy to remove, or can be covered over when comes the time to replace it.  To that end I rate the following as reasonable temp floor solutions:

Do nothing

Very cheap and quick.

Downsides:

Chipboard isn't a good wear surface, nor is is good with water.
Tacky looking.  You see all the work stains paint drips, etc from the construction time of the house, plus whatever got through the previous floor covering.

Paint it.

It keeps the dust down
It gives a smoother finish.
Prep work done for painting would likely need to be done for a permanent floor too.
Gives some protection against wear and water damage.

Downsides:

Block access to floor while painting.
Needs at least two coats for any kind of durability.
Looks cheap.
Not easy to keep clean.

Paint could be augmented with some form of filler first to make it smoother.

If the floor is a the really cheap sawdust board, there is merit in using a non-waterbase primer.

Also:  If you can, use recycled paint.  No point in using expensive paint for this.

Carpet Runner / area carpets

Really quick to put in.
less tacky looking than paint.

Downsides

More expensive
Cheap area rugs may not stay flat.

A variation on a theme:  If you can access used carpet, cut a chunk to fit, and as a temp covering, staple it in place.

Another variation:  If your area run doesn't do the whole area, paint first, then the area run.

Laminate flooring & Vinyl Plank flooring.

This is close to a permanent solution, but for a temp solution you may want to use whatever is cheapest at The Orange Box, and take shortcuts in the installation, such as duct tape transition strips, and being less attentive to detailing.  May make sense if the temp area is small compared to the entire area you will be doing.

Loose lay vinyl.

Another more permanent temporary solution.  This is a form of vinyl flooring stiff enough to just lay on the floor.  I've used it in a bathroom 12 years ago, and it has worked well for me.  But even cheap vinyl can be stapled in place.

This is, I think, the best solution for a bathroom, especially if the existing subfloor is one that can be easily water damaged.


Switching from a Mercury Switch Thermostat to a XT500C Thermostat I only have a white, red, green and yellow wires, from my old thermostat.  I see multiple Red wires... where does a single red wire go... to the R connection...

You need to jumper the red wire to both Rc and Rh. The Rh powers the heating side and the Rc powers the cooling side. Since you have a four wire system, they use the same power supply therefore they need to be jumpered. I believe your XT500C takes batteries. If so you don't need to connect the common (C) terminal. If you do need the C comment back a I will guide you to a resolution.

Edit

I suppose you should safely dispose of the mercury at a waste facility. My Dad and I have been keeping mercury from old thermostats in a jar for collectively 70 years.