How should I fill gaps in wooden skirting board etc? I got this product to fill deep holes. It is a general purpose filler which states:

This is a non-shrink, ready mixed mortar made with natural hydraulic lime, siliceous and calcareous sand (0-0.6mm) and additives. Suitable for repairing or restoring cement renders, lime plasters and refurbishment work on composite backgrounds.

Can I get away with using it to fill gaps in wooden skirting board or might it introduce problems?  I just need it to hold for a year or so. It would be for small holes in the skirting board as well as in between the board and wall. Just to block small lines of air flow that are coming up.

If you only need it to last "a year or so", use Playdough, chewing gum, Bondo™, duct tape, cement, lime or whatever the heck you want. If it falls out in 6 months, fill it again - this only has to last a year or so, right?
If you want to do it right, then use a quality wood filler. If you want to slap in whatever product you have sitting around the house, then slap it in.
The same holds true for fixing the holes in "etc". If it's just temporary, use whatever you've got on hand. Heck, you could probably make wood filler work just fine in a plaster wall if it's only for a year...


Ceiling / Wall mounted heaters recomendations? My mom wants to get my step-dad a heater for his workshop in the garage, but there's very little floor space available that isn't taken up with tools, and she noticed that there's an electical plug up high on one of the walls (the ceiling's probably about 10 to 12' high).

I can find lots of wall-mounted heaters online, but I have no idea what features / etc, I should look for, or even what size I should get.

They're in southern Maryland, and they're in a bit of a valley, so it tends to be colder than normal for the area (less sunlight hits 'em); it's a two-car garage, high ceilings, and the walls are drywall, but I've never checked if they're insulated or not.  (I'm guessing not, or at least, they lose enough through the garage doors that it should be treated as if it's not)

A quick search shows me most ceiling-mounted shop heaters are probably all 240V, so unless that plug also is, you'll need to run new electrical. I had a heater that looked something like the one below at a place I used to work, and it worked decently well.

Here's a nice heater sizing chart to help decide how powerful a heater you need.


Installing an "In-Wall" Light Timer, But it calls for"Load", "Hot", and "Neutral" I am installing a new wall light switch timer, but in addition to my ground, Hot, and Neutral wires that are currently running to the old switch, this new one requires a "Load" wire too.   I tried wiring the neutral and load together, and it "Kind-of" works, but the four light fixtures now flash, this is with LED lamps in each socket.

Any ideas or suggestions for the Load wire, or the flashing lamps?

Is this in a bathroom? Do you want this timer to control a light or to control an exhaust fan?

In either case, the load wire is that wire to the light or fan (the load) which will be switched to hot when you turn on the switch and which will be automatically switched off at the end of the timed period.

I assume here that the line cable enters in the switch box so you have a neutral in the switch box. If the line cable enters in the load box, then you almost certainly do NOT have a neutral in the switch box and you will not be able to install this new switch without running a new cable.

The load must also have a neutral connected to it. This is so that all that is needed to "complete the circuit" is for the timer switch to switch on the line hot. But the load and the neutral must NOT be connected to each other.

Your new timer evidently also requires a neutral connection to it which your older timer may not have required. The neutral from the line cable and the neutral to the load (usually both white) will be connected with a wire nut in the switch box. Remove the wire nut and add a short pigtail white to the other two and twist back on the wire nut (so then 3 white wires would be under the nut). This pigtail supplies the neutral required by the new switch. This pigtail may be a provided lead on the switch or you may have to use a short piece of wire with white insulation.

With the old type timer switches if one would do this, it would trip the breaker. If you did this and it did not trip the breaker, then maybe these new switches have a built in protection against a wrong connection.


Safe to test circuit breaker is working by overloading it? Is it safe to test a 20-amp circuit breaker is working by overloading it? The reason I ask is because I purchased a 11-amp window air conditioner. If someone plugs a vacuum into a outlet on the same circuit I want to ensure it trips.

A breaker is designed to safely trip out on overload. That being said, anytime you have a breaker trip out on overload you are doing some damage to a breaker and it actually changes some of the breaker specs and properties. Also as mentioned all breakers have time curves that trip breakers under certain conditions. For example if a 20A breaker is loaded to 25A it may take up to 2 minutes to trip, where a direct short causes an instantaneous trip.

The best way to test a breaker in the field is to use an amp meter and it should be sophisticated enough measure peak, constant and average amperages of both the ac and vacuum. It will usually trip at startup so measure the peak at the ac startup. Then measure the vacuum startup and do the math. If you have the breakers time curves you can check on how long the overload will hold.

If you really want to make sure the AC is the only thing to be used on a particular circuit. Is first make it a separate circuit for that equipment only and use a simplex outlet instead of a duplex.


What type of exhaust ventilation is best for attic? We want to add exhaust ventilation to our attic (hip-style composition roof).  Which type is most effective, passive or power?

Around here (California) all of the roofing contractors are installing solar powered attic vents, the ones where the solar panel is part of the fan assembly. No wiring and yes, they only work on sunny days, but that's the only time you really need them!


How to cover up ripped drywall with minimal effort? My basement has many ripped drywall areas like in this picture.

How can I cover these areas up with minimal effort and cost. It doesn't need to be permanent or look extremely good, as I see this as semi-permanent solution to make it less ugly for the time being. Covering it up with drywall is an obvious choice but it costs quite a bit and it's not the easiest to cut and install. Is there another type of material (such as thin wood board) that I can consider?

If you're just looking to cover up the wall, a sheet of 1/4" or 1/2" plywood (4x8') would probably work.  You can get them at the big box stores for $20 or less.

I'm not sure how much drywall costs where you are, but my big blue store carries a 4x8' sheet of 1/2" drywall for $8. If you've already got a level and a utility knife, you can cut it to size (score with the knife and snap). If not, those are things you should probably own as a homeowner anyway, so now's as good a time as any to get them! If you want to get fancy, you could get a drywall square; my blue store has one for $12. Throw in tape and a tub of premixed compound for $15 or so, and you're out the door for just more than the plywood. If you've got more than one of these areas to do, you'll only need more drywall making it cheaper overall.

If this is the only place you're needing to fix, it looks like a single 4x8' sheet would cover that whole area, with little left over. In that case, the plywood might be slightly cheaper, but if you need a second sheet for another area, the drywall starts to become cheaper.

Of course, you could just put up the drywall without any compound, making it much cheaper than the plywood.


Smoke detectors (wired/wireless) - how much is enough Our house is fairly new (2013 build year). We moved in 2016. On the second floor we have 3 wireless smoke detectors and 1 wired and on the first floor we have 1 wired smoke detector and 2 wireless. They are all positioned in about the same area. I am curious why do we have so many and can we get rid off wireless (it is time to replace them anyway)

I am trying to research everything. And so far I only found something about ADT alarm. We do have ADT installed.

Update on position. On the second floor all smoke detectors are located in the hallway (not in bedrooms). They all positioned on the area of roughly 1 m^2.
On the first floor all smoke detectors are in the hallway next to bathroom, laundry room, living room, bedroom and fairly far from kitchen. They are all positioned on the area of roughly 1 m^2.

More update I just carefully inspected the second floor and found out that there is smoke detector in each bedroom (total of 3), they are all wired. There is also extra wired smoke detector in hall way next to two bedrooms. Also one bedroom on the first floor has wired smoke detector. It seems like all other wireless smoke detectors are excessive.

This might explain why you have many in the same area especially if in the sleeping area of the house.

https://www.nfpa.org › Public-Education › Staying-safe › Safety-equipment
Install smoke alarms inside each bedroom, outside each sleeping area and on every level of the home, including the basement. On levels without bedrooms, install alarms in the living room (or den or family room) or near the stairway to the upper level, or in both locations.

Some of the "extra" ones you think you have might be carbon monoxide detectors. I'd think twice about removing any safety devices.


Installed outlet for Tesla charger but get only 8 amps out and the breaker is 50 amps We installed a 50 amp breaker and a new cable out to a new outlet, however only 8 amps come out, and the Tesla charges one-third as fast. The wire is 6 gauge, I’m in the US and the car is fine. The charger is the one which came with the car a Tesla model S 2014. and the car is showing 240V 8 amps, and charging 4 times slower than in my previous home
Does anybody know why we might be getting only 8 amps out?

only 8 amps come out, and the Tesla charges one-third as fast.

The electrical circuits in your home can't restrict the amount of current they deliver, other than to shut off completely if you exceed the threshold for the breaker by a certain amount over a certain amount of time. If you are getting any current at all, the only thing that could be limiting that current is whatever you have plugged into it.
In the case of electric vehicle supply equipment (EVSE), this would be either the charging station itself, or the settings in the vehicle. You appear to have the Tesla "Mobile" EVSE, which when attached to a 240V supply should provide much more than 8A of charging. However, it is compatible with both 240V and 120V, and the 8A is consistent with it being plugged into a 120V/15A supply; their documentation says it will charge at 3 miles/hour, which works out to about 1 kWh, which at 120V is about 8A.
Your photos don't show what kind of outlet you have, nor do you indicate where in the world you are located. But if, as the 50A (or 60A?) breaker suggests, the circuit is supposed to be supplying 240V, the first thing to check would be to make sure there is in fact 240V at the outlet; if not, then it has been wired incorrectly. You indicated in the comments that the car is telling you it's connected to a 240V supply, which I would think would be authoritative. But there's no harm in double-checking.
Of course, the other thing to check is the car's charging settings themselves. Many Tesla's include a "geo-fenced" configuration for charging, meaning you may get different charging rate settings in different locations (based on GPS). It's possible that in your new location, you haven't adjusted the maximum charging rate. Or maybe it just got set lower for some reason at some point.
Finally, keep in mind that the charging rate slows considerably when the battery is nearly empty or nearly full. You won't see the fastest charging rates under those conditions. Rates are also limited depending on battery temperature, but a) the Tesla actively manages battery temperature to minimize this effect, and b) from the photos it looks like you are probably charging in an enclosed area, so I wouldn't expect temperature to be a major concern.
I think it's highly unlikely that there's anything wrong with the EVSE or the car's charging components themselves. But if you've gone through and ruled out all of the possibilities above, it could be time to contact Tesla for support. It would be easy enough for you to take the EVSE to your local service center and have them verify it operates correctly, as well as have them check the car itself.


Replacing Halogen with LED bulbs I've just purchased some 12V LED MR-16 bulbs, intending to use them to replace the existing 12V Halogen MR-16 bulbs in my bathroom. I have found, much to my chagrin, that the LED bulbs seem to have different supply requirements.

What do I need to do in order to replace the halogen bulbs with the LED bulbs I've purchased?

The circuit to which the bulbs connect is 12V. Mains voltage is 240V here. To the best of my knowledge the LED bulbs are driver-less. Do I need to install a driver between each socket and the bulb, or does it just need to be somewhere on the 12V circuit? I do not have access to the 240V-12V transformer, even if I felt comfortable manipulating it.

I have tried the following configurations for the 4 sockets in my bathroom:

4 Halogen
2 Halogen, 2 LED
4 LED
1 LED

In each case the halogens act as would be expected: on when I switch the power on, off when I switch the power off.

When I switch on the power: The LEDs flash on, then go off and stay off.

When I switch off the power: LEDS stay off.

Key difference:

Halogen lights generally run from AC so this is what your transformer outputs.
LED's require DC so generally yes, you will need a rectified output from your transformer.

I am guessing the transformer is providing enough forward voltage on initial switch-on, but not thereafter.

You may be able to add a rectifier circuit at each bulb location to cope with this.


Skylight bad idea on flat roof? I have a metal roof with a 5 degree pitch in a temperate climate (snowed once in 50 years).  My living room equatorial facing Windows are largely blocked by my neighbors but I do get some sunlight coming thru clerestory Windows.

I'd like more sunlight and the roof itself receives unobstructed sunlight. I did talk to the solatube rep but he said they couldn't help me squeeze a tube between rafters etc.  And the light from those is pretty weak.

So I guess I'm looking at possibly a skylight or similar so I can get the sun in, with the aim of keeping alive some of my frost sensitive plants over winter.

But a structure in the middle of my roof is going to stop water draining unless I guess it gets diverted around the skylight without pooling.

Would it be a bad idea? Alternatives? And I'd rather not lose any heat in winter.

Alternative: Fiber optic sky light. You don't need to put the solar panel on the roof- it can be set anywhere with good light (the side of the house and roof are commonly used though). The optic cables could be routed anywhere (like under the house, through the wall, etc.).

I'm not really making a recommendation, but Huvco and Wasco/Parans came up first when I googled "fiber optic sky light".


How to secure a top heavy tall iron headboard I have an iron headboard that is 80 inches tall in the center.  It's very top heavy - and just plain heavy too.  If it's just mounted to the bed frame would
that be enough to keep it from falling forward? (as in crushing me when I'm sleeping) I love this headboard but afraid of it too.  Any suggestions?

That frame is built of heavy-gauge steel and will likely hold up your headboard without damage. The fact that your headboard is vertical means that there's relatively little stress on the assembly.

However, there may be play in the rivets and other connections which leave the headboard a bit wobbly when the bed is used. To completely remedy that you'd probably need to add a diagonal brace near the floor, between the horizontal frame rail and the headboard leg, creating a larger gusset. You could do so with a simple double-bent 1/8" steel or 1/4" aluminum bar stock attached with carriage bolts. Something like so:

            | |
___________/| |
___________ | |
 --        \| |
    \       | |
      \     | |
        \   | |
          \ | |
           || |
            | |


Why won't my clothing iron work in one outlet but works in others? I've been using my clothing iron in the same outlet in my laundry room for the past 6 months since I moved into my house, but all of a sudden the iron won't work in that outlet anymore. I plugged an outlet tester in and it says the outlet is fine, and lower power appliances work in this outlet. The iron works in other outlets, but not this one.

I'm in the US, the iron is 120V, A/C, 60 Hz, 1100 Watts.

What could the problem be?

* UPDATE April 9, 2013 *
It turns out the problem was the iron, not the outlet. I replaced the outlet and had the same problem, so I started using the iron in a different outlet. One day I heard a "pop" while ironing and the "hot" side of the cord caught fire right near the plug. Luckily I was there at the time to make sure the fire didn't spread. It burned through the cord pretty fast and then I unplugged it. Now that iron is in the trash and I bought a new one.

It is probably as simple as one of the plug prongs not making good contact with the outlet. Try bending them in slightly by pinching them together, then putting it in the outlet again.


How to remove an Accuride drawer rail on a Diebold fire-safe filing cabinet? The filing cabinet has two Accuride slides on each side of the double wide drawers:

Trying to figure out how to remove the drawers for moving purposes.  Don't have a fork lift on delivery end.

We believe this is a 3620, a pocket and bayonet slide. For those type of drawer slides you have to move the drawer away from the locking tab, then lift the bayonet out of the cabinet pocket.  Below is an image so you have a visual reference.


Shared neutral with two separate breakers As I continue to make sense of the wiring in home, I have come across some shared neutral configurations.  In one, I find two breakers that have been connected to one NM-3 line i.e. black and red are each connected to a separate breaker (on the same side of  the box.)  As I understand from here and other references, this is OK but it should be on a 'split-phase double breaker'.

First question: Am I right that this configuration is incorrect and should be fixed?

Second question: This suggests that these configurations are problematic for AFCI installations.  I want to upgrade my breakers to AFCI.  Will this kind of thing be an issue?

Lastly, for anyone so inclined, I have a Cutler-Hammer CH style board.  If this needs to be fixed, which breakers would be acceptable?

As long as the ungrounded  (hot) conductors of the circuit are fed by different legs of the service,  then there's no problem with the wiring. According to modern codes, the breakers need to at least have a handle tie. However, since the installation presumably predates the code, it does not have to be changed (unless you're doing work that requires it).

If you want to install AFCI breakers, you'll simply have to replace the two breakers with a double pole AFCI breaker.


Outlet screwed directly into stud I was replacing old outlet in my house and came across an outlet that is screwed directly into the studs.  Also the stud and the junction box were cut to fit the outlet.  The new outlet is too big to fit in this space. I am afraid to put a new outlet in here as it could be a fire risk.

What should I do with this?  Should i cap off the wires and put a blank wall plate?  Or is there some way I can salvage this and put an outlet in here.

There is a wall (fireplace) to the left and a sliding glass door an inch or so to the right.

It looks like you are up against a corner on the left, which means you can't simply shift the outlet into the box location. In a perfect world you have enough cable to move the box to the other side of that stud. You would then simply repair your drywall. (We've since learned that there's a door to the right, just out of frame, making this impossible.)

Otherwise I would find a shallow box and cut the stud back so that the box can sit partially or completely in front of it. Since you are right near a corner you can safely take a third to a half of the stud out without concern. It may not strictly meet code, but experience tells me it won't be a problem.

A good way to do that is with a nice sharp spade bit of 1 inch or so. Just make a series of straight-in bores in a grid pattern to cut the wood away. Mark your depth on the side of the stud before hand so you know how deep to go.


Exposed metal rod in the wall. What is it? What should I do? I tried removing some loose plaster and exposed a thin steel rod running up the wall. It seems to have had a coving which has rusted (maybe burnt?) off.

My guess is that it is the earth for the electrics but that is completely a guess. A friend suggested it could be the old wiring but doesn’t look like wire...

Any idea what it is and what I should do? Is it safe?

Cheers

Before electricity, gas lighting was common in homes and commercial buildings.  When electric lighting began replacing gas lighting, sometimes gas piping was disconnected from gas and used for electric lighting.  There are even some reports that for a time, gas piping was installed new for electric lighting - the idea was that just in case electricity turned out to be a novelty or fad, the piping would be in place for gas lights.

The picture is not very clear but it appears to be a very corroded pipe with a gray flat cable in it.

The bend in the pipe is sharp, unlike electrical conduit, which is usually bent with a gentle sweep.  Judging from the brickwork, the plaster, the stair stringer, and the advanced deterioration of the pipe, it could be 100+ years old.

I believe it is most likely old gas / plumbing pipe being used for electrical.  The gray flat cable in the pipe might be UF - nonmetallic cable rated for wet locations - that's typically the only flat gray cable you see in recent years.  However the current conventions for color coding the jackets of nonmetallic cables have not been around nearly as long as this structure, so it may be something else.


How can I replace a water pipe on the second floor without the need to damage the bathtub? My father is the owner of the house, and on the second floor area there is a bathtub over the top of the water damaged ceiling on the first floor that i currently live, my father told me that these pipe may leaking thus thus cause a giant bubble on the ceiling, however i don't want to brother the tenant my self and thus my father only check it once and of course i didn't saw it with my naked eyes. So, base on your experience/knowledge, what will be the different way for me to replace the water pipe on second floor without the need to damage the bathtub in some of the most common situation?

First of all, the water damage in your unit could simply be because the upstairs people aren't properly closing the shower curtain when they shower, not the result of leaking pipes.

If there is a leaking pipe, you will not be going through the tub to fix / replace it - that would destroy the tub.  You'll be opening up the wall on the other side of the tub, or the floor under the tub, or more likely both.

As for tracing the pipes - if they're copper you might be able to use a metal detector but its generally most reliable to open the walls up and trace them.  You might be able to tell where the pipes are running by studying the basement where they enter the walls but that's still not guaranteed to help.


How to protect the wires when the electrical box is mounted on a 2x4 stud? The interior 2x4 wall will have drywall on both sides. The light switch box has wires coming in/out are almost to the back of the stud. How do I protect them as they will not be 1 1/4 inch from the wall?

Generally this isn't a concern. It's a very common scenario, and inspectors don't usually call for steel plates or anything. Use caution when hanging your drywall in those areas and don't worry about it.


Voltage live to neutral low I'm in the uk on 240V. I've got an extractor fan that isn't working. What I find is that at the fan and the switch that operates it, live to neutral is 160V. Ground to live reads 240 and ground to neutral reads just a couple. This is with the fan disconnected. The rest of the house is fine - it's just the fan. I presume that it runs off the light circuit which reads as expected.
Anyone any ideas what might be wrong?

Like the guys said - a faulty connection on the neutral. This in a light fitting a few feet away.


How important is the weather stripping on the inside of a Velux skylight? I just had the inside of the wooden frames around my Velux skylights painted. The painter did a good job, but I think when he was removing the masking tape from the skylight's frame, he pulled off a little weather stripping as well:

Looking at the rest of the light, this stripping runs all the way around, but is somewhat loosely coupled with the surrounding wooden frame, which makes me think that its main purpose is something other than waterproofing. Most likely its a draft and heat loss barrier, in which case, it's probably not a big deal if a little of it is damaged. Can anyone tell me what purpose this stripping serves and if I should be concerned by the damage to it?

Nothing on the inside like that would have any purpose related to water entry; if the water got that far in, there would already be damage. That is, at best, just draft and heat loss, but most likely it's just cosmetic. I would just glue it back in place.


Hanging Shelf With 79lb Drywall Anchor I have a shelf I want to hang up for my son to put up his gaming console and other expensive items. The studs in my wall don't line up with the shelves mounts. I have some drywall anchors left over from hanging pictures that are rated for 79 lbs in 1/2 inch thick drywall and the mounts require 4 screws, two sets of vertically in line. Can I safely mount the shelf with one side in studs and the other with the drywall anchors if I put the heavier items on the side in the stud? The overall weight of the shelf and all items going on it should weigh less than 79 lbs. The shelf is just over 45 inches long if this is relevant.

No those anchors will NOT be sufficient to hold up THAT shelf. Those shelf brackets are too short and there will be a LARGE pulling force on the upper screw.

Assuming from the image that's a 10 inch shelf and the screws at 2 inches apart, hanging 79lbs on the edge of the shelf will get you a whopping

  395 LBS of pull force on the top screw.

When you look at that picture and look at the metal end, does it remind you of any tool that is sitting on top of your toolbox? A claw-hammer perhaps?

You may get away with the type of anchor that mushrooms out behind the wall as shown below. Remembering to buy the size that matches your drywall thickness. But I do NOT recommend these either for that shelf.

With the shortness of that bracket, I'd still be concerned that was not enough to hold up much weight. If those fail, it is going to pull down a rather large piece of drywall too.

Personally I would be inclined to add a backer board out of a nice piece of wood, the wider the better, using one of the following two methods.

Option 1: Outboard screws... Board cut to fit to next stud width. In your case 3 (Don't forget to add a 2x4 width.). Mount board to studs then centre shelf on the wood.

Option 2.: Inboard Screws. Cut board to about 1 inch wider than the shelf. Then centre the board on the studs as shown in the image below.

Which method is best?

Use the method that gets the screws in the wood closest to the screws in the brackets. However, be aware that with the "inboard screws" method, the end of the board will tend to pull away from the wall if the screws are too far away from the brackets.

If the boards spans more than two studs, I'd add another couple of screws  at each stud.

If you, or the Mrs, don't like the visible screws, use one of the many capping or plugging methods.


Safe deck surround distance for tree I plan to build a deck around this small bing cherry tree. It's 3" diameter. I will have a beam running around 1 feet next to it on one side. The other 3 sides are flexible in term of what I can do.

Do you think it's OK to have 1 feet distance from the tree?

I don't know of any "rule of thumb" or regulation on this. I think the cherry tree can get very large like 2 feet diameter in 10 years. I am planning to leave the hole around 3 feet diameter in case. I just don't know if it would grow around it (moving toward one direction).

Any real life practical experience is welcome!

The tree will generally grow larger in diameter centered around the existing trunk....at least for the foreseeable future. Larger / older trees may at times grow out more to one side versus another but the factors that cause them to do that are probably complex and may have more to do with how the canopy of the tree develops or how the tree gets damaged or stressed through the years. My experience is that most trees will attempt to grow around an obstruction as opposed to moving over if it gets a little crowded on one side.


Connecting gas logs to small propane tank I'd like to install some propane-gas based logs in my fireplace to use as an auxiliary heat source this winter.  Mainly for when the power goes out (I have electric heat pump), or for very cold morning while eating breakfast.

As such, I don't want or need a massive buried tank for propane at my house.  I considered a 100lb tank however, 1) the local gas companies won't fill these at the house, and 2) as I understand it, these tanks must be transported vertically, which will be very difficult for me (even though I have a pickup).

I would like to use 40lb tanks instead or even the bbq size 20lb tanks (keeping extras on hand), but am confused on what parts I need to hook the gas logs up.  Assuming I come out of a 1/2" black pipe from the outside wall of the chimney, I believe I need a twin regulator with a pigtail connector like this one, but I'm not 100% it's correct.  Can anyone verify this will work with what I am trying to do?

I just did the same thing. I installed an Empire vent free log set in my wood burning fireplace that I plan to use mostly in a vented manner.  I ran black pipe from the outside on my open air back porch into the fireplace which attached to the gas log burner controls.

For the outside, I simply attached a standard BBQ replacement propane hose with regulator to a 20lb tank.  It works just fine.  My log set is around 32000 btu so I can expect around 10.5-11 hours on a 20lb tank.  I plan to get a 40lb tank.

One issue for you might be if your logs don't have the proper flame, it may be due to the hose used to connect to the tank being 1/4".  Try to find a hose/regulator that is 3/8" which should provide a bit more gas to the logs.

Be aware that local code might require you to have a gas shutoff installed inside the house.  Mine does, so I installed one.

One caution.  Be sure to get a gas log set that does NOT have a continuous pilot light.  A pilot light running 24/7 will use about 8 gallons of propane a month.  That's 2 20lb tanks worth of propane.


Is it OK that the frame of my house doesn't line up with the slab? My new house is being framed. I saw that the frame extends 1-2" from the foundation:

Click photograph for full size

The builder told me it happens often and the city inspector will catch it if this is a problem.

Is this OK? Should I ask a 3rd party inspector to check on this right now?

No, it's not ok. For one thing, by the time the city inspector looks at the fully framed building, it will be a little too late to fix it. Secondly, the builder's attitude seems very questionable. Either his framing crew or the concrete sub messed up. At the very least their job is not done in a workmanlike manner. They shouldn't wait and hope things 'slip' by the city inspector. A good contractor with personal integrity just wouldn't allow something like this to happen in the first place, IMHO. Or if this was truly not a big deal, he would take time to explain why this is ok.


Is this the correct way to vent my roof? We recently bought a 1950s vintage house with no soffits, i.e. no roof overhang. Thus there are no soffit vents in my attic, only a ridge vent and 2 gable vents, one with a powered fan. However, those are only outtakes, and as far as I know, the only fresh air is coming in from the door to the attic (this is a split-level).

I believe we need some sort of intake venting in the roof, and my roofer recommended an on-roof vent product.

Has anyone had experience with this type of product? Specifically:

Does it provide adequate air flow?
Are there water/ice penetration issues?
Are there other options for a house with no soffits?

Maybe the links have changed, but if this is the product that you were looking at...

then yes, I have had experience with roof to wall vents... they work; but they are for the tops of roofs, where they meet a wall (like for an addition on the side of a house). So, I don't think it would be useful for your house, if I understand your question correctly. If you installed soffits (or found a way to vent without them), then you may want to use a ridge vent (kind of the same thing), but I don't really understand a way around adding/building an overhang in order to have soffits.

I would like to see a pic of your way/solution around soffits (6" vents installed equidistant from each other).


Square tube or C-channel for gate frame I will built a frame for a wood gate like the one below (but mine will slide in a track instead of hang on hinges).

I was thinking on using C-channel instead of tubing for the frame, since it will make it easier to screw the planks to the frame and the screws will be semi-hidden. Also, the c-channel is thicker per weight, so easier to weld with stick eletrodes.

I never saw a gate frame using C-channel, are there any problems using it for that? Apart from the looks on the inside, will tubing provide any real advantage (considering similar weight materials)?

Square tube (or I-beam) is a trifle stronger than C-channel/C-beam. You may not need that additional strength, depending on exactly what you're building. C-channel is a bit lighter, which may not matter for your application.

(I'm using square-tube aluminum for the bike trailer I'm modifying. C-channel would probably have been fine for this application, but the weight and price differences were insignificant so I went for overkill.)


Switching off dimmable LED flashes then switches back on I tried to swap out a 70W 240V incandescent bulb with a dimmable 8.8W 220-240V LED. The switch is a dimmer switch, which probably has an old leading edge driver (the building is old).

This mostly worked fine; the bulb switches on to full brightness and can be dimmed (though not especially dim). However after leaving the bulb on for some time, it refused to switch off. The bulb would dim down to almost off, strobe at about 2-3Hz at low brightness for a couple of seconds, then switch back on to full brightness. After trying a few times, I have swapped it back to the old bulb.

On another circuit with the same type of dimmer, I swapped out a cluster of 3× 50W incandescent bulbs for 3× 4.7W dimmable LEDs with no (apparent) problems.

The dimmer switch is an unusual type which I haven't been able to find online:

The black dot in the middle seems to be a rolling ball (the rest is immobile). It functions such that tapping acts as an on/off switch, while "swiping" a finger up or down changes the brightness. Even before trying an LED it sometimes behaved oddly (e.g. gradually switching on then immediately gradually switching off with no further interaction).

From what I have read, it seems that the new bulb is probably below the minimum wattage for the dimmer, but I'm trying to understand why it switches back to full brightness.

Will I need to get the dimmers replaced to make this work? Would a slightly higher wattage LED work fine?

This is the dimmer malfunctioning.  Simple as that.

This type of problem can usually be managed in one of two ways.

have one of the bulbs be incandescent
have a properly safety-listed "resistor block" (read: capacitor assembly) wired in parallel with the lamps.  This mimicks an incandescent bulb in the way we aim to accomplish above, and uses less power, and doesn't burn out.  In the States there's one I'm fond of recommending, made by Lutron and UL-listed, but it's not going to work in the land of square light switches. Consult your major dimmer vendors' catalogs if they make a similar module.

Make sure it is be BSI-listed, TUV, ETL, CSA, UL, one of the proper testing labs who is recognized in your country (an increasing number are, due to trade treaties). Chimazon will cheerfully sell you dangerous rubbish with a CE or CCC label.


Can I use separate 14 gauge outlet taps on 12 gauge circuits? If with a duplex outlet you break off the "connector bracket" (Leviton Corp term--I always called it the duplex tab) next to the screw terminals it will separate it into 2 single outlets and using 2 sets of 14ga pigtails that should comply with code as stated.  That way neither 14ga tap should exceed load specs.  With the exception of the creativity of the human mind to intentionally overload it.

Nope.  Generally you cannot downsize wire on the end of a circuit to below the breaker size.   The only exceptions are in the tap rules, and they don't allow that on household receptacles.  So wired as you propose, the breaker must be 15A.

For a 20A circuit, it would be a waste of material anyway, since an exception permits 15A receptacles on 20A circuits (specifically, only this case, not any others), and your two 14AWG pigtails need only be one 12AWG pigtail.  (UL requires every 15A receptacle to be rated 20A for passthru). You can chain any number of 15A receptacles on a 20A circuit and be golden.

That scheme leans heavy on the concept that "the appliance itself will limit current on each endpoint".  That makes safety conditional on everything working to spec.  If so, you don't need any safety devices at all!  So you can also toss grounding and all the breakers in the unsightly service panel. Splice right off the service drop and cover the splices in drywall.  Done!

Obviously experience shows that doesn't work, so we build for failure.


Home receptacles measure from 24 to 96 volts I have a home that is about 14 years old so it is better than the knob-and-tube wiring in my last home.  However, there are no less than three receptacles in the house that couldn't be used as the outlets weren't dependable.  Today I tackled one.  I checked the voltage across the wires and it showed 96v which was odd.  I flipped every breaker and the voltage never changed.  On further inspection, I have 24V between ground and neutral, and 120V between ground and positive.

If someone, upstream, they crossed neutral and ground, that could cause something like this, but why 24V between neutral and ground and 96V between neutral and positive?  Can those voltages give further clues to what might have been done wrong?

Help please!
Lew

DVM's have a problem.  Unlike traditional voltmeters which use a tiny amount of current from the circuit to move the needle in the meter, DVM's are self-powered and draw essentially no current.

If you lay two wires in parallel and energize one, the floating, unattached wire will "pick up" a voltage by induction (well, capacitance).  This is useless and there's no force behind it (if it wasn't, everyone who lived near high-tension lines would pirate power by laying wires alongside).   You won't see that power on an analog meter, because there's not even enough current to move the gauge needle.

So when you measure a circuit with a DVM, you never know what you're looking at.  It might be real live power or it might be this phantom.

When this happens, put any load on the circuit such as a night-light or a 3-lamp circuit tester, and measure again.


Basement Wall with Stucco/Concrete that needs to be removed Just bought a 1960 house with unfinished portion of a basement that has had previous water intrusion and the crack has been injected. There are a few lingering cracks I want to deal with. Wall has weird stucco/popcorn type of concrete coating, swirled on about 1/16 inch thick. I want to put liquid rubber primer and a sealant on this entire wall. Can I just primer it then seal it with a liquid rubber product as it is or should I get to bare concrete? Thanks!

That is a skim coat and depending on how well it was applied it can be difficult to remove. I use a needle scaler (welders use these to relieve stress and quickly clean slag from rust) I got my first one from harbor freight years ago and literarily war it out doing similar work. It is not hard but time consuming. I don’t know if there is an electric version but it was recommended by a friend that is a millwright.
needle scaler. I googled needle scaler and there are quite a few on line the last one I purchased from HF has probable been used over 100 hours, the one before that lasted 10+ years they really make the job easy. I have no connection to HF except having purchased a few of there tools some are real junk but I have a few that have been recommended by friends that have lasted well beyond my expectations.


What internet-connected home security system options exist? Background: Old, Hard-to-use Home Security System

We moved into a house with an existing "wired" home security system. This system includes an circa-1991 panel from Ademco (model 4140).

The wires are in place; the sensors work. We could use it "as is".

The UI on the panel however, lacks the user friendliness one would expect in 2010. So we looked at upgrading the control panel and the keypads.

Here's the question:
I'm looking for a wired panel that also has ethernet or 802.11.n (g/b, i.e. wifi) connectivity plus a webserver so that I can check it from my phone.

Specifically:

Wi-fi connectivity
Embedded Web server
Messaging capability when intrusion happens ("Rear Door Open")
Secure (or at least as secure as my network)

Nothing from the major manufacturers (Ademco/Honeywell & GE) offer any wi-fi, internet-base d monitoring/embedded web servers/etc. (Actually one does, but the details are really murky. It's clearly not for home users and they offer very little technical information)

The situation  reminds me of blu-ray players circa 2003 ago: they had no network connectivity. A few years later some had an ethernet port. Today, 3Q 2010, many $200 units have built-in 802.11n.

Summary
When will internet-connected home security systems hit the streets?

I've not used it myself, but ELK seems to do SOME of what you are after.


Is this a load-bearing wall between my house's entrance and dining room? I have recently bought a home in which there is a wall at right at the entrance of the foyer. Is there any way to tell if it is a load-bearing wall? I just want to get rid of it.

I'd say it's almost certainly load bearing for one simple reason.

You've got what appears to be a beam running over the opening from the dining room to the hallway, and you don't have one going into the kitchen.

The fact that your dining/hall opening isn't floor to ceiling suggests strongly that the beam is running across that opening, which means it's running the depth of the house.


How can I raise a concrete bridge footing two inches? I have two existing concrete footers from the previous bridge that are not leveled.  I thought about using hydraulic cement to level the top of it.  The left side needs to be about 2 inches higher than what it currently is, while the right side can remain the same.

The existing footers are 9 by 47 inches. The are about 3 feet deep into the ground and edge of the creek. The bridge will be made of wood. I used 3 2x12 10 ft long as arched trusses. I will be using 1x6 deck boards as the walking platform and they will be 4 feet long. Mainly foot traffic and a push mower. I just need to level the footers so when I anchor the bridge to it it doesn’t look like crap. I thought about shims but with the left side being 2 inches too low it would look like crap as well. My question is would you use self leveling cement to level the footers or do you suggest a different route?

I’ll add a photo of the footers when I get home from work.

I don't think I'd try to pour new masonry in such a thin quantity. It's likely to crack up due to moisture, vibration, etc. Hydraulic cement is more of a patchwork product, in my experience, and self-leveling cement is way off the mark.

I'd do one of these:

Lay a paver brick (or a series of them) on the existing footing using landscape block adhesive, bolts and expansion anchors, or other retainers. This should be just large enough to support your bridge so as to not look gaudy.
Build a wooden "leg" that coordinates with your bridge. It should be mounted flush on the outside as a deck post would, or slightly inboard, to minimize its appearance.
Fabricate a metal leg. Box tubing and/or angle stock and a few bolts would do well. Either let this rust for a nice patina or protect it with enamel or paint-on galvanizer.

To tell you which I'd select I'd need to see more of the situation.


What happens when connecting two hot wires on same switch? What happens when there is 120v hot wire connected to one side of a light switch and an identical 120v hot wire connected to the other side of the light switch?  Light switch is then switched ON and OFF.

Nothing
Two hots of same circuit - nothing should happen.
Two hots of same leg but different circuits (i.e., 2 different fuses or breakers) - nothing should happen in most cases, but if you have GFCI protection either at the panel or upstream of at least one of the wires and any devices on (besides this nonfunctional switch) then the GFCI may detect that the hot (now coming from two different circuits) doesn't balance the neutral (on the circuit the GFCI is protecting) and trip. I'm not 100% certain of that, and I certainly wouldn't do such a thing deliberately (or any other mode of "wire up the switch with two hots"). This can also lead to imbalance between pairs of hot/neutral (even though the total of all hots == total of all neutrals) which is why this is something you should never do.
However:

Hot to neutral or hot to ground - short circuit which should blow fuse or trip breaker
Hots from two different legs - not sure but I wouldn't try it.


How to calculate the influence on load bearing on beams cut/notched for connections? I have trouble understanding what's the point in cutting beam endings in order to make wood construction connections. Assume a connection of a 50mm x 50 mm beam (green) to a 100mm x 100mm beam (pink)

with a leaf connection (my translation for - I guess - the simplest wood construction connection consisting of removing half of the diameter of the beam and putting that part into the counterpart connection cut out). I imagine that the forces where the beams connect are the same as on the whole green beam, but the connection must obviously hold because those connections are used in construction, so why not make the beam only half the diameter large/do for the whole beam what works at the location of the connection?

I further assume that there's an impact of the connection cut-out/notch, but it'll be smaller than making only 50% of the bearing load usable (otherwise every wood construction would generally waste up to 50% of its material). How can I estimate this impact.

The leaf connection is used in this example in order to reduce the material which has to be removed from the pink beam.

This might all be not ideal and not true; it's a question to improve my understanding - I'm not the contractor building the schools for your kids.

You're overlooking a couple of important factors, starting with deflection. Smaller structural members will flex more than thicker ones, especially in the middle of the span. Sag also adds lateral loads to the connections at the end since it they must resist the pull of the shorter curved member.

Those connections are the second thing you've overlooked. You do need to fasten things together eventually and butt joinery puts all of the load on the fasteners. Generally two thirds of a beam is quite a bit stronger than two or three nails. It's worth noting that it's fairly common to use angle iron and bolts when the work will be covered up.

I suspect that notching wooden members in new construction is pretty much limited to timber frame buildings. It's getting harder to find solid wood beams than it used to be, and modern structural joinery tends to incorporate steel fasteners to protect against extreme weather events. For hurricanes or tornadoes you want the joint tied down; for earthquakes you want it to deform rather than snap.

Getting back to your original question, structural engineers have access to lots of data to work on the estimate. They can look up the strength of a given material, average weight of a building per story, strength of a given joint compared, etc. From there it's fairly straightforward physics.

Simulation is also a common tool. Once the plans are drawn in CAD you can specify the building and wind loads and get a detailed report on the expected performance. If you're really, really interested Autodesk Fusion 360 is free for hobby use and will let you run some simulations. You'd have to deal with the learning curve and it's not the right tool to design a building, but it'll do for mucking about with simple joints. (Alternately you might find just the tutorial video on simulation entertaining.)

Non-engineers generally rely on experience and rules of thumb (or the building code in these more enlightened times) and gratuitous over-building. Nobody would notch anything as small as you've got in your sketch. In the US they wouldn't be called "beams" either as they're too small. Joists would be at least 150mm thick and wooden beams 200mm or more.


How can I install an interior cat door to the basement and not have it kill me? (from increased radon) I recently purchased and moved into a new house with an unfinished basement under part of house and crawl space under the rest.  We have 2 indoor cats and I would prefer that their litter box be in the basement.  There is access to the basement from in the house and from outside.  I'd like to put a cat door on that internal door to allow them free access down to the basement, but I'd like to make sure I'm not going to increase radon levels in the main floor of the house.  I believe radon is too heavy for this to be much of an issue since the door would be at the level of the main floor of the house, but better safe than sorry.

Notes:

We do have a radon mitigation system
A radon test on the main floor of the house passed before we bought the house (meaning the radon system is working), but we did not test levels in the basement/crawl space
The door is a fairly standard inside room door

Questions:

Is there a particular type of cat door that would be best for this situation?
Is there anything else I should do or consider before, or during, installation to reduce the risk of increased radon?

If you have a Radon Mitigation system, then you should have no worries. A proper mitigation system puts a negative pressure on the underside of the basement slab, and vents it out the roof. The idea is to remove all radon from the basement itself.

So, in theory, a cat door should have no bearing on the amount of radon in the first floor.

I'd, of course, do a radon test in the basement to be sure, but you should be fine.


36" inch fridge won't fit 36" cabinet void Is this a normal issue? 36" inch fridge won't fit 36" cabinet void.

We put in the hampton bay pre-manned hickory cabinets / pantry floor to ceiling with a 36" upper spanning between them. We bought a GE Profile fridge (1 year old model, refurb). The cabinet void is exactly 36" wide from top to bottom. Not 1/32 more, not 1/32 less. The fridge on the other hand seems to range from 35 1/2" to 36 1/8" wide!?

Is this a normal issue? Should I demand a refund? Or, start sanding the front panels down on the cabinets?

The fridge's user manual should have clearances / installation dimensions listed. I would start there. It may be a 36" model but actually a slightly different dimension.

If the fridge is not the size described in the manual I would contact the store and/or GE. It's possible that as part of the refurbishing process it was dismantled and not put back together to original factory specs.

Also do not forget to check the required clearances. Most fridges require 1/8" of clearance on the sides, and maybe more at the top and back. (Also you will have a very tough time installing the fridge if there is literally 0 clearance.)


Why are there dips in my roof? I recently walked my roof. There are some low spots, like little depressions. What causes this and should I be concerned? It seems that the plywood underneath is good but it seems like the underlayment has degraded. Is this normal?

Plywood generally doesn't sag permanently unless it's been wet for an extended period of time. Can you get into the attic to check for water stains around those areas?


Does running at 240 use less power? My computer runs on a normal 120v plug at 1000w at the wall which is about 8.5 amps. the PSU works on 240 and 120 so i decided to plug it into a 240 outlet i use for homebrewing and it only pulls 4.2 amps now, i cant tell watts because my wattmeter is only good for 120v so i just used my amp clamp on the multimeter.
So if I'm pulling half the amps does that mean my power usage at the street is lower? Like would my power bill go down if i started using 240 for all my dual voltage electronics?

Power equals amps times volts, and for all practical purposes is exactly the same, other than measurement error.
Twice the volts, half the amps, same power.
That's a very power hungry computer by modern standards - there, there's real room for potential savings by using a more power efficient computer.


How do I use the rubber strap with my drill's chuck key? The instructions are rather obtuse on the matter, so what do I do with this rubber strap that, I believe, is intended to keep the chuck key with my drill?

How do I apply it?

Is the slot at the bottom of the drill handle (see image) involved?

The rubber / stretchy plastic strap looks like the following when it is installed around the drill cord and attached to the chuck key.

A couple of quick pointers:

Pull the two holes end through the slotted end first to make the loop around the drill cord.
When installing the chuck key insert the longer arm of the key first into its hole and finish with the shorter arm.


Converting Hard Wire Fixture to Plug In Through Googling, Youtube, and Home Depo (:\ ) I think I understand the basics, but what everyone fails to mention is the ground wire. I understand what purpose it serves, and would like to wire this as safely as possible.

Sorry for the huge pics, first time posting.

Here is the fixture: Here we see the two main wires

The mirror looking one is the top that goes over the sockets and the one that the ground wire is attached to.

The Home Depot guy suggested I get this

and an Indoor 2 Outlet Wireless Remote with 2 grounded outlets per the box.

So if the plug in outlets are grounded is this okay, or do I really need a three prong extension cord?  Do they sale wireless light switches that have three prong outlets? If using the lamp chord I have now will suffice, what do I do with the ground wire? I'd also like to point out there is a green grounding screw on the main part of the fixture even though I have no clue if that matters

Some very important information is missing here. Where are you intending to place that lighting fixture?

Normally a light like that is mounted in a permanent manner to a wall. There should be an electrical box in the wall that is positioned directly behind the hole shown here:

Three wires from the fixture, white, black and a safety ground pass through that hole and connect to the permanent wiring in the electrical box. You may want to consider adding an additional safety ground wire from that green screw showing in the above picture.

You will not use that two prong cord suggested by the person at Home Depot. They do not know what they are talking about. You do need to have the safety ground wire of the fixture connected into the safety ground of the building wiring.


Dust reduction and removal? I have a room with west facing windows (I dont think the direction bears any importance to this question), but for some reason this room seems to accumulate dust on surfaces a lot faster than other rooms in the house. We try and spring clean the house every year, but within about 6 months, the surfaces (my desk, computer monitors/keyboard, wardrobe, en-suite bathroom worktop, wardrobe shelves, drawer surface and pretty much every other surface on that side of the house) seems to accumulate a large amount of dust. After just a few weeks, you can see the dust build up on some surfaces and write on the surfaces with your fingers. To keep the place neat requires a wipedown with a wet wipe, every weekend at the very least.

This is the kind of grey fabric texture dust that seems to spread with time in homes and offices (not sand dust or atmospheric dust - that you would find in building sites or while plastering a wall). This one room in particular seems to be more susceptible to dust than all the others in the house. Even though we have our doors and windows open an equal amount in other places. The whole house is carpeted - the fibres of which, I believe is a major source of the dust.

We do have a working fan in the en-suite bathroom, which reduces steam buildup after a hot shower, but I do not think this is a source of the dust. But perhaps helps to blow the dust around a bit.

In any case, what are some of the better solutions for reducing/removing dust from the air, and thus stopping it from settling on surfaces.

Do you have a furnace or central air or something similar? If so, I suggest adding filters to the system/getting better filters.

There are stand-alone filters that remove dust from the air; a cheaper way would be a box fan, furnace filter, and duct tape.


Is the light quality of halogen/LED low-voltage recessed light actually better than an equivalent line voltage light? When it comes to deciding whether to go with low voltage or line voltage, a number of sites are in essence saying: your initial installation cost for low voltage will be higher, but you'll get a nicer light. (Other benefits, like lower consumption, are often mentioned, but now I'll leave those aside.)

The claims of nicer light seem fairly vague to me, and I am wondering if they are applicable to halogen MR16 and LED MR16 bulbs. Specifically:

Should I expect a nicer light from a halogen MR16 bulb low voltage than its equivalent line voltage?
Should I expect a nicer light from an LED MR16 bulb low voltage than its equivalent line voltage?

The first linked site appears to concern itself wholly with halogen bulbs. It claims of low-voltage halogen bulbs that, "They also produce a nicer light, with warmer, brighter and more vibrant colors."

The second site's entire argument for low-voltage light being better seems to rest entirely on how configurable and remote-controllable low-voltage lights are, as well as how much easier it is to scatter gobs of them about to achieve your lighting plans for world domination.

I am inclined not to trust the first site, because their argument doesn't make intuitive sense and they provide no citations to back it up. The second site's argument makes sense on its face.

I can't speak to halogen bulbs, but when it comes to LEDs, I would not expect any difference in light quality between a line-voltage and low-voltage LED.

I don't know of any LED bulbs that actually drive the LEDs at line voltage. The ones that you can just screw into a line voltage socket just include their own DC rectifier, the same way that CFL bulbs include their own ballast to drive the fluorescence.

I would expect you can get finer control by putting your own transformer in front of a line of low-voltage LEDs, and your resulting lighting system will probably be more efficient and flexible. (As an example, I know an LED retrofit lamp I recently installed could dim down to only 5%, whereas you might be able to dim the LEDs throughout their full range using your own transformer.)


Is the black wire always hot on a three-way switch? What is the best way to find out which color wire goes to which color screw? Does the white wire go to the silver screw sometimes, and sometimes to black?
I have a three way switch which has a green screw and a black screw and three brass I don't know which one is which.

Basic 3-way switches
When working with basic 3-way snap switches, the switch should have four terminal.
Common, COM, or C
This terminal will typically be black, or some color other than green or silver. It may be brass, in which case it will be labeled or marked in some way as common.
The common terminal will either be connected to the ungrounded (hot) LINE wire coming from the power source, or to the ungrounded (hot) LOAD wire going to the load (lights).
Ground, Earth
This terminal will typically be green, and will likely be either at the top of the bottom of the switch.
Travelers
These terminals will commonly be brass. These terminals are used to carry power between the switches, and will alternate being live.  Depending on how the switch is toggled, one of these terminals will always have voltage (assuming the circuit is working properly).
Smart switches
These types of switches will usually offer some extra functionality, other than simply turning the lights on/off. Because of this, the switch may also require a neutral wire.
Neutral
The neutral terminal on a smart switch will often be silver, and is used to connect a circuit neutral wire to the switch.

Wire colors
Wire color is meant to help determine the function of a wire, however, it can often be wrong.  White wires can, from time to time, be used as ungrounded (hot) wires (though they're supposed to be marked when they are).  Your best bet, is to never trust the person that installed the wiring, and always test the wires yourself.

3-way circuits
A 3-way circuit should look something like this.

3-way circuit
However, wiring in a building is not typically this straightforward. So you might find cases where power goes to the light first, or other strangeness.


How can I keep the top of my dog ear fence level when the ground slopes? I've been working on a privacy fence for our yard. I purchased individual 1x6 dog ear PT fence pickets and cut them accordingly to fit the contour of the yard.

However, at one point the yard slops about 4" over a 5' run making the 6' pickets too short. I don't want to slope the fence (i.e. I want the top of the fence to be level). Regrading isn't an option, so I can a) join smaller pieces with the 6' pickets I have or b) find longer pickets. I much prefer option b, but finding 8' PT pickets is proving to be pretty difficult.

What are my options for getting the 8' pickets in the same cut dimensions as the other pickets? I'm willing to cut the dog ears on the pickets, but finding pre-cut would be much easier of course.

You will likely have to make them out of 1"x8" x 8'.  If 5 1/2" wide would work, 1x6 would need no ripping to width.

Be sure to catch table saw/miter saw dust with a shop vac and a dust mask!  PT sawdust is toxic.

Be sure to use a compatible preservative on the top dog-ear cuts (where the untreated wood gets exposed). End grain is very susceptible to rot.


Water pressure in bathroom sink Wondering why the cold water comes out with full pressure but warm is at 1/4 of the pressure?

What are all the things I can check?

If it's only that one sink it very likely is caused by corrosion or blockage between the shutoff and the faucet. The hot water side is especially susceptible to scale buildup. There are a few basic things to check:

First make sure the hot shutoff valve is fully on.
If the shutoff is old it could have scale buildup in the shutoff valve. Turning it on and off a few times will sometimes free it up.

If the hot is a separate faucet:

Remove the aerator from the faucet. Clean the screen of any debris.
Turn off the hot shutoff valve and remove the hot water cartridge and check it for scale buildup.

If there is still a flow issue I would replace the shutoff valve and/or  the hot water cartridge starting with whichever one looks most suspect. This should solve your problem.

Edit
Another possible cause, but less likely, is galvanic corrosion which happens when two different metals are connected such as galvanized pipe coming out of the wall connecting to copper. This requires a special type of connection (dielectric union) to prevent corrosion.


What is this cylinder looking thing in the drain line? The house is 1950. There is a round cylinder in the drain line with a cap. under the floor is where it is located. What is this called and can I get it out of the drain system?

Almost certainly a drum trap - so while cleaning it out might be good, removing it is generally a bad idea unless you are replacing it with another type of trap. Which you may well need to do, as they do rot out eventually, I'm just trying to head off at the pass the idea that it would be OK to remove it without putting a different trap there - is it leaking?


Frameless shower door slipping The hinges for the door to my frameless shower keeps slipping and the door keeps rubbing:

Since I'm not the one that purchased/installed the shower, I can't be absolutely certain, but I'm pretty sure the hinges being used are the ones shown here.

The only solution I've found so far is to loosen the large screws on the hinge (shown in the images linked to above), physically lift the door so it isn't hitting the shower wall any more, and tighten the screws back down. But I've ended up doing this about every month now since moving into the house because no matter how tight I try to get the screws, the door keeps slipping. As a result, the screw heads are starting to get chewed up. Maybe I'm not tightening the screws sufficiently, but they're as tight as I can get them with a hand-held screw driver, and I'm afraid that if I over-tighten (by using a power drill) them I'll break the glass door.

Is there a better solution to keep the door aligned properly? Do I need to get different hinges? If so, can you recommend which ones I should get?

the screw heads are starting to get chewed up

They are probably machine screws. I'd take one out and take it to a hardware store and buy a set with the same thread but with hex, star or square-drive heads. The length is not critical because you can always buy longer than needed and shorten them with a hacksaw (keeping a nut on the screw to straighten the thread with after cutting)

  Is there a better solution

The shower door manufacturer may be able to supply replacement parts. I'd contact their customer support for advice.

Otherwise, after supporting the door securely, I would disassemble one hinge completely to see what is inside. Maybe there's a gasket of synthetic rubber that is supposed to grip the glass. It might be worth trying to supplement or replace that, for example, with a rectangle cut from a bicycle inner tube and maybe roughened a little.


How to tell one (unconnected) underground dead wire from another I have three sets of 3-12 underground wire running from the house to the garage.  It is not connected at this time to either house fuse box/electrical or garage (basically its buried with approx 6-8 feet of wire coming out of ground for eventual hook up).
Since they are unconnected dead wires, I’m looking for a tool that could generate low voltage power to one end of each wire so that I can then check the opposite end and determine which wire is which.
Any ideas would be appreciated.

I would go for the tone generator, because I already have one anyway and use it for business, so it's paid for. But if I didn't have one and did have a multimeter (everyone should have a multimeter), then I would actually test as follows, knowing that there are 12/3 cables rather than random individual wires:

Connect Black/White/Red together on the end of one cable. Mark this cable 1.
Go to the other end. Test until you find the one where black/white/red show continuity. Mark this cable 1.
While you are at that end, connect black/red/white of another cable together. Mark this cable 2. Mark the other cable, cable 3.
Go to the first end. Test until you find the one where black/white/red show continuity. Mark this cable 2. Mark the last cable, cable 3.

If you have some resistors around of known values, you could do everything in one batch, but with only 3 cables, this is about as easy as it gets. Actually, thank you @cube for a way to do essentially that, by treating different combinations of wires in each cable differently, which allows you to differentiate 3 cables at one time without any resistors. This could actually be extended up to decoding as many as 5 cables at a time:

Black/Red/White
Black/Red
Black/White
Red/White
None

Extending to more than 5 would actually become 4-at-a-time because you wouldn't know the difference between any of the "None" cables.


How to cut posts off an iron bed I have a 4 poster bed that I want to shorten the two foot posts. It's hard to tell if it is iron or steel or what because it has a faux painted finish.  The other snag is I need to keep it in place because the only way to get it out of my house is to hoist it over the deck rails. There are ball caps that look like brass on each post that I would want to replace onto the shorter posts.  Any ideas?

In general, if you're looking to keep things clean, a pipe cutter would be the least messy.  If you want to keep tool purchases cheap, and can handle a little mess, then a hacksaw would likely work.

All that being said.  If you want to put the bed knobs back on after you're done, you might find that you have to do some welding/brazing.  If the bed knobs screw in, then there's likely a threaded insert inside the post.  Once you shorten the post, you'll have to find a way to remove and refit the insert into the shorter post.  Obviously if the knobs simply slide into the top of the post, then you won't have any trouble at all re attaching them.


What is a safe maximum temperature for an unused part of the house? We barely use our upstairs so I don't really care how hot it gets.  Except, I don't want to cause damage to the house. Considering Texas summers are easily in the 110s °F nowadays, how high can I safely set my thermostat without causing heat damage to my house?

Are there any heat sensitive house items I should look out for?

I have a house that I leave at 99 degrees for most of the summer.

Candles, chocolate, and candies all melted to some degree.

The house itself seems fine. I don't see any issues with wooden furniture splitting or sheetrock crumbling. The TV and DVDs still works as do battery powered items.

I am at 99 degrees because that is as high as my thermostat will go. I enter the house on occasion and I wanted it to be tolerable, otherwise I would have just turned the A/C off.

I'm in Phoenix so we don't have humidity or mold issues.


Is this a drain cover or an electrical outlet cover? Can anyone tell whether this is a drain cover or an electrical outlet cover? Former homeowners converted a garage to a family room ~20 years ago including extensive water drainage reorientation.  The room appears to have been carpeted at one time.  Photo shows a 5+11/16" circular brittle plastic cover with a 4" capsule-shaped recess holding two metal screws (rusted and stripped) on either side of a large 4-sided phillips-shaped indentation (shallow, stripped).  Original color (grey? or white) obscured by cement treatment. It rises 3/8" above cement floor level.  If it's an outlet, we want to use it; whereas, if it's a drain, we want to leave it alone.

My bet would be on it being a receptacle. Typically floor boxes like this are installed raised up a little, so as to accommodate carpet or other flooring.

I would also bet on it being a single outlet. Most likely the center cap is covering the outlet and the outer screws are there to hold everything on. Since we can see a shadow from the center box, I'd say pry it off of there as best you can.


Found 2 wires hanging below shingles against foundation I found 2 wires hanging below the shingles against the foundation outside my house under my bedroom window. One is white, the other black. Are they electrical? No idea how long they've been there and now I'm scared. I accidentally touched them when pushing leaves away with my hand and I didn't get electrocuted. They were hidden by the leaves. Please answer asap; it's going to rain tomorrow!

The safest thing to do of course is turn off your main and treat it as an emergency, make an emergency call to a licensed electrician.  Nobody could rule out from what's provided that these wires are unsafe.

My personal opinion, it's such a remote chance that this is an imminent danger, I'd have someone that's competent to work on basic wiring check it as soon as possible, but I wouldn't make it an emergency service call to an electrician.

With no bare conductor exposed, there's really nothing DIY for you to do.

There's a real chance these wires are just some scrap that got buried.

If they are connected to your electrical system, it's obviously not code compliant;  but then again it must have been there for a long time, so it's not likely there's anything that's going to happen today.

Again I am not assuring you there's no hazard, just saying what I would do if I were in your shoes.


Stair Rails Wall Side I want to put stair rails on the wall on 2 flights of steps in house.

From some online searching people say to put rail on right side wall coming down the stairs. This is fine on one set of steps but on the other set if I put on right side wall the light switch at bottom of stairs would be mid rail height. Is it ok to just put the rail on the left wall? Or do I move the light switch further up the wall?

Most people are right handed, but "most" of humans are versatile enough to use their other extremities.

But your conundrum is really going to satisfied best if you go middle ground and trying to satisfy most people who'd have an issue with "switching hands" I'd say.

So install the railing consistently, all on one side... ( Right or left, depends if your coming or going )

But rails on both sides throughout traversing stairs takes care of it all...Can you do that ?

Move the light switch either up or down. Probably down, because most people would "complain" that they had to "reach too high" to operate it...


What is the purpose of this black felt on end of oven conduit? I bought an oven which I am installing (reference this post for details) and I'm confused by the black wrap at the end of the conduit shown in the picture below.

Is the wrap there just to prevent chafing during shipment/storage, and is it supposed to be removed?  It's somewhat long and takes up space in the junction box, so I'd prefer to remove it, but not sure if I can do so safely.

Is the conduit clamp supposed to clamp onto the felt or directly onto the conduit itself?

The conduit is flexible, if that matters.

It's a tough felt-like material with a sticky side.  I'm not sure what it's called.

That is called electrical tape, also called fleece tape.
It is used to keep the wires in a neat bundle.
It is not conductive, so you cannot clamp a grounding strap to it.
Remove it so that you can check for the plastic anti-short bushing at the end of the BX cable jacket.


Fixing a running toilet I have a toilet that runs periodically, like maybe half the time after a flush. For what it's worth, it's not a constant run, but rather the water kicks on every 5 minutes or so to top off the tank.

The first thing I checked was the chain. The chain that connects to the flapper is not too short as to leave the flapper unsealed and it not too long as to get tangled up.

So next I removed the flapper and inspected it. No cracks or any signs of wear, really, which is not surprising seeing as the toilet and its innards are all less than four years old. I wiped down the underside of the flapper with a rag and did the same to the O-ring in the tank where the seal is made. Still no dice.

One odd thing I noticed that I've never experienced before with this toilet or others, is that when I am urinating into the toilet after like half way through I very distinctly hear the same noise you hear when you pour a liquid into another liquid (sorry, don't know if there's an official term for that sound). This keeps up for maybe another 2-4 seconds when I stop urinating. Could the increase of liquid in the bowl be overflowing into the tank or some other body of water? Not sure if that oddity would provide any help in diagnosing the problem or not, but thought I'd throw it in there.

My next step is going to be to try replacing the flapper, but I was hoping someone might have some additional insight or ideas into this issue.

Thanks

If you are having trouble locating from what area of the tank is leaking you can add a blue colored food dye to the reservoir (tank) to see if it appears in the bowl. If you see the water is turning color then concentrate your search at the tank/bowl and/or flapper section. Although 4-5 years may not seem like a lengthy amount of time, for rubber and plastic parts it can seem forever. The flapper, if 4-5 years in service, should be replaced. Also make sure the fill valve, specifically the float, is not adjusted to high. It should cut out the water flow when filling about 1 inch below the overflow pipe that the flapper is attached to. The last place to look for the offending leak is the exterior of the bottom of the tank (this would be obvious as water would appear on the floor). The rubber washers that seal the tank to the bowl can deteriorate and crack as can the large washer that the flapper closes onto. The washer on the fill valve is on the exterior and one inside. Check with a flashlight for any water trails.   One last place to check is the top of the fill valve were the float (if set up as such) is attached. If possible open the cap on the valve top and look for trapped debris that prevents the valve from closing fully.


Is it advisable to use EPDM for flooring around the pool? I am planning to use EPDM flooring around the pool so that it will provide grip and kids won't get hurt when they fall. But few people said that EPDM does not do well around water. Is there something I am missing. There are few online images that show EPDM around the pool. Can someone suggest

Anyone who says that "EPDM does not do well around water" is ignorant of what the material is. It is used specifically as a water resistant membrane for roofing and many other applications, including around pool decks.

It is not the material itself that is an issue, it is how you intend to use it and how it is applied/installed. Your question doesn't specify exactly what you intend to do, but assuming that you will have a professionally applied EPDM coating, with the surface properly prepared and the material mixed and applied as required by the manufacturer.


Having trouble removing tap aerator/regulator How do I remove my bath mixer tap regulator? Its quite thin compared to all the videos and photos ive seen of people removing theirs. I bought new female+male aerators but struggling to remove it from the bath tap. Im not sure because its rusted or what but it doesnt budge.
I know its rusty and I wanted to remove the entire mixer tap but cant due to plumbing issues.

Try grabbing it with a pair of Channeloks,vise grips or regular pliers. Don't worry about scratching it up since you're replacing it. You'll want to turn it counterclockwise, or clockwise if you're looking down from the top, to remove it.


Insulating existing basement wall I'm getting ready to finish my basement and one of the rooms is already roughed in. However, the stud walls are 1/2 (give or take) away from the concrete. My plan was to insulate with fiberglass but after  reading found you should put XPS foam board as a vapor barrier/insulator. Do I HAVE to rip all of the framing out or is there a way to salvage what's been done?

Much depends on the dryness of your basement.  For most basements, worthy of being made into finished living space, 3 mil. plastic sheeting between the framing and basement wall should be sufficient for this already framed room.  The seems can be stapled to the inside of stud bays.

I'm not a fan of fiberglass batt insulation in basements, due to potential mold and mice issues, and, therefore, prefer XPS; which you could use for the yet to be framed rooms.

Some might suggest foam board between the framing and drywall but I don't care for drywall to be hung on the required, longer drywall screw.  I guess it depends on the thickness of the foam board one uses.  A heated basement shouldn't require much additional insulation as long as the rim joists are well insulated.


Central Air Unit not Sending Enough Power to Thermostat Right now I don't have specifics on my central air unit (make, model, etc) but hopefully the info I provide will help.

I have a Second Generation (and Third Generation) Nest Thermostat hooked up to the Central Air Unit.  I receive intermittent messages of "not enough power" being sent to the thermostat.   (The reason I mentioned both Nests is that I've tried both units).

The wire contains one hot wire (Rh), one for the fan (G), and one for the cool/compressor (Y1).

I used a multimeter to test the voltage, and when I touch the positive probe (red wire) to the Rh wire and the negative probe to the G1 wire,  I get a strong enough reading (between 27-28 volts).  But when I do the same to the Y1 wire I get next to nothing.

After some research, I found people recommending changing the fuse in the unit itself... but when I lifted the panel, I didn't see any fuses that could be replaced.  Moreover, the power drain doesn't seem to be consistent (i.e. today it is showing a poor voltage reading and tomorrow it will be fine).

I don't believe its the Nest because I've tried different ones and get the same results.  Sorry for the long question, but I wanted to be specific.  Any ideas on what is causing the power generation problem?

This is the most common problem with the Nest.  You need to hook up a "C" wire.

Here's the thing. Originally, thermostats were passive devices - nothing more than switches.   And so, controls were wired in a "switch loop" similar to how switches in houses were wired before current electrical code.  Power went in a functional loop: from the 24V transformer, to the thermostat, to the actuator, and back to the transformer.

The R wire is sorta like a "hot" wire, the other wires at the thermostat are sorta like "switched hot". And just like a switch loop doesn't have or need a neutral, neither does the thermostat (the neutral would be the C wire).

Old style dimmers and motion sensors powered themsleves by leaking a bit of power through the incandescent bulb.  That fails with efficient CFLs or LEDs.  Likewise, the Nest tries to power itself without a C wire by leaking a bit of power through the big clunky old relay that switches on the furnace, fan or A/C.  That fails with efficient relays or electronic controls.

In this situation, you need to run a C wire, as the Nest manual discusses.  Tester101 is proposing that you may have spare wires in your thermostat cable.

There are other ways to solve the problem, but they're starting to resemble electrical engineering.


How can I fit a door in a frame that is too small? I bought some used French doors to replace a sliding door.  The sliding door measured 96" X 60".  The French doors measure 96" X 60¼".  I made the mistake of not measuring both doors.  I just measured that the first door was < 30" and assumed I was ok.  The other door was an inch bigger.  The frame for the French doors is also thicker than the sliding door, mistake number two.  My question is, what should I do?  The biggest challenge I have is that I need about ½ inch on at least one side and about ½ inch on the top.  Mistake number three was not considering that the doors need to clear the tile when they open inward.  That's why I need about another ½ inch on the top.

Do I need to throw in the towel on the doors or try to re-frame it?  There are two studs on each side.  I don't see any studs above the 2X4 going across the top (I have 10' ceilings). I was considering moving that 2X4 up about an inch and then sawing/prying one of the side studs.  That doesn't seem natural.  I suppose the "right" way to do it would be to remove both studs from one side and then move both of them.  I'm just not certain I can easily do that.

In case you can't tell, I'm not a professional.  Any advice is appreciated.  I'm willing to get new doors, but that's not my preference.

Ok Kenny, here is the plan.  You can remove one Jack stud and door header with a sawzall(cutting between the studs to cut the nails) and some work. You can then replace the jack stud with a 3/4" board cut to 3 1/2" width and the new 3/4" higher height.  Put a 3/4" block on top of the remaining jack stud and reinstall the header 2X4. It will still fit between the outside studs and be supported 3/4" higher then before.  Obviously, you will have to trim some drywall away to do this, but that can be pieced in and patched fairly easily and if you're careful cutting it before the demo begins. The drywall seam may be covered by the door trim.  The result will be a finished opening 3/4 inches wider and taller than you started with. Your new door should slide right in!  Good Luck.


Ice maker dispenses multiple cubes (2-3 stuck together) This is a Whirlpool refrigerator.
Model # WRX735SDHZ
Serial # K80905198

The ice maker routinely dispenses multiple ice cubes frozen together. Sometimes 2, sometimes 3. This causes one or both of these problems:

Ice dispensing chute jammed. (Red Arrow)
Ice maker exit hole Jammed (Blue Arrow)

Both of these are fixable by manually breaking the offending cube clusters, but this happens 1-2 times a week and I'm worried that I'll break something trying to fix problem #2.

I've talked to Whirlpool, and their only solution was for me to have an Authorized Whirlpool Tech come out (from 122 miles away and at my expense!) to "have a look at it."

I'd simply like to reduce the amount of water being dispensed into the ice maker tray so that the cubes don't overflow slightly and freeze together.
I've considered trying to restrict the flow into the machine by the valve coming out of the wall that supplies water, but I assume that the ice maker has a sensor on it telling it when it's full, meaning that it will just flow until it's (over) full no matter how small a trickle is flowing.

Any suggestions?

I've got the same fridge and same problem. 3 cubes webbed together constantly. Jam at least once a week. Easy to fix by jabbing them to break them up. Usually 50 cubes fall to the floor because the tray is either overflowed or the chute is full from jam.  I took cover off and appears to be no water level adjustment (like many videos show). Fridge is level. Best fridge, worst ice maker.
Edit: after finding another video, I did notice the water level adjustment screw on right edge (near center). Need a really short screw driver. I adjusted ½ turn clockwise. Will see tomorrow if that worked.


Can I install used hardwood flooring? I'm looking to install recycled hardwood. During the demo most of the bottom part of the grooves has been broken off. Will the effect how well it will stay down after it's installed?

That depends on how you plan to re-install it. If you plan on face nailing it's fine to just lay it down as though it were a ship lapped. This might sound a bit half arsed to some but I've seen reclaimed flooring face nailed down with cut nails (into the joists) and it looked very nice. You can run a bead of construction adhesive down the seams for a little added insurance if your worried about it lifting.

If you want to install it as it was intended to be installed, you need that bottom shoulder because it's what you nail through, which is probably why it broke off in the first place. In this case you can re-groove it easily enough with a router, dado stack, or shaper just make sure to check it for shrapnel first or you may be sorry. Good Luck!


Bathroom switchhas delays When I turn on my bathroom switch the light comes on but the overhead fan on the same switch sometimes delays up to 5 minutes-what is happening?

The same thing happens to the bathroom fan in my office building. The problem is the fan itself; the grease in the bearings has degraded, and the motor is sticking. Without air flow, the motor heats up, and eventually the grease thins enough to let the fan turn again.

I'd replace the fan; it may be a fire hazard. (Yes, I'm working on my office landlord to get this done as well...)


Is a humming sink disposal motor failing? Ok so this is a strange question about my garbage disposal. I had my kitchen cabinets replaced but kept my original sink and garbage disposal. Its approximately 20 years old. When I went to use it, it only made a "humming noise". I have troubleshooted garbge disposals before so I know what I'm looking for. So I took an alen key and turned the motor and and pressed the reset button (since it popped). But didn't have any luck.

The next morning I try it one more time and the thing fires right up!? I'm at a loss of what happened, anyone ever have this issue ?

Replace the disposer or re-plumb the drains to do without one. A 20-year-old disposer that is not working is not worth repairing.


Devices that can slowly lower and raise 200 pounds ~2 feet? What are some devices that could slowly lower and raise roughly 200 pounds roughly 2 feet?

I have been looking at hydraulic equipment, but they are all designed for tons and i do not need the ability to lift that much. I would like the device to be small, lightweight and self sustaining. I do not want to have to charge, fill with liquid, check for leaks, replace after a year... stuff like that. I want to install and forget.

I need it to be able to slowly lower and slowly raise.

My goal is to have a device that can lower and raise a desk.

Cam and follower

Gears

Hoist

Lever

Linear actuator
Ball screw

Hydraulic cylinder

Jackscrew

Leadscrew

Linear motor

Pneumatic cylinder

Rigid chain actuator

Rigid belt actuator

Roller screw

Segmented spindle

Telescopic cylinder

Winch

Scissors mechanism

Windlass

Weightlifter


Voltage imbalance at the end of a sixty foot run I have 240 volt service to my house.
I have a 50amp dual pole breaker feeding a sub panel
60 feet away.
At the breaker I have 120 volts on each leg.
At the end of the sixty foot run, L1 has 100 volts, L2
Has 140 volts. This is measured under no loads, just the end of the wires.
I swapped the wires and the readings followed the
Wire swap.
I’m thinking wiring issue. Does this sound right to everyone?

Update: Thanks everyone for the info. I picked up 100' of new copper, and bypassed the neutral in the circuit, that fixed the problem. So I'll be pulling it through conduit tomorrow... possible disaster averted!

It's an open neutral

This sort of voltage imbalance is symptomatic of one thing and one thing only -- an open neutral somewhere.  Fix the neutral issue, likely at a termination although it could be a damaged neutral on a direct bury cable or the likes, and the problem will go away.  Keep the shed turned off at the feeder breaker until then though, as open neutrals tend to be rather...incendiary to electrical equipment.


Dining room light comes on when using an outlet I have a free standing pantry with an outlet and a light switch on it.

light switch works just fine. The problem is when I use the outlet I.E. plug the vacuum or anything else into it and power it on, the light that is controlled by the switch comes on.

Any help would be appreciated.

I would alter your thinking.  The light switch and the socket are not "just fine."

Odds are your switch or your socket (or both) somehow have the ground / return wires incorrectly wired.  So either the switch routes the return into the ground when closed or worse.  The plug is likely on the same circuit and completing the circuit for the switch due to the miswiring.  This could be done a number of ways, some which involve the misconnected ground feeding electricity into the plugged in device, returning through the return (or some other odd but similar arrangement).

I'd have an electrician go over the switch, the light, and the socket.  If any of these items were rewired, odds are there was an undetected issue, as they didn't plug something into the socket and test the light in conjunction (and the device seemed to work).


How do I stop water from seeping between my porch roof and house siding? I have a small roof over my side door on my porch. Whenever it rains or snows, some water always seeps in between the small roof and the vinyl siding. It drips down the siding and makes a puddle on the porch. How can I prevent this? I assume there's a small gap that the water goes into, can I use something to seal it?

I'm going to bet you need kick-out (rain diverter) flashing to divert the water off the roof and into the gutter at the point where the roof/wall intersection ends. It is probably the most left-out piece of flashing and causes lots of problems.

 -kick-out flashing

However, there is no way to tell where the leak is coming from without a thorough inspection of the area. First step would be to check the roof/wall intersection above for proper flashing.


Fridge turns on when banging it My Kenmore full fridge intermittently turns off, and the only way to turn it back on is to bang it on its side.

When it is off, unplugging it and plugging it back in doesn't help, neither does turning the thermostat help.

Also, when in it's "off state" the fridge light still goes on.

Any idea of what is causing this to happen?

It could be a door switch but also could be the contactor or relay that runs the compressor has bad contacts. Sometimes wiggling them will allow them to seat so it starts again, if it is getting worse over time I would probably replace first you could test Jraef’s theory by opening the door while it is running if it keeps running it’s the contactor or relay.


OLD UK Lighting Live wire in neutral, how is this working? is it safe? I'm in the process of upgrading our ceiling lights in our rather old home. The wiring of the lights in the house pre-dates 1977 and therefore the colours are slightly different which I'll list below.

Pre 1977

Live = Red
Black = Neutral
Earth = Green

Post 2004

Live = Brown
Blue = Neutral
Earth = Green/Yellow

Below is a picture of the wiring in question.

The diagram below for easier viewing, notice that the neutral wire of the bulb is paired with the switch (Live) and that the bulb live is paired with the neutral in and out.

It is my understanding, the little I have is that it should look something like this:

My question is...

Is this safe? is this even possible?

It'll still work - a light bulb doesn't care which terminal is live and which is neutral - it's just a dumb resistor. Generally speaking however, the socket in which you put the light bulb should be designed such that the live terminal is harder to reach / harder to accidentally touch, than the neutral terminal. Since you have the ceiling rose open already, you might as well swap them to the correct configuration (your second picture).


Can you sister floor joists with smaller boards? Does adding a sister that is smaller than the original joist actually increase strength at all? If so, does it need to be sistered at the bottom (so both beams touch the sill) or does it still add strength if sistered to be flush on the top?

To extend the question, does a sistered joist that doesn't go the full span add strength?

Does adding a sister that is smaller than the original joist actually increase strength at all?

Yes.  They will both bear the load.

  If so, does it need to be sistered at the bottom (so both beams touch the sill) or does it still add strength if sistered to be flush on the top?

As long as the joists are attached together with sufficient strength, the force will be carried by both joists through the entire length of the span, but the larger joist will transfer all of the load to the sill.  That will work.

Now if the joists are the same size, the attachment from joist to joist is not so critical - they can share the load from the floor without transferring part of that load from one to the other.

  To extend the question, does a sistered joist that doesn't go the full span add strength?

Yes, it will add some strength, although calculating just how much strength it will add may be difficult.


Why are some outlets not working in two bedrooms? My room is next to my daughter's, I have 4 outlets, she has 3. None of hers are working. Only 1 of mine is working, but only with extension cord, and only sometimes. The others do not work.

I have had this problem for a while. They were supposed to have be fixed, but never were. I am wondering how I can help my situation, and be safe, for me and my daughter.

It is probably broken wire or bad connection at a back stab that feeds the chain of outlets. The problem is at the last working outlet (closest to the breakers usually) or the first non working outlet. Figure out this location and turn the breaker off, pull the outlet look for a loose or broken wire it could be either the black or white,  if back stabs were used into the outlet many times the insulation will be melted back at the bad connection, when found replace the outlet and don't use the back stabs pigtail and or use the screw terminals. I have repaired hundreds of these failures and 98% of the time it is a loose backstab connection in the outlet. If you pull the 2 outlets and don't find anything but the other outlets now work , get 2 new outlets and replace those because this will happen again when a good load like a vacuum is plugged in.