What to look out for when installing a gable attic vent? My attic needs better ventilation. On one end of the attic it terminates to a room that has a cathedral ceiling, and the other end of the attic terminates at an exterior wall (the main gable). It is about 800 square feet with a shallow roof.There are overhangs on the sides of the house but no sofit vents yet. The only ventilation in the attic, aside from being a bit drafty after standing for ~100 years, is a ridge vent (which seems well done but is buried by snow seasonally).

With so little ventilation, right off the bat it seems more is needed. To make matters worse, there's a shower vent exhausting directly into the attic, and it needs someplace to go. (Thankfully, the attic's woods all look good with only one small and non-structural piece I've seen that aught to be replaced.)

On account of the above, a gable vent seems like a good option to vent the attic and also give me a place to vent the shower exhaust.

What should I look for when getting a gable vent installed or doing it myself? I've done some carpentry but am not confident about cutting holes in my house's shell, and even if hiring it out I want to learn what to look for in a good job. Any tips would be appreciated about what to look for in the gable vent itself, making cuts and installing the gable vent, or routing the shower exhaust out through the gable vent somehow.

It will permit good air circulation. I put in a large one , about 24" from roof peak to the bottom of the vent. My roof had low pitch so the lowest cedar board was over 8 ft long. I used 1X6 cedar boards at about a 30 degree angle with about a 3" overlap ( end view). A little snow would blow in on rare occasion which was handled by laying a piece of plywood on the ceiling joists.


Humidity levels in a basement I have a damp 28' by 60' basement with 2 concrete walls and 2 walls with paneling. What humidity level should I set my dehumidifier at?

I keep my dehumidifier at 60% or 65%. That's a good default when you're using the space for storage or are concerned about limiting mold/mildew.

If you're not having problems with the humidity, then consider running it at a higher setting or even removing the dehumidifier altogether. Dehumidifiers use a lot of energy.


What are the advantages of a 21° v 30° framing nailer? I've been borrowing my father-in-law's Passlode cordless framing nailer for years decades. It has served very well, but it's on its last legs now (after several trips to the repair depot), so I'm looking at buying one for myself (and loaning it to him whenever he needs it, of course).

I've made my decision on brand and power source, but there is the option of 21° or 30° nails. I understand that the 21° nailer supports full-head nails while the 30° nailer supports only clip-head nails. It seems to me that the clip-head nails hold just fine, as our garage, build with clip-head nails, has shown no signs of being worse for wear.

What are the other pros and cons of a 21° nailer and a 30° nailer?
What (other) things should I consider when making this final decision?

None, assuming you're not in a hurricane or seismic zone or other area where their use is prohibited. They're just proprietary standards. Some manufacturers provide both to accommodate your existing tool set and nail supply, and so they can sell nails to owners of other gun brands. It's mostly a matter of a different magazine, so it's cheap to do so.

I've fired tens of thousands of both and never detected a practical difference in performance. Early guns used full-head nails probably because D-head hadn't been invented yet. The D-head design was initially to get more nails in a "stick"--they don't require spacing with wax or wire--and to allow the use of paper as a cheap binder.

D-head nails are still more likely to pull out of the secondary member than they are to pull through the primary member (though the initial bite of the adhesive coating makes pull-through possible in modern fast-grown lumber, which is softer).

Use whichever gun seems most appropriate, and consider cost and availability of nails in your area. Also consider what your cohorts are using. Nail-sharing and organization can be a factor.


What should I consider / know about before replacing with a Stab Lok GFCI breaker? My mom's house (close to Detroit, MI) has a Federal Pacific panel and we want to replace the existing kitchen circuit breaker with Stab-Lok GFCI breaker. I want to add that I do understand and read all the questions/articles on Federal Pacific panel / buss bar / breaker issues. While we do understand that replacing a panel is the best & safest option out there, she is cash strapped at the moment and plans to upgrade the panel next year or so. Currently, she is in the middle of a small renovation that requires GFCI protection for more than one outlets. Also, the house was built in 1983 so we believe we have the 'safer' FPE panel.

Am I better off using a bunch of GFCI receptacles instead? Please advise on whether it is a good idea!

Don't go there

The Stab-Lok GFCI-breaker is a two-pole half-width Stab-Lok, mechanically speaking, with one of the handles removed and one of the poles connected mechanically to the GFCI trip solenoid instead of having a normal trip mechanism.  This is a problem because it renders them quite vulnerable to the infamous Stab-Lok common-trip jam defect -- either an overcurrent trip or a GFCI trip could cause the breaker to jam up, utterly defeating its utility as a protection device.

Instead, fitting a GFCI-receptacle at the first receptacle on the circuit, or cutting into the homerun and adding a box for a deadfront-type GFCI, would be recommended, if you are not replacing the panel, that is.

(Note that new-build Canadian Stab-Loks may or may not be any better than their crappy USA counterparts, still are vulnerable to bus burnups, and are not listed for use in the USA anyway, so don't make the trip across the border either.)


What type of wood should I purchase and how do I give it the shape I want? I want to refurbish a metal folding chair with seat and back cushions. The wood base for the seat and back cushion are in very bad condition and I have to replace them. I was thinking about using plywood for the seat base since the original one is flat. The back cushion base is curved though and I don't know what material to use to replace it.... The original looks like compressed wood. Is that what you recommend? How do I give it the curve I need? Thanks!

Not seeing the chair I wood go with cedar,its a little more expensive than most but will outlast all others resistant to insects and beautifull wood.


Gas Fireplace Won't Stay Lit With Fake Logs In Place I've been banging my head up against the wall on this.  Everything checks out -- the thermopile (TP) gives ~290mV once the pilot has been on for a few minutes (and around 590mV open).  The pilot light is strong, and has been cleaned.  All three jets (TP, TC, and the burner lighter) are equal, and flame impingement is good on the 2 probes.

The pilot light has no trouble staying on.  If I take the front and top logs out and turn the burner on, the stove stays lit.  If I turn it off and put those logs back in and repeat the whole lighting, the burner comes on for between 10 and 30 seconds and then goes out.

It's a direct-vent stove, and this is the first time I'm running it (a) off of an outdoor LP tank, and (b) in temperatures this cold (~15°F).  Previously, I had been running it off of a 20lb grill LP tank, but I finally ran 1/2" black pipe from the 55gal LP tank that we run our cooking range/oven off of.  It's 1/2" the whole way and drops down to a 3/8" flexible appliance hookup for the final 3'.  The cooking range works just fine, even with all 4 burners going, and turning the stove on and off doesn't have any visible effect on the pilot light, so I don't think it's a supply issue.  The cooking range is about 40' closer than the fireplace.

I'm wondering if the air coming in through the direct vent is so cold that it's causing the TP voltage to drop just enough to stop?  Looking around online, some valves seem to work fine with 250mV, and some are picky about having >300mV...  But, with or without the logs, I get 290mV so I don't know how that could make a difference.

For now, I'm running it just fine without the logs.  I'm just lost as to why the logs would be causing the valve to trip.

Well, it must have been the temperature.  After I left the fireplace on without the logs for a half hour and let the whole stove get nice and hot, I turned the burner off, put the logs back, and turned it back on.  It's been going for an hour now without any shutoffs.


Is there a suspended ceiling tile that allows sound to pass through without reflecting sound? I've ordered an acoustic ceiling which comprises a suspended ceiling with sound insulation above to absorb echo and sound insulate. I'm concerned because the builder has given us a sample of the tile today; I was expecting something of fibre which would allow sound to pass and be absorbed by the sound insulation but in fact he's offering gypsum.

Will a gypsum tile allow sound to pass through or will it reflect sound into the classrooms below and a fibre/alternative tile be preferable?

AFAIK, the insulation in the ceiling is to prevent sound traveling through the floor above. It's not intended to necessarily reduce the sound within the room itself (though it will, to an extent, as it'll be a softer material than concrete or wood and the surface texture will help dissipate sound).


Ceiling fan light fixture comes on with fan I installed a new light fixture on my ceiling fan and apparently did something wrong with the wiring. The lights will only come on when the fan itself is running and are dim. It appears that they are somehow sharing the same power supply, I connected the light fixture to the white and black cords in the fan. I first attempted to connect the light fixture to the blue and white wires but this resulted in neither the fan or lights turning on. Any ideas on a fix?

White to white.

Black and blue (from the fan/light) both go to the incoming power if you only have a single switch. (three wires in one wire nut)

It sounds like what you did was hook them up in series. They need to be in parallel.


If one wanted more basement ceiling height ... is it more insane to try to stabilize a brick foundation, break up a concrete floor, and dig down... Or to levitate the house as if one was going to relocate it, and build the foundation upward (or pour a new foundation in place under it)?

No, I don't think I'm serious about either. Headroom is about 6' in the 1890's section of the basement (probably originally dirt-floor cellar?) but I'm 5'8" so that isn't intolerable. But every now and then I wonder what it would take to change that.

(Given that I'm within the hundred-year-flood zone I suspect the bias might be toward going up, but I'd be really interested in knowing just how bad either would be.)

Footnote: one website claims "The cost of moving a house starts at about $12 to $16 per square foot but can quickly rise if the home is heavier, bigger or has farther to go." So figure the levitation alone at around $20k. That's actually not completely unreasonable, especially if one wanted to do all the "ideal" ground-water, insulation, and radon measures and bundled them into the cost of the new foundation.

The safer and more predictable method (probably also cheaper) is to jack the house and build up, not messing with the footings. If the lower foundation is in good shape this can be a relatively simple approach if you work in concrete masonry unit lifts (i.e. an evenly divisible by 8 inches lift for most concrete blocks - perhaps 3 blocks or 2 feet for yours.) You raise the house somewhat more (well, unless you are nuts, your professional house movers do) and build the new block wall (reinforcing  probably a good idea to ask your engineer about) on top of the old wall, then set the house back down on it.

Another fairly common option with more dire foundation issues is to either build a whole new foundation and roll the house onto it, or roll the house off to the side and build a new foundation in place, then roll the house back onto it. This requires space to do that, but it is considerably cheaper to move the house than to build the foundation while the house is in the way. However, the latter approach is also seen.


Toilet leaking - is it the washer? My toilet cistern is leaking water straight into the toilet, just as fast as the cistern is filling. I don't know all the terminology but the washer that forms a seal between the pipe that drains down, and the siphon itself had a big blister on it that I popped, and now looks almost as good as new. It's very smooth, apart from one microscopic bobble where the blister was. However it's still pouring down, as if there's something else wrong with it. I did try to get a replacement washer, but the only one the plumber's merchant had looks the same (it's a Gerberit one, my old one is unbranded) but it's slightly thicker and a bit wider. This is the siphon (can't see a brand name on there)...

And here it is with the old washer attached (notice the washer doesn't go all the way to the edge, which I would have thought was necessary?!)

It slots and then 'twists to lock' into place in this...

I can understand a tiny bit of water leaking in given that it's not 100% perfect, but it's still leaking torrents so I wondered if anyone knows if something else could be broken inside (in addition to the washer). Should I just get a new siphon?

I can provide more pics / details if necessary. Really appreciate any help.

Thanks

Richard

Personally I would go to Lowes or Home Depot and get the more conventional older style toilet siphon kit.  You know with the flapper, fill valve, etc.
I am not familiar with the siphon you now have.  Looks like some kind of internal failure of this piece of equipment.  I am not a plumber, but have repaired a many toilets in my time.  Just a suggestion.  Good luck.


Why my gas stove delays in turning on? When I turn on my gas stove, the ignitor clicks and it takes a good 15 seconds and it explodes on.  What does it mean?

It is possible that a few of the gas nozzles closest to the ignitor are clogged or blocked, and so the burner will not light until there is so much gas pumped out that it eventually makes it to the igniter, and hence the explosion. You should clean it out, and if that doesn't work, replace the ignitor.


Is clearance to an electrical panel required to the sides? Per the NEC there is 36" clearance needed by a circuit panel. Is that 36" clearance just in front of panel, or is 36" clearance mandatory on the left / right and in front?

The clearance is 36" in front and 30" side-to-side -- but that side-to-side clearance does not have to be centered on the panel as long as both edges are accessible.

Graphically, originally from Mike Holt:


Network cables in attic. What riser? Going to sound stupid, but i have to ask. I'm running CM ethernet cable in my attic. just two runs.

I am looking for what an official 'riser' is? I've always just used eye hooks for this stuff but i wanted to see if there is a legitimate riser for the job that should be used

Riser is more for industrial /commercial work. In a residence you can run the cable through drilled holes inside the walls. But a riser in a large building is a chase that is verticle and has fire blocks at each floor.


What is this small strip of wood in front of fascia? I am trying to figure out what this small strip of wood at the top of my fascia boards is called. Also, what type of wood would be good to use to replace it? Cedar?

By location, the strip is called drip edge, but by profile, it is a 1X2. It should actually measure 3/4" by 1 1/2"

Cedar is a good choice to use, it is available already primed. If you choose to replace it, any cuts or exposed bare wood, no matter the location should be primed. It helps the longevity of the material.

This was not part of your question, but it is an observation of your overhang of the roofing material. It looks like the projection of the roofing past the 1X2 is marginal, in other words, it looks like it is not far enough out to protect the drip edge. I usually set my shingles at least 3/4" to 1" past the drip edge. This keeps the rain from getting the drip edge wet continually. I think that is what is making the material decay faster than usual. Fortunately it is not a structural piece, no more than supporting the lower edge of the shingles.

My first thought is, the roof projection without the drip edge will work fine, just touch up the fascia and be done. But if the drip edge is an aesthetic piece, as in covering up the exposed edge of the roof plywood, then perhaps a rake mold can work in its place. It is available in PVC plastic and will not rot, but it is very prone to extreme expansion and contraction, much more so than wood when exposed to the weather extremes.


Are cracks on exterior walls serious and can I fix them myself? I recently noticed some mostly-vertical cracks present on some exterior walls.

In case it is relevant, this is a South Florida home built in the mid 50s.  The downstairs walls are CBS (Concrete Block Structure) and the upstairs bedroom/bathroom walls are wood frame.

EDIT: Added images.  Sorry for the quality (camera phone).

Downstairs:
East wall (front): Crack that starts about 3 feet from the ground and is about 6 feet long.  The crack itself is about 1mm wide.  I am not sure how deep is is.  There are some spots where there's a little bit of the wall chipping off, but the chips are not deep and are maybe 2mm wide on either side of the main crack.

This part of the house was added on a while before we bought it as an expansion.  The crack seems to have surfaced in close proximity to where the old wall would have ended.

East front

East front (closer)

East wall (rear): Crack starting in the corner of a window and working its way down about 3 feet.  Same thickness as east wall (front) crack.  Nothing chipping off yet.

East rear

Rear wall: Crack same as East wall (front) description.

Rear wall

West wall: Tiny cracks... thinner than the others I mentioned and not even a foot long, but there are 3-4 of them joining together.

Upstairs:
Larger crack (between 1mm-2mm) starting at the corner of one window, going down about 3 feet and halfway across to the other window corner.  The other window corner has its own crack starting there which works its way down about 3 feet as well, but doesn't join with the other crack.

My neighbor tells me that a few months before we bought the house, the upstairs window was actually a sliding glass door (yes, a sliding glass door to nowhere) and was replaced with a regular window.  This crack has me most concerned.

Upstairs

Those are the major cracks I've noticed.  I'm hoping to find out two things:

How serious is this?  I mean, really, is my house falling apart?
Is this something for which I can perform a quality repair job (if so, how) or should I seek a professional?

From the pictures it looks like the cracks may only be in the stucco, and the underlying structural wall may be unaffected.  It's hard to tell without actually inspecting the wall, but my guess is that these cracks are only skin deep.  However, you will want to treat them to prevent them from spreading.

Here is a good article about Cracks in stucco.

Here are some excerpts from the article.

  All buildings are subjected to a
  variety of stresses in various forms
  and this stress is often transferred
  to the plaster stucco membrane.

  Stucco
  is not and never was intended to be a
  structural material.

  Cement stucco is
  a relatively thin, brittle shell over
  a framed structure and can crack if
  the stresses are transferred and
  overcome the strength of the plaster
  membrane.

  SHRINKAGE STRESS

  All Portland cement
  shrinks as it cures. Controlling and
  minimizing that shrinkage is critical
  to minimizing cracks

  Shrinkage cracking
  tends to have a map-like cracking
  pattern.

  OUTSIDE SOURCES

  Structural loads,
  lateral force racking, thermal
  changes, wind, lumber shrinkage and
  seismic events are all examples of
  outside sources of stress.

  HOW HARMFUL IS A HAIRLINE CRACK?

  a hairline
  crack does not automatically mean the
  stucco is faulty, failing or will not
  function for the service life of the
  building.

  MAKING REPAIRS

  Once the decision is made to make
  repairs, there are several options.

  Option 1: Treat the joint with the
  same finish material.

  Option 2: Paint the wall or ceiling
  after treating the crack with an
  acrylic paint or paint designed for
  stucco.

  Option 3: An elastomeric paint
  coating.

  Option 4: Recoat the wall from
  architectural break to architectural
  break with the same finish material.

  Option 5: A new basecoat and mesh over
  the wall area.


How to support 2 x 10 on concrete? I'm thinking of building a mailbox like in this picture

Problem is that I need to bolt it down onto concrete. Any suggestions on the best way to support 2 pieces of 2x10 at around 4 feet high?

Drill baby drill. Drill 1/2" or a bit more for glue or epoxy-fill holes in the concrete & in the bottom ends of the boards, 4 in the concrete & 2 each in the boards. These would receive steel Rebar, big Rod, Threaded Rod, Bar Stainless Steel, etc. I'd guess 4" deep into the concrete & at least 6" into the boards. I haven't done, so you can let me know what works or doesn't.


Do I need outdoor-rated cable for an exterior receptacle? I'm going to install an exterior receptacle by running a non-metallic (NM-B) cable from an interior receptacle.  I will be installing it just on the outside wall right behind the interior receptacle. The cable will exit through a hole in the exterior stucco and into a metal box made for outdoors. Then I will install an exterior rated receptacle with a receptacle box.
I will use duct seal (kind of like a gray putty) to seal around where the stucco hole meets the exterior box hole. I will also take the proper precautions to caulk the perimeter where the exterior box meets the stucco.
Will I need an outdoor/exterior (UF-B) cable to run to the outdoor receptacle?

I have heard debates on this subject.  It's very common to do just as you say, run indoor rated NM through the wall to a surface mounted exterior box.
In my opinion, when you come through the sheath, you're outdoors, and it's not compliant.  Only for inches, and I would be really surprised if it ever amounted to anything, but still not compliant.
If you want to satisfy the sticklers, you could transition from NM to UF in a box inside before the cable goes through the wall.  This also gives you some protection where the cable goes through the wall.


Previous owner didn't get permits for remodel, am I now liable? Location is Hillsboro, OR (suburb W of Portland).

I'm considering purchasing a house that had significant remodeling done a few years ago (kitchen and bathrooms incl. plumbing).

If the previous owner (the one who haid the remodel done) didn't get permits for the work, is it a potential liability to me?

Sorry, I am going to have to disagree with some of the above posters.  It all comes down to the interpretation of due diligence.

Hypothetically, if you bought the place and know that work was done without permits, you have actually created your own problem, now, by advertising the fact that you know about the negligent work.  If you now rent it and there is a problem, you could be civilly liable (you could be liable for replacing a tenants possessions if there is a flood from a faulty pipe) or criminally liable (a faulty wire burns down the house and kills someone).  I can tell you of at least 7 instances of people we have done work for that their insurance didn't cover their repairs after problems.  It is usually when they have work done without permits and it creates a flood or a fire, but the legal logic is the same.

The very fact you know about it implies you have a moral obligation to repair the faults you know of prior to acting as a landlord.  The fact that you just put it out on the internet makes it vital.  As unlikely as it seems that a future possible catastrophe could be linked back to this post and you (your profile says Jim Garrison of Austin, TX - there are only 19 people with your name in Austin - see how easy it would be?), do you really want to take that risk?

You would be wisest to have the work inspected by a competent whoever (don't know the work done) and inform your insurance company of it in writing.  Also talk to the town and get an inspection by the town done.  If you can pull a permit and have them check it, you will be pretty safe.  Just get them to put it in writing that it passes.  Do not accept a private home inspectors report as anything.  They simply don't hold up in court, and I have seen that in multiple instances.

Good luck.


Help choosing an outbuilding sub-panel I'm wiring a shed to use as an insulated tech workshop.  A 20A circuit for 10 outlets, 15A for lights, and a 20A for a mini-split A/C.  My main breaker appears to be 150A.
Should I just match the 150A on the subpanel, or is that overkill?
Is my house panel even big enough to run a sub-panel?
How should I go about choosing the correct/best size for my sub-panel?
I live in Georgia (USA).  The building is 100 feet from the house.  I'm currently planning on using rigid metal conduit and digging the trench by hand.
Here's a pic of my house panel.

Lots and lots and lots of spaces.
Electricity works for us. It does our bidding.  Running out of spaces is a huge, project-killing problem.  And spaces are dirt cheap when you buy it (rather more expensive after the fact)... so we earnestly advise gross overkill on panel spaces.
So when you said "150A panel like this one" I thought "30 space panel for a shed?  Now you're talking!"
Seriously.  30 spaces is not too many.
So yeah, if you want to get a similar subpanel, go for it.  Although that one is a classic "CH" panel, I have 2 myself and they are my brand of choice.  They are now wider because of a rule change on wire bending radius.  14.25" so they fit between joists.
If you're thinking "I'll free up THAT panel when I upgrade my panel" I would not do that.  I would leave this panel where it is and put a new 200A CH panel right next to it, then have that feed this existing panel.  Way less work lol.
Main breaker size in a subpanel
Subpanels don't need main breakers at all.  What they need is disconnect switches if they are in outbuildings (no breezeway between them).
Actual disconnect switches can get pretty expensive, and just the way they price service panels, it's cheaper to buy a "main breaker" panel and completely ignore the number on the breaker handle.
So yeah, a 150A main breaker panel will work for ANY feeder size, though a feeder larger than 150A would be wasted.
The feeder MUST be fused
You mentioned 150A feeder to the subpanel.  However you can't "tee" off the un-fused, always-energized feed coming off your meter and carry it to the subpanel. The run to the subpanel must be protected by a breaker.  And here's the rubaw: the largest branch circuit breaker in the CH line is 125A.
To go off on my tangent about a panel upgrade, one option is to replace the meter pan with a "meter-main".  It contains both meter and main breaker (some even have a micro-panel with 8 spaces that is perfect for feeding outbuildings).  At that point the wires coming off the meter are fused, and you could "tee" off them at your leisure.  It's a complicated job that requires permit/inspection, but the scope of work is small.
So the feeder wire must be behind a breaker, and the breaker decides wire size.  Since you're in conduit, we're talking THWN/XHHW individual wires, and those are allowed to run hotter than UF/NM cable, so amps may not be what you expect.

30A -- #10 copper wire
50A -- #8 copper wire or #6 aluminum
65A using 70A breaker -- #6 copper or #4 aluminum
100A -- #1 aluminum
120A using 125A breaker (largest 2-space breaker) -- 1/0 aluminum
Full 150A -- 2/0 aluminum for you

You can actually provision full 150A on 2/0 wire (135A normally), because of Rule 310.15(B)(7) which says "no feeder needs to be larger than 83% of the service size", that's 124.5A in your case.  Services "round down" on breaker size, feeders "round up" as above.
#6 or larger is where you start thinking about aluminum wire.  Much above that, aluminum is the wiser choice. The lore about "dangerous aluminum" never applied to large feeder like this.
Grounds must be #10 for up to 60A, #8Cu/#6Al for 61-100A, and #6Cu/#4Al for 101-200A.  That's decided by wire capacity not breaker size! (if conductors are upsized e.g. for voltage drop, grounds must be too).
You aren't going far enough for voltage drop to matter at 240V, I don't even crunch the numbers until 180'. However I also like to recalculate for a single large 120V load, and on smaller feeders (#12-#10) that can become an issue. Even so, you're just on the cusp; I don't even bother crunching the numbers on that until 90'.
Your questions
Is 150A overkill?  Yes, until the day you're at the Tesla dealer who asks "do you want the slow charger or the fast charger?"  Prior to the existence of EVSEs, most people had little chance to use that much.  But there's always another gadget, and always will be.
Is my panel big enough? Always.  Panel capacity isn't decided by subpanels or spaces, it's decided by load calculations based on the loads of the house.
How do I choose the best size sub?  Spaces: PLENTY.  Amps: Any size, at least enough to exploit whatever feeder you're willing to pay for.
Remember you need 6" of cover over top of the conduit, not a 6" trench.  Also must be 12" under vehicle drives.


Do HVAC technicians need to be registered or licensed? We had several HVAC companies come out on a Sunday to look at our furnace. Unfortunately, it could not be fixed. Each contractor offered their solution and did not charge us for their time- but if they had to fix it it would be more because it was Sunday. Everyone was consistent and up front about the fees.

However, one contractor demanded $225 for a 10 minute chat; if we used him he would deduct the amount. My question, is this legal? What license, registration, etc is required to do this job? In reflection, my husband realized that the guy asked what the other contractors had said and he would than reaffirm their diagnosis. Looking for feedback. Thank you.

I see 2 different trains of thought on this, if I was called to do an emergency repair that is a call that can be charged for even if the unit was not repairable. But if called for a quote on updating a system that would be different some do charge for quotes but take it off when they get the job, most don't charge for quotes. But it sounds like an emergency call was made so there could be a charge without a contract. But yes contractors need to be licensed and for hvac also need an EPA license called 608 1, 2 or 3 if they have all 3 it is called a universal license, but a 609 license is also required for motor vehicles to be able to do everything.


How can I get floor paint to stick better on our outside stairs? We have stairs leading down to our flat which are outside and we have painted them a few times, but the paint doesn't seem to stick very well, and always starts peeling off.

It mainly peels in the same places, which is where water drips on the stairs from the balcony above when it rains. We can't stop this dripping and so I want to know what my best options are for painting that will minimise the chances of it peeling off.

Previously the old coats of paint were not properly removed (the work was always done by people organised by the managing agents, we will be doing it ourselves this time) and so I'm going to use a drill scrubber to try and remove the paint first.

But is there anything else I can do?

Will adding PVA to the paint make it more likely to stick?

Is there some paint that is better to use?

Peeling paint is caused by poor adhesion to the underlying surface. For stone and concrete a professional would recommend grit/sand blasting. This ensures removal of all surface contaminants which could affect adhesion.

If you insist on doing it yourself: remove all existing paint, wire brush entire surface, wash surface with mild acid solution (we use pool acid called Muriatic Acid, it is actually weak hydrochloric), rinse clean and dry. Use a high quality outdoor concrete coating and apply as directed by the manufacturer's instructions using high quality applicators (brushes & rollers). Some of the epoxy coatings do not require a primer. Do not use an additive unless directed to by the manufacturer.

It has been my experience that you will find the best coatings (and advice) at a paint shop or commercial/industrial supply house, rather than at a "big box" store.


Home security system recommendation I want to purchase a DIY wireless home security system.
For the moment, I do not want to pay a home monitoring service and prefer to be informed of my alarm status via the Internet (WiFi and cellular) and text messages.

The main entrance to the house is a steel gate. Not sure if a sensor exists for this type of entrance. I have 3 solid wood doors, 1 aluminum door with window, many aluminum horizontal louver style windows and a couple of glass horizontal louver style windows.

Also, I have an indoor cat.

I wanted some input on what types of alarm systems and sensors you guys recommend for this setup to work and I can install.

Have a look at Iris. You can mix and match components such as door/window sensors, thermostats, motion sensors, etc. It hooks to your wifi and can send you text alerts.


Hanging up blackboard adhesive over a rough textured wall Following from this thread, what would be the best way to "smooth" my wall to hang some blackboard adhesive paper over it?

A $15 bucket of drywall compound (mud) and a wide drywall knife, a wall sanding block and some drywall sanding screens. Even as a temporary fix, unless you want to hang up a chalkboard as suggested in the comments, the skim-coat of drywall mud will get the job done as quickly and easily as it can be done. If you'll be doing the work in 3 months, it will also provide hands-on practice that you don't have to care about being "perfect" if you'll be ripping and replacing in 3 months. As suggested in that thread, try sanding off the high points before you start mudding.

Big hint if you haven't done much - do not try to get it perfect in one coat. The secret to quick and easy mudwork is to let it dry, knock off the high points, and recoat to fill the low spots, repeatedly.


Can I use a 1/8 thimble with 1/16 wire rope? I'm hanging some items from a ceiling.

The hardware stores around me all have plenty of 1/8 wire rope and 1/8 fittings, but when it comes to 1/16 size, aside from the wire rope itself, the only 1/16 fittings they have are the sleeves (aka ferrules).

I just need to make some loop ends using thimbles, which will attach to generic carabiners and/or screw hooks.

Just want to confirm whether using 1/6 wire rope in a 1/8 thimble is okay. I think if the wire fits within the thimble, then it does the job.

Yes, it's OK. It may look a bit funky to have a smaller cable in there, but the functionality will not be affected.


How to convert a fluorescent fixture to led? I have a single-tube fluorescent light fixture that I would like to convert to LED. However, the wiring is a bit odd.

The left tombstone has two white wires (in one socket) and one blue wire in the other socket. One of the white wires is the white wire to the ballast and the other white wire is connected to the white supply wire. The blue wire is the blue wire to the ballast.

The right tombstone has two red wires (one in each socket) and they lead to the other side of the ballast.

The black supply wire is connected to the black wire to the ballast. The ballast has the black, white and blue wires on one side and the two red wires on the other side.

How do I re-wire to bypass the ballast and convert for a two-sided led tube? Currently, the fluorescent bulb is a single T12?

Any help is appreciated. Thanks.

There are loads of questions with answers on this site that address this question and loads of YouTube tutorials on how to do it.

I prefer to remove the ballast, its wiring and the tombstones.

Replace the tombstones with Non-shunted ones and wire directly to one tombstone. Use wire nuts to pigtail 18awg wire to your black and white ( line and neutral ) house wiring and wire them to the two wire inputs on the non shunted tombstone. ( ground to the metal fixtures body. )

Use a direct wire or ballast bypass led tube.

I do not see the point in powering a ballast if it is not needed other than for people who are not comfortable making the electrical changes. ( its a waste of power )


How do I wire a wifi light switch with wiring that doesn't match the install instructions? I bought a Yeewell smart light switch (X00247151R) that claims to be designed to work with a standard 2-way light switch. The one I'd like to replace has two switches in it, but only one does anything. I think the other is just there in case we added a ceiling fan or something. The house is about 5 years old. I have a cover that accommodates one standard switch on one wifi switch so I really only need to replace the one switch that actually turns on the light.
When I removed the cover, I see that there are 3 white wires that were just connected together with a wire nut and not attached to either switch. The ground is bare metal wire and connected to one side of the switch. There is red wire stabbed in the back of the top the switch. Then there is one black wire stabbed in the back of the bottom of the switch. The unusual piece was that there is another black wire the has a section stripped and it is wrapped around the screw on the bottom of the switch and then it goes over to the other switch that doesn't currently do anything.
I have four wires coming out of the new wifi switch and am trying to determine what to connect where:

Ground - Seems obvious that I just use the bare ground wire from the switch I'm replacing for this one.
Load - I assumed this would be matching red to red.
Neutral - I'm not sure if should just one neutral or connect all 3 to the one from the new switch.
Line - I believe the one that with the stripped section is actually the one carrying power, but I'm not sure which black wire(s) should get connected to the new switch.

Any guidance would be appreciated. I searched around a bit but can't seem to get terms that result in a match for my situation.

The group of white wires are the neutrals: 1 coming from the supply and one going to each switched circuit. Don't separate them, just add the smart switch's white wire to the wirenut.
The red wire is the switched hot to the load: connect this to the red wire on the smart switch.
The black wire on the backstab is the hot from the supply. The hot on the screw is continuing the hot to the second switch, using the guts of the old switch as a jumper. This is not at all unusual. Assuming you want to keep the second switch, take both existing blacks and combine these with the black wire from the smart switch, using a wirenut.
When you attach a wirenut, twist it on tight and then pull on each wire to make sure it's secure.


How does hardwood floor acclimate to a location with variable humidity? I've read in many places that hardwood flooring should be acclimated to the place it will be installed (e.g. Armstrong flooring).

The local humidity here (Northeast US) regularly varies by 50-70% over the course of a few days (from 40-90%).  The hardwood will be purchased from a box store, where temperature (and therefore humidity by way of A/C) are regulated.

Given the wide range of humidity conditions at home (where temp/humidity are not regulated) and the fact that the wood is currently in a temp/humidity controlled building, what purpose will acclimation serve?

Humidity is variable everywhere. I live in the desert where the indoor humidity varies from 10% to 60% depending on the time of year. I've installed engineered hardwood and it's totally fine. Don't most houses in the northeast have hardwood flooring? I think you'll be totally fine too. Just keep in mind seasonal cycles; if you install during a high-humidity period, expect it to shrink a bit. If you install in a low-humidity period, expect is to expand a bit.

That said, hardwood flooring isn't a the best choice for a building that's not temperature controlled at all, as you've implied.


Do I need to remove existing drywall before framing an interior wall? Below is a rough diagram of the interior wall I'd like to build.  The wall is in green, and the rooms are in white.  The grey offset around the edges of the walls represents 3/8" drywall.

My question is simple - do I need to remove the drywall where the interior wall will meet the existing framing, or can I just drive framing nails straight through it to pick up the stud on the other side?

What about the top plate?

I know you already accepted, but I disagree with @bib on a few points that don't fit in a comment, so I'll provide my own answer.

So long as you build a solid frame and connect it well, once installed there is really no chance of existing drywall being "crushed" by the frame. To crush the connecting drywall after installation, you'd need a very serious lateral force which is enough to flex or shift the frame itself. Since your wall connects at both ends, it would pretty much be impossible to put this lateral force on the new wall.

You of course have to be careful during construction since it is possible to crush what's there now.

Wall construction

Solid construction means using 16d (3 1/2") nails (I prefer spiral to common, or use a pneumatic framing nailer). I'd also connect it into the existing structure using 3 1/2" #8 or #10 screws (not nails). Screws are stronger, and trying to hammer in nails is going to cause that lateral force that may damage the drywall (as @bib suggests).

This includes screwing into the subfloor and ceiling. The subfloor should be plywood, so to prevent it from shifting you can attach anywhere with 2 1/2" screws. The ceiling will just be drywall covering joists; if the joists run perpendicular you should be able to anchor to each one; if they run parallel then if you're lucky there will be one right over top (likely since it's at a corner) and if you're unlucky you'll have to add framing.

There is definitely a stud on the top end of your new wall (since it's a corner) so just be sure to screw into that.

3/8" vs 1/2" drywall

There are, however, a couple things I'd point out regarding the 3/8" drywall you mentioned:

Standard 16" O.C. framing uses 1/2" drywall. If you put 3/8" on 16" O.C. framing, it is not going to be strong enough and will flex if someone leans against it. I personally would only use 3/8" for boxing in a soffit on the ceiling of a basement or similar.
If your existing drywall is 3/8", then I'd be worried if the new corner joints (mostly the one at the top right in your diagram) will be strong enough. Any flexing on the walls in the corner will cause cracks down the corner. You may need to put some framing in behind to support the drywall - this means opening the wall there.
Even if your existing drywall is 3/8", I'd still use 1/2" for this new wall.

Speaking of drywall, I'd remove the corner bead on the existing outside corner (in your drawing: at the top left of the new wall). This will make it easier to tape and finish the new drywall; you can treat it like a butt joint.

To open or not open drywall

On the bottom of your diagram, if there is no stud, then you have two choices really, and to me it depends on a few things.

If it's an interior wall, it's probably easy enough to just open the wall and add a stud or horizontal framing between existing studs. You can do this on an exterior wall as well, but you additionally have to deal with insulation and vapour barrier.

Attaching a wall to drywall without a stud

If, and only if, you have a solid attachment point in the floor and ceiling (meaning joists) within about 1' of the wall edge, you can avoid opening the drywall.

Use a few zinc drywall anchors (probably one every 16"). To install this:

Place a single 2x4" on the wall, and pre-drill through it right into the drywall for every anchor point (every 16")
Remove the 2x4" and put the anchors into the drywall
Screw the 2x4" into the new anchors
Build the new wall same as you normally would, so when finished you'll end up with two studs on this end, and solidly attach the studs together solidly using 2 1/2" #8 or #10 screws (you don't want to apply hammer force onto the drywall).
Be sure to put a couple 3 1/2" #10 screws into the joists above and below near the ends.

By building the wall this way, you are essentially using the new wall to support the existing drywall, rather than using the drywall to support the wall, which is why the connections to the floor and ceiling joists are so important.

You could do the same for the ceiling in case there are no joists above, however, I would not do both, and I would not do the ceiling this way if the new wall is longer than the length of a single 2x4".


Question on finding studs I'm trying to find studs along my wall and have been successful except for the wall corners which have me confused. I am using a magnet to find the studs which is working well. However, along the wall corners in my house the magnet attaches to the wall along the entire vertical length. It seems like there is a metal plate in these areas. I am not knowledgeable with construction and am wondering - is it safe to use the wall corners as studs? If so, do I need a particular type of drill bit to get through this? Do people generally stay away from these "wall plates"?

Thanks in advance for the help.

The outside corners of your walls have metal "drywall corner bead". (There's also paper and plastic.) Sometimes, though rare, there's metal bead in the inside corners.

The corner bead itself is relatively thin, but if you're trying to get through it, either with a drill bit or a screw, you'll need to push reasonably forcefully. If you don't, the bead can ride up the screw or bit, which will create a crack in the plaster.

Putting a screw into the last inch of a corner isn't a fabulous idea, though. Typically, there's 1/2" drywall, which won't hold a screw, and then the edge of the stud, which can splinter off and not be very strong.


Why does my switch turn on one outlet and off another? I have a wall switch that turns on one outlet but turns off another outlet at the same time. Am I missing something or what is the purpose of this? Ideally I would have one outlet on all the time while the other is controlled by the switch for a living room lamp.

Any information or advice would be very much appreciated.

Thanks!

It sounds like a 3way switch that was wired to power one device in up and another in down , but more likely a DIY screwup that thought this was a way to power an outlet, I have seen this a few times.


How can I fix a door with a damaged knob hole? Help need help fixing door. Is this still fixable or not?

I'd glue and clamp the wood to put it back together, then install a door reinforcement plate.

Interior doors are usually 1-3/8" thick. Exterior are 1-3/4" thick.


Can I use a larger HVAC Hard Start kit than is recommended? I've got a 2.5 ton HVAC system.  I've been looking at adding one of the 5-2-1 Hard Start kits to reduce the wear on the system.  I see that they have recommended sizes for 1-2-3 ton, 4 ton, and 5 ton systems.

Is there a reason I can't use the 4 ton kit on my 2.5 ton unit?  Would it not just supply more support?

Does your compressor start now? If it does, adding a hard start kit does absolutely nothing beneficial for you and in fact might be harmful. The original intent of a hard start kit was to compensate for voltage drop in the wiring by the time it gets out to a compressor, especially in areas where the utility supply may drop during high use days (i.e. all of your neighbors are home using their AC systems). But for the people who make them, that was not enough sales volume, so they "invented" a problem needing a solution. Their claim is that a compressor starts with high current and that this is damaging the compressor; which is an utter falsehood. The 5-2-1 sales literature starts out with a LIE! It states that "Amps x Volts = wattage" and that wattage is what you pay for. So per their concept, when the starting current goes to 600% (they say 700% witch is an exaggeration), the watts go up so high that the motor over heats. The lie is that watts = amps x volts x POWER FACTOR, and when a motor first starts, the power factor is extremely low. So for example if your 230V motor draws 10A when running, and the PF = 80%, the watts used is 230 x 10 x .8 or 1840W. On starting though, it is going to be 60A x 230V, but the PF is .2, so the watts are 2760, not 13,800 as they would claim.

What the "hard start" kit does is add another capacitor to the motor only for start-up, which compensates for the low power factor, then automatically switches it out of the circuit when the motor gets to 80% speed, usually less than 1 second. It ALSO increases the voltage, which increases the torque, which can be potentially DAMAGING to the compressor. They don't tell you that part!

Hard start kits have a legitimate purpose, but making your compressor last longer when it is not having trouble starting is bogus.

As to your question; yes, if you use a hard start kit intended for a larger motor, it can INCREASE that potential for excess torque damage.


How do I connect my refrigerator water line to the house line? My GE fridge has a 1/4 in OD line, but the connection on the house is larger, and I'm not sure what exact size it is.  What is the standard sized connection for the wall valve water supply line?

In North America, standard main supply lines are 3/4" and branch lines are 3/4" or 1/2". The best way to the connect the fridge supply is to put in a T and a shut-off valve with a 1/4" compression connector. The exact valve you need depends on what your supply line is made of (eg, copper or pex).

Another alternative is to use a Saddle Valve. These often come with fridge hook-up kits. Personally, I hate these things. They are easy to connect, because you just screw it on, and then turn the valve to pierce the the supply line. They're also terrible valves, they can typically be used as a shut-off only a handful of times before they start leaking, and the only fix is to cut out and replace that section of supply line (at which point, you might as well splice in the T and proper valve).

If you do really want to use a saddle valve, you should put in a separate in-line shut-off valve. The fridge gets moved around sometimes (Eg, to clean), there are a bunch of compression connections involved.. basically there is a higher-than-normal chance of something leaking, and a shut-off is just a good idea.

My opinion: for the price of the extra valve, might as well do it properly and skip the saddle valve entirely.


Using NEMA 14-50 with 60A breaker An electrician installed a Tesla wall charger with a 60A breaker. I've added a NEMA 14-50 receptacle to the circuit behind a toggle switch (either the wall charger is powered or the plug, not both). The question is: do I need a 50A breaker between the switch and the 14-50?
This thread seems to emphatically say "YES: You must use a 50A breaker", the logic being that

The outlet is rated for 50a. If something goes wrong in the WC and pulls > 50a the outlet is not safe. The breaker wouldn’t trip until 60a [with the implication that the plug could melt before the breaker tripped].

Essentially, this falls into a philosophy of "the breaker protects the wires and the receptacle."
However, as has been pointed out many times on DIY (e.g., here), it's standard practice to install multiple NEMA 5-15 outlets on a 20A breaker, with roughly the reasoning that "devcies with a 5-15 plug are designed not to pull more than 15A; anything else is a short which will quickly exceed 20A and will therefore trip the breaker". This philosophy is that the breaker protects the wires only, and the end device itself protects the receptacle [the device is designed to pull <15A, so a single device cannot be in the 15-20A gray area that could potentially melt the outlet without tripping the breaker].
Which philosophy is correct? Is there something more subtle going on here where 5-15s are a special case, or is it fine (according to NEC) to use a 14-50 on a 60A circuit?
(Throughout, I'm assuming wires are of an appropriate size: this question is about the receptacles.)

No philosophy: Code is data-driven
Code is the result of analysis of systematically collected data about actual  electrical accidents as they happened in the field.   It’s the nature of science that you must take the field data as it comes, and not try to force it to conform to some notion of what it should be.
In the case of 15/20A, the data has shown that there’s no problem there. Keep in mind, UL was a partner in developing that use-case in the first place, by requiring as a condition of UL listing that everything from receptacles to appliances all play nice on a 20A breaker, unless they are on a dedicated circuit.  In that case UL needs the breaker to conform to the device ampacity.
In particular, UL requires that every 15A receptacle be rated for 20A internally.  And obviously 15A appliances must show they fail safe on a 20A breaker.
Conversely, data has shown that when “the big stuff” (40-60A) is mis-fused, trouble follows.  The closest thing I can see to a “philosophy” is “little things have little trouble; big things have big trouble.”

Another aspect often overlooked is how NEC 110.2 (must use approved devices, i.e. UL) and 110.3(B) (must install the device according to its instructions) intersect with UL’s listing standards.  UL approves the instructions as part of the product’s listing, hence 110.3(B), and those instructions are the scope of the design review and testing. When you misuse a device off-label, you’re in uncharted territory. No one can vouch for the safety of that device.
By the way, the cheap Chinese switch you linked violates NEC 110.2 right out of the box, since it does not meet the basic standard of “Approved” — it lacks a UL listing, or any competent NRTL competitor like ETL or CSA.  It is illegal for stores to sell such a thing at retail; Amazon exploits loopholes in our consumer protection laws to sell it. Send it back as defective; the lack of a UL mark, a thing required on anything sold in the US, makes it defective.
Amazon denies responsibility because they say they’re only a “platform” connecting independent sellers to buyers, and the sellers also use Amazon’s billing, warehousing and shipping system.  This is hollow, as far as I’m concerned.
Our best advice is to never buy AC mains equipment on Amazon.  It’s either unlisted junk, or wildly overpriced because of the realities of how Prime shipping is paid for, and the fact that most electrical gear is both low value and quite heavy.  Just work with your local electrical supply or home store, many do curbside pickup.

It isn’t constructive to “overthink” Code like this.  What possible endgame is there to that, except deciding to ignore Code because the reasons are stupid?  That’s a mistake because its premise is wrong: the premise is that the Codebook is full of rules both smart and stupid, and that it’s worth figuring out which is which, and that a novice is capable of this distinction. Every aspect of that premise is wrong.
I can tell you that everytime I’ve looked deeply into the reasons for a particular rule, I’ve seen several of them, and they interlock with other aspects of Code to provide multi-layered protection.  A Code deviation will have unexpected side-effects.
The right way is easy and cheap
The easiest/cheapest way to implement that is actually a subpanel - $20 panel, two $9 breakers (50A and 60A) and you’re Code legal and done.
You’re not actually required at that point to interlock both loads, but if you really feel the need, you can choose your brands carefully to find one that has a $25 generator interlock in a box size you like.  If I was min-maxing for price, I’d look at Eaton, as Square D “QO” is pricey and Siemens’ cheap interlock requires a 12+ space panel (which might be a virtue of its own actually, because you can put other loads there, heck you could power a whole wood shop, presuming the Tesla is out of the garage when you’re making sawdust).
My advice is send that switch back, and slap a subpanel there with or without interlock, and with or without extra space for other loads (not to be used concurrently with the charger, of course).


Power jumping from one hot to another I ran 2 4/0 lines to a new horse barn from our shop to a sub-panel. The sub-panel has a ground rod.
When the breakers are off the volt meter on each 4/0 line reads 120 but as soon as you turn any breaker on that load side drops to 90 and the other hot side jumps to 150 with no breakers on on that side.
The main panel has a double 60 GE breaker running to an Eaton subpanel.

Nope, you blew it. There is no way to save this.
Your only option is to totally redo the job with the correct wires.  You'll need a third 4/0 neutral (well, it has to match the 2 hots) and a #2 insulated aluminum ground wire.  Sorry!
This didn't work because you tried to "seat of the pants" this job.  You didn't do anywhere near sufficient research before you dove in.  And now you're paying the tuition for learning "the hard way".  Of course here you are, so that's a major turn in the right direction.
Now listen to what we say.  We're NOT interested in wasting your money, much the opposite. We'll save you money.
Dirt does not work as a conductor
What you did was drive ground rods.   Even though you know grounds are important, you didn't run a ground wire because you figured "hey, there are ground rods".
And then, you didn't run a netural because you ate of the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge (by seeing the inside of a main panel's neutrals connected to grounds)... and ever since, you have believed they are the same thing.   So you figured "took care of ground, that handles neutral".
Actually, safety ground only carries current during fault conditions. However neutral the regular everyday current return.   The two are tied together exactly one place in the entire system - at the main breaker.  If other breakers are in that same box, then yeah, they get to be
Now, grounds have 2 reasons.  For lightning, we have ground rods.  For human-generated electricity, which is high current but very low voltage (compared to lightning), we have ground wires.
Dirt, you see, isn't a very good conductor at all. And driving it 8 feet into the ground doesn't make it any better of a conductor. Your scheme relies on using the dirt as the normal current return.  And you can see for yourself, this happens when you have a defective neutral.  That's why it's displaying "lost neutral" behavior.
I need to save this, and I'm willing to violate Code
I'm very reluctant to advise this, because this was a huge, forehead-slapping blunder - which tells me there are dozens of other dangerous blunders in your work.  If you really want to "turn over a new leaf" and get serious about hitting the how-to books and actually learn what you're doing, that's awesome. You're in the right place.  I'll touch on your available options from here, but you really need to learn way more than we can hand-hold you through in this Q&A format.
*And you should note, getting this stuff right on a farm is important, because animals can detect and really do not like stray current. Generally grounding on a farm must be pristine, or you'll have the same effects as having predators nearby - the animals will be stressed, and won't grow or behave properly.
"Yeah, but I gotta make this work".   OK, you'll need to downgrade to 120V-only, and convert one of your hot wires into the neutral.  This will still be a Code violation because you need to have separate neutral and ground WIRES. But if you talk to you local licensing authority, they may give you a waiver to

wire it on the 1980s rules which allow you to bond them.  It's dangerous because if the neutral breaks, it can electrify all your grounds.   That's why it was outlawed.

Or, you could fit a GFCI type breaker at the supply end (shop) - however large GFCIs are 2-pole, expensive, and limited to 60A (50A for HOMeline).  And you'll be wasting most of the wire capacity.

I need to save this cable run, and follow Code, and support 240V
Your best bet in this case is to fit a supply transformer which provides isolation.  The isolated secondary allows you to make the barn an entire service of its own, deriving neutral from the transformer itself, and bonding it to ground locally at the supply.  and locally source its neutral from the transformer and ground from the rods.  Transformers are not cheap, and you'll have to consider that versus the cost of re-running the wire.
This is overhead line, though.  It's 2 insulated wires + bare, just like the service.
No, not like the service.  On the service wires, bare was neutral, which the power company can do, but you can't for reasons discussed above.
In that case you'll need to re-wire 120V it like my cottage:  Bare is safety ground, one wire is neutral and the other is hot.


How to wire lighting fixture with two sets of hot, neutral, and ground? I'm installing a light fixture in my crawl space. The fixture has a set of hot, neutral, and ground wires coming into the fixture from utilities as well as a set of hot, neutral, and ground wires coming into the fixture from our radon system (see image below).

The hot and neutral wires had wirenuts connecting them together for the radon system to operate. The radon system was installed as part of our purchase for the home, so this is the first time I'm looking at this light fixture. Would it be OK to tighten both wires of the same type (hot, neutral, ground) under the relevant screws of the light fixture? I've started to connect the light fixture with one wire of each, as shown below.

If both wires under each screw is not OK, would I need to cut a wire section in order to pigtail three ends of each wire type together, like in the image from this blog?
UPDATE Taking advice to pigtail (thanks, @nobody !), I'm assuming that the wiring diagram would look something like this. Would I still want to have one ground wire under a light housing screw, like in the first picture?

You can’t get multiple wires under screws like that securely. Make pigtails (separate pieces of wire about six inches long should do), wirenut them to the wires going in/out of the box, and put the free ends of the pigtails on the screws.


Why isn't the toilet water refilling from under the rim? So last night, my toilet clogged for the first time in the two years we've had it, and it clogged badly though I don't know why (without being too TMI, it was a normal #2).  Hours of plunging didn't help, so I scooped out water and did a baking soda/vinegar/very hot water treatment and left it overnight.  In the morning, I used an auger and it easily unclogged.

Now, it flushes, but when it refills, it slowly rises from the bottom and no water comes out from the little holes under the rim.

What might be wrong and how can I fix it?  Thank you!!

P.S.- We do not have kids so I am certain no foreign objects went in the toilet.

The water that comes from under the rim, but after the flush comes from a flexible tube that goes from the flush valve (typically on the left of the tank) to the top of the pipe in the center of the tank.  As the water refills the tank, the tube sprays water down the pipe which leads down to the rim and bowl.

This fill tube can come off or get kinked.


Can I pour concrete walls between these structural posts? Background, long story short:  I have an old shed that is basically barn construction.  It's about 12' x 16'.  The thing used to sit on concrete walls and those walls deteriorated.  So I jacked it up, and put it on 6" posts, with deep concrete footings (~42"...it's Ohio).

Now that the building is once again solid, I need to finish the ground around it.

The building is built into a slope, where its front and one side are level with the yard.  So the slope runs diagonally across the building, front to back.  The front sits on an existing (and massive) concrete footer in the ground.  The side into the yard is my concern right now.

What I want to do is simultaneously contain the slope and provide enough of a finish to make the space under the building into useful storage.  The old concrete walls used to provide this, but now it's sitting on posts, so there is a lot of open space around it that I need to fill.  The side in question has two posts, at the halfway point and on the back corner.

Is there a way to build something between these posts that would serve as a retaining wall, while not interfering with the posts?  I'm open to ideas.

BTW...I'm not sure what tags are appropriate for this problem.

You will need to dig/form a footer for your wall, appropriate in size and depth to support the wall itself and for frost heave in your area.

You could then form and pour, or build a block wall, between the posts. It will need to be reinforced (rebar) if you want it to last, and if stabilizing a slope it would need to be strong (tie-backs?), waterproofed for soil contact, and hydraulic considerations taken (gravel backfill, drains, etc.)


Kitchenaid gas stove - burner knob won't turn This is a Kitchenaid two oven free standing stove with 5 burners.  (middle one is useless in my opinion.)  Anyway...

On day my right rear gas burner knob decided not to turn.  it will push in, but it won't turn to ignite. I just took it apart - the stove front- and it looks fine.  I tried spraying that particular knob with WD40 and liquid wrench.  No luck.  Any more suggestions??

If I could figure it out, can I switch the middle burner assembly with the right rear one?

I have this same stove. When we boil water and use the large burner on high the valve gets harder to turn. When it cools down it's fine.

The valves are replaceable. It is the small valve that the knob slides into. These are prone to failure. I bought two of these valves from an online retailer.


What do I need to do to raise a subfloor? We're installing an engineered wood flooring in a room that already has a plywood subfloor. The engineered flooring will be 1/4" shy of the height of the hardwood in the other rooms, so I'd like to make up that difference underneath. My original thought was to use 1/4" XPS but that seems like it may not work.

If I go the 1/4" plywood route, what kind of connection do I need between the two subfloors? Can I just float the 1/4" on top? Or do I need to affix them together? If the latter, would some 1/2" brads be enough? Do I need to glue and screw?

You could simply install a transition piece between the two rooms.

But if you're determined to get them to match up, then 1/4" luann board will do nicely.  Glue and screw - 1/4 bead of glue distributed evenly over each board, screws on a 1 foot grid.

NOT going overboard is what leads to squeaky, shifting sub-floors that make for a shoddy looking finished product.


Turning on light fixture trips GFCI on a different circuit When I turn on the light fixture in the bathroom, the GFCI in the bedroom trips and cuts the power in both places. The bathroom and bedroom are on two different circuits, controlled by two separate breakers in the breaker box. If I turn off the breaker to the bedroom, I can turn the bathroom lights on. The bathroom light fixture is controlled by two light switches, like the switches at both ends of a hallway. One switch shares its box with an electronic timer that controls the ceiling fan. The other switch shares its box with a GFCI outlet, but this GFCI in the bathroom isn't tripping--only the bedroom GFCI trips. A three-light tester shows all outlets as wired correctly, and the test button on the bedroom GFCI cuts the power to the bedroom outlets as expected.

I've seen the suggestions about a ground/neutral connection causing this kind of problem, but I can't find any such connection.

Here's the wiring of the switch and fan timer in the bathroom:

Here's the wiring of the switch and GFCI in the bathroom. Note, this GFCI is not the one that's tripping.

It's the 3-way switch
Note that you have a 3-way switch where you have black and white on the travelers, and no red wire exists.
In mains wiring, currents must balance each other (be equal) in each cable or conduit.  You have power coming into the BathroomTimer box, then going down either black or white depending on 3-way position, then going to the BathroomGFCI box and if the other 3-way matches, power goes up the lamp cable.  And how does neutral return? Not that way.  The lamp's neutral returns on the BathroomGFCI circuit's neutral. (!!!)
You're not allowed to do that.  Neutral needs to return the way it came.  You cannot wire a 3-way switch this way at all.   3-ways are supposed to be wired more like this.

There are many problems with this. But just one of the problems is, neutrals don't have breakers.  So you have the BathroomGFCI circuit's 15A power returning on its 15A neutral. And then, you have the BathroomTimer circuit's 20A power returning on the BathroomGFCI circuit's 15A neutral.  That's 35A on that neutral.  Did I mention? Neutrals don't have breakers.
So this deal is nope.  You cannot have 3-way switches this way.  I know it works, and it's hard to tell you that you can't do something that works, but lots of things in electrical will work and will kill you.   Also, it doesn't work.
So you have 3 options: the switch can be in either location ,or both with a lot of work.
Wiring it for BathroomGFCI box only
You start by removing the BathroomTimer box's black jumper between the 3-way switch and the tan wire-nut. Then take both traveler wires of the 3-way cable out of service. Cap them off and stop using them for anything. Don't destroy them; someone may use them for smart switches later.  Blank the 3-way switch in the BathroomTimer box.  Put a jumper from GFCI LINE in the BathroomGFCI box, to one of the travelers on the 3-way.  And you should have 1 plain switch now.
Wiring it for BathroomTimer box only
If you want it at the BathroomTimer box, then you convert the former travelers into an old style switch loop (though, this is not legal). You start by removing the BbathroomTimber box's black jumper between the 3-way switch and the tan wire-nut.   That goes away.
Now on the BathroomTimer switch, remove the white traveler, mark it with black tape, and put it on the Common screw you just liberated.  We're done here.
Back in the BathroomGFCI box, remove the switch altogether.  Take the white former traveler, mark it with black tape, and put it on the LINE side of the GFCI with the other black wire.    The two black wires that used to be on the switch, join those with a wire-nut.
Wiring it for BOTH
If you want it BOTH places, then you need to some cunning shopping for a smart switch.  You start by removing the BathroomTimer's black jumper between the 3-way switch and the tan wire-nut.  Put the "Remote" smart switch here, with LINE to former traveler black and NEUTRAL to former traveler white.
Now, in the BathroomGFCI box, ALL whites go together under the neutral nut (including the master smart switch's neutral).  The black that goes to 3-way common gets marked red and goes to the smart switch's LOAD/LAMP red.   All other blacks get joined together - the supply (that now goes to the GFCI LINE), the smart switch black, the former traveler black and the GFCI LINE hot.


Would a concrete ramp added to an existing slab be less durable? To remediate a situation my concrete company caused by changing the layout without consulting me, they propose to add a ramp partially on an existing (though new ~10 days) slab.  I'm worried that it won't be durable, and I am having trouble trusting them for obvious reasons.

Here is a (bad) drawing of the proposed ramp: It would be straight on the left matching the lower pad, I'm just bad at Photoshop.  The ramp will be 2 feet by 8-10, and will rise to 6 inches high to meet the higher level.

They say "We will cut and remove the lower portion out of the trash can pad so we can pour solid 4" down so we are not going to zero on top of the existing. The area on the sides will have rebar to tie the two together. This is standard practice."

Is that OK, or should I insist on tearing out the lower slab and redoing it with the ramp as part of the same pour?

Background:
I had a company build a concrete pad in my back yard.  Without consulting me, they changed the layout to have two levels: a lower level for a small extension for my trash bins to sit on, and the main part 6 inches higher.

I wanted the whole thing to be the same level as the lower pad.  They obviously don't want to tear it all out and redo.  I'm mostly OK with the higher level, except the trip hazard, since my young kids will be playing back there.

They are taking out the lower area to have a full 4” pour, they are tying them together with rebar so I don’t see any issues, for foot traffic in a small area 2” even works. I see driveways poured at 4” all the time so I think they are planning a proper fix as long as you are happy with there design.


Removed front closet doors and hardwood below is a different color After removing the door rails on this closet, the hardwood underneath is quite different. Is there any way of "fixing" it or getting it close to the rest of the flooring?
Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

EDIT: By the way, this is the semi finished product. We will eventually add a threshold, but right now just leaving it!

The rest of your floor has been stained a darker color and has also weathered with exposure to air.

You have a few choices of how to handle this, listed here from hardest to easiest:

Refinish the entire floor and then it will all be bright and shiny like that strip. (This will be both time-consuming and expensive).
Find the correct stain to match the rest of the floor and carefully fill in the space, applying one light coat at a time until you have matched the existing color. (This will not be expensive, but it might be difficult to find the correct color, will be time-consuming, and a small mistake making it too dark will probably call for stripping and starting again. You will probably also have to strip a little finish right along the work area because the lines are so sharp.)
(Suggested by @Ack) Strip the existing finish from inside the closet only, then refinish the entire closet floor (including this strip). If it's not the same color, it will look like it was meant to be that way to define the closet space. It should probably be a darker color than the main floor.
Nail a threshold to the floor over the spot. You can get a wood threshold and stain it to match (the floor or the rest of the doorway trim) or deliberately leave it contrasting to mark the edge of the closet, or a metal or plastic one.

If it were me, I'd do option #3 or #4. Since the closet is already an obvious doorway, having some difference on the floor (whether threshold or stain) would not be out of place.


How can I frame a ceiling tray in my dining room? We have a 12x14 dining room and are looking to add a shallow 6"h x 15"w tray border around the outside. One of the longer sides will not hit any ceiling joists, so I will be using toggle bolts to keep my framing attached to the ceiling on that side. In order to keep the weight down for the framing and rock, I was thinking about using 2x2s instead of 2x4s. Being that the 1/2" sheetrock pieces will be fairly small in dimension does anyone see any safey issues with that idea? All other pieces will hit studs & joists. No issues expected with moisture, etc and not planning to run any electrical through the tray.

Since you are going to be mudding and taping sheetrock anyway, you could cut into the ceiling and add some supporting 2x4's between the ceiling josts to attach your new trey framing too.


What is causing this water on the drywall and how concerned should I be? I noticed some light lines on the dry wall of one my internally facing walls.  Here is a picture of the water lines:

It's tough to tell from the picture (make sure to view in high resolution), but it is very light, and barely wet at all.  This is unlike other water damage I've seen that is result of a broken pipe.  I didn't even realize it was wet without touching it.  It's also barely visible on the drywall in the next room that shares the wall.  In this room, it is completely dry:

What room is this in?
Is the room near the kitchen or the bathroom?
Is that an exterior wall?

I will see this in our bathroom when I forget to turn on the fan, or when I run the humidifier in a room with a cold exterior wall.

It's likely just condensation from cooking, a humidifier, the shower, etc.
The drops are darker because as they roll down the wall they pick up dirt, dust, and grime (You never notice how dirty your walls really get).


What is the best order for interior painting (walls, trim, windows, etc.)? I'm repainting a room. I'm removing wallpaper from the walls, and stripping paint from trim around doors, windows and baseboards. There's no crown moulding. I might repaint the ceiling, not sure yet.

What is a good order for stripping and repainting the parts?  For example, should I do ceiling, walls, then trim?  Or should I do trim first?  Should I strip the trim, then repaint everything? Or should I wait until after painting the walls before I try stripping the trim (will likely use chemical stripper-- I guess a risk is accidentally getting some stripper on the newly painted walls.)

I've read conflicting advice.

I'm not in a big hurry so can, for example, paint the trim and let it dry for a few days, then come back to do the walls.

Ceiling first, if you're going to do it.
Strip the trim: it's a messy job and you will get stripper in places you don't want it.  Actually, if you could remove the trim without damaging it, I would do that.
Paint the walls.
Paint the trim: you'll likely be using a small paintbrush on the trim, so it'll be easier to get sharp lines where it meets the walls.


New primary control switch problems About a week ago , I had someone to come in and replace my old RA116 stack switch with a Honeywell R8184G oil primary ,  for the first day it was fine, next thing I know the furnace turned off and didn't come back on until I pressed the reset, it then runs for a short period of time before it turns off again and the only way to start up back up is to press reset again. I should probably also mention that when it does run the fan turns on too early and stays on too long any help would be greatly appreciated

Your old stack switch reacted strictly to heat. If the burner was producing heat within a certain period of time after the call for heat the stack switch allowed the burner to continue to run.  The job of these items is to make sure that the burner does not continue to blow unburnt fuel into the chamber without a fire present. The 8184, on the other hand works in conjunction with a cad cell (light sensor) to insure a fire is present in the chamber preventing unspent fuel from being blown into the chamber.  One of the characteristics of fuel oil burning under highly efficient conditions is that it produces a very bright yellow flame. Cad cell technology works particularly well with this type of light, it reacts to these light characteristics. Here is the rub.  If the 8184 does not see the kind of flame it wants to see within a much shorter period of time is will shut down the burner and go into lock-out mode, requiring a manual reset to restart the burner.  So if the burner is not burning as efficiently as it should it will not produce the color of light needed to cause the cad cell to react. A good bet is that your need a nozzle replacement.  Another possibility is the fuel pump.  Both of these items are critical to produce that fine fuel film that generates the highly efficient burn needed to cause the cad cell to react in the allowed time. The nozzle disperses the fuel into tiny droplets (we call it atomizing)into the chamber for burning. These nozzles become plugged with dirty fuel. They, as a consequence cannot produce the bright flame necessary to cause the cad cell to react. Additionally, the fuel pump could be the problem. As it ages it cannot produce the pressure necessary to atomize the fuel.  Additional factors are involved but hopefully this points you in the right direction.  A good tech can diagnose and repair this issue in a jiffy.  Good Luck.  PCL.


Can a 4 prong welder run off a 3 prong outlet? My Millermatic 350 welder (runs 480v or 240v) has a 4 prong L16-30 plug and I have a 3 prong 6-50 outlet. Can I run an adapter from the 3 prong outlet to the 4 prong machine?
Essentially, can I use the welder without a neutral wire attached?
Also If I can do that, I have 6/3 wire so it has 2 hot, a neutral and a bare ground. If I skip using a neutral, should I use the bare wire or the spare insulated (the neutral) wire as the ground?
UPDATE
I plugged the adapter into the outlet and the welder into the adapter in and the 6-50 male plug on the adapter started smoking. Opened up the male plug and it looks like the wire on the ground prong is the most melted.
I switched the welder on but it didn't turn on at all, the plug just smoked
Advice? I have no idea what may have happened.
Also I tested the hot to hot on the 4 prong cord end of the adapter and got 220v and then tested the hot to ground and got 110v. Should I be getting voltage on the ground?

According to the millermatic 350 this welder is a 240v hot,hot ground connection the red connection is not used. On page 23 of the manual I found online.
This makes sense since it is also a 3 phase 480 machine the voltage to ground would be 277 so any control voltage is made from the source voltage.
L1,L2 black , white and ground green.


Is my water meter or prv causing whine, and how do I fix it? I'm getting really loud whine whenever I turn on a faucet at full blast. I've narrowed it down to one of the two pictured components but I can't tell which of them is causing it.
The whine doesn't start up right away but instead takes a few seconds to spin up (and increase in pitch and volume). The same goes for when we turn off the faucet; it takes about 10-15 seconds to finally die down. There is also a whole house water filter right after the PRV.
Which component is more likely to be whining given the above description, and is there anything I can do to fix it?
Update:
It was the prv. Finally got a plumber out to replace it (along with some other work) and the whine was eliminated

Normally PRV valves take a few seconds to get to the position that is needed to keep the pressure at the set point, I would suggest this is the source of the wine or squeal the water meter if you listen has a little shuttle that goes back and forth the more water that is used the faster it goes back and forth. A PRV has a diaphragm that is spring loaded that controls the actual valve, in some cases the wine or squeal is caused because how far the valve is opened and the fast water flowing through the chambers cause the wine, in other cases at the low flow side a similar thing can happen at a very low flow as far as noise. In the case of low flow it is the valve trying to close and open very slightly this is not normally as loud but the PRV is much more likely to be the cause.


Are PSL beam equivalent to LVL I am doing a big renovation, got the blueprint done by an engineer more then a year ago, but it took a while to get the permit and i just learn today that the delay to have the big LVL beam (44') will take up to august.
If I switch to a Paralam of the same size, should this be okay?

Finally found the answer, they are equivalent and interchangeable as long as with the same grade (1.5 1.6 1.7 ect)
here some info (in french) about the two : https://cecobois.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/CECO-5600_Guide_Poutres_Colonnes_2015_WEB.pdf
See section 4.5


How to release tombstone wire without cutting? And why won't it turn? Small light with T8 bulb. Tombstone was almost impossible to twist to get the bulb out. Why?
Can the wires be removed from this style without cutting them? Tried poking small flat screwdriver around.
Saw another answer but completely different than mine.

Grab the wire quite firmly and twist and pull.  It will come out.
That type of tombstone, with the rotating guard, can be unnervingly stiff sometimes.  If you want to replace them with passive types, feel free - there are many styles of tombstone (how the base interacts with the fixture, but one type is dominant, and that looks like it.


Move neutrals to subpanel or leave them on main? I have a 150A Square D QO panel that is full and won't allow for tandem circuits.  I'm going to take out the bottom 2 breakers and replace them with a 100a breaker to feed a subpanel via 4AWG copper wire.  When I move the 20 amp circuits from the main to the subpanel, do I need to move the neutral wires as well, or can I leave them on the neutral bus in the main panel?  Seems like its all the same if I left them alone, but not sure if there is a reason to move them too.

I think that is covered in NEC 300.3(B), All Conductors of the same circuit...shall be contained in  the same raceway, auxiliary gutter, cable tray...
The small portion of raceway where the neutral or hot nipples between panels would break the rule.


Add C wire for Thermostat to Goodman furnace I have read most of the posts here and have a specific question about my install. In the picture you can see the 3 blue wires coming off the 24v side of the transformer.  One goes to the side and than another blue wire is connected to the metal and goes to the ac unit outside. One goes up to what I believe is the exhaust fan.  The last one connects to the circuit board.  There is also a 24v HUM screw on the board. My question is should I connect to the 24v Terminal on the board or one of the wires that are screwed into the metal next to the transformer.  Thanks for any help.

You should be able to connect to any of the blue wires, or to the chassis where the transformer is bonded. I wouldn't use the HUM  terminal, unless you've looked at the schematic and determined that it's connected directly to the transformer. If you include the model number, or a photo of the schematic.  We'd be able to tell you for sure.

If you're supplying an A/C unit contactor, the furnace circuit board, and an exhaust fan from this transformer. You may find that it doesn't have the power to also supply a thermostat. There may be no problem at all, but it's something to be aware of.


Covering a ductwork bulkhead with pine board I would like to make a wood beam with pine board to cover a ductwork bulkhead in the upper corner of the kitchen.

Is it possible to do this or do I have to leave it the way it is?

If the goal is to make the duct look like a wood beam it can be done but it depends on how the duct was supported and sheetrock attached. If ribs were installed around the duct and the sheetrock attached to them it will be easy , if the sheetrock was glued to the duct it will take more work but still can be done. The reason I mentioned sheetrock glued to ducts is I have run into this several times and I would not hang anything on it until properly supported.


How to solve Hot Upstairs but cold basement I have central air in my house(20 year old house). In my basement it gets cool, and cold air is coming from a vent in the ceiling. My upstairs gets really warm and humid even though central air is on. What should I do to resolve this? I was suggested to replace windows, fill attic/crawl space. I heard there could be a tool to help even out the air but the technician wouldn't share the secret.

George Anderson is right. Balancing air flow is the easiest and most cost effective solution. Obviously, cold air is heavier than warm air. In the summer you need to direct AC air flow to higher floors and restrict it on lower floors. In the winter you reverse this directing heat to the downstairs and letting it rise via convection to upper floors.
Ceiling fans also help if used properly. To cool use mid to high speeds blowing down in the summer. In winter use slow speeds blowing up in order to bring warm sir from the ceiling down the walls.


Light fitting with American coloured wiring but bought in UK I recently bought a new light fitting off amazon.co.uk which has come with wiring as shown in the picture:

I'm surprised to see black/white cabling since I thought this to be the US colour coding. The listing on Amazon claims

  Compatible with world wide voltage - 110V or 240V and everything in
  between - please make use appropriate voltage of light bulb

However, there was nothing in the box that had the usual UK standards that I would expect when purchasing anything electrical in this country, generally one would expect to see the CE symbol but the fitting came in a plain cardboard box with nothing else inside  (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CE_marking):

How do I know that this is either meets UK electrical standards and can actually work with a 240V mains circuit? The only documentation that claims this is the case is in the Amazon product description

How do I know that this is either meets UK electrical standards and can actually work with a 240V mains circuit? The only documentation that claims this is the case is in the Amazon product description

You don't. It probably does not (meet the standards - working on 240V is easy enough), or it would be so marked.

Heck, the vendor didn't even bother to put on counterfeit certifications (which are a bit too common for comfort.)

I would suggest returning it for that reason. Who knows how badly it's made?


Two dimmers (for two separate lights) in one junction box where there's only White, Black and Red coming out of the wall So, 40 yr old townhouse, there are two ceiling lights in the "rec room" area of the bottom floor/basement.  Two dimmer dials/switches (push in for on or off, twist for dimmer function) in one receptacle near the doorway. One died, so i decided to update with some nice LED-rated Lutron dimmers (toggle + slider).

Pull off the faceplate, pull out the dimmer units, and the dimmers both have two black wires coming out, no identifying marks. Out of the wall, there's a black, a red and a white wire.  I was not smart, and did not take a picture, or keep track of which wire went where, relying on the Lutron instructions to get me though it.  Turned off the breaker, and removed the old switches, and wired the new switches in what I thought was the right way according to the instructions.

Well, one switch now turns on both lights, and that slider dims both lights, the second switch does nothing, but the slider dims one light.

The Lutrons have Black, Red, Red-White and green(ground, which i will eventually screw to the back of the junction box).

I've gotten as far as the black is common hot, so the red and the white must be "traveller" wires to the separate light fixtures, and i tried wiring the red on each dimmer unit to those, one to red, one to white.  Different, but similar behaviour on the switches and sliders.

Any advice (other than "call an electrician, ya mook!")?

I think you have mis-identified the "hot" wire. Do you have a multimeter? Assuming your box is actually grounded, carefully measure the voltage between the red, black and white wires to the box. If only one has 120 volts on it, then that is your hot wire. If 2 wires have 120 volts, then someone did a bad thing and wired the switches to break the neutral.

Another way to identify which wire is hot is to pull down the light fixtures and examine the wiring. Don't disconnect anything without taking notes about how it was hooked up first!


Trying to replace 1988 t12 w/ led 4ft bulbs My question is this:
I removed the t12 ballasts, and direct wired the 2 ends of the fixture, one to each wire coming from the box.
I put in t8 LED bulbs. They don't light.
They are Sylvania 5000k 32 w bulbs called "Substitube" model 12T8/L48/FG/850/SUB/G6.
Is my problem my wiring, or my choice of bulbs? (I was told by the salesman that these would not require a ballast.)
I have 120V across the fixture.
Thanks

The "Substitube" name suggest it's made to work with an existing ballast present, and in fact the data-sheet confirms this positively.  You will need to install a rapid-start or programmed-start ballast to use these tubes.  I wouldn't do that; I'd return them!

What surprises me is that you direct wired to the opposite ends of the fixture, without a data sheet or diagram instructing you to do so.  A guess?  Or was your old ballast instant-start with shorting lampholders (the two fluorescent pins are internally connected in the lampholder)?  The problem is that only some LED tube replacements want that configuration... many others want both hot and neutral at the same end (and nothing at the other).  Obviously this does not work with shorting lampholders.

If so, you have two choices:

keep your wiring as you did it, and shop smartly for LED tube replacements which want line power on opposite ends.
grab whichever direct-wire LED tubes are convenient, and then if they require it, rewire power onto the same end -- this will necessitate replacing lampholders if you have shorting lampholders.  Lampholders are about 75 cents each at a variety of places; I shop at 1000bulbs.com.

I for one prefer wiring the opposite ends. Those two pins are only 1/2" apart, and I think that's too close for 120V (or 277V, yikes!)


What is this and can it be used to stop the flow of water? I have a leaky spigot that I am trying to fix.

I followed the water line back and found this.

Does anyone know what it is? Can it be used to stop the flow of water?

Having replaced a couple of those before in my own home, I am virtually 100% certain it is a pressure regulating valve. You can tell from the bell housing on top that it is what I say it is. See that all the examples I've shown below show the same bell housing, with a bolt on the top, and even a metal tag hanging off that bolt.

While the bolt can be turned with a wrench to adjust the pressure in your house, this is not a water shut-off valve, nor would I try to use it for that purpose.

Note that the valve has seen some time since installation and trying to completely turn off the water using it, EVEN IF YOU COULD DO SO, will very possibly cause it to completely fail to do its job properly in the future, thereby causing yet a different plumbing problem to solve later.


Can I use just molding to hold down a floating floor or must I use quarter-round? I am installing a floating floor (click-lock). The molding is all coming off anyway. Can I use just molding to hold the floating floor down or must I use molding AND quarter-round??

Most molding (skirting board) is 3/8" thick. You need a 1/4 inch gap around the floor to allow for expansion due to moisture.  So if you're going up right against the drywall, you'll have a problem with getting molding thick enough to cover it (minor variations in the gap WILL show).

One alternative is to buy the stuff they sell as window/door casing which is usually closer to 3/4" thick on one edge. This is a bit pricier, and can look a bit heavy.

An attractive alternative, which can give you a nice look is to use door stop instead of quarter round.  This is basically the same as using quarter round, but it's smaller and lighter, and doesn't encroach on the floor as much.

However, if your drywall doesn't come all the way down to the floor (usually a basement scenario) then as long as you have that quarter inch gap under the drywall free and clear, you should be ok with just ordinary skirting board.


Should (or even Can) I use epoxy to repair a previously PVA-glued load-bearing wood joint? I'm repairing damage on a wooden sleigh bed; specifically, to one of the two side pieces that support the Frame Slats (a.k.a. "the slats"!). It is the thin "edge" that is joined to the inside and bottom of each Long Rail (i.e. the bed's sides). I dunno if it has a name, but I'll refer to it as simply the Slat Support. The original join was regular "yellow" glue, supported by screws every 10.5".  Here's the non-broken left side (left and right being as seen from standing at the foot of the bed and looking towards the head) with a few slats supported on its Slat Support:

The damage is that on the right side (not shown in the above -- the position I was standing when I took the above shot), the Slat Support has separated from its Long Rail, at the Headboard end, to a length of about 24". Here is the break, held open by a ruler:

Given that this needs to bear a fair amount of load -- the Slat Support holds up the Frame Slats, the Frame Slats support the box spring, which supports the mattress, which supports the kid jumping up and down on it apparently!... -- can anyone recommend what glue I should use? As I say, the original join was regular "yellow" glue, but I'm wondering if should use epoxy for the repair.

I may also fill in the three affected screw holes and drill some new ones away from the damage. In addition, I intend to swap the left and right Long Rails so that the repair moves from being at the Headboard end and right side, to the Footboard end and left side.

But I think the glue is doing the most work here, so I want to make sure I get that part right.

Thanks!

I think you are over thinking this.

I made this exact same repair a month ago and I used wood glue, you could use construction adhesive. Sand both surfaces, and glue and clamp.

Add extra screws for strength, one every 8 inches ? .

No need to fill in counter sunk screw holes, with box spring/mattress in place that part of the frame in not seen.