How can I temporarily remedy the rotten, leaky roof on a mobile home? Ok I have a double wide mobile home with a really bad roof. The shingles are shot, the osb underneath is rotting from the exposure of water, and the insulation is starting to mold. I posted about one of the leaks
 here.  Unfortunately this is only one of the many leaks. It rained the entire weekend and several of the leaks expanded and the ceiling started to fall out in more than one area of the house. I need this roof to stay alive another three months till i get the money for a new roof!! Is there anything i can do besides replace the whole roof?

I think many of the leaks, which are at the very edges of the house, are coming from the crest of the roof. The reason i think this is because i put rolled roofing over the top of one the leaky spots in the roof and it didn't change the leak AT ALL. Even if it was a poor repair on my part it should have at least slowed the leak a little. Also the ceiling sags for several feet before the actual leak in the ceiling (I put the rolled roofing over the sag as well). So i think the water is getting in at the crest and running down to a point where the osb is rotten. This make sense to me because the rolled roofing was  placed over the shingles and not the deck itself. So the water would still run under the shingles and the rolled roofing both if it came from a point higher up on the roof.

Does my theory make any sense first of all? If that makes any sense how can i stop the leak coming from the crest? Also, If i'm off base on this one what do you guys think could be going on?

Purchase a roll of reinforced (fiber-embedded) polyethylene sheeting of a size adequate to cover your entire roof. Also purchase enough 2x4 lumber to ring the entire roof, minus 10% or so. Procure a hammer or squeeze stapler and staples, 3" construction screws, and a good cordless drill and bit.

Roll the tarp out over the roof. Trim it so that the tarp extends past the roof about 18" on all sides. Staple the lumber to the edge of the tarp, then roll it in the tarp until the lumber is inside the edge of the roof. Screw through the tarp and lumber into framing below.

Do this all the way around, leaving gaps of 6-10" between each board. Now cut drain holes in the gaps between the lumber along the eaves (as opposed to the "rakes", or the sloped roof edges).

If you have penetrations (plumbing and furnace vents, for example), you'll need to find a way to waterproof them as well. You may be able to sandwich an open cap down on them to pinch the tarp, sealing it to the vent opening.

Finally, lay sand bags or other stable, heavy materials on the tarp as needed to prevent billowing in the wind, which will eventually tear the tarp.


How to finish jagged edge of kitchen subway tile? Did our own backsplash tiling in the kitchen, and didn't realize until we were finished that the cap/trim/edging goes UNDER the tile. Not on top.

So now we've got an ugly looking edge to the tile (our cuts weren't very clean — we assumed we would cover them after). Pics attached.
Ideas for how we can hide this?

DIY hacks and/or product names/ideas are welcome!

I had a similar situation. I purchased some outside corner moulding, similar to this:

and used that on the edge. I had to run it down the table saw to rip it to the correct depth. I used an all purpose adhesive to attach it, and then finished the edges with caulk.


Electric heat does not turn off when desired temperature reached My electric heat (baseboards) do not turn off when the room reaches the desired temperature. It does turn off, however, when the thermostat setting itself switches (automatically if there's a schedule shift or manually).
I tried switching to a thermostat I know works fine and the problem is still there.
I have seen these already and they do not solve my problem:

Heater will not shut off when it reaches desired temperature
Why won't my heater turn off when it reaches my desired temperature?

On programmable units There is a dead band or span adjustment in your thermostat it is usually something like +1, -2 this means the call for heat will continue until 1 degree above the set point and it won’t restart until 2 degrees below the set point. This is normally a programmable feature.
For example I might program +2 , -0 for winter or heat mode and +0, -2 for cooling. Some thermostats come pre programmed +2, -2 this is larger than I like it cost a little more to have a tighter span but gets expensive at +-0 because the system is constantly starting and stopping.
Some electronic units don’t have a span control you just need to know there is a difference. On mechanical thermostats this was hysteresis or the mechanical lag it can be adjusted but may not be within 1 degree.


No power to some outlets after short circuit My room is connected to the room next to it so if I switch the breaker off my room and the room next to it all power turns off. I had an extension cord with wires that were exposed; they touched and sparked so when that happened all my outlets stopped working only in that room. My lights and fan still work and the power and outlets work in the other room. So what can I do to fix this?

Odds are you burnt out the connection point to your one of your receptacles, or you blew apart a splice or pigtail. You need to find the downstream receptacle that is not working and the receptacle that is working just ahead of it. Generally you will find a loose or broken connection in one of those two places.

In short kill power, open the receptacles and try and determine how they are wired from the panel to the last outlet. Then check each receptacle and connection for something that is loose or disconnected. It will probably look burnt or damaged also. It's not a hard problem but does take some time.

Once you have found and fixed the problem reinstall your outlets the turn the power back on and verify everything is working.

Stay safe and good luck.


Wiring from Main to Subpanel I posted a question a few weeks ago regarding wiring to a pool sub-panel, and I'm grateful for the wonderful information I received. Since then, I learned a little more about the area between my main panel and where I need the pool subpanel.

My question is how to best wire the two based on the following:

Main panels are in the basement. The basement is largely unfinished with a poured concrete wall about 5.5' high and with normal framing above it.
The pool panel will be mounted outside on the same house wall as the main panel, but it will be on the other end (mains are on one side, pool panel on other side).
I am limited to where I can exit the basement wall and cannot run the wire inside the basement all the way to where the pool panel is (on outside). I must exit the basement about halfway down that wall.
When I exit the basement to run the wire outside, an exit through the framed part of the basement (thru plywood and siding) puts the wire on the outside about 6' above ground.
I could exit the basement through the concrete wall and exit around 4' high.
No matter at what height I exit, I will then need to run the wire about 3' down the outside wall and then over about 5' to get to the pool subpanel (wire needs to run ~8' on the outside).

Concerns:
I know I need the pool panel mounted chest high in order to have access to the breakers.
I think I need THWN-2 single conductors in conduit on the outside of the house from where the wires exit the house and run over to the panel.
I know I can't use THWN-2 single conductors in the house or romex in conduit outside.

So what wire do I use that's good for the inside basement run but that can also be run on the outside for a few feet? I thought it would be #6/3 romex but I also read I can't put romex in conduit on the outside.
And vice versa: if I get single strands of THHN-2/THWN-2 that are good in outside conduit, they would be an absolute pain to run inside in conduit.
I could run it immediately outside by the main panels, drop down underground, run the length of the house, then back up to the subpanel. This would be extremely difficult due to existing buried septic plumbing.

TL/DR: How do I run 60' of three conductor #6 with ground from my main panels to a pool subpanel from inside my basement, penetrating to the outside of the house (above ground), then running 8' outside to a pool subpanel (all above ground)?

Put a junction box inside the basement (i.e., right at the point where the wires exit to go outside). Romex on the inside (to make it easy to run it through the basement) and conduit on the outside (including through the wall and all the way down & around to the subpanel) with THWN. One extra box and you get the best of everything. The box does need to be accessible - can be high up on a wall or behind "stuff" but not hidden inside a wall or ceiling.


Are water heater piezo igniters compatible across brands? Is there really any difference in the piezo igniters used on water heaters? My Maytag has a bad one and they are not available any more, but it and its bracket look exactly the same as this Rheem one.

Is it likely that this Rheem one would damage my igniter if I used it? Can it put out a spark so much more powerful that it would somehow damage the sparker?

The piezo spark has no real current just high voltage so there is no chance it can damage the material around it.
If the one you found will fit and the spark is in the gas flow you should be golden.


Can I add handle ties to QO tandem breakers? This is a follow up to Why does a single pole tandem breaker allow connecting the switch handles? which was asking what circumstances handle-tied tandem breakers would ever be useful. (There are some good reasons.)

Some answers to that question raised the issue: is it actually "permissible" to tie two QO tandem breakers together yourself? Such as a QOTO2020.

By permissible I mean: strictly allowed by the manufacturer & therefore to code. (I'm sure you could rig something up but if you want to do it by the book & know that it is safe, that may not cut it.)

This is OK, as the manufacturer has a specific part for this job

Handle-tying the two inner half-breakers in a pair of (modern style) QO tandem breakers is legal, no different than handle-tying two full-size breakers save for a change in part number: instead of a QO1HT (the normal QO handle tie), you need a QOTHT instead (image from Square-D's product page):


Should a bathroom sink drain outlet flow away from the trap, or back toward it? My bathroom sink drain routinely (~5 months) becomes so ridiculously clogged with build-up that I have to remove the trap and outlet arm in order to clear it out. The build up even extends beyond the removable arm and into the drain outlet in the wall.

With the parts removed, it's easy enough to clear out the pipes. I try to clear out the wall drain outlet as much as I can reach with my tools.

However, when I spray water into that pipe, rather than flowing away, it flows back toward me (or the trap, if it was hooked up). Is this a normal design?

I'm guessing that it is exacerbating the build-up issue, since it makes it harder for the stuff to flow away. The stuff that never makes it all the way to the final drop ends up flowing backwards toward the trap. It settles and hardens.

My thought is that if the pitch was adjusted, it would reduce the amount of build-up. But the current pitch could be the intended design, and there might be consequences with changing it that I'm not aware of.

I appreciate any thoughts and help.

It definitely needs to slope away down to the drain. Specifically a quarter inch per foot. No more, no less. The reason for this is that at a quarter inch per foot waste water tends to sort of oscillate up one side and then the other of the pipe. This effectively washes the pipe as it goes. If you have a negative slope any debris will have plenty of time to firmly attached itself to the bottom and side walls. Too much slope in the water shoots down center of the pipe and debris build-up into lumps on either side of the pipe.


How to exterminate/identify these insects? A week ago, insect bite marks started showing up on my arms, and I couldn't sleep in my bed. I tried to find the culprit but was unsuccessful. Today I opened up my lamp cover and found these:

I think I still have a these insects in my room but my body has adjusted, so I'm not irritated as much now.

Can someone please help me identify these things and help me get rid of them ? I can post higher resolution pictures if you need.

More pictures :

They are some kind midge flies (chironomids (Chironomidae))... obviously a biting kind of midge fly. A species specific identification would require a much better image, or preferably- a sample of the actual insects.

I see that you live in India... that makes identification more difficult because entomology is not a thoroughly studied science there.

Generally speaking, midge flies are controlled in the larval state (before they become adult flies). They are a lot like mosquitoes; they lay eggs in stagnant water (sewage, ponds, and drains are common). The larvae are commonly called redworms.

Eliminating the (stagnant water) source of the midge flies would be the most effective control, of course. Otherwise, a natural control method (recommended) would be Bacillus thuringiensis subspecies israelensis which can be found in many box-stores... look for "mosquito dunks".


How to resurface a patch of hardwood floor? Reapplying stain and poly Resurfacing Background

So about a year ago, I resurfaced my entire upstairs by myself. In the process of doing so, I water popped the floors, went with an oil based stain, and a water based poly. I did one coat of stain and 4 coats of poly. After all was done, I was very pleased with my floors so no complaints. I am providing this backstory to aid with any possible solutions to my problem.

Problem

In working on other parts of the house, I accidentally got some paint / grout marks on the floor which would not come off with normal methods of cleaning. I mistakenly used a steam cleaner to which it took off the white marks but also the poly and the stain! :( I know now of course that was a mistake but now I am left with the problem of how to fix the spot without redoing the entire floor again.

What I have tried so far

So far I have done my research on this Stack Exchange as well as forums and such so I taped around the area affected, sanded down to the boards with a fine sand paper, re-waterpopped them (letting it dry overnight like you are supposed to), and then applied stain. I have the same exact stain that I used from when I resurfaced the floors originally so matching up shouldn't be an issue; however, I am having a really hard time matching the patch area to the rest of the room. I can not get it to be dark enough.  I have tried multiple coats at 15-20 minutes (highest time on the can says 15) before wiping away but it seems to be making very little if any improvement each cycle.

First time staining after the water popping:

Second time staining on top of previous:

(I tried my best to take the pictures at the same time of day each day so lighting in the room was roughly the same)

Question

So my question is, what else can I do to make the floors darker / match my original better? Is there a better technique than I am using to do patch jobs like this? I have purposely not done a poly coat because I tried all of this once and then applied poly and the poly made very little difference in shade. I want to of course avoid sanding many times so I don't start to create divots in this spot.

You need to treat the touchup in only those three rows affected, working with the grain. You need to sand out, way farther then the affected areas. The area to be repaired will, ideally, be the entire three rows. You should, at least taper the damaged area way way out. Feather it out far, so the stain won't have such a hard line. If that's oil based stain, make sure to wipe the affected area down with paint thinner, really get in there and scrub it out. Keep scrubbing and rinsing until the rag comes up clean.

On the retouchup itself, use a quality china bristle brush, lay the stain on thick. You're just going to have to experiment with how long to let it lay before you wipe it off.

You will always see your repair, for the rest of your life. Your goal needs to be "not as noticeable", rather than "never happened". Sorry about that, but that's the way it is. The job you're tackling is difficult for those of us that do this for a living, let alone someone who does it once or twice in their life.


Extra tube coming off upstairs sink drain the 2nd floor bathroom (sink, toilet, tub), I noticed a flexible hose coming into the sink drain. It's below the counter, above the trap. Both of our AC units is outside downstairs. Can I remove it when i go to put in a new P trap. Our sinks are leaking because of the way it is set up.

Can you remove it? Of course. Might there be consequences of removing it? Probably, but we have no way of knowing. Usually if there is something odd like that, there was a reason for it. You should try harder to ascertain what that "tube" is coming from. Heater condensate drain? Dehumidifier drain? Pot farm in the attic?


Running power to outside workshop I am taking power from my 200amp entrance panel to a separate building with woodworking tools. I'll start with 100amp breaker at the panel then travel 75' inside my basement before going out through 1 1/2" conduit another 75' to the building where i'll have another 100 amp breaker at the subpanel.  My question is cable type. I know i'll need URD for outside and am looking at either 2-2-2-4 or 2-2-4-6. Which will suffice?  Also what should i use for wire inside the house between service panel and the exit to conduit?  Thanks for your help

First off, you likely want type UF cable for this application -- URD isn't even a recognized NEC type to begin with, and even URD/USE cable can't be run indoors as per 338.12(B)(1) as it lacks the fire-resistive insulation of NM, UF, and SE cables.

Second -- while 2AWG copper USE has an ampacity of 115A as per the NEC, since you cannot use USE in this application, you must use 1AWG wire here, as UF has a lower temperature rating than USE (60deg vs USE's 75deg) and thus a lower ampacity (2AWG copper UF can only carry 95A, while 1AWG copper UF is limited to 110A).  This may also require you to upsize to 2" conduit in order to keep the conduit fill acceptable.  Of course, since you are doing the run in conduit, 2AWG copper THWN is also an acceptable choice of wire for this task, provided the indoor run is done in conduit as well, and would allow you to keep the existing 1.5" conduit.

As to the neutral and ground wires, a 2-2-2-4 configuration would be used -- this is as per 215.2(A)(1) Exception 2, which would prevent an undersized neutral in your situation when the feeder is fully loaded.  Of course, 2-2-2-2 is also acceptable, and may be easier to manage when working with individual THWN wires in conduit.

If you do decide to use URD/USE for the outdoor run -- you will need to use a different wire type for the run indoors.  You'll either want copper THHN/THWN in conduit (2AWG works), or a 2-2-2-4 copper SE (note, NOT USE) cable, either in conduit or run as if it were NM.


Fitting recessed lighting without damaging ceiling I'm trying to add recessed lighting into my hall. There's currently a pendant light in the middle, which I'll be removing. I then want to add 6 240v (UK) GU10 fittings. There's no insulation in the ceiling cavity as it's downstairs.

I don't really know how to go about physically wiring it all up though. The ceiling is Artexed (as much as I wish it wasn't!) and I really want to try and fit all this without causing a lot of damage to it, as I don't think I'll be able to match any repair cleanly.

I can get all the fittings in place without too much trouble, and I can slip a junction box into the cavity where the pendant is now. I can then fix that to be just flat and smooth, and cover it up with a smoke detector.

My problem is the beams:

I don't know how I'm supposed to get the wiring in between all the recessed fittings without cutting loads of extra access holes into the ceiling. I've got a decent threading kit, but:

Do I just drill holes in the beams to thread the wires?
If so, how? The holes required for the fittings themselves seem like they will be far too small to use.

It looks as though you could actually pull this off without drilling/cutting extra holes. Yes you just drill the holes. Keep them up from the bottom, or from the top about 2" so no fasteners from the floor or drywall or plaster is hit.

I have used 3/4" bits for easy holes to pull wire through and up to 1 1/2" bits for more difficult fishing, as in threading a needle from 2 ft away. If the threading kit you speak of are fiberglass rods you connect together, these are perfect for this.

If the location of the new holes are relatively accurate how they are oriented to the joists, with care and a few drill extensions you could drill so the end of the bit can be used to pull a wire back through. It will take extra patience to do so but it can be done.

You could also use to fish tapes, or your threading kit, I presume, if you had help to send one out through the blue hole and cross it with another from the other holes, or you could go at the angle in one shot. I would assume you would pull the box at the blue location.

Here is a little sketch using you drawing to show what I would do.

From the blue hole drill 4 holes in line as best as you can with the other lights. Feed 2 wires to the fist light, one is supply, the other goes to the next light, after that it should be simple using the blue location to redirect the wires you pull to finish the remainder in that area. The rest you will need to thread.


Thicker epoxy rather than grinding concrete substrate to achieve smoothness I am covering my basement apartment's concrete floors with epoxy. The concrete is very well done (self done, been several years, no cracks, reinforced, 2-3" thick).

In order to test the epoxy, I designated my washer/dryer bay as a trial area because it is really the only part of the floor that will be covered, IOW low consequence for messing up. During the extensive conversations with a relatively helpful associate from the epoxy company, I was told that prepping/cleaning concrete is critical to the outcome. There are essentially two (as it turns out, not mutually exclusive) techniques to prepping the substrate: mechanical (grinding with a diamond blade) and chemical (muriatic acid OR a less invasive/hazardous etching solution). I opted for the concrete etch, to avoid the dust of grinding and the toxicity of acid.

So I first scrubbed the concrete really well with a rub brick and then treated it with the etch. The results were good and the removal of concrete cream (the objective of the etch) was successful. That, however, made the substrate rougher as it exposed the concrete gravel parts by removing what was in between. The epoxy company people told me that was a good thing because the epoxy needs roughness to catch on. Essentially, the substrate after the prep had the texture of laminated grains of rice.

The epoxy application, excluding the prep, consists of three layers: water based primer, solids (mid coat, the 'meat' of it all), and urethane top coat for gloss and texture. When I applied the solids in the trial area, using a 3/8" nap roller, the 'laminated grains of rice' texture remained but to a lesser degree. I understand that in a final implementation, a flooring squeegee should be used to accurately distribute a proper amount of epoxy but I didn't have a squeegee so I just used a roller. I do plan to get a squeegee for doing the final job. In order to see the difference between a thicker and thinner layer of the solids epoxy, I then applied a second coat with the roller on just one half of the trial area, so that I have something to compare it to. The results were better (less rough with the 2nd coat) but still not perfect.

When I discussed the results with the epoxy company guy, he said that I was getting such results because I didn't grind the concrete. I told him I was under the impression the whole time that etching was alternative to grinding, which I was trying to avoid by all means.

Questions:

Is it possible that I was not simply getting the epoxy level above the tips of the tips of gravel particles because the 3/8" roller wasn't applying enough epoxy? Would I be getting thicker coverage if I had used a squeegee?
The product documentation mentions a (nominal) thickeness of 3 mil. Let's say I need a little more than that to "drown" my roughness. What size squeegee notch should I use? (e.g. I think they come in 1/8 and 1/4").
MOST IMPORTANTLY: Is it "drowning" the roughness with more epoxy a feasible strategy to achieve smoothness, IOW a viable alternative to the hellishly messy job of grinding concrete? I don't mind buying more epoxy to avoid grinding.

I did get some answers from the company guy but I am reaching out to get some second opinions.

The 3 mil (0.003 inch) thickness in the product documentation is about the same as the thickness specified for an automotive epoxy primer I worked with this summer. For comparison, I sprayed that product onto steel that was prepped with either sandblasting with 80 grit media or D/A sanding with 320 grit screen. It came out fairly smooth -- certainly there's no texture from the metal showing through.

Your description of the concrete ("laminated rice") makes it sound like the chemical treatment entirely stripped the cream off the concrete and has left you with exposed fines (sand). Eyeballing a caliper here I'd guess that must be a profile of at least 20 mils. It would take a lot of coating to fill that.

The roller will lift a lot of paint back out of the depressions in the surface. A squeegee wouldn't do that, but I wonder what happens with a very thick coat. Does it cure properly? Does it bubble/blister when the solvent evaporates off the surface but more remains below? The vendor may have some guidance. You could do a test section.

It seems to me that grinding isn't inherently awful unless you do it dry. Grinding with water will make a sticky slurry or paste but zero dust. Don't leave it to dry though. Dilute the paste with just enough water to be able to push it around with a fine broom or a squeegee and pick it up with a wet/dry vac (resist the temptation to wash it down the floor drain). Apply fresh water, ie rinse and repeat, until the paste/slurry is removed. A pump-action weed sprayer or a garden hose with a misting nozzle could be a convenient way of applying the water.


What do the color designations of wire mean? I am wiring a hot tub I recently purchased and is a 220V 4 wire connection. The wire is AWG 6. The instruction book shows black and red hot wires for this tub, but the wiring on this tub has black and blue hot wires. The reading I have done always indicates black and red hot wires. I'm guessing some wire companies make blue hot wires. Is there any significance to this not being red that I may not be aware of?

Ungrounded "hot" conductors can be identified by any means that is not used to identify grounded "neutral", or grounding conductors. So basically if it's not white, gray, any color other than green with three continuous white or gray stripes, green, green with yellow stripes, bare, or any of the other identification methods below, it can be an ungrounded "hot" conductor.

Blue is an acceptable color for the insulation on an ungrounded "hot" conductor.

  National Electrical Code 2014

  Chapter 2 Wiring and Protection

  Article 200 Use and Identification of Grounded Conductors

  200.6 Means of Identifying Grounded Conductors.

  (A) Sizes 6 AWG or Smaller. An insulated grounded conductor
  of 6 AWG or smaller shall be identified by one of the following means:

  (1) A continuous white outer finish.

  (2) A continuous gray outer finish.

  (3) Three continuous white or gray stripes along the conductor's entire length on other than green insulation.

  (4) Wires that have their outer covering finished to show a white or gray color but have colored tracer threads in the braid identifying the source of manufacture shall be considered as meeting the provisions of this section.

  (5) The grounded conductor of a mineral-insulated, metal-sheathed
  cable shall be identified at the time of installation
  by distinctive marking at its terminations.

  (6) A single-conductor, sunlight-resistant, outdoor-rated
  cable used as a grounded conductor in photovoltaic
  power systems as permitted by 690.31 shall be identified
  at the time of installation by distinctive white
  marking at all terminations.

  (7) Fixture wire shall comply with the requirements for
  grounded conductor identification as specified in 402.8.

  (8) For aerial cable, the identification shall be as above, or
  by means of a ridge located on the exterior of the cable
  so as to identify it.

  Article 250 Grounding and Bonding

  250.119 Identification of Equipment Grounding Conductors. Unless required elsewhere in this Code, equipment grounding conductors shall be permitted to be bare, covered, or insulated. Individually covered or insulated equipment grounding conductors shall have a continuous outer finish that is either green or green with one or more yellow stripes except as permitted in this section. Conductors with insulation or individual covering that is green, green with one or more yellow stripes, or otherwise identified as permitted by this section shall not be used for ungrounded or grounded circuit conductors.


Should I purchase two lock cylinders to create a double-sided lock? I have a deadbolt that I would like to replace.  On each side of the door it looks like:

Does one buy two of these for a door or is this another product?

Assuming that you want to replace the deadbolt unit (as stated in the question), usually the most economical option is to remove the entire assembly including the faceplates, keyed cylinders, and the deadbolt itself (the part that inserts into the edge of the door) and replace all with a new unit.

Another option is to have the two cylinders rekeyed, if a new key is all that is desired.

Your picture, which looks like it was grabbed from the web rather than being an actual photo of your lock, shows a specialty commercial style lock cylinder. If it is a true representation of your hardware you should visit a locksmith or commercial door and lock supplier.


What is the minimum thickness a new top layer of concrete should be when poured over an existing concrete walkway? Parts of a concrete walkway leading up to the front of the house have sunk down over the years. We want to add a layer of new concrete over the old concrete to raise it and make it more even.  What is the minimum thickness we can pour to not compromise the strength?

If you are going to put 3" down you would be better served to do a new walkway. Have you looked into "slabjacking" or "mudjacking" to raise your old slabs. Might be cheaper if the surface of your old slabs is still in good shape.


Can a home rest permanently on two steel beams? My home has settling due to sitting on clay soils.

I've seen homes that get new foundations rebuilt sitting in one or two large steel beams and wondered, if those are themselves underpinned to bedrock, can a home safely sit on these indefinitely? Mostly I'm curious but also wonder if that would result in less underpinning and a more even floor throughout the home.

Those steel beams will still rest on the clay which is still shifting but they are used to reinforce the house and allow it to move off to the side for a bit while the machines go and drive in the piles and pour the new foundation.

On note of the piles, they may not actually reach down to bedrock but instead go down and hold a chunk of clay. This means that more ground needs to move before the house itself will move.


240 outlet giving abnormal me abnormal readings I just moved to a new house and was troubleshooting a dryer when I noticed my outlet is giving me incorrect voltage. I know I should have two hots (A and B) on either side, a ground at the top (C) and a neutral on the bottom (D).  When I hook up the multimeter I get the following readings: AC 120, BC 120, AB 240, AD 0, BD 240, CD 120.

Can anyone tell me what the problem is?

You have an open neutral on this circuit. You are getting a reading on it to ground and one leg due to a load backfeed on the neutral.

If everything else in the house works fine then the problem is almost certainly isolated to this circuit.

Physically check the connection of this circuit's neutral wire at the panel.


How do I remove dried latex paint from carpet? I dropped a brush while painting my office. We have brand new carpet and of course, I dropped the paint brush in a spot where there was no drop cloth >:(

I thought since it's latex based paint I could let it dry and then peel it off but it doesn't seem that I can do that.

I was thinking about a solvent but I don't know what I can use and if it will affect the carpet fibers. I read that certain solvents will eat away the latex backing on the carpet causing the fibers to release from the mesh. I read that there is a product called "Goof off 2" that isn't a solvent that will harm the carpet. But I have no idea.

What I can use to remove the paint?

The carpet is brand new. I'm not sure what kind of fibers they are.

Depending on when this happened you might be able to just use water, or soap and water. Before it cures, latex paint is water soluble (so the absolute best time to clean it up is before it dries at all). I've had good luck using a couple of sponges and warm water - one to apply fresh clean water to the paint, and the other to blot up dissolved paint/water. You can continue this until the spot is gone.

If the paint is cured (i.e. the water isn't breaking it down) then there is a cleaner called "Oops!" that works well on paint, ink, tar etc on carpets. I would try some of that as I've heard it works wonders. It should be available at your local hardware store.


Does leaving fridge doors open several minutes at a time lead to partial freezing of food? I was hoping someone could help weigh in with a technical explanation here.
We have a Whirlpool fridge that is only a few years old, and often notice that food near the back of it (and usually towards the top shelf) is partially frozen. As you get away from the top-center of the fridge this seldom happens, and again, this is an intermittent occurrence (sometimes no food is frozen anywhere in the fridge and everything is fine).
I often go to the fridge and leave the doors open for a few minutes at a time. Usually its to load/unload lots of food to/from it in a short amount of time. My husband says this is the root of the freezing problem we have. His argument is that, since I leave the doors open for a few minutes, the fridge is working harder than it normally should have to in order to keep the food cold, and because of this its over-refrigerating and causing the partial freezing that we're seeing.
However, my understanding (please correct me if I'm wrong) is that there is both a condensor and a thermostat in a modern fridge that should work in unison together: the thermostat tells the condensor when to kick on (such as if the space inside the fridge is too warm) and the condensor is the little unit of magic that cools the air by somehow condensing it.
So, if my understanding is correct, then I would expect the following flow:

I leave the doors open for a few minutes
The air inside the fridge gets too warm
The thermostat tells the condensor to start cooling the air
At some point in time later (few minutes) I finally close the doors
At some point in time later (again probably a few minutes) the air is cold again, and the thermostat tells the condensor to stop cooling

So again, if my understanding is all 100% correct, then to me, it sounds like the problem is actually the thermostat, perhaps not telling the condensor to shut off soon enough, and hence allowing it to partially freeze our food at the back of the fridge.
Hence, this problem probably would occur even if you were to very rarely open the fridge doors, and regardless, a correctly-functioning thermostat would take care of this altogether?
Can someone with mechanical/appliance know-how please weigh in here?

You have it correct on how things work.
There is 1 piece missing: the evaporator.
When you open the door, the thermostat detects the temp increase and starts the compressor. The condenser cools the hot compressed refrigerant.
The cool liquid is then metered into the evaporator.
As the liquid expands, heat is removed, and the cycle is repeated.
If you have food touching the wall where the evaporator is it will freeze.
It is not a thermostat problem. It is a problem with things touching the super cooled surface. If there is an air gap between the area that is freezing that air gap will help to cool the box so the compressor will turn off sooner because the air is cooled.
So it is not a thermostat problem as much as an air circulation problem.
My refrigerator has the same issue. It is a side by side. The fridge is on the right. The left side of the fridge is where my evaporator is and if anything is pushed tight to the left wall it will freeze because the surface is well below freezing and the temp in the refrigerator box is still warm. Move the stuff away it quits freezing and works properly.
Since I do hvac work I used a thermal imager and photographed the evaporator so my wife would know the zone to keep open and we have not had frozen things in the fridge with half a dozen grandchildren raiding it.


Electrical wiring question - How can I get 1300 watts x2 from a 15 ampere breaker by splitting amp I am trying to raise the voltage to 240 V so that I can power two computers with 1300 watts, each on ONE 15 ampere circuit.

I power four 15-A circuits in my shop via a 60 ampere breaker I keep in my main panel. I came ought to that 60 ampere breaker with three #6 wires (two hots + neutral) and a #10 ground.

Each of my PCs is 1300 watts.

So, all I need to do is wire the existing neutrals that are already on the bus bar (those neutrals which originate from each applicable circuit. In my case, the only ones on the bar), remove these from the bar, and place the neutral in another 2 pole 15-A breaker. Is this right? Will this allow me to connect 2600 watts to one circuit? Is all I need to do to add a two-pole breaker and move the neutral to it?

Hire an electrician before you burn your shop down with all those computers in it.

While I can try to educate you, the fact that there's PLENTY of information already available and yet you clearly have done no research or just don't understand your power system makes the above my succinct advice.

In short, neutral has nothing to do with a 240V (only) circuit in the USA/Canada system.

You replace two 15A one-space breakers with one 15 amp two-space breaker, and both legs are hot. You need to replace the receptacles on the circuits as well.

Alternatively just add 4 more single-pole 15A breakers and wire new 120VAC circuits to them.

Please hire an electrician rather than forge ahead half-understanding; or take a good long time to actually understand before you touch a wire.


Water seeps through basement floor at drain exit during heavy rain We've been having heavy rains in Madison, Wisconsin, lately, and on two occasions I've found water seeping into my basement in this location:

The red x's mark pipes that seem to have no function. When I moved in two of them had crude wooden plugs, which I improved upon with a steel cap and a rubber stopper. One appears to be a lead pipe that was bent over with a hammer.
The large cast iron pipe is the main drain for the house.
The pipe in back drains a utility sink and a bathroom sink.

The water is clear and doesn't smell, and we weren't using much water the two times I discovered the leak (so I don't believe it's coming back up from the house drains).

It seems like water pressure from the drenched soil is forcing rain water through the penetrations where these drain lines go through the basement floor.

The house is 100 years old. The basement is poured concrete (including walls) and there is no sump pit or drain. It's a shallow basement (about 4' deep).

Is there a reliable way to seal around these drain lines to keep this from happening in the future?

1.  Some water might be tolerable in a minimally finished old basement.

In St Louis, a lot of houses would sometimes get some water in the basement.  Some of them a fair bit.  If this is going to destroy the berber rug in your man cave that is one thing.  If it is going to make a small puddle that is another.

If a little water entering the basement of your old house is not going to cause trouble, you could watch for it and mop it up.  You could seal the concrete floor of your basement.  You could set up a dehumidifier over a drain.

2.  You might be able to figure out why the water is coming in.

In the St Louis house there was part of the stone foundation fall that let a trickle of water thru.  I worked and worked on that wall.  It turned out that the reason it was letting water thru is that the gutter above was letting water fall down against the house, which then pooled against the house.  Fix the gutter, no more water thru the wall.

When it is raining hard, go out and walk around (like the manly Midwestern homeowner you are) and see how the drainage is.  Is it pouring past a loose gutter?  Have misguided yard rehab efforts caused a change in drainage?  If you can see where water is getting up against the house, that might be where the water is tracking down, under, and then up thru the weak point by the pipe.  I actually figured out about the St Louis house gutter because of a spot by the house that was all sandy with no vegetation.  It had been scoured clean by the water coming past the gutter during hard rain.  I was suspicious and then confirmed it with a walk in the rain.

I like the pipe photo and pipe stories, by the way.  Old houses are cool.


A ground rod where a drain needs to go My house sits on a hill, and the gutters don't properly drain. As a result, I'm digging a new  drain along the side of the house to re-route the water.

However, while digging the drain, I came upon a grounding rod just a few inches below the surface. It's directly in the path of where I need to put the drain.

Should I re-route the drain, or try to move the grounding rod?

I should say, I do have the option to move the drain away from the house a bit, too. That might solve my problem, but the drain is doubling-up as a patio drain so it would require a fairly sharp bend to accomplish that.

Edit: sorry, not a french drain. Had french drains on the brain. Just a regular buried drain.

It really doesn't matter from a technical standpoint which choice you make, assuming all installations are done properly. Do whatever is easiest for your situation. "Proper installation" is key though, only use proper drainage ells to make turns, not vent ells, and do not add additional bends to get around obstacles that can be relocated. Also note that ground rods can be bent out of the way (or driven deeper as longneck suggests) without diminishing their effectiveness, just be careful to not damage the wire connection.


Wire size. 125 feet underground to 100 amp sub panel I have an outbuilding will be 125 feet from panel to panel. Sub panel in put building will be 100 amp. Main panel at 200 amp. Want to have a direct burial line 24 inches deep. Wet ground. What size wire?

Will need two hot, one neutral, one ground.

Load will be lights, fan hot wTervheater on demand for one sink electric wall heater. No more than 60 amps at one time with all running. Thanks

At 125’ 4 awg copper would provide 1.79% voltage drop using 4 gauge wire would allow for 70 amp breaker in your main panel. Since this is detached you will want a ground rod also. To save on wire cost you could use #2 aluminum and still have 70a breaker at the main.

If you would like to play with wire sizes google southwire voltage drop calculator, that’s what I use the only part that’s not obvious is the box that asks for parallel sets put 1 it will give you the wire size and voltage drop info, it’s a handy tool.


Can my floor hold 2100 lbs of dead load? I'll admit I don't get how to compute how much my floor can hold, and probably wouldn't trust my own math, even if I came up with the right answer.
I'm looking to purchase a recording booth. I do voice-over work. There's one for sale in my area that the manufacturer says weighs 2015 lbs for the base model. This one has some extras, so lets call it 2100, or maybe even 2150. I weigh 220, so the package would be in the vicinity of 2400, to be safe. The booth has a footprint of 6' x 6'. The home is in the Chicago area, built in 1988.
The room it would be going in is an exterior room, at the first floor back corner of the house. The first floor is over a basement. THe floor joists are 2 x 12s, I believe; I thought a 2x12 was 11 1/4 high/wide. These are either 11" exactly, or some are even closer to 10 7/8", so I'm a little confused about that. I haven't found one that was 11 1/4". Anyway, if I'm measuring correctly, then right under the interior wall perpendicular to the back wall of the house is a laminated joist made of 2 2x12s with a 1/2" steel plate in the middle. The booth would be resting in the room in the interior corner, where one wall is exterior and the other rests over the laminated joist. That laminated joist runs approx 17' where it ties into the I-beam that runs the width of the middle of the house.
Will my floor safely hold the weight of the booth?
To answer a couple of the questions raised:
Why is the booth so heavy? Because isolation requires mass. If you want to keep sound out, the walls have to have mass. This particular model of booth (manufactured by a leader in the industry) has a double-wall design for increased isolation from outside noise. Each 4' x 7.5' section is two slabs of 5/8" MDF with an air gap in the middle. The windows (2) each include four slabs of 1/4" tempered glass. It adds up.
Is there an option for placing the booth in the basement? No, because the only place for it in the basement is just feet from the furnaces, which defeats the purpose.

You need a site visit from a qualified person to determine if your floor system can safely carry the load, but given the span you gave and the information here, the answer is no.
However, you may be able to easily install sufficient intermediate support.
To get a line on feasibility before reaching out to professionals, I'd start by calling the manufacturer and talk with their engineers to see if they have a technical manual detailing bearing requirements. Don't be surprised if it's all about commercial floor systems. While you're at it, get the exact weight.
Next, call the city and discuss with a building inspector.
Given the weight you're guessing, at nearly 70psf uniform load (and an unknown concentrated load), it's not just the depth of the joists you need to consider. You need to evaluate the entire flooring assembly against the concentration of the load.

Assuming the load has full continuous bearing, not on point loads (ie. supported by feet or by a perimeter bar).
Assuming this is piece built.
Taking into consideration comparisons of some common residential construction design loads, a 6" thick concrete foundation wall is typically designed to carry a dead load of 75psf. Garage slabs are typically designed with 50psf uniform live load, 1,500 to 2,000 concentrated load, in mind.

Good luck and have fun!


what kind of sheet-metal screw do I need for wood to 1/8" steel? I am trying to attach pieces of 2-by wood to the frame tubes of a conex shipping container.   The steel is about 1/8" thick.   I probably need screws at least 1/4" diameter to get the strength I need (100+ lbs shear).

Found this fairly comprehensive article about all the different types of sheet-metal screws:

http://www.fastenermart.com/understanding-tapping-screws.html

... and they say you need "thread cutting" (aka. "Type F") instead of "thread forming" for "thicker and harder" materials.

My question is: would 1/8" thick steel (I'm assume it's mild steel in a ubiquitous thing like a shipping container, and it wasn't that hard to drill through) be consider a "thicker" material, or will an ordinary #14 sheet-metal screw suffice ?

An ancillary question: If ordinary sheet-metal screw is unsuitable as I expect, will a "self drilling" type such as:

https://www.fmwfasteners.com/collections/hex-washer-head-self-drilling-screws-zinc-plated/products/14-14-x-2-1-2-hex-washer-head-self-drilling-screw-zinc-plated

... work ?   I would likely drill a pilot hole anyhow, and use these as thread-cutting type.   The self-drilling seems easier to find than thread-cutting.

I'd consider 1/8" in the "thicker" category.

Thinner would be like steel ductwork, thick enough to receive & hold screws, but thin enough to use an ordinary sheet metal which just has a pointy threaded tip (looks similar to a wood screw).

I have recently drilled wood into steel on a few different projects which was about 1/8" thick and used screws like this:

Not pushing any particular brand but this type did work well for my application. The key element of the screw is the tip which is similar to a drill bit. The flutes of that drilling tip have to be at least as long as the metal is deep.

A tip is to make sure your screwdriver bit fits the screw head really well. Since it takes some time for the screw to bite (compared to screwing into wood) you need a good solid connection to your driver. If the wood you're attaching is thick enough that's not likely to be a major problem, however.


What tool do I need to remove a round nut with slots in its face? The crank shaft and axle are a single unit, so the whole thing needs to be removed.
Diameter is approx. 50 mm and a spanner/wrench/screwdriver needs to be able to grip both notches and twist without being blocked by the crank arm.
Any suggestions?


Exhaust fumes seeping into our 4th floor apartment at night through bathroom and shower vents/fans This is our second fall/winter in our 4th floor apartment, and we've noticed that whenever the weather becomes cool, exhaust fumes which seem to come from the garage in the basement of the apartment building, seep into our apartment through the bathroom vent/fan and the shower vent/fan (both are separate rooms). My eyes burn in the middle of the night and I feel dizzy - in the morning our small child tells us that she has a headache and/or a stomachache.
When I get up in the middle of the night, I can smell this awful exhaust fume smell in both the bathrooms, and I have to turn and leave both fans on the whole night and morning to help just a little. Our landlady refuses to acknowledge this issue, and we're currently living in Europe, so I wouldn't know where to complain to. How can we fix this so we don't feel sick every day?!

Follow up from what appears to be the OP:

Thank you all for the info. I pasted most of your replies in an email I sent for her last night to help further clarify the situation. Unfortunately, since there was a mold problem we noticed when moving in, and she had to take care of it, she is reluctant to do much else - I think she believes I'm a hypochondriac and that I'm too sensitive!

We live in Salzburg, and I've been to the doctor many times (for myself and my child) and they dismiss the complaints about headaches, stomachaches and nausea - and never address it! Our pediatrician said it must be the "change of weather/climate" we are experiencing from having moved to Salzburg!

We are somewhat financially limited, as rent is high in Salzburg and vacant apts are scarce! Believe me, I'm freaking out about this and I can't sleep anymore...I don't know what to do - it's just one thing after another... first the mold, then a chain-smoking neighbor who would smoke all night and the stench would seep into our house (our landlady said there is nothing we can do about it), and now this (which has been going on for who knows how long!!). I purchased a CO detector today and put it in the bathroom (ELRO RM355). I'm worried that if, as some of you say, this doesn't pick it up - I will have no proof. I've been apartment hunting for 8 months now and am exhausted.

Could it be that being on the top floor of the building is the issue? As in, all odors, smoke and gases rise to the top?! I try to take my child outdoors as much as I can, and at night I run the fans and try to open the windows - but it's getting colder.

Just wanted to add that smell gets real bad in the middle of the night - it does smell like car exhaust fumes, but I don't think we have any neighbors running their cars in the garage at 3 am.

Also, if I do seal the vents with saran wrap, will it cause mold?
The CO detector hasn't picked anything up yet...

PLEASE seek professional assistance immediately.

There are two main issues with exhaust that can make you feel ill like this: Carbon Dioxide and Carbon Monoxide. Both are harmful, if not fatal, if the percentage present in the air you breath is too high. You DESPERATELY need to install a carbon monoxide detector, and contact your local housing authority. This is not something to be taken lightly, nor fixed by amateurs. HVAC follows particular code and regulations in many countries. I suspect that your venting exhaust is either too close to the garage venting, or is venting INTO the garage.


I have an induction cooktop in my island powered by a 40 amp circuit, can I spur off this to install two outlets on the side of the island? I have an induction cooktop on my island powered by a 40 amp circuit, can I spur off this to install two outlets on the side of the island?

This is the only circuit going to the island. Will I have to install a breaker?

No, you cannot tap off of a 40 amp circuit for receptacle circuits.
According to the National Electrical Code Article 210.21(B) and Table 210.21(B)(3) Receptacles connected to a 40 amp circuit would have to be rated 40 or 50 amps. Kinda tough to plug your toaster in to those.

210.21(B)(3) Receptacle Ratings.  Where connected to a branch circuit supplying two or more receptacles or outlets, receptacle ratings shall conform to the values listed in Table 210.21(B)(3), or, where rated higher than 50 amperes, the receptacle rating shall not be less than the branch-circuit rating.

Here are two other places in the National Electrical Code that cover kitchen branch circuits.
The exception below allows you to power cooking equipment from a 50 amp branch circuit but not receptacles from a 40.

210.19 (A) (3) Household Ranges and Cooking Appliances.  Branch-circuit conductors supplying household ranges, wall-mounted ovens, counter-mounted cooking units, and other household cooking appliances shall have an ampacity not less than the rating of the branch circuit and not less than the maximum load to be served. For ranges of 83∕4 kW or more rating, the minimum branch-circuit rating shall be 40 amperes.
Exception No. 1: Conductors tapped from a 50-ampere branch circuit supplying electric ranges, wall-mounted electric ovens, and counter-mounted electric cooking units shall have an ampacity of not less than 20 amperes and shall be sufficient for the load to be served. These tap conductors include any conductors that are a part of the leads supplied with the appliance that are smaller than the branch-circuit conductors. The taps shall not be longer than necessary for servicing the appliance.

The Code requires a minimum of 2 20 amp Small-Appliance to serve the counter tops in the kitchen. The pertinent article is below:

210.11(C) Dwelling Units.
(1) Small-Appliance Branch Circuits.  In addition to the number of branch circuits required by other parts of this section, two or more 20-ampere small-appliance branch circuits shall be provided for all receptacle outlets specified by 210.52(B).

Kitchen island counters require enough receptacles so no part of the counter is more than 24 inches from a receptacle.

210.52(C) Countertops and Work Surfaces. In kitchens, pantries, breakfast rooms, dining rooms, and similar areas of dwelling units, receptacle outlets for countertop and work surfaces shall be installed in accordance with 210.52(C)(1) through (C)(5).
(1) Wall Countertop and Work Surface. A receptacle outlet shall be installed at each wall countertop and work surface that is 300 mm (12 in.) or wider. Receptacle outlets shall be instal‐ led so that no point along the wall line is more than 600 mm (24 in.) measured horizontally from a receptacle outlet in that space.
Exception: Receptacle outlets shall not be required on a wall directly behind a range, counter-mounted cooking unit, or sink in the installa‐ tion described in Figure 210.52(C)(1).
(2) Island Countertop Spaces.  At least one receptacle shall be installed at each island countertop space with a long dimension of 600 mm (24 in.) or greater and a short dimension of 300 mm (12 in.) or greater.

So, you need some receptacles on the island. And you can't feed them from taps off of the 40 amp circuit. However, you could put a sub-panel on the island as Tyson points out. The problem with this idea is the cooktop takes the entire capacity of your sub-panel.
The best thing to do would be to run #12 AWG wire for one or more circuits to the island.
Good luck!


Honeywell T6360 wiring - follow installation wiring guide positions or numbers? The following picture shows a Honeywell T6360 Room Thermostat wiring connections.  You will note they are numbered in the order 2 3 4 1 5 6.

The Installation Instructions that accompany this unit, contains the wiring diagram below.  In this diagram, the connections are numbered in the order 1 2 3 4.  This is very confusing and I'm not sure if I should copy the positioning from the installation guide or connect to the marked numbers (even though they are out of position).

What is the correct way to proceed?

Click for full size image

Use the numbers.
The position of the terminals in the wiring diagram is likely just for ease of drawing, and may not exactly model the actual device.


Blending new concrete patch fix I'm back for another concrete-related question:
I previously asked Fixing broken piece of concrete and got great answers from folks here.
I went to HD this weekend and finally patched up the broken cement piece.  I also got a little cement-happy and patched up a crack on the stairs (pics below)
I didn't think I care for the look of things, it really stands out from the rest of the stoop.  Is there a way to blend it in more?
Will it naturally blend over time as it gets weathered out?
Thanks for your kind help!

It might be too late, but I would try pressure washing the old concrete to see if it lightens up.  Other than that, the repairs will always be a different color unless you use something to color it.


How can I isolate an indoor water pipe to prevent freezing? In my basement I have a 1/2" copper water pipe that goes to an outdoor faucet for a garden hose/sprinkler. This line has its own shutoff, so during the winter it is turned off and emptied.

The problem is that about 15 feet from the exterior wall the pipe reaches a critical junction in the water lines. If it gets really cold outside, below 10F, the pipe will transmit the cold all the way to this junction and freeze it and then the water supply to the whole house is cut off. I have used heat tapes, propane torches etc to solve the problem when it crops up, which is once every 5 years or so.

However, what I would really like to do is install a passive (non-energy-using) solution to get rid of the problem permanently.

What I envision doing is installing some kind of thermal isolator in the line to the faucet. So, for example, if I replaced say a 12" length of the pipe with a PVC pipe it would probably solve the problem because the PVC will not conduct the cold nearly so well as the copper, so basically the PVC should "thermally isolate" the faucet. That's my theory at least. Another option would be to create a removable link or section in the pipe. The section would be removed/disconnected in the winter, then connected back up again in the spring.

Is there a way to do either of these things?

I agree with the comment in that its surprising the copper pipe would conduct enough heat to freeze the downstream pipe, are you sure there's not a draft or something like that?

Your idea to isolate the pipe seems relatively sound though.  You would likely want to use PEX instead of PVC. PEX normally requires a special tool to crimp the connectors, so I would recommend using a SharkBite push-in coupling fitting to connect the PEX to the copper and vise versa as these don't require any special tools to install.

From http://www.sharkbite.com/product/couplings/

  SharkBite is the Push-Fit connection system that is really taking hold. It’s the easiest way to join copper, CPVC or PEX pipe in any combination with no soldering, clamps, unions or glue. Just insert the pipe and the stainless steel teeth bite down and grip tight, while a specially formulated O-ring compresses to create a perfect seal.

I don't have any affiliation with SharkBite, they are just a well known brand of push-in fittings.  Your local store might have other brands too


What is the name of the metal strip that goes over a step Between 2 rooms, there is a small single step, the step being only about 1-2 inches tall. Over this step is a piece of metal, bent in half. Mine has come undone, and has ended up broken but I've just found the same thing in another house. It looks like this:

Does this have a name? My own research gets me close with terms like "floor edge step trim" but most results I see have for flat pieces of metal, where I assume I'm after a "corner shaped" thing...!

I think the term you want is 'stair nosing'. See here http://www.kofflersales.com/p/metal-stair-nosing.asp.


What is involved in fixing a break in a frost-free faucet? I have an exterior frost-free faucet that has sprung a leak. You can see the hole on the bottom side of the copper pipe in the image below.

I am trying to determine if this is a job I want to take on myself, but before I can do that, I need to know what all goes into this job.

Is the distance between the outside wall and the elbow a standard length? Or will I have to custom fit this to length? It looks to me like there was some soldering that took place on the original job, is this standard?

Is there any other thing that an experienced plumber and/or DIY person would advise me of before stating into this fix?

(Full Size inside photo)

Frostproof faucets come in standard lengths like 8", 10" 12". You will need to measure the old one to get the proper length.

The solder you see is from the factory and everything appears to be OEM up to where it screws into the elbow.

This normally is a pretty easy job, but you have a possible major complication.

If the original installers were smart enough to plan for future replacement, they will have left a channel through the brick large enough to pass the fitting that mates to the elbow through it. In this case, they will have used 2 masonry screws or nails through the flange on the outside to brace the faucet from turning and a nail or screw through the mounting tang on the elbow that goes into the PEX. Removal requires shutting the water supply off, releasing pressure, removing the mounting hardware, unscrewing the faucet from the elbow, screwing a new one in and reattaching the flange and elbow tang.

If it's been cemented/mortared in, I wouldn't blame you for much cursing of failure to plan for future inevitable events. These valves eventually leak, you can replace the valve seat washer a couple times, but you will be replacing the valve assembly eventually, probably when the long shaft busts loose from the valve from someone overtightening it because it started leaking.

My first plan of action if I had to deal with it would be to buy a plug that fits the elbow, you'll need it for the duration of the nasty part of the job. Shut off the water supply, get a pipe cutter and a hacksaw. You will need to cut the copper pipe somewhere in the vicinity of the ice blowout, then cut through the valve shaft. Now remove the valve from the elbow, wrap the plug with some teflon tape and tighten it in the elbow. Turn your water back on, inspect for leaks and tie it up out of the way so the PEX doesn't get damaged.

Now that you're done with the easy part, you now need to get a hammer and chisel to remove the mortar around the faucet (outside). Hopefully they only mudded it in to keep the faucet from moving so you only have an inch or so of mortar to clear before the pipe going through the wall loosens up and allows for removal. The hole through the brick will have to be large enough to pass the fitting that goes into the elbow. Hopefully none of this gets to involving hammer drills and hole enlargement. Remove the old faucet. Measure from the outside wall back to where the elbow was positioned to get the length for your new faucet. At this point, cut the water, remove the plug, screw the new faucet in place, reattach the elbow mounting tang and try to get a gradient so the new faucet will drain when the hose is removed. Mortar the brick to hold the faucet in place and give it time for the mortar to set.


GFCI on a different circuit keeps tripping I will be as thorough as possible. Both breakers will stay on. If I flip a light switch in the bathroom the gfci on breaker A will trip but breaker B stays on. Now if I reset GFCI while the light is still on it will stay on. Until I turn the light off and then on again. However IF I have more lights on breaker B on then it trips less frequently. But none the less it WILL trip. I have a family moving in this weekend to this rental and want to make sure they are going to be safe or not have to be bothered by this?

When a GFCI trips, people often say "I don't understand. Why is my GFCI tripping?"

GFCI's detect ground faults.  It's what they do.

Yes, sometimes GFCIs are just bad. But Occam's Razor says the simplest explanation is usually the correct one: There's a ground fault.

Electricity flows in loops.  Every hot wire has a partner neutral dedicated to it, and it's important they not be mixed. All the power that goes out on a  hot, should come back via the partner neutral.  If current goes any other way, that's what GFCI's call a ground fault.  GFCI's compare the current on both wires, and make sure they are equal.   They do not look at the ground wire at all.  Ground usually figures into it as the alternate circuit path.

A hot-ground fault will usually flow a LOT of current and trip the circuit breaker.  But a neutral-ground fault is trickier.  They're at nearly the same voltage, but if they are brushing against each other, current will return via both neutral and ground, and cause the inequality that results in a GFCI trip.

When two separate circuits have related GFCI trips, it's usually because someone got sloppy and mixed neutrals or grounds.  For instance if power flowed out one circuit's hot and the other circuit's neutral, that should trip both GFCI's.  If a ground wire is being bootlegged as a neutral or is shorting against a neutral, that will also cause misrouting of power and a GFCI trip.  Or if something is getting wet, it may cause enough leakage to trip a GFCI.


Use 220v appliances on Japan 200v: how to connect I've posted this question in the electrical engineering and they have recommended to do over here, so here I am :)

I’m trying to understand how I can connect my European appliances to the 200v supplied here in Japan I’m sure is possible because, during the renovation, my electrician was able to connect a kitchen hood from Germany, but I don’t know how he did and I can’t connect with him anymore I’ve tried a simple 3 pins plug replacement (phase neutral ground) but didn’t worked out

Sorry for my lack of basic knowledge :)

Thanks to all in advance for share your knowledge with me

Cheers

Japan 200V is analogous to United States 240V.  It is not similar to European 230V in that in the US/JP arrangement, neither wire is neutral, and ground is in the center.

That means, if your Euro appliance is polarized to make contact with neutral less dangerous, surprise! Neutral is now dangerous!

Also, in the USA-style system, they don't use whole-house RCD, they use RCDs per individual branch circuit. Typically, RCDs are omitted on 240V circuits, since they are only used on large appliances with good grounding, like dryers or table saws. This is a recipe for disaster if you're using ungrounded 240V small appliances in a kitchen or bathroom! Make sure your 240V small appliance circuits are placed on RCD (called GFCI), and 240V GFCIs are expensive beasts.

Also in parts of Japan you have 60Hz power not 50Hz.

We can't give generic appliance advice.  You need to consult the labeling and instructions of each appliance to see whether the manufacturer has certified it for use on the different power frequency (heaters fine; motors not so much) and somewhat lower voltage.  Some appliances will be multi-voltage and will cheerfully take anything from 100V (JP) to 240V (UK).

If it's not certified, that's probably for a reason - they wouldn't count themselves out of the Japanese market unless they had to. Check with the local Japanese authorities as to the legality of using the appliance.  I would be reluctant to use such an appliance.


Is it ok to run 2 NM-B cables in 1 EMT protective conduit in an unfinished basement? I would like to add 3 new 20 Amps outlets in my unfinished basement. I'm going to run some NM-B cable along the ceiling joists and I will use metal boxes attached on the concrete walls as well as use EMT conduit to protect the cable from the receptacle to the ceiling.

If I decide to cable my receptacles in a row using the terminal screws (vs pig tail), can I run the 2 cables from the middle outlet in the same conduit or do I need to run 2 conduits? If yes is there a minimum acceptable diameter to do so?

There is no Code requirement to pigtail the receptacle hot and neutral unless you are using a multiwire branch circuit. (A circuit with multiple hot wires) Even then, the requirement is that removal of the device cannot break the neutral so the neutral has to be pigtailed but not on a two wire circuit.

300.13 Mechanical and Electrical Continuity — Conductors.
(B) Device Removal. In multiwire branch circuits, the continuity of a grounded conductor shall not depend on device connections such as lampholders, receptacles, and so forth, where the removal of such devices would interrupt the continuity.

There is a Code requirement to ground the receptacle in such a way that it does not break the equipment ground. Either you can use self grounding receptacles or you can pigtail the ground.

250.148(B) Grounding Continuity. The arrangement of grounding connections shall be such that the disconnection or the removal of a receptacle, luminaire, or other device fed from the box does not interfere with or interrupt the grounding continuity.

Ok all that said, you don't need to ever have two cables in a conduit unless you plan to run two circuits. You cloud then conceivably have two cables protected by one conduit and with 12/2 that you would need for 'a 20 ampm circuit I wouldn't try that in anything smaller than 3/4" EMT.
Good luck and stay safe!


Winterizing pipes for weekend house in upstate NY I recently purchased a weekend house in the Hudson Valley.  New to home ownership but need to prepare for the winter. I have a rough plan to ensure the pipes don't burst, especially while we are not at the house.  Is my plan sensible, what else should I do?

Setup: One level house with basement.  Three zone boiler with baseboard heating, two zones on main level and one in basement.

Plan:

Leave heat on during week at 50 deg in all three zones. This should keep all interior spaces warm enough barring a power outage.
Insulate all water pipes, both potable water and heating.
Install stop and waste valves to remove water from pipes that feed unused bathroom/sink.
When leaving for week shut off main line to minimize damage in event of a burst pipe.

Thanks.

You would normally put a stop-waste valve after the main shut-off and bleed the entire house in one go. I'd bleed all of the potable water lines regardless. Standing water in pipes will still freeze and expand to the point where it can and will burst the pipes. Then when you visit your home and turn the water on, you are treated to an unexpected flood and have the joy of trying to figure out where the break is. Been there done that. One neat setup in my mothers house is there is a standard spigot teed off after the main shutoff. Makes bleeding easy and fast and adds a bonus hook up for a garden hose or quick filling of buckets.

If you plan an extended leave of absence, consider draining your water heater and turn the power/gas to it off. Make sure you fill it and bleed the entire system before you turn it back on!


What breaker size for box containing two GFCI circuits? What should the main panel breaker size be to control a 60amp GFCI for a hot tub and a 15amp GFCI outlet. The gfci's are mounted in a box that will be wired to the main panel.

The breaker feeding the sub-panel must be sized not exceed the rating of the sub-panel. So, if you install a 60 amp sub panel you can't protect it (fuse it) any higher than 60 amps. Ditto for 100 amps.

The conductors should be sized large enough to carry the load of the sub-panel and be protected by whatever breaker they are attached to.


Strange Pin Pierced Pipe in Boiler Just wondering if anyone had any ideas on this?

The other day, I put the central heating on for the first time in about 6 months. The radiators did not get hot and within a few minutes the boiler started making a very high pitched noise and then the DHW feed pipe ruptured at a soldered joint and started spraying water. Upon further investigation the copper pipe leading to the DHW turbine/flow sensor appears to have some type of metal pin piercing the pipe from which water is also leaking.

I have had several plumbers look at it and they will be replacing the failed components but none of them can explain what the pin is, where it has come from or what the underlying cause of the failure is. They all say they've never seen anything like this before.

Can anyone identify this pin, why it was sticking out of the pipe and what may have caused this failure? I have attached images that might help.

The boiler is a Worcestershire-Bosch 24Si II

Many thanks for your help

My guess is that pin shot out of the pressure relief valve.  If you look at the parts in your repair ticket it should be listed.


What is the purpose of a bathroom fan filter? What is the risk of not using a filter? Our bathroom fan filter was worn out and very dirty with cigarette smoke from the previous tenant¹, so we removed it.  We could replace it, but why does a bathroom fan need a filter in the first place?  What harm would be done if we continue using our bathroom fan without a filter?
The bathroom is a windowless room on the inside of an apartment in a 1990s apartment block in Germany with 12 units in the building in total.  I suspect the ducts lead to a shared pipe system through which the air goes outside.  The fan is a maico, but I don't know the exact model.
I found some discussion in German on focus, urbia, and vermieter-forum, but no clear conclusion, nor does this English language usenet discussion.  DIY stores do not appear to have bathroom fan filters widely available, although they do exist for sale, for example at lowes, directly from maico, or on amazon.  The product description on amazon claims:

Das Gerät niemals ohne Filter betreiben. Die Verwendung der Filter garantiert:

Optimale Filterung der Luft
Lange Lebensdauer Ihres Ventilators
Perfekte Passform und somit maximale Dichtheit ohne Leckluft filtAIRS
Luft ist Leben

which means:

Never use the device without a filter.  The filter guarantees:

Optimal filtering of the air
Long lifetime of your fan
Perfectly fitting and therefore maximal closure without leaking air filtAIRS
Air is life

Only the second bullet point addresses the need.  Does the filter increase the lifetime of the fan?
I recall reading that some people have a problem of bad smells entering their home from the neighbours through the ducts, but I don't know if the filter would be aimed for or effective at stopping this, and it is not a problem we (currently) experience.
¹In Germany, according to vermieter-forum, this would count as a small fix that is the tenants responsibility.

It's similar to the reasoning behind using a filter for your AC units. You want to filter the air to prevent clogging up the coils and dirtying up the ducts. There is a lot of moisture in a bathroom and if you mix that up with dust and lint from towels you've got a combination of particles that will stick to the blades of the fan and also clog up the shaft which will reduce or even stop the spinning of the fan and also settle in the duct work before reaching the outside. The filter will stop this from happening. Do yourself a favor and replace the filter. If the fan returns air back into the bathroom, a filter will clean the air for better breathing.


Can Wet and Forget be used in a basement? Can Wet and Forget (or similar product) be used in an unfinished basement? This style of spray connects to a garden hose and mixes as it is sprayed on affected areas.

I am wondering if the additional moisture is just going to cause further mold problems if it's unable to dry as it would when used outdoors.

No. From their FAQ:

  Can I use Wet & Forget indoors?

  Wet & Forget is specially formulated for outdoor use and requires
  exposure to the weather to work properly. For indoor use, we recommend
  Wet & Forget Indoor Mold+Mildew Disinfectant Cleaner.

See:  Wet and Forget FAQ


Can I remove a wall stud to install a pet door? We only have one option for a wall that the pet door would go in. After measuring we found that the door would have to go right in the middle of a stud. Is it safe to cut through the stud?

If this is a load-bearing wall you'll want to frame the pet door in, just like you would a window.  This will allow you to properly carry the load down, and around the pet door.

The king studs should go all the way from the top plate, down to the bottom plate. The header will be made up of 1/2" plywood/OSB, sandwiched between two 2x4s.

If you don't want to tear out the drywall all the way to the ceiling, you could use the studs to the left and right of the stud you want to remove as king studs.

NOTE:
Since you're only dealing with one stud, you probably don't have to worry about carrying the load while you work. If however, you're removing multiple load bearing studs, you'll want to use bracing to carry the load until you've replaced the load bearing structure.


Dimensions available for a gang toggle light switch cover I have an older home (1960s) and I need a replacement 2 gang toggle switch plate cover.

I cannot find one that measures 4 1/2 inches by 2 3/4 inches. I have found plenty of 1 gang toggle switch covers in this size but no 2 gang.

Ironically, we have wall plate that size in the kitchen, but it's in use. Any ideas?

From you measurements, what you have is a single gang box.  If you have a duplex switch (two switches stacked on top of each other), then those use the same box cover as a duplex outlet:

If for some reason, a duplex cover does not fit, you must have a very old duplex switch style that isn't made anymore.  In this case, the easiest thing to do is to replace the switch and get a standard cover for it.


Does code allow reducing wire size in a circuit? I am running  12/2 from breaker to switch then 14/3 to garbage disposal and dishwasher but realized we have the new codes to think about and wasn't sure if this is code compliant. Because my coworker mentioned what if someone plugged in an under cabinet instant hot water heater to dishwasher plug instead?

If you have any #14 wire in the circuit, you must put a 15 A breaker on it; it cannot be a 20 A breaker even though there is #12 wire from the breaker to the first switch. The difference in cost between #14 and #12 is small, so don't try to save a buck here - it won't work and can present a serious fire hazard. Mixing wires in a circuit can also confuse future homeowners, as they see #12 wire coming into the breaker and think they can slap a 20 A breaker on it.

It is common (or at least, not uncommon) to have both (all) outlets under the sink switched. Garbage disposals obviously need one, but having a switch on the dishwasher is also nice for child-proofing it. If you were only planning to switch one of the outlets, add another switch into your plans.


Why is this apartment's area reported much bigger than sum of its rooms' areas? My calculation is roughly that the total area is two times the sum of the area of living room and the area of the bigger bedroom:

(13*17+10.5*15)*2 = 757.0 (sq Ft).

However it shows the apartment is approximately 905 sq Ft, which is about 150 sq Ft larger than my calculation, i.e. almost the size of the bigger bedroom. So I wonder where there is such a big difference? Is this common for apartments and houses?

As DA01 commented, the total apartment area appears to be calculated as everything within the external walls, whereas the rooms are calculated as the volume of each room minus the space taken up by closets, wardrobes etc.

A quick visual check seems to bear this out - the size of those closets and unusable spaces added together would just about fill the larger bedroom.


Is there code for door open direction I hired a contractor to finish my basement recently. Job already done.

But I think the bathroom door is installed at wrong direction.

The door is open toward outside instead of inside.

This cause safety concern, if my kid is running in the hallway, and the door is open, she may get hurt.

Is there any code about that I can use to argument with my contractor to ask him fix it?

Unless the door opens directly into a set of stairs, doors can generally be installed to open in either direction.

A lot of times bathroom doors are installed to swing outward because the bathroom is quite small, and this orientation allows for more options when placing the fixtures in the bathroom. It also gives the illusion of the room being bigger.

Another fairly popular option is to install a pocket door, where the door slides sideways into the wall, rather than swinging inward or outward. This requires some additional work, as you are essentially installing a door twice as wide as a normal door, and you need to ensure you have the proper structure for it.


Should I remove my air conditioner for the winter? I have an air conditioner that sits in the window. Due to restrictions placed by my apartment managers, I was unable to install any external support. Instead there are 2 L-brackets that keep the air conditioner mounted to the wood panel in front my window on the inside, and a piece at the top of the air conditioner rests against the bottom of the heavy window frame for support. Due to this improper install, I am afraid to remove the unit even with the help of another person.

This A/C unit does have a dehumidifier built in, and I have used it without problem when it rained outside before. I also like my apartment cold, and I typically keep my apartment at 40s-50s during the winter months. The A/C has a "fan" control that doesn't use the compressor, which I like to keep running as I don't have to buy a separate window fan.

However I have been told by someone else in my apartment that I should remove the A/C unit before winter really hits and it gets colder outside. I would like to keep it there based off the previous information I have mentioned. Is this necessary? Will anything negative come out of leaving it there?

For reference, I live in Portland, Oregon where it mainly rains during the winter. There can be some days where it snows, but this doesn't happen every year where I am.

Given how low you're keeping the apartment temperature, and given that the ambient temperature is relatively warm, I think you can probably get away with leaving it in place. You'll lose some heat, but nowhere near as much as you would if the differential between inside and outside was greater.

Digressions:

I've seen some weird-and-sometimes-wonderful approaches to AC mounting. I've generally used smaller units that could get by without external brackets, but I've seen one (in NYC) which used a steel square-bar to bridge the opening and carry the weight rather than letting it rest against the upper sash.

The one time I had an AC which really was too heavy to lift, it did have outside brackets built into its case (rather than permanently installed to the wall). The proper solution was actually to mount the case by itself and then slide the guts into it,  rather than trying to manhandle the whole thing at once. When dismounted, I kept the mechanism on a rolling cart that was almost at the right height, so I could slide it from cart to case and back without ever having to lift the full weight.


Gauge, amperage, and breaker box I’m working on upgrading my shed in the backyard and I have some questions about the electrical wiring in the building.
The current state of the wiring in there is just sad. I have a main wire coming into the shed, going into a junction box and getting connected to another wire, then that wire goes basically to all the plug points and is all controlled by one switch.
Technical spec questions:
The wire is going underground for about 50 feet. I bought a wire cutter with the little holes to measure the gauge of the wire. The stripped copper goes into the 12 gauge hole almost perfectly.

Can I safely assume that the main wire going into the shed is 12 gauge then? Am I measuring the gauge of the wire properly? If this is the case, for a 50 feet run, how much amperage does a 12 gauge wire bring to the shed?
The charts I found online doesn’t even show this combination. I’m assuming this is not a wise setup but I bought this house at its current state and there isn’t much I can do about it.
The question I’m trying to answer is this: I want to put up a breaker box in the shed. A sub panel. I want the main wire to go into the breaker box and I want the breaker box to hook up 4 plug points and 2 switches. What breaker box/sub panel do I need to buy, given the input wire is like in the photo above?
Any guidance will be highly appreciated! I’m very lost.
Junction(?) box: I might be using the wrong term here, but I think this is called a junction box?

Cable going into the shed: there is a small piece of conduit coming out of the ground and the sleeve on the cable has no writing whatsoever.

Breaker box from the house: the switch numbered 20 is the one going to the shed. I imagine you would’ve liked the pic without the top cover in the box but I’m not sure of what I’m doing, so I am kinda hesitant and scared to take the cover off

Close up of junction box:

Full breaker panel:

Instructions on the door:

If your ambition for the shed would call for more power when you can afford to fix things, put in a sub-panel with that in mind, not one limited by your 12Gauge (20Amps - depending on the exact wire you have, 120V or remotely possibly 240V, 2x120V) feed wire.
Assuming a 12 Ga 120V feed (white, black, bare or green) the breaker at the house should be 20A and GFCI (because I'm assuming the burial may be sketchy, among other reasons) and that is actually adequate protection for the whole circuit as it stands, IF that's how it's fed.
i.e. you can certainly put in a sub-panel with an eye to the future, but until you upgrade the feed to the shed, you don't actually need to.
General advice here is to go big on sub-panels. Among other things, small ones are not that much cheaper than big ones, and the "size" does NOT need to "match" the breaker feeding it, while having plenty of "spaces" to put breakers in is very useful, and tends to scale with "size" - so a 100 or 200A panel with 12-24-40 "spaces" might be perfectly reasonable even if you were only planning to run 50A to the shed. The "main breaker" in the subpanel will never trip in that case, but it DOES serve the useful purpose of being a local shutoff for the shed.
You may be perfectly happy with a smaller panel, given that your current ambitions are 4 receptacles and 2 (light?) switches, which would only be 6 circuits at most and perhaps as few as 2, but look at your options, costs, and any potential growth before going tiny.
For now, based on your wire, you only have 20A available, most likely 20A at 120V.
That's a way to measure the wire size, but the wire size should be imprinted on the jacket of the cable (or printed on individual wires that are not in cable, which does not appear to be what you are describing. If your conduit extends all the way, or you dig up the cable to put in one that does, that's what you might replace the cable with.) So you should be able to determine wire size just by reading the outer sheath.


Why is my house wired with two coax in every room and an RJ11 splitter? My house was built around 2005, though I've only owned it a year.  Setting aside from the insane cluster of coax wiring we found in the attic, I'm trying to understand why every room in the house has at least one, and usually two outlets that look like the attached pictures - two coax connectors, and two RJ11 cables connected to a single splitter.  As I'm trying to figure out how best to get wired ethernet to various parts of the house, can anyone help me understand the purpose of this setup?  Is it as simple as wanting the ability to put a TV and phone on every wall in the house?  It doesn't seem like a pro did the work, especially considering the rats nest of coax in the attic.

Most likely this was a satellite dish hookup.

Back in the 90s, when the technology was nascent, each box got its own LNB feed from the dish. You'd also need an antenna hookup to get local broadcasts (as in two separate cable feeds). The phone line was so the satellite box could phone the company and report whatever purchases were made via the remote (like pay per view)

  It doesn't seem like a pro did the work, especially considering the rats nest of coax in the attic.

In the earliest days you didn't have a whole cottage industry of professional installers like today. Instead, you had a lot of installers who doubled as local sales associates and it was merely a side business for them. My parents had one installed in their rural house in the mid 90s by a man from a nearby town who ran a hardware store. As such, you'd have some strange things done by installers (like using a phone duplexer to join lines).

Most modern installers don't even bother with your attic nowadays. They run it around the eaves of your house, then drop it down and straight through the outer and inner walls.


Drainage solution for pool area I have a pool area which was filled with dirt. Side wall are intact but there were three large holes done at the bottom. During heavy rain season i see there is a water logging in the pool area as water have no way to escape (in  the side).

This was discussed in detail in an earlier post Water logging in demolished pool area

Now i want to create a drainage solution to it. I have two options.

Approach #1) create a contour in the middle of pool something like below and put a perforated PVC pipe  along the drainage canal.

Approach  #2) Do grading and have 3  ground drains to collect water and use the solid PVC pipe.

Approach  #3) Use both ground drain and perforated pipe. i.e hybrid approach of #1 and #2

Which of the above are preferred in this situation? I am having compacted soil in the pool area so i believe water is not getting down to the bottom area of the pool for drainage. Pool area is roughly 30'X 15'

Assuming you can pipe the water somewhere downhill, you can use a french drain if you don't want to have a exposed trench or visible drainage grates in the middle of your yard.

A french drain is a low maintenance underground trench filled with rocks and gravel around a perforated pipe, and it is usually used to pipe the water away to a lower spot or some kind of sump pump.

They also make prefabricated french drains which is easier to install, its basically a "pipe" that you can bury and serves the same purpose without needing rocks and gravel.


Where is the solenoid coil in my electric shower? I am trying to resolve an issue with low water pressure (when dial is turned up to warm temperatures) which I've been told can sometimes be fixed by replacing old/broken solenoid coils. Many guides online tout about how easy it is to do this, but unfortunately I can't seem to find it in mine!

Can anyone point out where the solenoid coil is? I'm wondering if it's sitting above the stabiliser valve (encased in white plastic)...

This is the schematic of my shower: https://www.showerdoc.com/triton-hawaii-2-2011-shower-spares

And below is a picture of shower in question!

From what I can see all your power is going to the heater with just a safety switch to keep it from getting two hot no solenoid I think one of the 2 things on the right side is a pressure/ flow switch but it has been several years since I worked on my unit, I have a similar unit in my barn and if I try to get the water two warm it barely runs this is the limitation of these small 30 amp units. I adjust the flow to my unit in the winter because the water delivered to the unit is colder and to keep the water warm enough to bathe horses I have to reduce the flow and mixing percentages. In short you may not have a solenoid controlling the water but just a pressure/ flow switch to turn the power on to the small heat tank when there is demand. The stabilizer in your model is more of a tempature regulator not a solenoid , measure the water temp output is it aproxametly at the set point? If so it is working correctly these units do have a limited heating range.


Can I run a 15A table saw on a 15A circuit if there are also shop lights on the same circuit? I apologize if this is a tired question, but none of the other similar questions I found are close enough to what I really need to know.
I am hoping to buy a DeWalt table saw for use in my garage. The only documentation I can find shows that the saw draws 15A, 120VAC. For reasons that I will never understand, the garage was wired for just 15A instead of 20A. I recently installed 4 40W LED panel lights with a total power draw of just a couple of amps (I haven't pulled out the multimeter and actually measured this).
My question boils down to this: Can I run the table saw with the lights on?
More specifically, is the table saw going to draw 15A constantly and definitely trip the breaker? Or is that a "burstable to" or "maximum" rating, with a constant power draw of fewer amps?
In theory I would only need to run it for a few minutes at a time, so it might fall into the overcurrent "grace period" I have seen mentioned in other similar answers. I am just not wise enough to know.
Another option, of course, is to find a 20A circuit and run an extension cord to the garage. That seems hacky and gross, not to mention inconvenient, but it is an option if necessary.
I appreciate any insight you can offer in my dilemma!

Your usage scenario is quite typical, and whether your 15A breaker will trip or not depends on how long you are cutting, how heavily the saw is mechanically loaded, and the magnetic & thermal trip characteristics of your breaker.
Let's say you have the lights on and you are doing some heavy cutting. You are past the inrush (startup) and the motor is not stalled.
Here's a sample calculation for your nominal cutting conditions:

The motor for a dewalt 7480 is spec'ed at 1850W or 15.4A at 120V, with maximum load before stall.
Your lighting is 4 40W LED panel lights, 1.3A.
Total current 16.8A
Cutting Time 100s
From the "trip curve", a "Square D" will definitely trip at 2x the rated current, i.e. 2x15A = 30A. And definitely not trip at 1.2x rated, i.e. 1.2 x 15A = 18A
The total is just below the "definitely not" trip point. Turn down your garage stereo.
Happy cutting.

Load time (seconds) vs Maximum current as a factor of the rated (e.g. 15A) current. To the left of the grey band: definitely not trip, below thermal trip. To the right of the grey band: definitely will trip, above magnetic trip.
Breaker trip chart from https://download.schneider-electric.com/files?p_enDocType=Data+Bulletin&p_File_Name=0600DB0105.pdf&p_Doc_Ref=0600DB0105
You can check the stall current by measuring the resistance of the motor, and calculate I = 120/R.
It's usually not listed, and likely well above the 15A rating. Your breaker will not trigger immediately if the current is briefly above 15A. A GFCI breaker may behave differently and trigger faster.
The inrush current is typically much higher than the stall current, and more likely to trip the breaker if the circuit is already heavily loaded.
Your wiring, especially any extension cords, will resistively limit the current and provide you with more cutting time, albeit at a slightly reduced voltage and thus power. For short term use this is not a practical problem not a problem, but do be watchful of any heat-up in the wire or at the socket & plug. If it is too hot to touch you are approaching unsafe levels.