I need to add a subpanel for my electric car, need to know wire gauge/breaker for main

Normally we oversubscribe panels quite a lot because the chance is remote that all circuits will be fully loaded at the same time.  However when a single load is 60A and definitely will run continuously when it runs, that only leaves 40A for all the other circuits to share.  That's a little bit small for that "oversubscribe" logic to really work.

You might consider making the subpanel 125, 150 or even 200A.  There is nothing wrong with a subpanel being the same current as the main panel.

Since the subpanel is right next to the main panel, you don't need a main breaker in the subpanel.  However if a subpanel does have a main breaker, its only purpose is a shutoff switch, so its breaker size doesn't matter (as long as it's not too small.)  You might consider using a panel with a 200A main breaker, as a hedge against some future when you move all the circuits to that panel, and switch it over to become your main panel.

For that matter, with power company and inspector approval, you can lay it alongside and make both of them main panels under the tap rules.  (this is how it's handled when an all-electric house has 400A service; they fit two 200A main panels).

Now back to your original question, about wire sizes, firstoff, the 6 AWG is out of the question, and  I wouldn't use copper wires anyway for big stuff like this.  I'd use aluminum.  Really.  The lugs on the panels will all be aluminum, and copper wires on aluminum lugs means dissimilar metals, differing expansion rates, galvanic corrosion, i.e. all the stuff that makes small aluminum wire scary.  Aluminum is also 1/3 the cost and half the weight for the same ampacity.

Anyway, once you have decided your metal and ampacity, it's off to see the wizard to get the wire sizes.  Put in 240V and 3% loss.**  The wizard says for 100A, #1 Copper, or 1/0 Aluminum.

Obviously five feet of it won't cost much either way, but I would still favor Al because of the metal-compatibility issue with your lugs.

**Just to be clear, when you are doing long runs, also try it with 30% loss.  That will force the tool to fall back on the minimum permitted size (irrespective of length), and will tell you what actual voltage drop you'd have if you used that.  Often it'll be like 3.7% and you may decide 0.7% isn't worth spending $400 more on wire.  Or you can play "what-if" until you strike a balance between cost and voltage drop.  Won't be an issue in this case.


How can I prevent water from puddling in a play area?

I would put the fabric in and see how it works. If the hole holds water then dig a trench from the low side of the area to your sand box area. I would normally use perf pipe but you may be able to put some sand / gravel in the cloth and drop it in the trench and cover up. The water would drain through the sand. And water the lower area.


Ground-level Free-Standing Deck Frame (Feedback Requested)

Check out this residential wood deck construction guide.

Looks like 2x6 joist lumber is not an option per IRC, and for 8' joist span your 8' beam would need to be 2-2x10s minimum (or other options depending on wood species).

IRC deck framing guide courtesy of prior question by @psaxton


You can find adapters like this example:  rectangular downspout to circular pipe made out of plastic.  Maybe cut the plastic flanges to fit your pipe.
But as commenters have said, seal the connection will only make the water back up the downspout.


How can I install a nest thermostat with no wires?

You would need to hook up the nest thermostat where the wires are. This might be right next to your furnace. The nest might not work the best there. You can also buy some thermostat wire and pull it through the walls to a better location as well.


Trouble with twinned Bryant heating units

Such a setup usually involves a spring-loaded or motor controlled damper specifically to prevent air flowing through a shut-down unit. If you have such a damper then shutting down one unit is perfectly fine.


Motion detector switch affected by heater?

Absolutely!  Most motion sensors are IR (infrared) detectors and they can "see" heated air as it moves.  If it moves fast enough it may trick the sensor into thinking that it's a human vs. just heated air.  In your case the heater may be hitting the sensor directly with its IR output.

Try redirecting your sensor so that it doesn't pick up heated air output from the heater and can't "see" into the output of the heater.

It may take some experimentation with aiming to find a good spot between ignoring the heater and detecting you.


Solar panel as a hatch and Is sleeping under a solar panel safe?

wonder if there are any chemical reactions or gases that will enter the van as a result of the back side of the solar panel working

No. Solar panels are inert.

  I also know solar panels need ventilation underneath

Yes. A solar panel has a low albedo, probably much lower than the white roof of your van. So the panel radiates a lot of heat.

Roof hatches on campervans are usually transparent. This has the advantage of bringing natural light into the living space, which makes the cabin feel pleasant and roomy.
An opaque hatch only admits light when it's open, and only through the opening, i.e. light falls in from the side, not the top.

If you go camping in colder weather, you'll want insulation under the solar panel, to prevent the panel forming a cold bridge. Campervan roof hatches are double-pane to provide insulation.

One more consideration: if you use a solar panel as a hatch, make sure the panel can withstand the aerodynamic loads.

during driving, the roof shape, ventilation etc. may create a pressure difference between inside and outside
when stationary, opening the door while the hatch is closed may create a pressure difference between inside and outside, esp when the door is facing the wind direction and it's storming.


New dryer got wet on ride home need advice

You might try drying it with a small room heater. Or opening it up and gently drying the electrical control board with a towel and then with a hair dryer. As @DanielGriscom states, we can't look into your dryer to see how wet it is.

That said, my own experience is that, left unplugged and given time and warmth, most electrical equipment can survive even immersion in fresh water. For battery-powered devices, remove the battery immediately to prevent electrolytic corrosion, and dry as above.


Can I mount kitchen island countertop supports to the cabinet back panel?

Corbels are commonly used (as opposed to L-brackets), and they should work fine with your cabinet panel, assuming appropriate screws are used. Most of the force applied is in shear (up and down).

You could also install a sheet of 3/4" BC plywood onto your cabinet (nicer side down), and lay the laminate top onto that. The plywood should fit neatly inside the laminate top's edge lip, and it will provide more than enough strength for your small overhang while maintaining a floating appearance.


Flush Mounted PVC Electrical Junction Box or alternative ideas to supply two sub-panels

You'll have to bore the stud anyway, so I'd just nipple between the two panels

Since you'll have to put a hole in the stud no matter what you do, I'd make that hole count as much as possible.  How? Well, we start by scrapping the junction box and using a rigid metal conduit nipple between the adjacent sides of the two panels.  This gets rid of a wire and a nailplate, as the conduit provides physical protection while serving as a grounding means provided appropriate bonding locknuts and insulating bushings are used.

It also means we can use the 60% fill rule for nipples under 24" in length, which allows us to fit 3 250kcmil XHHW-2 aluminum wires (enough for a 200A feeder!) down a 1.5" RMC nipple (which is small enough to stay within the 40% stud boring rules).

As to that feeder run to the shed...

Running the feeder to the shed in conduit is a good idea; however, you don't need the junction boxes.  I'd simply run straight out the opposite side of the panel if at all possible, then to a LB with its cover protruding from the drywall that is nippled to the LB on the outside.  If that doesn't work, you can come out the bottom then use a LR to turn the corner to the lateral run to the LB, again with the conduit body's cover protruding from the drywall.

As to the feeder wires themselves, you have two choices.  One would be to get a bunch of 1/0 Al XHHW-2 and run that for your hots and neutral with a 6AWG bare copper ground; this gives you a 125A-capable feeder, but requires a bit more labor than using a multiplexed cable in conduit.  The other option would be to use a 2-2-2-4 mobile home feeder (tri-rated USE/RHH/RHW-2) multiplex cable to get you a 90A feeder to the shed; while this compromises a bit on ampacity, it does get you the convenience of a multiplex cable, as 1/0-1/0-1/0-2 is not available in mobile home feeder and quadruplex URD can't be used for a feeder in conduit as it's made of the old, nasty AA-1350 aluminum, which isn't legal for the conductor types generally usable in conduit as per NEC 310.106(B) and 310.10.  Running SER in conduit is also a bad idea; while technically legal, it's a nightmare from a conduit fill and pulling perspective, to the point where using individual wires is a far better solution.

GO BIG OR GO HOME

The single most important thing with this installation, no matter what else you do, is to not skimp on panel sizing the way your builder did to put you in this pickle to begin with.  I would go with a 200A or 225A, 40-space or 42-space, main lug panel as a minimum for the house subpanel, using the aforementioned 250kcmil feeder wires landing on main lugs in the subpanel and a 200A breaker in the main panel to provide a shutoff for the subpanel.  In Homeline, this would require a HOM2200BB for the feeder breaker and a HOM4080L225PC with a PK27GTA field-fitted (or a HOM4080L225PGC, if you can find it for a good price) for the subpanel.

For the shed panel, you'll want a 100A or 125A, 24-space or 30-space, main breaker panel, as the main breaker serves as a local shutoff for the building.  In Homeline, this would be a HOM3060M125PC with a PK23GTA field-fitted to it, or a HOM2448M125PRB if you need an outdoor panel for the shed, again with a PK23GTA field-fitted to it.

In both subpanels, you'll need to make sure the neutral-to-ground bonding screw is removed, by the way.  The shed will also need a grounding electrode system; two ground rods driven 8' deep and 8' apart, connected to the panel using a run of 8AWG bare copper wire, will typically suffice.

TORQUE ALL LUGS TO SPEC

One other thing you'll need to do when installing this is torque all the breaker and loadcenter lug setscrews to their manufacturer specified installation torques; this is required by 2017 NEC 110.14(D), and is a very good idea anyway lest your electrical system develop a case of the loose lugnuts...


Can you run the hot empty loads with some bleach in the water? Bleach smell may be strong if you use too much but it should help get rid of any residual organic slime left from low temperature washing.

If you do not like to use the bleach try to have the hot empty load run with regular laundry detergent plus a scoop of OxyClean powder.


How to protect against shock from exposed romex?

If you don't have the option to install an alternative handhold, you could protect the cable using conduit.
WARNING: If you're not comfortable with electrical work, please contact a local licensed Electrician.
Supplies

Single gang electrical box, suitable for use with rigid PVC conduit.
A length of PVC conduit (10' of 1/2" should be fine).
A bag of PVC conduit clamps.
Conduit offsets if required
Cable staples

Procedure

Start by turning off the power to this circuit at the breaker, and verifying the power is off using a non-contact voltage tester.
Remove the cover from the electrical box, and remove the screws holding the switch in place.
Gently pull the switch from the box, leaving the wires attached .
Make a detailed sketch (or take a photo) of the existing wiring.
Remove each wire from the switch, labeling each as you go.
Remove any twist-on wire connectors (or other connectors), labeling all separated wires as you go.
Carefully remove any cable staples securing the cables to the 2x4.
Carefully pull the cables from the existing box.
Remove the existing box.
Measure and cut the PVC conduit.
Feed each cable through a length of conduit.
Feed the cables into the electrical box.
Connect the conduit to the box (NOTE: depending on the box, and how it's oriented, you may need offsets).
Install conduit clamps within 18" of the electrical box, and every 3' after that.
Install a cable staple within 12" of where the cable enters the conduit.
Install the switch using your notes, sketches, photos, and labels as a guide.
Install the box cover, and turn the power back on.


My locale requires a minimum 6" set back from property lines for fences; check with your local building regulations and verify that a foot meets or exceeds the easement.

What makes sense to me is for neighbors to split the cost of a fence and be cool about it. If you want to tie into their fence and it is decent shape, get an agreement written up and pay them a fair price. If you can't work something out with your neighbor, then it does make sense to set it back a bit and create a gate so you can clean it out.

Cost is off topic here and it is too broad of a question. Check with two or three local builders and pick the one you like best.


Vinyl Tile Crackling Noise When Walking On It

The problem is the small voids below the tiles, if it was flat this would not be a problem a roller will do the same as walking on it, possibly heating with a heat gun may help but it may damage them as they actually need to melt a bit to drop down , if you want a pro job with no noise or problems the tiles will need to be removed and a leveling compound added, if it has not been long and you can get the same tiles you may be able to remove the bad areas , level and replace with new tiles, I was able to repair a large basement with a few areas that had problems because the owner had an extra box of the same type, I leveled the areas that had problems , applied the new tiles and it looked funny 4 areas that were lighter, I actually added some dirt and scrubbed it and the color was much better match. , if you don’t have some extra you may be able to get a close match and blend them in with some “dirty scrubbing” . Years back I used to think those tiles were a waste but if properly applied I have found them to hold up quite well in dry areas. If the noise bothers you or a few tiles come up try leveling then if needed a dirty scrubb.


What would be the proper connectors to use to enter the box?

You'll use a 1 1/2" PVC male terminal adapter, to fit through the knockout in the box. Then a 1 1/2" locknut inside the box, to hold the terminal adapter in place.

For the SER cable, you can use a 1 1/2" cable clamp.


Can a built-in grill sit on granite, or does it need to be in a stainless steel jacket?

The following quotes are from the
Lion 90000 Series Instruction manual:

"Upper and ground level vents must be provided for combustion air on both sides of built-in cabinet."

"Upper and lower vents (20 sq in. minimum must be provided) for combustion air on both sides of built-in cabinet."

When instructions say must it is mandatory, not "nice to have".

The manual says the cabinet can be made from any non-combustible material, granite is stone and non-combustible, so it will be fine.


How do I safely extend electrical wiring without replacing it entirely?

You are sunk

Wire that short can't be spliced or extended. The wire must be able to come out beyond the surface of the box at least 3".

You will need to reroute these cables to a different junction box somewhere the wiring is able reach with the needed spare length inside the box.  From there, you can run a /2 w/ground cable to this location, e.g. NM or MC.

The junction box where this happens must have its cover remain accessible  without needing tools to disassemble any part of the building. The attic is fine.


Is installing a chimney liner a DIY project?

How high is your chimney?

We're looking at installing a wood burner and had someone round to quote. We discussed the options and they were adamant that they would need scaffolding erecting to reach the top of the chimney. They said that manoeuvring the liner up the outside of the house would be nearly impossible without it.

Now our's is a three storey house so that's a lot of scaffolding and I expect that to be a major part of the cost. So the quote could well include that which you might not have accounted for.

This would make it, for me, something I'd be happy to pay someone to do. We fitted a lightweight pipe in another chimney where we had access to the top from inside the house and that was very easy, but a heavy weight liner for a fire/furnace would be a different matter altogether.

In your case - for a single storey house the cost of scaffolding (if any) will be a lot less.

What you should do is to ask for a quote that's broken down into parts. So you want to know (as a minimum):

the cost of materials (not just the pipe)
the cost of labour
the cost of scaffolding (if any)
the cost of removing waste - in the UK this can be significant

Given that the cost of the pipe you found was less than $1,000, $2,000 for the whole job doesn't seem too outrageous when you consider the other factors. As a rule of thumb I look at the cost of the parts and then double it to account for the labour charges.


Basement wall studs: any alternatives to wood?

The plastic is a vapor barrier. It's used because these are unfaced fiberglass insulation batts.

In cold climates, the vapor barrier prevents moisture within the living space from penetrating into and condensing in the cooler insulation where it reduces the insulating properties or worse, freezes.

When its replaced, there will need to be some sort of vapor barrier whether it's faced insulation or unfaced insulation with sheet plastic vapor barrier.


What is the purpose of the crown in the middle of a router mounting plate?

I know the theoretical answer to this because I read it here, in reference to a different router table top: http://www.leevalley.com/en/Wood/page.aspx?p=41793&cat=1,43053,43885
It's twofold, as suggested earlier in the comments:

it helps the table to sit flat, or at least not concave, with the weight of the router.
it ensures that the workpiece contacts the table right next to the bit, even if it is not quite touching out at the edges.

I also have seen this in practice, with my own makeshift router table top, made of too-thin plywood:

If the table sags, the accuracy goes horribly awry, because the depth of cut changes according to the workpiece's position on the table, as well as with the amount of sag (which tends to fluctuate with weight).
If the table is bowed up slightly, the error is not appreciable. Technique helps here too--you want to apply downward pressure on the workpiece near the bit, not near the edge of the table.

The key here is that the curvature here is very slight. The amount of tilt the workpiece might get with a convex table doesn't generally add up to appreciable error, but the depth variation with an equivalently sagging table is unacceptable for most joinery.

My experience suggests that the convex table is a good solution. Of course the other answer is to get something perfectly flat and sturdy, but I would be careful about that, because a lot of materials (like MDF) will sag over time.

EDIT: For a convex inset plate, install it so that it is flush with the rest of the table at the edges, and you should be in the same situation as if the whole table top was crowned.


What will happen if I try to apply paint/stain to damp wood?

You won't have luck applying paint/stain to a soaking wet deck. If there are common walkway areas on the deck you could put down strips of grip tape along this route. This is tape that has a sandpaper texture to it and is meant for slippery decks and stairs. Maybe not ideal, but a solution until you can properly treat it.


With both arrangements you have hangers attached to main tees on a 4 foot grid so the overall weight capacity is equal. I'll suggest the arrangement of the 4 foot cross tees between the main tees is a matter of preference and installer convenience. In my limited observation of ceilings, the nested arrangement seems more common than the "all cross tees the same way" arrangement.
Supplemental hangers could certainly be added, but bear in mind that hangers frequently are an obstruction that makes tile installation and removal difficult. Often a tile has to be slightly notched where it must pass by a hanger -- or it becomes notched over time through several in-and-out cycles!
You might try re-orienting the cross tees, but there are a few things to keep in mind when doing so:

with visual cue created by the long axis of the tiles going the other way, the room may feel longer or wider.
there may be challenges with repositioning lighting, HVAC, or other items.
the cross tees may not fit quite right the other direction.
some cross tees may be damaged in the removal process, requiring replacement.


Automatic timers for 4-way switch, or how to automatically turn off lights in a stairwell

Without any actual wiring diagrams or a picture of the wiring itself I would suggest a light with a presence sensor that has a timer inside.
Almost all lamps of this type turn on when power is applied to them, even though they don't sense anyone.
Set the timer inside them to 10 minutes and when you switch the light on it will open. After 10 minutes of inactivity it will shutdown. If the lights are switched off and and the sensor does not 'see' you, simply switch the light twice. Once for power off then for power on.

If you post a picture with the wiring, we might come with a better solution.


House already wired for ethernet; how to engage?

Ah, look, my day job...

Step one - if the roof antenna is gone, and you are not otherwise using the existing cables, remove the power injector. It's just wasting power and doing nothing useful, and may be incompatible with whatever you do next. It is at minimum irrelevant, or else it is doing something and you'll notice something like video cameras stop working and revise your assessment of your system wiring.

What goes where?

Plug a patch from the Living room (LR) router into the LR wall port.
Take a computer to    the garage and plug in a patch cable until you
find the one (there    should only be one) port that works -
That port/cable leads to    the living room.
Label it. (preferably, label both ends - Living room outlet is labelled with port on the patch, patch panel is labeled living room... [or a spread sheet is filled in Port number XX | Living room and then printed out and taped to the wall after it's all filled in - there is usually not room for good descriptive labelling on the panel itself.]

Now, plug another patch cable into the living room port (in the garage patch panel) leaving the living room port in the living room connected to the router.

Plug it into any other port in the garage patch panel.
Go back in the    house and plug a computer into wall jacks until you
find one (there should only be one) that  now  works.
Label it (preferable method is as above.)

Repeat until done. If there are jacks elsewhere than in the house, include those. Presumably you can see the wire that leads to the roof and know you don't need to go up there with a computer to find it, and probably don't want to connect it at all. If you have checked every jack you know of and cannot find one that works, note that at the patch panel and move on (there's either some you don't know, or wires are broken/damaged.)

With that done:

You'll probably want a switch in the garage, unless activating only one of the other ports in the house will meet your actual need - that would cost the least.

The best guess I can make from counting wires in the too-small picture is that you have 13 coming in there rather than the 7 your diagram admits to - if you want all of those to work your minimum switch size would be 16. If you only want some of them to work, a 4 or 8 port switch would be less expensive, typically.

I cannot make out from the small picture what obscenity has been done with what appears to be a rack mount patch panel in the garage that's either hanging from the wires (bad, bad, bad idea) or screwed to the wall in what would appear to be a direction that would make the patch ports inaccessible, normally. You can get a small wall mount rack to clean that up rather inexpensively, or even do something creative with blocks of wood and screws that would be better than what little I can infer from the picture.

At that point, your path forward forks a lot depending on what you want and what you have. Personally, I hate having the crappy thing from the cable company doing whole-house WiFi wherever the cable happens to terminate, so I'd either turn that off or turn its power way down and put other WiFI access points (not routers) elsewhere in the house for better distributed signal. With the fancy high speed wireless that runs on 5 GHz, if you can't see the access point from where you are working with your device, your signal will be badly degraded or your device will switch to less fancy and slower 2.4 GHz, since that penetrates walls far more effectively. You may not care, you may be happy with the WiFi (but then why are you even looking at the cables? I suspect you are not totally happy with your WiFi) or you may just want wired connections throughout the house - figure out what you have and what you want and pointing you forward without making assumptions becomes a lot easier.

For instance, it may be a bad assumption that there is Cable-TV coax run to the garage, since the previous method might have been the antenna on the roof being the source of the internet in the house.

Somewhere towards the end of the process, using either screw-attach cable ties or double-sided velcro screwed to the wall (easier to reconfigure without having to cut and throw away all the cable ties) to tidy up that mess of cables would fall under "...in a workman like manner" i.e. not looking like total crud.


Can I connect my new oven to the existing circuit breaker?

Simple. Replace the breaker for that oven with a 20A version since that's what the instructions call for.

You're lucky that the wire is almost certainly large enough for 20A. Going down in breaker size is FINE. Going up rarely is.


Gas stovetop repair: What anti seize to use on brass fittings?

If you are tightening brass fittings to the point where they seize, you are tightening them way too tight!
Propane and natural gas at the stove or oven normally only have approximately 0.75 psi in residential, and 2 psi in commercial in my area. By the time it's being throttled at a Venturi/air mixing point, it's less than that.
The only thing that should used on gas pipe threads is listed PFTE tape, normally yellow or yellow listed pipe dope. If you are seizing fittings you have the wrong threads matched or are way over-tightening the fittings.


It sounds like the original intent was that Switch 1 and Switch 2 were supposed to be 3-way hookups to allow Light 1 to be controlled from two locations. It sounds like this part is working just fine.

My guess is that Light 2 was meant to be operated by Switch 3 from a single location. Whoever wired in Switch 3 thought they could tap into the power circuit someplace related to the Light 1 setup. In the process they did not get the power tap correctly connected from an always connected power source and instead either connected it to the Light 1 load side or into one of the travelers that connect the two 3-way switches.

It is difficult to fully visualize just how this may be miss wired without knowing which other boxes the switch 3 actually feeds from and what the configuration of the wiring there is in each of the Switch 1, Switch 2, Light 1 and Light 2 boxes. It will be important to ascertain just which of the boxes of the 3-way light circuit has the power feed to it. And then if the Switch 3 is not directly wired into that same box it may be necessary to re-wire the Switch 3 box to a valid power feed source.


Efficient way to determine line and load

Your method is safe, albeit tedious. Stick with it if the following doesn't match your comfort level.

But if you're willing to boost your risk level a bit, leave the outlet hanging on its wires outside the box and have a radio or light plugged in that indicates current without you having to touch anything. Be careful of course that the two connected wires aren't touching anything other than the outlet. For maximum safety, don't touch the outlet when it's hanging out of the box and the breaker is on. Don't do this if there are people or pets around that don't follow instructions.

If you don't have one already, a non-contact voltage detector is a good thing to have. It'll tell you quickly if a wire is hot. I like my Fluke http://www.amazon.com/Fluke-1AC-A1-II-VoltAlert-Non-Contact-Voltage/dp/B000EJ332O but there are cheaper ones at the big box stores. (Cheaper might also mean less reliable... I haven't tested that theory.) The only bad thing about these is that you'll occasionally get false positives and have to dig out your multimeter to know for sure what's going on.


How do I replace a flange installed with primer?

Depending on where the flange is broken you could look into a .flange repair kit
If that won't do it, I would cut the old flange at the pipe with a mandrel saw from the inside of the 3-4" pipe. Then get a flange with a longer neck that will glue onto the existing pipe. Try to cut the pipe as straight as posible.


Clean both surfaces and use either Superglue or a glue gun to stick those two surfaces together.


What size wire will I need to feed a 3/4 hp pump?

For a Goulds (CentriPro motor), 2-wire 3/4 HP submersible (5 FLA, 6.2 SFA) 8 AWG copper is recommended for up to 1420 feet (5% drop) by CentriPro. The chart is somewhat vague as to whether that's one way or round trip length; I'm sure you could call and ask, but 6GA is good for 2210, so 4Ga is clearly not required on that variant. Of course, I don't know that this motor is the one you have since you have not revealed your specific pump model.

Three wire motors require an additional wire, of course. Also an above-ground Start/run control-box. They also have higher amperage loads for the same power (6.6 FLA, 7.8 SFA). 8 Ga copper will only get you 1129 feet.

If you have not yet purchased the pump, I'd strongly suggest the 2-wire version.


What causes cracks in stucco at 45 degree angle from top of NW corner garage door up along light fixture to wall vent?

It is a common occurrence.

What you have appears to be 2 large wall sections of stucco, connected by a small area of stucco where the crack is. For many years I thought that cement based products were very stable, but I found that it moves quite a bit itself. Usually there will be control joints added so when it does crack, with large areas it will, will be directed to the control joints. Since there were no control joints near the narrow area, it took the least path of resistance, as mentioned earlier in a post that was deleted.

Settling of the framing will do this too, but the symptoms suggest expansion and contraction, the crack is uniform in width. Typically settling would show the crack tighter at one end than the other.

Never the less, the crack should be caulked with a good caulk, I suggest a one part polyurethane. It will need to be forced in the joint, it will be messy. To help force it in, cut the tip of the tube so the hole exposed by cutting is slightly smaller than the crack. You could mask the adjacent areas with masking or duct tape, it will keep the mess to a minimum. After applying the caulk, wipe off the excess with paint thinner or mineral spirits to minimize the line and touch up with paint unless you find a caulk color that matches the color close enough. Another suggestion perhaps, if the stucco is a sanded finish, you could have some sand handy to throw on the wet caulk to give it the texture of the rest of the wall. I have done this before with tile and concrete joints and it helps disguise the caulk.


Can my remote controlled fan/light also be controlled with existing wall switches?

Nope, the HB fans have a single power wire, so only 1 switch will work. I had the same issue after installing some, and in the one place where it really bothered us we installed one of these https://www.amazon.com/Harbor-Breeze-Universal-Ceiling-Receiver/dp/B004FY8MR0 (essentially adding a second remote). In some other cases, we just replaced the dead switches with other things like USB charging ports or night lights.


Turn off hot water without hot water valve

My approach would be to turn off the water heater and the cold supply.

Then open a hot tap below, or as close to the area of the leak, to drain the hot pipe.

Then be prepared to catch the remaining water when you cut the pipe around the leak.

Supplement:
One can get “ice clamps” that can be used to isolate either side of the leak but can be fun if the water pressure pushes the ice plug out...


Setup for attaching drywall to metal studs

What you used originally is what it used every day by professionals, handymen and DIYers alike. A drywall gun with fine thread drywall screws. For heavier studs drill-point drywall screws can be used.

If what you did works for you then keep at it. It's just a lot slower than a drywall gun. So if this is just for you and small projects there is nothing wrong with an impact and a sensitive hand.


Tub faucet, how to attach elbow to cut pipe (partially cut threading)?

You should remove that piece you cut (hanging down) with a pipe wrench. Be sure to hold the piping going up to the shower so you don't break anything else loose or in half. Then you can take two pre-threaded brass pipes and a brass elbow (use thread paste) to create the "L" for your tub spout. You can buy those parts at most building supply stores. The straight pipes come pre-cut and threaded and are in several different lengths to suit your needs.


A picture being worth 1000 words,

This is a pocket door:


Disconnect electrical panel - Can arc occur at 400V?

You need to de-energize the wiring
I realize you're very cocksure, but...
Really, really, you need to de-energize the wiring using the normal methods for doing that in your country.
Absolutely no one on this forum is going to counsel you to do that work "live", even with the much more docile American 120V-to-ground (2 or 3 phases).
Here are the real facts about arc flash.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6hpE5LYj-CY
I recognize this panel as being a common American industrial 480V board. (277V per leg). In America this is considered "industrial-scary" and is treated with grave respect.
However your voltage is only 18% less than this.
You may say "But that's so much more current than I deal with" - nope, when you do stuff like this, the current is limited only by the wires.  US power companies guarantee that the wires will limit current to 25,000 amps or 10,000 amps.  Even if we assume yours limits to 5000 amps, do you really want to mess with 5000 amps?
This just doesn't work. Pull the meter.


I prefer fiberglass batting over blown-in insulation because it's not as messy, you don't have to rent a machine to do it so you can do it at your own pace, and if you need to do any subsequent work in the attic, it's easier to move it out of the way then move it back  again later.  I'm not sure about the relative cost, but I frequently see special offers for fiberglass insulation in HD and Lowe's so shop around.

If you choose fiberglass, I would install the insulation before the drywall, just because you'll have more room to work in.

A lot of fiberglass batts come with a paper vapor retarder.  Since I started using this site, I've learned to put an extra sheet of plastic between the batts and the drywall, something I'll be doing in the future.

Whichever type of insulation you go with, be sure not to block the vents.  I've used baffles to allow air from my soffit vents into the main attic space after installing R-38 batts.


Changing a Dimmer to Single Pole with Three Black and Three White Wires

Pigtail the 2 blacks going to 1 side of the switch to 1 side of the new switch, remove the red wire and connect that black to the other side of the switch,  it is a metal box if metal with the ground screwed to the box mount the switch and you will be good to go.


How to tell if there is poor water pressure before my main shut-off valve?

Work with the water company on this.  Unless you live in a rural area, they should be able to turn the water off to the property at the street. They'll then be able to pull the meter (something you can't do), and check the pressure there.

If the pressure at the meter is good, it's a problem in the building. If the pressure at the meter is bad, it's a problem in their plumbing.

Have you asked if they are doing; or have recently done,  any work in the area?  Or are fire hydrants in the area being flushed?


Securing brick, rock or pavers on artificial turf

This is somewhat discretionary, but either mortar of the correct type or landscape adhesive should do to bond the stones. I'd think gravity would be adequate to hold it in position on the turf, or you'd install a concrete footing, bond the stone to that, and install turf around it.
Depending on how larger your stones or edgers are you may not need anything.


Surge Suppressors are commonly available as consumer units.
Power Supply Noise Filters are not particularly common as a consumer unit, though they are commonly available as parts to be built into commercial electronics.
You could simply use a better-built 9V DC supply which has a filter built in - it's fairly common to have one large-amperage 9V DC supply powering your whole pedalboard (if you have a few pedals), rather than individual wall-warts for each pedal. Those will normally have excellent filters.
For test purposes (it's expensive beyond that) you can also use a 9V battery to completely eliminate the possibility that power supply noise is a problem.
As to the question of "what a power supply noise filter is" it's usually 3 capacitors and 2 inductors in a package. You'll find better results searching for "EMI filter" usually. But I seriously doubt you need to go buy one, if you can even find a "plug and play" packaged for consumers version.


Can you help me identify the maker of this shower door roller?

I finally found the maker of the part with an helpful men in a local plumming shop. For the record, it's made by Fleurco (fleurco.com)

Thanks for your help


How can I run plumbing from house to a nearby new office 1.5m away?

This is a very localized question.  If this situation happened in Africa it would be perfectly fine to run the line straight to other house.  The whole point is to have the pipes running through an area that won't freeze.

It will really be up to your local building code.  You want to ask your local inspectors.  I have set up plumbing for exterior garages in the midwest and I have been told between 2-3 feet deep.  But I am not sure they cared that much since everything external I have done was garage related.   The whole point is to get the water lines below the freeze line.  I would think that the UK would have similar requirements as midwest US (maybe we are colder for longer periods).


How can I seal the large gap around my fireplace in a way that is safe and prevents air inflows?

You can buy concrete in a caulk tube. I actually just finished doing this same thing to my fireplace that I remodeled, here's the product I used for the smaller cracks that I wasn't able to do with my bulk batch of concrete:

http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc1v/R-100357212/h_d2/ProductDisplay?langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053

After seeing the photo of the gap in question a high heat silicon sealant would give a better matching finish:

http://www.amazon.com/Meeco-High-Temperature-Silicone-Sealant/dp/B002CTRWRQ/ref=pd_sim_dbs_indust_2


Correct way to attach 3 layers of subfloor?

Given the amount you want to raise the floor I'd suggest 2x1" planks screwed to each joist (+0.75") with the 3/4" on top of that (+0.75"). You should then put a sheet of 1/4" ply on top. This way if you ever need to remove the tiles / ditra you only need to tear up the 1/4" ply and can leave the 3/4" floor intact.
Also, make sure you stagger the plywood joints.


Can I stick ceiling acoustic panels to my wall with intent to reduce room echo?

Any plain wall is a sound board. Any application of materials that are porous, or have 33 degree multiple angles will reduce the amount that sound waves bounce. The acoustic tiles will provide a reduction in the echo. And will in turn provide a better sound insulating factor. By themselves they will not provide the recording studio atmosphere. You will need a entirely different set of materials and structural application.


I would suspect your flashing around the  wall cap on the outside wall.  Seal it with caulking and then see if it leaks next hard rain.  There has to be a breach of some sort at the wall cap as that is the only portion of your system exposed to the elements.

When it does leak, is it just a hard rain, or one accompanied with high winds too?   Could be the wind is forcing the rain into the wall cap

If it still leaks after caulking and you dont think high wind is a culprit,  you could try replacing the the wall cap.


How thoroughly should I scrape paint from cement basement wall before insulating?

It sounds like the adhesive only has to hold long enough to build the stud wall, and from then on the wall will be essentially holding the XPS in place. Similar to how batt insulation isn't attached and is just essentially sitting in between studs.
So I wouldn't spend more than a few minutes removing paint.
However, if the paint could later turn into "mold food" in your sometimes damp basement, then you might want to spend more time and remove it more thoroughly (unless it's already an anti-mold paint).

Possibly related Q mentioning anti-mold paint: How can I paint over mold to prevent it from coming back again?
Might be worth considering, when XPS could act as a vapor retarder / air barrier when taped


60 amp detached shop able to run 50 amp hot tub?

You should be fine if you install a 50 amp breaker into a 60 amp panel. Just shut the breaker off before using your welder.(Depending on its size it could draw quite a bit.)

The breaker should be sized by the manufacturer at about 125% of the tub's actual load. So like you say it may draw 40 amps at times when the heater is going full bore. When the heater is off it will draw much less than that.

The worst that can happen is you might trip the main in the shop if you forget to turn off the tub.

The only other thing of concern is voltage drop on a large load. Check the voltage at your shop panel while you have a large load on it to see if the hot tub would be undervoltaged or give us the particulars and we can help you calculate the voltage drop.

Happy Monday!


How can I find out which ethernet cable goes where?

I had a similar situation with a big bundle of plain CAT-5 cables in the basement. Each cable went to one random room in the house.

To determine which cable was associated with a room, I did the following simple experiment:

In the room, twist together two of the conductors to each other. I connected orange to dotted orange, just because it was easy to remember. Doesn't matter which two you twist together.
In the basement, for each CAT-5 cable, use an Ohmmeter to measure the resistance across orange and dotted orange. For every cable except the one where you connected the conductors, you'll see infinite resistance. For the one where you connected the conductors, you'll see no resistance.
Don't forget to untwist the leads you connected.

An ohmmeter is built into any cheap multimeter like this $30 model from Radio Shack and since I had one around anyway for other electrical projects this was easier than buying specialized network testing equipment.


How can I create an enclosure that will protect an indoor camera outdoors?

If it is not rated for outdoors it will fail eventually. All professional outdoor camera housings have vents to allow them to breathe. It is a fact that moisture is going to get to your camera no matter what you build and since it is not rated to handle it it will fail. If you rig something yourself and attempt to seal it tight you'll wind up with condensation on the inside of the container and that will not only ruin your camera but you won't be able to see anything because of the water droplets that you cannot wipe off in a sealed bottle.


How can I stop my fireplace from disabling my thermostat?

You've got a few options:

Stop burning fires. Even without throwing off the thermostat, they tend to make the house colder, not warmer, because all the heat is sucked up the flue. The exception to this is a high efficiency wood stove.
Turn up the thermostat to compensate. You'll end up constantly adjusting it as the fire dies down.
Replace your thermostat with a wireless sensor. This is wired either at the furnace or where your existing thermostat is located, and can be easily undone when you move out. The level of effort is no different than replacing your thermostat (several wires to attach and not accidentally lose in the wall).
Move the thermostat. Since your renting, this can be difficult, but the landlord may be willing to do this as gregmac and bcworkz mention below. If all you're doing is moving the thermostat to the other side of the wall, this is an easy change.


Tiles or Hardwood: which one better handles movement across a subfloor joint?

I will answer one of your questions:
Put a transition in.  Given the opening, I would put a single strip of tile that matches the frame depth,  that contrasts with the tile on either side of it.   So if you go with light coloured tile in both old and new part of the house, put a darker tile as the strip.
If you want to go with wood, do a single, or a few strips crossways along the joint.  Run the others against that.
Put a tile line exactly on the junction of old and new. This way if part of the house shifts, the crack will be in the grout instead of breaking a row of tile.  This may mean a double row of smaller tile.
Having a visible marker at the transition will reduce tripping if you can't level out the difference between the two sections of the house.
You probably should do a layer of Ditra or other isolation membrane for a project this big.  I have twice not used it, but my largest project was an 8x12 laundry room.
Trying to make a floor that flows through multiple rooms has issues:

If one part of the house moves relative to the other the flooring is under severe stress.  Having a natural movement joint relieves this stress,

Some years from now some accident (flood, fire, dishwasher leak, paint spill, uncaught dog pee...) makes it desireable to replace the floor in one room.  Replacing a room in a much smaller disruption than replacing the entire level.


No problem, that is how you would do it. The only thing you cannot do is to make a splice in a wall and cover it without access to it.
#8 wire sliced onto #10 though might be a problem, not at the splice end, but is your receptacle rated to terminate #8 wire? Why are you increasing the wire size?


What is the best way to level a tree log?

It is also possible to do the final smoothing of the rough squared off faces by using a router. The router rides in a set of movable supports that you arrange over the end of the log and the router bit can cut to a smooth finish across the whole log face. As you make each pass with the router you slide the movable supports over an appropriate amount and then take the next pass.

The starting point is to afix (clamp) a frame of two straight boards in parallel along each side of the log. Then at right angles to these you have the router support slides. The router makes passes by feeding the router along the support sliders. The next pass is arranged by moving the sliders along the first parallel support boards. The following picture attempts to show a top down view of the setup.


How do I repair wood that's been damaged with mold and bleach

A few things here. First, you need to remove ALL the mold. Second, you need to prevent it from coming back. Third, I would fix that grout in the tile on the corner to prevent splashes from getting in and causing mold in there too.

You're going to need to remove the faucet completely. The hole that that thing is set in is most likely a mold farm. Just shut off the water, unhook the hoses and undo the nut clamping it to the bottom. The tap should come out the top no problem. Wear a mask, I'm expecting the worst for that one.

Now you're going to have to clean that mold, all of it. If it's caked on, chisel it off with a screwdriver or something, then get some sandpaper and make sure it's all gone. Check under the countertop too, there might be some down there. If it was me, I'd take the whole sink out and inspect, but that's probably overkill. However, if the caulking around the sink isn't very good, do go head and disconnect the drain pipes (there's a flange that unscrews) and pop the sink out.

Now, we're all clean, good. We have to fix the color. I'd get some very fine sandpaper and disregard the finish of the wood, it's already going to need repairs. Clean the mold off with the sandpaper, then get a fresh piece of sandpaper, sand down a bit more, then a really really fine grit sandpaper and do a final sanding. With the really really fine stuff, you might be able to feather the edge of the stain. If not, that's fine. You should have a good area of plain wood to work with, and the faucet should still be out.

Now, I'm not sure if that countertop is stained or if it's oiled. It's most likely oiled, and if that's the case, go ahead and do some research on how to replace the layer of oil. If you want, perhaps explore doing a layer of urethane, that will prevent mold very well, but I don't know about the aesthetics.

Anyways, now we have no mold and a fresh canvas to work on. If you took the sink out, make sure to caulk the edges very well when putting it back in. When you put the faucet back in, put a big fat bead around the hole before you replace it. Quickly tighten the nut a bit below, then get above and clean the edge of the caulk off with your finger. This will seal it so you won't have any more mold getting in the crack.

At that point, just make sure to keep the area dry to prevent future mold, or have a preventative coating on the wood. You could always bring the tile out a bit too, just for that square area of the countertop. If you decide to do that, make sure to install the tiles properly and to do it before you do put the faucet back in.


How to replace bulbs in this ceiling fan?

I almost  certain that the glass should rotate off, the little indent in the metal will be for a  corresponding groove in the  glass cover. Some times the friction on these make them feel as thought they will not move.
If you are careful and wrap the glass in a damp towel, or some other grippy material, and try turning with a little more force it should come free. It should be counterclockwise to undo it.


I have not seen a minimum code for size on the customer side, with that said most homes do have a minimum of 3/4" pipe with 1" being common on longer distances.

All of the properties I have owned the customer was responsible after the meter. In 1 town I did have to replace the meter, the meter had to be purchased from the city.

I would go with 1" to reduce any pressure drop to the home. I would check with the city or water district to make sure there are no restrictions or requirements you may be unaware of. I have seen PVC, copper, and galvanized pipe used to connect to city water systems.

Since you did not say anything about the age of your home it was common in years past to use incoming water line as the grounding electrode. If you replace the line with non metallic please check your grounding electrode system. I have found several homes that had their supplies updated with PVC that removed the ground and did create a hazard but 2 new ground rods needed to be added to these houses to make the electrical system safe again.


Can I run a 15A table saw on a 15A circuit if there are also shop lights on the same circuit?

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.


Replace reusable air filter with disposable, when no size matches?

You can cut the electrostatic filters (like Filtrete) down to size without altering their effectiveness. Just buy a size that is larger and cut it down with tin snips and/or scissors. When I do it (and I have done it many times) I use painter's masking tape to "seal" the cut edge.

If you install it in the plenum of the forced-air unit, make sure you "seal" the cut edge well so the blower does not blast fibers or pieces of the filter media out into your ducting. If it installs in the return-air grill it may not be as important because the force is usually less.

Home Depot and Lowe's only carry sizes that sell well, check 3M's web site and see if they make them your size. Then go to your local mom-and-pop hardware store and ask them to order a few. Try to shop at the local shops instead of the "big box" when you can.


Cut a severe taper (70 degrees) using a compound mitre saw

Cut it perpendicularly.

70 degrees from 90 degrees (ie: a right angle) is 20 degrees.

Square the end of your taper and put a mark in the middle.

Set your saw on 20 degrees and place the mark so that the taper makes a T with the cutting rail, cut one side, flip the taper over, cut the other.

If you're concerned about stability - make an L shaped jig which you can put up against the rail and hold the taper against to keep it straight.


Can I paint over RedGard waterproof membrane?

Ideally, you'd take the time to put tile there. You can cut tile fairly easily to fit.

If not, I imagine you can. I think I overlapped into the sheetrock area of my bath with redgard when I did it and the paint is fine, but I don't completely recall how far I took the RedGard. As long as you use a good primer, you should be OK, though.


You did not elaborate much on the application side of your assembly but it seems to me that what you want to consider is the use of a brass metal foil. You can learn about and find sources for brass foil by using those words as a search query.

One type of foil is called a "tooling foil" and is available in a 36 gauge (.005 inch thickness). Such foil is easy to cut even with scissors or a utility knife. If you cut out a piece to the desired size it will be easy to bend into shape over the edge of your plastic panel.

You will have to research suitable adhesive to attach the metal piece to the plastic. If it was me I would try the 3M spray mount glue that you would apply to the brass piece when it is flat. Then pick it up and form it over the edge of the plastic panel. You will want to clamp it into place till the glue fully dries. You could possibly use the spring type clothes pins as small clamps.

Note that metal foil may have a coating on one or both sides. You would want to remove this with steel wool before cutting out your pieces. The coating may prevent the metal from making an electrical contact if it is not removed. The coating may also interfere with the adhesive that you use to attach the piece to the plastic panel.

Once the metal foil is adhered to the plastic it should be fairly rugged. Without additional details on your application it is hard to give further advice.


Do I have to replace backerboard before tiling a floor?

If it's in good shape (clean, planar, etc.), then it is fine to put tile on top of it, assuming that putting tile on it doesn't make the floor too high at the entrance to the bathroom.


Rust in gas flame area of water heater, should be replaced?

I've never seen a burner assembly area that wasn't rusty, H2O is a byproduct of combustion. Things to consider: is the exhaust vent in good condition, is the TPR valve not leaking and in working order? Provided it's not in a location where a catastrophic leak would cause damage, ride it out. That being said, 12 years is getting towards the end of its life. If, at some point in the next few years, a few days without hot water is unacceptable, replace it soon or begin saving money now by upgrading to a tank-less.


How to get my exterior door to close when the interior door is also shut? Air pressure problem.

Before concentrating on an air pressure solution, I would eliminate two other possibilities:

The handles on the inner and outer doors are interfering very slightly with each other.  Check the height of each handle above the sill, and the spacing between the two doors when closed;
The act of closing the inner door distorts the door frame slightly, shifting the outer door from the "fits well" category to the "fits with great difficulty" category...


Is there code compliant way to attach deck joists below a deck beam (or at least lower than flush with the top of the beam)?

Joist hangers are used all the time to fix joists to the side face of the beam. I see no particular reason that you wouldn't be able to hang the joists even with the bottom of the beam using standard joist hangers like these:

Picture Source
In fact ceiling joists may very well be hung with similar brackets like these where the ceiling height is set to be at the bottom of the support beams.
Hanging your deck joists totally below the beams seems a bit problematic. My guess would be that even if you could come up with some type strapping to securely hold the joists up against the bottom of the beam that an inspector may very well reject the concept, especially if they figure out that you are playing games to work around your railing height restriction.


I ended up buying a wire tracer and found the cable led to a bathroom switch. After opening the box I found the cable unconnected. I connected it up and now the doorbell works!


Are My Electrical Boxes Actually Grounded?

Well it is possible this home is a expanded metal stucco home and just happens to have some pipe touching the metal looking like a ground, it can also be possible that the boxes are grounded from the back side, your location in the world would be helpful but with cloth covered wiring I would suggest you add a grounding electrode other than your water pipe (the most common method for the decade prior and after your home was built) it has been legal to add a ground separately to these circuits.
I would not trust the chance there is a ground but adding a GFCI at the breaker or first outlet on the string or chain you can then install 3 pronged receptacles and just put the sticker that comes with the GFCI on the new 3 prong that’s states GFCI protected no equipment ground. Yes the stickers fall off but this is a legal way to update a 2 wire system, if you add a ground that is the best way but also the most expensive and usually only done when remodeling/ redecorating (big difference between the 2 names and code requirements BTW.


This might not be the answer, but for reference here is a problem that can occur if the plumbing is not installed properly.

If you look at Fig. 3, this is what a proper drain looks like.  You'll notice the orange line represents the water level in the system, the water levels out in the trap preventing sewer gases from entering the sink drain.

In Fig. 1, you can see what will happen if the drain line has to go up before meeting the main drain line.  Again the orange line represents the water level in the system, and as you can see the water level is much higher in the drain.

Fig. 2 shows what could happen if the sink was installed lower than the rise in the drain line. The water would never fully drain from the sink, since it would require extra pressure in the system to push the water up the drain.

I wouldn't guess this is the issue in this case; since as you can see, if you opened the trap in this case you would have more water drain than what is typically in the trap.

In a perfect world Fig.1 and 2 would never pass inspection, but as we all know not all plumbing is properly installed and/or inspected. So this could possibly be the case in this situation (given the plumbing was installed by an amateur plumber), but it is doubtful. It would be more likely caused by a clog in the line.


Water pressure high when first opening kitchen faucet then reduces dramatically when fully opening faucet

You have a problem with the faucet valve. Those single-handle faucets have a  valve that incrementally increases flow whilst also mixing hot and cold, depending on handle position.
There are various types of mechanisms to accomplish this, but a common one is the use of a hollow or solid ball with holes/ports that line up with the incoming water ports to varying degree, and lead to the spout (I mention this because your looks like that type, common manufacturer is Delta). Nevertheless, you need to turn off the water supply, remove the handle, and do some investigating. it could be as simple as a blockage that needs to be cleared, could be a new valve assembly, or could be a new faucet. We will need to see the guts...


I assume you're dealing with standard hardware inserts, as shown in the bottom row here. Simply grasp the shaft below the end device with a pliers and tap on the pliers with a hammer. It should pop out.

If you're not dealing with this type of hardware, please update your question with adequate information and/or photos.


Tee size in efficient flow splitting of main water supply

James most of the Sinks and toilets in your home have 3/8 plumbing many homes are plumbed with 1/2 pipe through the entire house. The places you will see a pressure drop is usually hose bibs, showers and most kitchen faucets have water saving restrictors built into them. It all comes down to how many faucets will you have going at the same time and the size of pipe and distance of the pipe feeding them. If your home is plumbed with 3/4" that's all you need when you split the 1". I state this as I have never plumbed a house with anything larger than 3/4", but do use 1"pipe to feed most houses larger pipe 1-1/4" for over 100' and 1-1/2" for anything over ~150'. With this said I think you would be wasting $ to go bigger than 3/4" T from your 1" main.


How can I get my sprinkler / home irrigation system to not ruin my car with water spots?

Consider replacing the pop up onmi-directional heads closest to the drive way with directional heads that will direct the water in a pattern that won't spray on your car.  Short of that, don't park there!


Are there any good videos available that teach basic carpentry?

I learned a lot from watching "This Old House", back in the day when the home owners did a lot more of the work (now get off of my lawn).  I also learned a lot by watching the "New Yankee Workshop".  However I didn't watch these to learn anything specific, I just watched them because I enjoyed them.  I'm not certain how they might suit your needs.


Can a circuit breaker become compromised by flooding?

Watch for flood lines.  Yes, any breaker that's been underwater should be smashed (so others don't dig it out of the trash and use it).

If you can't find an uncorrupted main breaker to cut, call the power company at the "my power is out" number and they'll send someone over ASAP because they don't want you dead. Dead customers don't buy electricity.   However if this was a large scale incident, their plate will be very, very full and your request will get triage'd and done when feasible.   Obviously, in the meantime, stay away from it.

After the flood is gone you have to size up each component.  Panels are simple affairs and it might be possible to take it apart and clean it.  Conduit should be OK but I'd pull the wires out and disassemble it enough to clean the insides by pulling a rag through them.  Every junction box would have to be cleaned out.   The wires will be ok if they say THWN or other outdoor rating.   Ratings for outdoor wire presume the wire is immersed in water 24x7.   Keeping water out of outdoor conduit isn't really possible.

Romex will be junk.  Every receptacle, switch and machine of any kind will be junk.


Cutting a hole in asbestos/cement siding

I've worked in the asbestos regulation industry for years and I can tell you that it's easy to go overboard with hysteria and fear. As the homeowner, you're entitled (within limits) to do what you want with your asbestos as long as you don't endanger others by causing an air pollution hazard or waste disposal issue.

That being said, carefully grinding a hole through a few asbestos shingles is not going to be problem if you contain dust within a simple plastic enclosure, or a stream of water. Pretend you're working in an archaeology museum and you MUST keep dust to an absolute minimum. After that, just bag your material and throw it out with your regular waste. You are entitled to certain minimums after which you must treat these materials like hazwaste.

Check with local municipal regs beforehand. They're likely on a website.


How to take the sandpaper off of a Makita palm sander

Release the paper-clamp latches.  There will be one or two latches on both sides of the sander.  For that model, they probably look like this (note the 2 red arrows, showing the release motion):

Pull the folded-over edges, of the sandpaper, out from under the clamps.

That model may use velcro paper, so expect that you might have to peel the sandpaper off of the base plate.

Replace with the same style and size (length/width) of paper.  Assemble in reverse order.  Pre-creasing the folded edges works best for getting the edge under the clamps.

You can find manuals at http://www.makita.com/en-us/Modules/Service/ServiceCenters.aspx.
Here is a manual for a similar palm sander (pdf) (AKA "Finishing Sander").


How can I remove a Philips screw with a stripped head?

NO. Don't hammer a flat head screwdriver into the thing, hoping to damage the head more, but in a way that will allow you to remove the screw. It won't improve the situation, and it will just damage the screwdriver! Using a hammer like this will only (temporarily) relieve your frustration.

There are many varieties of "easy-out" or "grabit" screw extractor bits sold. Usually they will fit into a drill, allowing you to back out a damaged screw.

If I don't care if I damage the wood around it, I'll just break/pry out some of the wood around the head, enough to be able to grip the head with a pair of vice grips. For example, I have an old beater chisel, used expressly for this purpose. I don't care if I damage the edge, although I probably would not do so as long as I was careful. Or use a Dremel moto-tool to remove the wood around the screw head.

Of course, if you have a moto-tool, then another option is open to you. Use a slotting bit to grind a new flat slot into the head of the screw. The slot will now accept a flat head screwdriver.


mounting a hand held shower bracket to drywall

Your idea is pretty good; however, I'd be concerned about the load on the fiberglass wall.

Try to get a sideways piece of 2x6 or 2x8 between the studs. If the pipes are in the way, you'll have to notch them a little. (Probably the easiest method is to set a partial depth on a circular saw, cut a couple of kerfs and lever the waste out with a chisel or even a sturdy flat blade screwdriver.)

If the pipes are too close to the plane of the wall and you can't connect one side of the 2x8 to the stud, then you could run an upright partial stud (also on the flat) from the plate to the 2x8s.


I hate to put it this way, but you are in way over your skill level. I highly recommend getting a professional electrician to help at this point.

You connected the ground wire that to the switched hot. When you turned on the switch, you
shorted the circuit. That should have caused a fuse to blow or a breaker to trip. Based on "I tried doing the fuse box it didn't work.", you either have not found the correct fuse or breaker, or some part of the electrical wiring in the room (possibly at the switch, possibly at an outlet) burned up (literally) and broke the circuit.

Hopefully a fuse or breaker did trip - if not then the safety of your fuses/breakers is questionable. But even if you find the fuse (and replace it) or breaker (and reset it), there is definitely a possibility of damage due to arcing in any/all of the devices on that circuit (switch, receptacles, any wire junctions).

Now for the educational part: Most circuits have a hot wire, a neutral wire and a ground wire. Normally (there are exceptions in various situations), the hot wire is black or another color besides white, gray or green; the neutral wire is white or gray; and the ground wire is green or bare copper. There are a number of situations where the ground wire is not connected - particularly switches. In those situations, there still should not be any loose ground wires - they should be connected to each other, to metal boxes or capped - they should not be floating around loose as you found. Simply connecting wires "because it is there" doesn't usually end very well.

As for your specific original problem, my hunch is you have a fluorescent light that needs a new ballast and/or starter and/or bulb.


Drill Wood Block Before or After Finishing?

You can finish first or drill first, your choice.

Drilling first then finishing will result in (at least some) of the varnish getting into the holes, which will not really add any value I can think of and perhaps cause you to re-drill the holes to the proper size prior to inserting the wood inserts and grommet.

The only drawback to drilling after finishing, that I can think of, is the potential to mar your nice new finish with tool marks. Solution(s) would be to let it cure thoroughly prior to drilling, so the surface is nice and hard, and/or to fine sand any tool marks and hit it with another coat when you're done.


I have a similar lock. Press straight down in the center of the hole with an awl while wiggling the knob and pulling gently.  There is a small spring loaded pin that has to be depressed to remove the knob


Your best and safest path forward would be to purchase an old work box and a blank cover. Instal the old work box in the wall with the wiring inside the box.
Nailing a box to the cabinet would violate code in many locations as the romex must be protected under the sink.

Old work boxes are inexpensive and made for jobs like this. With the wires safely capped inside the covered box is the least expensive way to do this and the circuit can be used in the future if needed.


Try dishwasher gel.

That burned on gunk is some sort of super grease.  If you get grease in an alkaline environment it turns to soap.  Ammonia works but it is stinky.  I used that on my barbecue grate - put them in a trash bag with ammonia and left it outside overnight.

Dishwasher gel works for that black gunk too.  The regular stuff like Cascade has sodium carbonate in it which is not quite lye but is very alkaline.  I used that to clean the burners on my gas stove.  I soaked them in the sink with some gel overnight and the stuff came right off.

Put some gel on each spot and leave it overnight.  Let me know in the comments if you can wipe them off in the morning.


Can I place a subpanel next to a water pipe?

The code requires a 30" wide 36" deep working space in front of the panel which can be measured from either edge of the panel. The vertical pipe would likely not be an issue, but for location A the horizontal stuff on the floor would be.

You can mount directly to the concrete if you have the tools, but that creates difficulty securing the cables where they leave the panel.

You may need to consider how you local Authority Having Jurisdiction interprets the NEC section prohibiting using NM cable were subject to physical damage. Some jurisdictions have adopted specific local codes that specify everything less than 7 or 8 feet is considered subject to damage. The areas you show your subpanel options are lower than your service panel, and may cross the line in your AHJ's opinion.


How do I patch a hole in the slab under a kitchen island?

My answer from this question will work for your situation
How should I finish around this hole in my slab?

Starting at the lowest level:

vapor barrier (6 mil polyethelene plastic)
if you have cold winter, you can optioally add an insulation layer: 1" or more of XPS insulation
Something to cover the plastic (or insulation).  Pea gravel is nice for removability.  Concrete will prevent anything from burrowing (in or out)


Pipe insulation does not keep the water in the pipe “hot” between uses.
However, it will help keep the water “hot” while in use. That is to say, as the water travels down the uninsulated pipe, the water will loose more temperature than an insulated pipe. This may help in the sizing of your water heater.


Is 10/3 @ 240 with ground good enough for a short run from sub panel to sauna heater?

Assuming you are in the US and subject to NEC, 10 gauge copper is strictly limited to 30A. So, no.
I don't think 8 gauge is big enough, either, unless it's THWN in conduit and the connections at both ends are rated for 75C. The breaker protects the wire, so you can't play games with sizing the wire for 37.5A. Given it's a heater, you need to provision for 125% of the load as a continuous load, which is 46.875 amps, which gets to why you have a 50A breaker, not a 40A breaker.
If using cable, which is limited to 60C sizing, you need 6 gauge copper or 4AWG aluminum. Which begs the question of what size breaker you have on the 4/3 aluminum you ran out there, since that's limited to 55A if it's 4/3 cable.


GFI reset is behind refrigerator, need to remove refrigerator from circuit and relocate GFI

Find the next outlet downstream from the GFCI behind the refrigerator.  Then (with the power off) swap the receptacle devices between those boxes, taking care to be sure the GFCI now in the "2nd box on the circuit" is correctly wired.  The refrigerator will NOT be GFCI protected this way.

You can find which outlets are downstream of the refrigerator outlet simply by test tripping that GFCI.  This won't tell you which is the next one, but it most likely is the closest one.  Once you have the GFCI in the new box, test it to be sure it does shut off the others on the same circuit.  There should be two circuits with GFCI.  Test the other one for correct operation, too.  With both GFCIs tripped, every kitchen outlet should be off, except the dedicated one.

You should have the refrigerator (and other heavy load devices like a microwave oven) on dedicated circuits (this is the point to negotiate with the seller).  The refrigerator can share with a freezer (as long as it is not in a garage).  They do not need to be on GFCI unless the kitchen has a wet material floor (like concrete, or in a garage).


How do I repair a large area at side & bottom of external door

The only really practical solution here is to replace the door. If the dog has also chewed up the door framing in addition to the door then replacement of the door jamb and trimming is also in task list.

After the replacements are in place make sure you address what has led the dog to do this. It is my experience that the animal is probably exhibiting this behavior because they are bored or have been confined to a small area behind the door where the chewing is taking place.


Repair/replace foundation vents in wooden siding?

The vents you removed were constructed entirely of 1x2 lumber and could be easily recreated. You'd want to use cedar or pressure-treated lumber for rot-resistance, if not a synthetic.
All cuts are square. Some corrosion-resistant screws, properly piloted and countersunk, would make them solid. Trim-head screws or splitless siding nails would secure them well.
Use a good quality exterior caulk to seal around the outside, then prime and paint.


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


How much should I worry about this large crack in the foundation slab?

Sigh. Cheap builders are forever spending thousands on concrete, but unwilling to spend a few hundred on steel to make the concrete properly reenforced. Nobody sees the steel, but the lack of it does show up eventually.

Unlikely to be a major issue, might be a path for water or bugs, so probably sealing it would be best. But consulting an engineer is good for being careful. Unlikely that the house will fall down any time soon (if ever), so probably not too urgent.

Now, if you change to a hundred dollar bill and it gets pulled down into the crack, you have dwarves, and $10 wasn't enough to tempt them... ;^)


I have an open neutral on all electrical circuits

turns out tester is faulty. checked with a new tester. neutral is fine.thank you for all responses.


Electrical Socket Doesn't Work for One Particular Appliance

The easiest thing to test with is a receptacle tester:

But that won't find all problems, in fact there's a good chance it won't find this one.  Never decide you're safe just because a receptacle tester gives you a good indication!  Some of the problems they won't identify are dangerous.

Even testing with a meter won't find certain problems.  This article:

Outlet Testing Article

details the hows and whys.  It shows how a non-contact voltage tester like this one

Can spot some dangerous problems that other methods will miss.


What is the best way to check the wires in your house?

Modern copper wire does not wear down nor erode. At least not for a millennia of time. If your house wire and electric system was installed by a state licensed contractor than you don't need to worry. If you're not sure who installed the electric system and feel that there may be a potential problem, than you would be wise to call a local electrician and have him or her check and repair any issues. If you want edit your question with more detail and specifics (flickering lights, breakers shutting off regularly, breaker panel under- rated, etc.?) you may get a better answer.


Posts are placed under a beam in very specific places for very specific reasons.  You most likely cannot move those posts at all without compromising the integrity of the beam and whatever is sitting on top of it.

If you really wish to open up the space, you must consult with an engineer to determine what could possibly be done.  Most likely, the scope would be way beyond what you wish to tackle.


Do clothes dryers have heat insulation that could be mistaken as lint?

No.  No such insulation that looks like lint.  Anything that looks like lint is lint and has to go.  Can use compressed air carefully to get at the hard to reach stuff.  However the more likely culprit is a blocked or kinked vent pipe.  Or a vent that does not vent clearly to the out of doors.  Check out the vent pipe first.  Make sure that it is clear all the way with no restrictions or reductions. Make sure that it is as straight and short as possible.  When you put your hand on the air flow outside at the vent cap you should feel a hard pressing column of air.  Without lots of air movement, you just can't dry clothes.


Fill leakage gaps/holes in AC condenser cabinet?

The only thing that doing what you suggest would do is theoretically lower the head pressure. When I service air conditioners often times I have my gauge hoses sticking through the door so there was about a 3/4” gap all around the door. I felt that this would raise the head pressure so I taped all around the door. What I found is that it made no difference. My general recommendation is don’t mess with the factory engineering, it can cause unintended consequences and best case it will do nothing. That condenser coil on the other hand is likely costing you quite a bit of efficiency.


What can I do about circuit boards on a new range hood that stopped working in a week or more?

Sounds like this is still under warranty. Contact the manufacturer; the info should be in the user's manual.


Most inspectors will allow 3" dobbies, but really you should use 3" chairs to keep the rebar 3" clear off the bottom and sides. (The reason your engineer specified 3" is because of moisture protection and chairs allows less moisture than dobbies.)

I'd wire the steel in place at the top using a wood frame cage set 3" in on the sides and wire the cage to keep it from falling side-to-side. Don't wrap the wire around the steel more than once. Then after the concrete is installed, you can pull it out so no moisture penetration points.

By the way, I'd use 3/4" minus aggregate because of the closeness of the ties on top.

Also, you can use the wood frame cage to guide you when you set the 10" square steel plate. Make a template and it will fit perfectly in place when the "mud" is still wet.


How can I keep an entry gate operating during a power outage?

Basically, what you want is a UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply); it's a combination surge protector and battery backup. These are usually spec'ed for computer systems (server rooms, uptime-critical workstations like for call centers, etc) but as long as you keep the actual unit inside some weatherproof area like a garage, it should be just fine for powering outdoor equipment like your gate. Be aware that U.S. 220V UPSes are hard to find; most 220-240V supplies are designed for use with ordinary European single-phase circuits, which run on double the voltage but half the amperage as U.S. 120V circuits. You want it to work with a two-phase U.S. circuit, which is double the voltage AND at least 15A. That will make most 220V UPSes cry uncle.

The UPSes that will do the job are going to cost a bit of money (this one from MultiStar is marginal for the amperage draw you'll need, and it's $535: MultiStar 3000VA 220-240V 60Hz UPS). You will have to ask yourself whether it's cheaper just to buy a gate system that has its own battery backup specially designed for the gate.


Given a recent question, you might want to consider replacing the whole toilet. There are good examples of low-water-use toilets out now that reliably flush with far less water (1.28 gallons per flush) than older toilets, and you know all the parts will fit.

Otherwise you are looking at replacing, in order of ease, the flush valve or flapper (usually a rubbery part - they get old and crack or stiffen), or the flush valve seat and overflow tube (which often comes with a new valve) and pretty much always requires taking the tank off the bowl (cistern/pan for the across the pond folks.) Since you have to take the tank off the bowl, you'll want replacement gaskets for the tank to bowl screws.

That is assuming that you don't have a very simple issue such as a mis-adjusted float causing water to go over the top of the overflow tube - where you'd need to adjust the float, or replace a faulty fill valve if it can't be adjusted.

Aside from reduced water use, the main thing that buying a whole new toilet gets you is freedom from the multiplicity of different makes and models of toilet with non-interchangable parts. You want to know the brand (at least) of your toilet when you go shopping, and having some measurements or taking the defective part with you can help to sort out which parts will actually fit your particular toilet.


Should I modify the end trusses to accomodate a gable vent?

The only circumstance under which I'd even remotely consider modifying a truss is if I had an engineer's stamp.

In this specific case, you're thinking about the opening as a simple downward carrying load, and I don't think either of us are qualified to make that assumption. (Trusses probably have side and up loads that aren't obvious to mere mortals.)

I'm not sure why you wouldn't just have an asymmetric vent, or split the vent between two smaller symmetrical vents.


The poblem(s) with your scenario is one 20 amp breaker it's only good for 20 amps under normal usage.  Your washer and dryer combined equals 23 amps. Granted you may not run both at the same time but who's to say the next homeowner will not.


This question unfortunately can not be answered without a lot of data that is usually very difficult to obtain. First off there is no such thing as a time limit on filters. The same filter may last 1 month or 10 years depending on usage and the amount of airborne particles.
If the new filter has more back pressure than the existing one then it has the same effect as a dirty filter, more back pressure. Too much back pressure and the heat pump will over heat. The bad part is most manufacturers do not publish their pressure ratings. The only way to tell is to take pressure readings with a magnahelic gauge and compare the reading to the published air flow for the air handler.  As a general rule of thumb the thicker the filter the better the air flow and the base of most air handlers are too small to accept a proper size filter so I generally make the filter cabinet larger than the air handler opening.
Sorry I can not give a more direct answer but there is no guarantee that the system was designed properly in the first place and the only thing that matters to your equipment is air flow. Give it enough airflow and the equipment will be happy regardless of what kind of filter.
One final thought, people tend to over emphasize their filter. The filter is one small part of keeping dust down. The filter is only doing its job a couple hours a day unless the fan is set to continuous. Only a small percentage of particles actually finds its way to the filter anyway. I would argue that if you had 2 identical homes, one with a MERV 8 filter and 1 with a MERV 16 filter there would be no noticeable improvement in the air quality since most particles are not airborne long enough to make it to the filter.
Any filter that fits snugly in the filter rack and provides at least the same air flow will be fine.


How to fix a ventilation pipe to the wall?

There's a number of things you could do, this is one I would do in your situation. These fans are made to fit inside sheet metal ducts. Go ahead and get 2 lengths of this stuff. You will end up with a joint somewhere in the room, but then the duct can run fully through both walls and there's enough slop in the fit that precise cutting is not needed.

Because of the joint, you will need a hanger support that anchors into the ceiling, which I assume is concrete. You would need a hammer drill to make the hole necessary to insert an anchor stud to which the hanger can be attached.

This is not the most attractive thing in the world, but it can be painted so that it's not too objectionable. Painting exposed ductwork is done intentionally sometimes as a desirable (to some) "look". You could also construct a soffit box to contain the duct, you end up with a sort of stair step on the ceiling. Given the extra work for this, it's easier to like the painted duct look.

To fill in the holes, get some cement backer board and cut to the size of each opening. Also cut holes to fit the duct or fan. For the size involved, the boards can just be glued in place with construction adhesive. You can also glue in some backup cleats behind the boards to increase the glued surface area if you like. The boards should be recessed about 15mm from the wall surface. The remaining space is filled with portland cement plaster in 2 or 3 coats. It is an obvious patch, but it sort of matches the wall and would be hardly noticeable if the walls are to be painted.


If the air is filtered at the intakes of the return ducts, where is it going to get dirty on the way to the air handler to need filtered again?
Maintain the ones you have, don't add more where you don't need them...


Get electricity to outlet behind wall mounted TV

If it's a 15 ampere circuit (the breaker protecting the circuit is 15 amp), then you can use 14/2 with ground between the boxes.  If it's a 20 ampere circuit, you'll have to use 12/2 with ground.
Aside from that, it's a fairly simply install.

Run appropriately sized cable between the upper and lower box.
Connect the wires at the existing box (black to black, white to white, green/bare to green/bare).
Connect the wires in the new box to the receptacle (black to brass, white to silver, and green/bare to ground).

If you didn't already buy a receptacle for the new box, surge receptacles are available. Installing a surge receptacle behind the TV, would mean you don't have to try and fit a surge strip back there.
The side of the new box that's not enclosed, can be used to route data/AV cables down to cable boxes and such.

Update
The insulation on the wires appears to be old and worn, but it is clear that one is white and one is not. Not to mention, the white is attached to the silver colored screw, while the not white is attached to the brass colored screw.
Since there's no grounding conductor. You should replace the old receptacle with a GFCI receptacle.  To do this:

Connect the white wire from the old receptacle (the one attached to the silver screw), to the silver LINE terminal on the new GFCI receptacle.
Connect the not white wire from the old receptacle (the one attached to the brass screw), to the brass LINE terminal on the new GFCI receptacle.
Connect the white wire leading to the new upper receptacle, to the silver LOAD terminal on the GFCI.
Connect the black wire leading to the new upper receptacle, to the brass LOAD terminal on the GFCI.
Place the "No Equipment Ground" sticker on the GFCI receptacle cover plate.
Place the "GFCI Protected", and "No Equipment Ground" stickers on the cover plate of the upper receptacle.


Should I connect or remove the paper insulation layer on wires when installing a new plug?

Cloth and paper do not conduct electricity, so there is no use connecting them to any terminal. Simply snip them back.

If you bought 12/2 cable which is line cord specifically made to be cordage, it won't have a ground.

If you bought 12/2 NM cable, that will have a ground, but it is NOT to be used as cordage and should not be connected to a plug.


I would use your plan 3 with some adjustments
Your plan to use the existing 2" PVC conduit to the shed is the soundest plan out of the three you've put forth.  Running extension cords long distances is just asking for them to get damaged by things, so plan 1 is out.  Furthermore, plan 2 would require you to either field-punch a KO somewhat below where you're describing or use the existing 2" KO, but neither of these are particularly practical places for a conduit to exit based on the outdoor picture shown, with the existing KO being a worse option as it'd force you to route the new conduit over the top of the utility's service duct to get to the shed.
However, there are a few things we need to take into account here.  First off is the factor of conduit fill.  Fortunately, your 2" schedule 80 PVC supplies 742mm² of fill, and you're only using 74.71*3 + 53.16 = 277.29mm² of that so far, which leaves you with ample space for a set of 3 10AWG THHNs for the generator inlet wiring.
With matters of physical space addressed, we then can move onto the next issue, namely ampacity adjustment, as we now have 4 current-carrying conductors in the conduit versus the 3-conductor case Code ampacity tables are based on.  This means that we have to limit the 2AWG THHNs to 80% of the ampacity rating they would otherwise have. However, NEC 310.15(B) lets us base that adjustment on the 90°C rating of THWN-2 wire, vs. having to start with the 75°C rating that we're limited to by the terminating equipment here.  As a result, we can use the 130A 90°C rating of 2AWG THWN-2 as our basis here, taking 80% of that to get us 104A.  Since your shed subpanel is 100A anyway, and 15-30A circuits aren't affected by ampacity adjustment until you get up to 9 current-carrying conductors due to the way ampacity adjustment interacts with the 240.4(D) small conductor rules, we're all good on this front.
The good news is that since we're dealing with a sub-15kW portable generator here, NEC 702.12(B)(2) exempts us from having to provide a disconnect for the generator feeder at the shed:

(B) Portable Generators 15 kW or Less. Where a portable
generator, rated 15 kW or less, is installed using a flanged inlet
or other cord- and plug-type connection, a disconnecting
means shall not be required where ungrounded conductors
serve or pass through a building or structure.

So, you can simply run a 10/3 cable out the back of the generator inlet box and into the shed subpanel, where it connects with the aforementioned 10AWG THHN feeder wires in the house-to-shed conduit.
Once you get the feeder back to the house, though...
The more significant divergence, though, comes when your generator feeder makes it back to the house.  Since your generator was designed to be suitable for portable usage, it bonds its neutral wire to the generator frame.  This is fine and dandy provided it's being used as a standalone source of power; however, it means you can't use it with a normal breaker interlock, as doing so would cause a case of Two Neutral-to-Ground-Bonds Bickering, with potentially deleterious results.
Instead, you need to use a transfer means that switches the neutral, and that limits your options severely.  If you wish to stay in Eaton CH, Eaton thankfully makes switching neutral transfer panels (CH10GEN5030SN), but those are limited to 10 spaces for branch breakers, and are relatively pricey/scarce on the ground.  The alternative would be to use a Reliance Controls Panel/Link X series transfer panel; these are available in 10-space models as well (XRK0503C/D), and support a variety of 1" breakers (QP, MP, HOM, BR) in addition to being a bit less pricey than the Eaton panels, but are also in limited supply due to a recent model/design change.  With either solution, though, you can use the transfer panel to feed a downstream main lug subpanel using either a subfeed block or the transfer panel's own main lugs; this also opens you up to using a panel with fewer spaces of its own, such as the XRH0503D, which might be less expensive than getting the spaces in the transfer panel.
If you want to kit something together yourself instead of buying a premade panel, your options are even more limited: Square-D discontinued most of their switching neutral breakers, BR switching neutrals are too double-stuff-ish to work with interlock kits, Siemens doesn't make 30A switching neutral breakers for their loadcenters to begin with, and GE doesn't make branch-breaker to branch-breaker interlocks for their panels.  While Eaton does make CH switching neutral breakers and an interlock (CHML) that fits them, they don't make a suitable retainer for such a setup as the CHPHD can only be used with the uppermost breaker positions.  You might be able to use a CHPMIKCH cover-mount interlock kit, but I'm not sure how the retainers for those work, either.


What adhesive/glue is best to join PVC pipe to MDF?

Two part epoxy works well (maybe JB weld), just rough up the pvc a bit and clean it first. How much of a load are you talking about? If it is substantial, you may have to attach the PVC mechanically to the MDF.


What could cause low hot water pressure only in the line to one shower?

I've had exactly this issue, on the hot line to a tub, and eventually (disassembling the piping as I went) found an elbow almost plugged with solder - a half-inch pipe with a 1/16" or smaller hole through the nearly-plugged fitting. Someone got over-entusiastic feeding solder (probably 40 years ago for the one I found - and someone lived with the tub that way for probably 40 years, which is the puzzling part.)


How do I cut lengths of wooden beading lengthwise?

The piece you have may have started life as the piece you just purchased and was ripped down to its current width.

The best tool for this is a table saw. It would be very difficult to do it any other way. many home improvement stores will cut down wood to custom lengths and widths. They may be able to cut it down for you in the store if you do not have access to a table saw somewhere else.


How to drill a grommet hole through a desk?

You need a hole saw for that. In fact, if you search for desk grommet on Amazon, you'll probably see hole saws in their "frequently bought together" suggestion. (at least I did when I searched just now.)

And yes, you would use a hole saw with an electric drill.