Why isn't my 3-way dimmer setup working?

Single switches that control a light are called single pole.

When there are two switches that both can turn a light on or off, they are called three way. (I am not sure about the origin of this label, perhaps because it required three wires; it does not mean that there are three or more switches - those are called four way!) In those switches, flipping the on off control on either switch will change its state: if it was off, it will go on, and vice versa.

When a dimmer control is part of a three way setup, one switch usually controls both the level and on/off, while the other switch only controls on and off. Both switches need to be the three way type.

It sounds like someone has put a single pole switch in a system that needs two three ways. Part of the problem is that there needs to be the right wiring between the switches. There has to be two hot wires*. There also may need to be a neutral wire, depending on the wiring configuration.

To determine the solution, we need to know what the wires are in each box that holds the switches, and what wires are currently attached to the switches.

SUPPLEMENT

It is possible to place dimmers at multiple locations if you use certain digitally controlled dimmers. You still need wiring between the dimmers that are able to have two hot lines, called followers, as well as a ground wire.  You also need to provide a neutral wire to the fixture.  That sometimes is part of the cable that goes through the dimmer boxes, but not necessarily.


How long should I allow pressure-treated plywood to dry before applying non-skid strips?

Have you read the instructions? I'd start there, especially since you haven't told us what product we're talking about.

In reality the plywood will take weeks or longer to truly dry out, and depends heavily on your weather and sun exposure. The answer to your question partly depends on the size and shape of the tape. If it's composed of narrow strips, I'd wait at least a few days (in the sun) or a week (in the shade) so that the surface is noticeably dry. If it looks dark and damp or feels cool, your adhesive probably won't bond well.

If the tape is wide or a full sheet, give the wood much longer to dry out. You'll effectively seal in the water, and it may collect beneath the tape and cause it to release.


What happens if I use vegetable oil instead of machine oil or grease?

Oil of any kind is the wrong lube to use on hinges.  Oil, WD40, or any petro based product wets the hinge surfaces and will collect dust and dirt.  I always recommend dry silicone spray. Silicone works great, won't harm surrounding finishes etc.  Some folks like graphite, but I find it a bit messy to use.


Can a maxitrol function as a cut-off valve?

No, that is a gas pressure REGULATOR not a shutoff valve.  There should be a shut off valve in the line somewhere, did you check near the meter?

Maxitrol Regulator Diagram


How can I increase boiler system pressure so bleeding 3rd floor radiators is easier?

To get the minimum fill pressure of you system you can determine this in one of 2 ways:
#1, measure from the top of the highest point in the system to the pressure gauge on the boiler and divide that distance in feet by 2.3. For example if that dimension is 30 feet (30 divided by 2.3 = 13.0 PSI. This is the minimum pressure in the boiler for a cold fill and with nothing running. Also you should add 2-3 lbs pressure as a safety factor. of the system.
#2, Begin filling the boiler and have a 2nd person be at the top radiator with the bleed valve open and a container to catch any water that is discharged. When the water flows from that highest radiator, the pressure on the boiler is the minimum setting, and again add 2-3 lbs for safety factor. That is it.
Adding any more pressure will do very little to speed up the bleeding process. You can change the relief valve to any pressure as long as it does not exceed the pressure rating of the boiler and any device that is in the system. Theoretically, you could install a 50 psi relief valve but why would you. A higher than necessary pressure adds nothing to the operation of the system.


What do I do with the third set of wires in this switch box?

You only need the one set plus the switch legs, so you really have two extra sets. It's impossible to say without knowing where and what they are going to, but more than likely the circuit is simply splitting off to feed different branches of the same circuit.

You can safely connect all neutrals together and all grounds together. The live conductors are less certain, but most likely they can be all connected together as well. The only thing that is not connected to like conductors would be the return from the switch, which would go directly to the light. The other light terminal goes to all the neutrals.

To determine where the extra sets go, (one obviously goes to the switch, but it goes beyond that as well) safely isolate all wires so they cannot touch each other or anyone or anything else. Turn the power back on. Anything that doesn't work is where the wires go. Of those things that don't work, what ever boxes are closest to the light and switch is probably where the wires run directly, but there is no guarantee without getting into other boxes and checking continuity back.


Are impact driver bits a different standard than screwdriver bits?

Those little bits aren't really made to go straight into the chuck.  Even if the chuck is made to grip the little grooves, it's hard to see the tip with it so close to the chuck.  There might not be enough room to get the whole nose of the driver in that close to the screw.  Those bits

are best put into a bitholder - the bitholder will grip the little grooves so it doesn't fall out, and it gets it away from the chuck a bit.

You can also buy screwdriver bits that are made for the chuck, and these bits will be long enough that they are easy to use placed directly in the chuck.  You can see it has the same style shank as the bitholder.

There are about four million of these in HD, L's, etc.


How do I fix a leaking ceramic mono sink mixer?

You might have to take the whole tap off the sink and access the washers from the base.


What is like a door, but with a groove and two holes?

Speculation: I'm going to go with it is the panel just behind the drivers seat in a RV that makes a bed and covers the battery and the generator, as it has a fire coating applied by either Almex or Fritz Industries for a recreational vehicle probably manufactured in Canada.


Are you trying to achieve a perfect seam or just looking to hide the gap?
You can fill it with paintable caulk/silicone and proceed with painting.
Yes, gloss paint needs to be scuffed up so that new paint can adhere properly unless you are applying an oil-based paint.
If you want to turn this painting project into a painful multi-day renovation then remove the skirting, sand or scrape down the protruding paint from both the wall and skirting, patch the wall with mud, sand, prime, re-attach the skirting, apply paintable caulk or silicone, and finally paint the skirting and wall.


Reapplying spar varnish/urethane to exterior door

The streaks should disappear with the first new coat of urethane assuming you haven't sanded into the stain or surface of the wood. The wood is probably stained or has darkened due to sun exposure, and if you sanded into the wood it will need to be restained or given time to darken.

As far as recoat time, follow the instructions on the can. Typically you can recoat as soon as the first coat has lost its tackiness, but read the label to be safe.


Does my vanity's sink need to be offset from the bottom-exit drain pipe?

Before installing your vanities, have a plumber rule out that you have a functional (or not) drum trap under your floor.  Drum traps are no longer to Code but that's because they can clog; not because they're a safety issue.  No, it does not have to be replaced unless pipe connected to it is replaced.

If you do have a functional (clean and clear of debris) drum vent no offset is required and you don't have to worry about the following:

The maximum distance of a tail piece (vertical drop from drain hole) before reaching P-trap is 24" per IRC 3201.6.

Also, you need to determine how this drain line is vented and where that vent is in relationship to the drain hole.  The issue is velocity of the water and the total length of the drain before the potential of a vacuum is relieved via venting.


Is it safe to swap the neutral wire between the supply and load side?

You already said they come into the box in pairs/cables.   And you said you marked the supply hot.

The supply neutral should be in the same pair/cable as the supply hot.

So there you go.

Generally switches are direction-agnostic, unless the labeling or instructions says otherwise, as would surely be the case for a smart switch.


How to cut a perfect shape out of 4cm oak?

Use a router with a centering bar. A really fine finish can be achieved.

If you need a square or rectangular or different hole then bits of batten secured down can give you that shape...


Should tile floors be cleaned with vinegar only? Is the advice against using other solutions a myth?

In the to-do section of the care instructions you posted, it suggests "Use an all-purpose, non-oil based household or commercial cleaner."  OR, it says, you can use vinegar/water.

I think you are over-analyzing.  The normal floor mopping solutions like Pine-Sol or a Swiffer will work fine.  Just don't use anything abrasive that will scratch the tile or an aggressive bathroom "tile/grout cleaner" that is meant to bleach and renew grout that is stained.

If you're concerned about a particular cleaner, you could always test a small section that is out of sight.  You can also apply a "grout sealer" solution over the grout lines.  This is tedious, but can help slow down staining of the grout.


Can I hang things from a thick sound proofed wall?

The room is sound proofed by using certain sound resistant materials in a certain manner. One of the key concepts is to isolate the interior wall finish from the exterior (or other side of the wall) wall surface. In this wall, RC-8 resilient channels are used to isolate the interior wallboard from the studs. This keeps the sound waves (or most of the sound waves) from passing through the wall.

If you install hangers, fasteners or blocking through the interior wall surface and attach it to the other surface, you may slightly reduce the quality of the isolation, but not significantly enough to be detected. I would keep the fasteners to a minimum. If you think about it, you're making a "conduit" for the sound to travel through the fastener and into the stud, then through the stud and through the wall material on the other side...exactly the opposite of what the RC-8 channels are doing...isolating the 2 sides of the wall.

You may want to use cabinets that can support themselves so they don't need to "hang" on the wall. Then, just use a sufficient amount of fasteners to keep them from tipping over.


Conduit Underground - Ways for tunneling under obstructions?

300.5 also specs 4" of concrete allows 0" cover (other than the 4" concrete) if it's wide enough (6" sideways from the conduit each way.) I believe that "equivalent" would allow things like concrete pavers or bricks as well as poured-in-place concrete for in-trench conduit cover.

Not sure how you approached "pressure water" boring - I'd use a section of the conduit size you want to run, or larger, with a section of smaller pipe inside it to run the water in - waste-water and dirt comes out the space between the two pipes, and the larger outer pipe directs the "drilling" - but roots and stones will stop that method, and it's not good for corners.

For tools you only need once, remember rental. But sometimes rental costs as much as having someone come do it.

I can't imagine how you'd envision pouring concrete separate from the trench to be in any way easier or more effective than pouring it in the trench. I can only see that as a complication that makes everything more difficult. Backfill and compact level with the top of the conduit, shape the trench to be wide enough for how deep the conduit is buried, pour the concrete - nothing easier than that if you have to use concrete cover.


HELP!! Why is my stove turning my lights and furnace back on when they go out?

You have a leg down in your utility service, so call your utility and get them to fix it

The standard North American residential utility service is a 240V split phase service with 2 "hot" legs at 120VAC and opposing in phase as well as a center "0" point i.e. the neutral.  What happens if a leg has failed or is failing in the service is that all the things on that leg will stop working until you turn on a 240V appliance connected across the legs (such as your stove), which connects them to the working hot leg through the stove.

As you have already done, the correct move is to call your utility and tell them that you have a partial power outage, or if you feel technical, that you've lost a leg of your service.  They'll come out and investigate, generally at no charge to you, as the problem's likely theirs to fix anyway, such as a burnt lug in the meter base or a problem up on the poles even.


Is it possible to remove tile that is the third layer of flooring on top of asbestos tiles?

The recommended procedure for linoleum asbestos is to encapsulate it.  Assuming it was properly encapsulated before the previous flooring were placed down, you should be able to rip out the tile down to the upper layer or non-asbestos linoleum without problem.


Yup, it's that simple.
Since the AC's off anyway (because the Trane blower burned out after 5 years) I figured I had little to lose by just hooking it up and checking to see if it powered the Thermostat as it should. It does.


Assuming that your boiler and mine are similar, you have two vents or pipes and the main exhaust.

Main exhaust will emit carbon dioxide and water vapour, the products of combustion.  A modern boiler exhausts gas at a lower temperature than earlier ones, having given some heat to the incoming air, so it is possible to see the water vapour condense to form a cloud.  The same effect is seen from cars on cold mornings, once the exhaust pipe is hot and the car moving, you see little or no cloud.

There should be a "condensate" pipe, this releases water that has condensed inside the unit, again, this is to give up heat that would just be lost into the air.  This is acidic water, and needs to be drained away.  My Worcester Bosch boiler lets it out 100ml at a time, because if it is released as a trickle or drip, as early boilers did, the trickle could freeze on cold days, causing the boiler to switch itself off.

The other vent is a safety device; my fitter said "if there's a fault and the water tries to boil, it squirts out of there, rather than exploding or squirting scalding hot water inside the house."  So that's good....!

Hope this helps and isn't too patronising or inaccurate.


Internal latch plate stuck in latch bore?

Door bolts are installed from the outside, so you'd remove it from the outside.
Cut the paint around the trim ring or plate on the edge of the door to prevent tearing, then tap the bolt out from inside the large bore.


Connect 2 heating controllers to one boiler

You can use two relays (or even diodes) so that each controller can fire the boiler without any backfeed issue between the controllers.

I would use two relays personally as they are easy to replace.

Make sure the relays are rated on both sides for the voltages used - what the boiler needs and what the controllers supply...


Would an electric furnace prevent outside air from coming inside my house?

You should investigate and upgrade the filtration of your air circulation rather than replacing your fuel burning furnace with an electric one. You need air exchange with the outside to get the oxygen you need to live.
Though one upgrade I would investigate in is a dedicated intake for your furnace, that way it gets fresh outside air (which after burning goes straight out the chimney) instead of using the basement's ambient air and pulling it into negative pressure which leads it to suck in air from all around the house.
In a properly functioning furnace the combustion air and the circulating air are kept separated. CO poisoning is way too dangerous to allow for any intentional mixing.
You can add a intake fan in your basement fed from the clean air at the other side of your neighbour to avoid sucking in their soot. You can also add additional filtration to this intake (make sure to regularly replace the filters). If this intake is enough for the basement to be at positive pressure it will prevent the basement from sucking in your neighbour's polluted air.
You could also add a lockout to the furnace to prevent it running while the pollution is too high in your basement.


Stinky dishes and cups from the dishwasher - but only after it rained

This sounds like a drain hose problem. If you can post a picture of the drain hose from where it leaves the dishwasher until it goes into the drain pipes (usually either into the pipes under the sink or into a disposal under the sink), that would be very helpful.

Key likely items:

1 - If the drain hose goes into the drain pipes past the trap then that would likely violate code and would definitely explain the problem. The trap is there to prevent sewer gases from getting back into the house - or into the dishwasher. If that's the case, you need to either move the drain hose so it connects before the trap or add another trap (and then connect it before the trap).

2 - Dishwashers require an air gap. There are two forms.

The first ("traditional" in my mind) is a gadget on top of a corner of the sink. The drain hose goes up to this gadget and the water has to literally go through the air (an inch or so) to then flow back down into another drain hose into the pipes. I highly doubt you have this because any sewer gas would be coming out of the air gap either all the time or every time you run the dishwasher.

The second method is a high hose loop. The flexible hose from the dishwasher loops up so that the middle of the hose is right up underneath the counter before looping back down to go into the pipes or disposal. The key is that water can't back up from the pipes through the drain hose into the dishwasher unless water was backed up in the sink just as high - which would be quite unusual (and quite obvious at the time). There is effectively an air gap inside the hose.

If you have a hose loop that no longer loops - i.e., the hose either was never installed properly or has fallen down - so that the highest point on the hose is not much above where it connects to the pipes/disposal then you will have problems. If you have this problem, moving the hose may be all that you need to do - just use a loop of wire or something to hold the hose up in the right place. If your hose is not long enough - or if you are concerned that it is filled with dirt, etc. - you can replace it for ~ $10 (US).

Update based on picture. There appears to be a normal trap (good). But the drain hose does not have a traditional air gap and only goes a couple of inches above the pipes. The highest point is significantly below the bottom of the sink, so it will definitely not function correctly the way it is currently installed.

It is hard to tell whether a longer hose with a proper high loop will be enough to solve the problem, but you should install a longer hose with a proper high loop anyway in order to have a proper installation. If the problem still happens after that then some more troubleshooting will be needed.


Looks like a piece of drain tile, hopefully not a sewer line!  What you will need to do is uncover a couple of feet of the line.  Cut the pipe back beyond the coupling, then put in a coupling, a short length of pipe to a second coupling.  So you will have two couplings with a short piece of pipe between them.


Can I vent a basement bathroom into a semi-enclosed crawlspace under an attachment?

The warmer air exhausted from the bath entering a cold environment will condense and create moisture. It will create high humidity which will lead to mold growth. this will become a health issue as well as rot the wood. You want to vent it to outdoors, never indoors.


It is dangerous to have a power outlet run from a light circuit?

As ChrisF says, check your local codes on this one. The purpose of separate circuits is to ensure that you have lights when you plug in the vacuum cleaner, hair dryer, or some other high load device. If the lights don't have any outlets, and the circuit has been properly sized, the odds of them tripping and leaving you in the dark are slim.

When adding to an existing circuit, the important question is to be sure you're not overloading that circuit. You typically want high load devices on a dedicated circuit (e.g. sump pump, AC, refrigerator). For general purpose outlets, the rule of thumb is 8 outlets on a 15 amp circuit, or 10 on a 20 amp. With lighting, I think it's limited around 10-12 per circuit, but there's a big difference if you're putting low wattage fixtures (CFL/LED) vs high wattage incandescent.

The calculation for capacity of a breaker is a target max of 80% of the breaker capacity. So 15A breaker x 80% utilization = 12A target. 12A x 120V = 1440VA. The assumption is 180VA per receptacle, so 1440VA / 180VA = 8 receptacles.

Now, if you're adding a garage door opener to the circuit, and the label says 8A, then 8A x 120V = 960VA. 1440VA target on a 15A circuit - 960VA = 480VA remaining for other receptacles. 480VA remaining / 180VA per receptacle = 2.6 receptacles allowed if all you have is a 15 amp circuit, so you shouldn't branch off a circuit that already has more than two outlets. But if one of those receptacles is you running some power tools when someone opens the garage door, there's a good chance the breaker will trip anyway.


If you are only a few ml off, then I'd say you're doing pretty good for a beginner DIY.

For bolts and edges on boards I have always found combination square a very handy tool to have. (See picture below)

The X/Y on a wall gets a little trickier. You need a good tape measure, one that's at least 1" wide so it doesn't have a tendency to bend. Get into the practice of measuring from both sides of the wall and from ceiling to floor from your "point". Then measure again. Make sure you use a sharp pencil to mark your cut or drill point.

Like everything else, this takes practice. good luck.


Why does the air flow heavily from my downstairs vents, but very weak from my upstairs vents?

Sometimes it is necessary to adjust the fins on the downstairs vents to restrict some of the airflow so that more will make it to the upper level. This is especially true in cases where there are no dampers in the ducts of the type described by BMitch in his answer.

I have a similar problem in my own two level house where I have to adjust the vent fins two times per year to set the proper upper / lower level air flow.

Another important question for you.

Have you checked the primary furnace air filter to make sure it is clean? If this has never been changed it could be restricting the air flow design of the whole heating/cooling system. I've seen these filters so clogged up with dirt and dust that it was a wonder that the furnace fan was able to circulate any air at all!!


That depends on the bend... too much and it will crack, otherwise it naturally flexes anyway.


How can I recess an electrical outlet that protrudes from a glass mosaic tile wall?

Generally, it is possible to turn off the power, remove the switch, and then cut the nails that are holding the box in place (a recip saw can do this if you are careful). You can then drill holes through the box, push it so that it is flush, and then screw the box back to the stud.

This is fairly finicky work.


How often to replace thermostatic mixing valve

If it's an adjustable valve, some times fully opening and closing on a regular basis can help keep the guts free. After that attach a thermometer to the tempered water pipe, try running some Luke warm water at a sink while adjusting the valve, if temperature changes do not correspond with changing settings the valve is faulty. I would have a replacement on hand prior to disassembly, sometimes these things don't go back together nicely.


Ideas for securing decorative trim to brick

If you're only and specifically asking about the crown, I'd use screws from above. Stainless or coated exterior screws, properly piloted and countersunk, would hold very well. You could use silicone or construction adhesive behind the lower edge of the crown to keep it snug, too.

This all assumes that the cap is securely fastened to the one-by attached to the wall, of course. It's also possible that you have a 1x6 with crown attached to the top edge, leaving a void under the cap. That would require new fasteners into the masonry. I'd then use trim-head screws and plastic plug anchors in 1/4" holes. They can be easily filled with wood putty before painting.

If your question is broader in scope than that, please revise to clarify.


Your set up is missing a critical piece. The disposer elbow (discharge tube). Here is a very good article with plumbing schematics and instructions to correct your issues.

Note: I can't tell from your picture, but is there a sanitary street-t where your waste enters that sewer line? A sanitary tee should be used when connecting a horizontal pipe, such as a waste arm to a vertical riser. This will help move that waste along a little better.


Should I cap off my clogged kitchen pipe at the wall or after the p-trap?

Any of those options will work, let me reorder them to:

Easy option: Cap off the sink hole & garbage disposal.
Leave the P-Trap and cap the pipe off after that.
Remove all the pipes under sink & garbage disposal and cap off main pipe at wall.

Now they're in order of ease and how temporary you want. If you want to simply stop the sewage fumes, the P-Trap (filled with water) will do just that so #1 & #2 will do that. #2 & #3 are good but might be a bit overkill especially if you leave the sink in place, even with the sink faucet off you'll have the occasional pot drained/strained in the sink and glass dumped in there. So if you have any drainage left, I'd just leave it and probably just turn off the faucets. If not, personally I'd removed the P-Trap back and cap it, then put a 5-gallon bucket under there.


What material is this toilet water supply line?

That is either a painted or plated 1/2" copper line. If it is plated, the plating is failing or failed. Either way take a strip of emery cloth and clean it up before adding the compression fitting


How to fix a bathtub faucet that leaks only when the shower runs?

Sounds like the washers/gaskets on the valve have gone bad, you'll have to either replace the washer or the entire valve (if you can find a replacement).
Here is what the valve may have looked like when it was new (just to give you an idea of what you're dealing with).

Removal

Turn off the water to the shower faucet using either a local shutoff valve or the main water valve for the house.

Turn the shower’s hot and cold water all the way on, to drain leftover water from the pipes.

Pry the cap out of the center of the diverter’s handle.

Remove the screw in the middle of the handle, and then pull the handle off the faucet.

Unscrew the metal sleeve that sits over the valve stem.

Insert a Shower Valve Socket Wrench over the valve stem and turn the dirervter anti-clockwise to remove it.

Replace the washer, or the whole diverter if you can find a replacement.

Apply some Silicone grease (plumbers grease) to the washer before replacing the diverter.

Installation
Installation is the reverse of removal.

Insert a Shower Valve Socket Wrench over the valve stem and turn the dirervter clockwise to install it.
Screw on the metal sleeve that sits over the valve stem.
Push the handle on the faucet, then replace the screw in the middle of the handle.
Push the cap into of the center of the diverter’s handle.
Turn the shower’s hot and cold water all the way off.
Turn on the water to the shower faucet using either a local shutoff valve or the main water valve for the house.


Dimmer switch gets very warm - almost hot

What is the wattage rating of the switch? Many dimmers are 300 watts (or less if they are trimmed to fit in crowded boxes). You are burning 390 watts. You may be overloading the switch.

Your instincts about LEDs is correct, assuming the switch is LED compatible. You also need to be sure to select dimmable LED bulbs.


How to extend Sump Pump discharge pipe from house

When i installed a sump pump in my previous house, to add a sink into the basement, I had it pump up as high as it could, on about a 45 degree angle, then let it run down with the help of gravity to where i want it to discharge.


Exterior foundation drain pipe location relative to the footer

You can install your drainpipe on your footing or next to it, but the critical issue is that it is BELOW your basement slab.
Drainpipe systems are designed to capture ground water leaking down from storm water, downspouts, etc. AND from a rising watertable.
Ideally the 4” perf pipe should be encased in about 12” to 18” envelope of drainrock and protected with a filter fabric wrapped around the drainrock envelope. (This fabric will keep the soil from flowing int the perf pipe and plugging it again.) In addition the basement wall should have a waterproofing (mastic) applied to it and then cover the mastic with a mesh that protects the mastic when you backfill and allows water to “flow” down the surface of the wall and directly into the perf pipe. (Make sure the mesh extends into the drainrock envelope.)
We like the bottom of the perf pipe to be about 4”-6” below the bottom of the basement slab.
You say your pipe daylights, which is good. Make sure it flows down and do not tie downspouts into it, because it could overflow the system and backup to your basement wall.


Installing water pipe to outbuilding - how to handle insulation/cold so it won't burst/will be usable in winter?

Typically, you need to bury the supply pipe below the frost line until it gets to a heated space.  The local building authority should be able to tell you how deep for your climate, but it's probably in the neighborhood of 3 feet/1 meter.

However, you're not bringing it in to a heated space.  So you have a few options.

Use a freeze-proof hydrant.

Enclose, insulate & heat a small cabinet/closet for the water access.  Heat could be as simple as an incandescent light bulb & thermostat outlet depending on the size, temperature and insulation.  If you go this route, you should have a way to monitor the system - having a lightbulb involved (even if it isn't the primary heat source) that's visible from outside can give you an easy visual indication that the system is on.  And make the system easy to drain if you expect it to be out of use for an extended period or if you're prone to power outages.

You mentioned placing a water heater in the outbuilding - if it's a tank type heater, that could work well for the heat source in option #2.

More on additions to the question...
If the void and area above it aren't heated, then I think you're still in the same situation and the pipe will need to be installed to the required depth below the bottom of the void.

The problem with your latest above-ground update is that the freeze-proof hydrant drain is never open to the source side of the plumbing.  It's only open to the downstream side when the valve is closed.  So you'd have to have some other drain mechanism below the frost line.

Since you have that 150mm void below the floor, is it feasible to simply put a drain valve down there and not mess around with the hydrant at all?  When you're done, turn the water off at the house, then reach down and open the drain for the whole system.  I know it's not much space, and you have to think about where the water goes.


How can I trim out a supply pipe passing through a tile floor against the toilet base?

The simplest approach is to buy a solid round escutcheon and cut it to fit.

They come sized to fit different pipes, so take a measure of yours.

You would need to take off one side, just about to the edge of the hole, and then probably cut the hole to be a U shape, rather than round.

You could hold it on place with a few dabs of silicone sealer underneath.

  Images and links for illustration only, not an endorsement of goods or sources.


How can I fix a broken face on a kitchen drawer?

I would try some corner braces and short wood screws.  You probably want to pre-drill some holes so you don't split the wood.


How to install dryer ducting inside existing wall?

If the wall is non-load bearing, you may not need to do anything. If
the wall is loadbearing, you should probably not do this at all, or you should exit the cavity space through a side, not through the top.
It would be a heck of a lot easier to do with the wall open.
I would in general prefer a vent that only goes directly through the wall (shortest-way) rather than one enclosed in it for a significant distance. Dryer ducts need maintenance, and a duct buried in the wall is hard to check, and harder to maintain/repair/replace/inspect than one that is exposed. If enclosing it for a significant distance, I'd want 2x6 or double 2x3 or 2x4 (separate studs for each side with space in the middle) wall so as not to have the duct not quite fit. And I would make certain that I had adequate access points to get a cleaning rod through the entire duct without a great deal of fuss and bother.

Best dryer vent I ever had was not quite the best possible, but it was close - one elbow and 2 feet of rigid duct right out the wall. If you can back right up to the outside wall and have 6" of duct, you'e about as good as it gets. If you need a long  tortuous duct path to get the dryer vented outside, you may want to rethink where the laundry is located - there is probably a better location for it (and perhaps one closer to where dirty clothes, sheets and towels are generated, and clean ones stored, than many houses have due to people following old habits of laundry placement that make no sense without servants, laundry chutes, and dumbwaiters...)


Blower Motor Heat and Cool Control Board

It'd be fine, simply because I can't think of a 120 volt AC relay that would be damaged by getting back fed power. Mechanical and solid state can both handle it as far as I know. That's not a 100% you're good though, maybe 90+% confidence?

Worst case it passes current backwards through to hot and won't be able to shut itself off, but you'll catch that during testing. Nothing should blow up.


Pneumatic screen door closer screws have loosened

The best bet with this is to acquire a small sheet of plain aluminum. Consider material with a thickness of say 3/32 inch. Cut this to a strip that is about five times longer than the existing closer bracket mounting area. Make it as wide as the door web to which the closer mounts. Drill clearance holes in this plate at the ends (corners) and then drill proper thread tapping holes into the door web and mount this sheet centered over the existing bracket mount location using quality sheet metal screws into the door.

Finally you can mount the closer bracket into this new plate using some new sheet metal screws. The holes in the new plate have to be sized to allow the new screws to cut threads into the aluminum plate.


Can I bolt over an existing ledger board?

When a thing is built well, it should be hard to dismantle.

If the existing ledger board is level, sound, and properly connected, I can't see any reason why not to reuse it.


Is there a trick to opening a tube of caulk?

Yes! the tool is called a caulk gun. Use the spout cutter for cutting off the tip of the tube; then use the seal punch tool for poking holes in the foil seal.


When I do jamb extensions, I'm butting tight against the existing window frame, but nailing through shims into the rough framing. I offset the jamb extension by about 3/16", and caulk that reveal. In that scenario, the only time 5/8" material in the window frame would be a problem was if the window was tight to any or all of the framing. If that was the case, I'd get 1/2" actual stock (good lumberyard!) and be happy with a 1/8" reveal.

As far as justification for 5/8" stock... well, we seem to be in a race to the bottom with building materials. Anyone that can squeeze a penny here or there makes more money. (The one that made me laugh/cry was the entry door that had hinges double-thick mortised into the jamb and flush mounted on the door. Ta-dah! One less step in the manufacturing process, and it probably only looks terrible to people like me.)


Is it safe to build a drop down table to a wooden wall?

Ideally you would follow the manufacturer's directions for mounting the drop down table to the wall. Also consider that the flat rail that is against the wall just under the table top area would be best if it could be screwed into the studs in the wall and not just through some thin wall board material.

This table at 79cm wide should be wide enough that the support board can span at least two studs in the wall. You may need to adjust the mount location in order to achieve that.


How to prep and level part of my garage when there is a 6" difference in hight?

I’ve used Gypcrete over concrete slabs and various wood structures.
I think it’s rated up to 8” thick per lift. However, it can’t be walked on, etc. because it will wear. You’ll need provide a covering.
It goes in like tomato soup, so it will seek its natural level. It hardens in a couple of days.


Soot sounds good to me . To have localized areas outside the flue (where the smoke goes up) is bad news. The loose mortar needs to be removed and the mortar repointed (new mortar pressed into the cracks and the joints filled).

Once you have the crumbling mortar removed and repaired with fresh mortar you should not have any more soot getting out.
 Trisodium phosphate is a good cleaner that will take the soot off with only a little elbow grease. Let us know how it turns out.


Do I need to sand my pressure-treated deck before staining?

All typical lumber is S4S (sanded on four sides). Really, this means that it was milled on four sides, but it's usually quite smooth. That said, I usually hit railings and other commonly touched areas with a random orbit before finishing.

The bigger question is how long to wait. Pressure-treated lumber is extremely wet and must be allowed to dry to some degree. Follow your product's recommendations.


Add a 30A 126V outlet for M/H (temp) plug in!

The 30A 120V RV receptacle is a rather unique thing.  Since is it 30A, you absolutely must use 10 AWG wire and a 30A breaker.

However many RV owners can make do with 20A.  A breaker trip is a thing to be avoided. They simply use an adapter/cheater cable to get to a NEMA 5-20 plug.  They plug this into a NEMA 5-20 receptacle, which you will find familiar-looking.   This requires a 20A breaker and 12 AWG wire.   And yes, you can use it for other stuff the rest of the time, or even, at the same time.

NEMA 5-20 Receptacle.  20A, 120V.

As isherwood points out, load is an issue.  Some RVs have less than 20A of fixed load, and are equipped with the 30A receptacle only because that was the standard for RVs.  Others may be built to pull over 20A, and on those, you'll need to be careful not to activate too many heating and/or cooking appliances.  Of course, plug-in loads can always push you over.  You can plug a power monitor like a "Kill-a-Watt" in between wall and RV to determine what you're pulling.  My Kill-a-Watt will helpfully beep if load is over 15A.  Really caught me by surprise, I didn't know they had audio.


Low Voltage cable run thru Flexible Aluminum Pipe

May I introduce you to smurf tube? It's actually designed for the job, and meets your flexibility requirement.

(Technically ENT (Electrical Nonmetallic Tubing), and it comes in non-smurfy orange as well as smurf blue.)


First thing to check, as @Tester101 points out, is that you've connected the  wires to the LINE terminals on the GFCI receptacle. It will also have LOAD terminals, which would go any other outlets you'd want fed from (and protected by) this GFCI. But it doesn't appear that you have any of those.

Next you should carefully use the contact terminals of your multi-meter to measure voltage on the lines:

If you measure around 120V between the black and white wires leading to the GFCI, and those wires go into the LINE terminals of the receptacle, the receptacle should be test/reset-able and should show 120V when you test between the plug-in slots on the front. If you have 120V at the LINE terminals and not at the front, the receptacle is defective.
If you don't have 120V between the black and white wires, your circuit is switched off or damaged. You'll need to investigate the wiring to determine what's wrong. Your non-contact tester may have given you a misleading indication; the contact tester is more authoritative here.
To identify the "true" neutral, measure voltage between an insulated wire and the bare ground wire. Neutral and safety-ground should have zero voltage, because they are bonded in your main electrical panel. So you should have 120V between black and white; 120V between black and ground; and 0V between white and ground. If you have 120V between white & black but 0V on black/ground and 0V on white/ground, then your ground wire is not properly connected.

Finally, you should run a small length of bare wire between the ground bundle in this box and the ground screw on your switch, so that the switch's metal components are grounded.


What is a good technique to remove a glued-in mirror without access to its edges?

3 possibilities that I can see.

Tape every square inch of it and just start smashing. Wear serious eye protection and a face shield, gauntlet gloves, heavy clothing, head covering, ... in short, don't have any exposed skin.
Tape, protect yourself (as above), and try to get a pry bar under the edges. You'll need to do a bit of drywall repair, but you might get lucky and not have a pile of shards.
Buy (rent?) a specialty suction cup slide puller. (This is scary at the best of times and probably unavailable at normal rental...) Edit to add youtube link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQne8Caw1LI


Is it OK to plug a computer into a shared GFCI outlet?

It is OK to have the computer plugged into a GFCI, although it may not be preferable. Hard shutdowns, as would be the case if the GFCI tripped (and the computer's receptacle is actually protected as @keshlam's comment suggests), are not the greatest for computers. You may never trip the GFCI, or may only trip it rarely, and this doesn't become an issue. Or, you may have a very sensitive or failing GFCI which trips regularly, putting unnecessary stress on the computer. If you can plug it in elsewhere, that'd be best, but if not it's not a big deal unless your GFCI trips a lot.


Why would the breaker be tripping after removing a ceiling fan?

It sounds like you capped 2 whites together, which would be logical.

However, you've probably discovered a situation where one of the whites is a switched hot, improperly labeled (i.e. not labeled).

Try putting a cap on each wire by itself.

It's unlikely that putting a break in a circuit would cause a trip.  It's the opposite problem, a short that causes a trip.


How to install rubber paver around edges of synthetic grass area?

I see that they are not very thick (one inch), but perhaps they are still heavy enough (5.4 lbs each). If you dig the dirt out, so that the top of the paver is level with the soil, then the paver should be held in place by the edge of the soil. Sand between them will help keep them from moving. There are also paver edge retstraints that you can buy/use:


Why are appliance cords (like a dryer or oven) usually flat?

Parallel cables are designated the NEC as lighter duty than most round cables. Cables that are flat are designated as Type SP, SPT-1,2 or 3, Service duty Parallel or Service duty Parallel Thermoset 1,2, or 3 grade level. Service duty indicates Not Hard Usage, while most round cables (SExx, SOxx, or SJxx) are designated Hard Usage or Extra Hard Usage.
The primary construction deficiency you will find with Parallel cables is single layer of insulation. Hard Usage cables have insulated wires inside an insulating jacket.


Dishwasher: Can my ground wire be exposed?

Residential Dishwashers are connected with a cord. The ground wire is the most important wire because it is intended to keep people safe from shock hazards. Unlike the NM cables (romex) that runs throughout your home cords come with an insulated ground. Some dishwashers have a ground wire and some have a grounding screw that the green wire of the cord needs to connect to. The main thing here is to make sure you are grounded. Grounds come insulated and non insulated but they both preform the same function. Insulation on a ground wire is intended to keep that wire from touching live parts or electrical systems. I am not sure how your dishwasher is connected. Does it have a cord that plugs into an receptacle or is it connected to a piece of romex?


Chemical drain cleaning - acid, base or something else?

Many of the commercial products are buffered in some way to try and reduce the impact on metals, since DWV plumbing may commonly be made from copper, brass, lead, or iron, as well as plastics. In the USA, aluminum is not, to my knowledge, a common drain pipe material.

Sodium hydroxide (lye) is primarily of use against grease based clogs, as it turns the grease to soap. Of course, it only turns the grease it contacts to soap, so if it flows past the clog it will only affect a small amount of a grease clog.

Boiling (or at least very hot) water is another approach, though it is not an approach to use on a toilet (commonly sealed to the base with a wax ring.) Adding sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) or sodium carbonate (washing soda) can add some of the saponifying effect that lye has while being much safer for you than handling lye.

In general, if you have cleaned out the trap and still have a clog in the drain lines beyond the trap, mechanical means (a drain snake) are much more likely to solve the problem than chemical solutions.

Hair is, by far, the most common component of most clogs. There are some drain cleaners which purport to be specifically formulated to attack it - from what I recall, independent test results were not encouraging, perhaps because hair in a drain clog is coated with a variety of other substances. Physically removing it works.

Acids can indeed affect metal pipes badly - I've recently seen a copper drain line where 25% of the diameter was just gone due to acid corrosion.


What should I use to overlay a particle board subfloor in my mobile home?

If you do in fact have only the 3/4" particle board now, you should not consider it structural. Therefore, I'd use 3/4" (23/32) tongue-and-groove OSB, which is standard as a basic single-layer subfloor in new homes. In areas where you want to install vinyl or other flooring requiring a prepared surface, use 3/4" t&g BC plywood to avoid the need for additional underlayment.

If you actually have MDF (or some other high-performance pressed-particle product), which has more structural integrity, I'd consider a 1/2" or 5/8" BC, with the joints staggered from those of the MDF. You won't save a ton over the OSB (it may actually cost more), but it'll result in less of a height difference and has a nicer finished surface.


Triangulation is the answer here. The flex and twisting that you see is due to the fact that the rectangles formed by the legs, top and shelf supports are able to parallelogram easily. The long lever arms of the legs are easily able to distort the joints you created even with two screws.

There are a number of methods you could use to correct the problems.

You could use more of the 2x2 material to create angle members from one top corner of each of the rectangles to the opposite bottom corner. If properly secured at the ends the angle member can resist the racking that is currently happening. One angle member works for racking in both directions because the 2x2 material can work up in both a compression mode and an extension pull mode. You may want to avoid adding an angle brace across the front because it would impede the use of the shelf even though it would add additional bracing to the table.
You could cover some of the rectangle surfaces with a thin sheet material like plywood, Masonite  or OSB. This would significantly reduce any racking that occurs in that rectangle. Of course you have to attach this material at multiple points around its periphery. Material on the back and sides should be more than sufficient. One suggestion would be to use peg board material for these sides as you could utilize those surfaces for hanging things.
Another solution that can be used is to use thin steel banding material to create the triangulation. Since such material is only effective in an extension stress mode you would need to apply two such bands on each rectangle surface as a large X across the corners. This material is often available in a roll that has holes at regular intervals along its length (a.k.a, plumbers strapping) that could be very easy to add to your existing structure by using short screws to attach it to the wood members in each corner.

With any of these ideas you want to make sure to use a framing square to ensure that the leg structures are at right angles to the top before securing the braces, panels or banding.


Chest freezer failed to freeze after plugging it back in

With newer refrigerants (since Freon was banned), the seals on the moving parts in the compressor will sometimes dry out and leak if left off for long periods of time. It MIGHT work to recharge it and see if the seals swell up and seal again, but if the seals cracked, it will not, then you have wasted the money for the recharge. Most technicians will simply tell you that it isn't worth doing from a risk/reward standpoint.


Should I use 12/2 or 12/3 to wire a 220V electric baseboard heater and thermostat?

I'd use 12/3 -- that way, the neutral is there if you need it (for built-in outlets for instance), and you can use standard color codes.  (Just about ALL /2 NM is black/white/bare.)


Use of 8AWG Cu in 1"ID grey PVC buried for 120' on 50 amp circuit

Note: All block quotes are sections from NFPA-70:2014 (aka 2014 NEC)
1st problem: 8 awg NM can only carry a max of 40 amps
NM is treated as a cable assembly with 60°C conductors per 334.80 even though the individual conductors are typically rated at 90°C:

334.80 Ampacity. The ampacity of Types NM, NMC, and NMS cable shall be determined in accordance with 310.15. The allowable ampacity
shall not exceed that of a 60°C (140°F) rated conductor. The 90°C
(194°F) rating shall be permitted to be used for ampacity adjustment
and correction calculations, provided the final derated ampacity does
not exceed that of a 60°C (140°F) rated conductor. The ampacity of
Types NM, NMC, and NMS cable installed in cable tray shall be
determined in accordance with
392.80(A).

This means that the max 8 awg NM cable can carry is 40 amps per table 310.15(B)(16)

2nd problem: NM cannot be used underground
The underground conduit is a wet location per 300.5(B) and NM cable is prohibited to be used in "wet or damp locations" by 334.12(B)(4)

300.5(B) Wet Locations. The interior of enclosures or raceways installed underground shall be considered to be
a wet location. Insulated conductors and cables installed in these
enclosures or raceways in underground installations shall be listed
for use in wet locations and shall comply with 310.10(C). Any
connections or splices in an underground installation shall be
approved for wet locations.
334.12(B) Types NM and NMS. Types NM and NMS cables shall not be used under
the following conditions or in the following locations:
(4) In wet or damp locations

3rd Problem: A run of 120' may have too much of a voltage drop for 8 awg conductors feeding 50 amps
Depending on the length of the branch circuits fed by the subpanel, even if the 8 awg conductor is rated for the highest allowable ampacity like THWN-2, the voltage drop may exceed 5% at the end of one or more circuits over a 120' length. This problem is not strictly a code violation to my knowledge since it is not a safety hazard (it comes from NEC guidance in the form of an informational note in 210.19(A) quoted below), but rather can adversely impact the performance of tools/appliances fed by the circuits with such a large voltage drop. For this reason, I would strongly recommend upsizing the conductors to at least 6 awg THWN with a 50A breaker or upgrade to 8 awg THWN and downsize to a 40A breaker if 40A suits your needs for this subpanel.

210.19 Conductors — Minimum Ampacity and Size.
(A) Branch Circuits Not More Than 600 Volts.
Informational Note No. 4: Conductors for branch circuits as defined in Article 100, sized to prevent a voltage drop
exceeding 3 percent at the farthest outlet of power, heating, and
lighting loads, or combinations of such loads, and where the maximum
total voltage drop on both feeders and branch circuits to the farthest
outlet does not exceed 5 percent, provide reasonable efficiency of
operation. See Informational Note No. 2 of 215.2(A)(4) for voltage
drop on feeder conductors.

TL;DR
There are several code violations and code is primarily developed to ensure safety. You may also notice suboptimal performance from whatever devices are hooked up to the outlets fed by this subpanel if you draw more than 40 A from the subpanel. It also seems like this work was done by someone who is unfamiliar with code; I wouldn't be surprised if there are other less obvious code violations and safety hazards. I would recommend calling in an electrician to rework this subpanel installation to meet your needs for it according code. I would also recommend calling in someone to inspect the other visible portions of the wiring (junction boxes/outlets) after the subpanel.


Will I trap moisture in the concrete of basement walls and floors if I seal them with epoxy?

Would moisture be trapped? To some extent.
Is it bad? No, once concrete has been mixed and started to cure, keeping it moist helps it get stronger and this effect can go on for a long time. In no case will it ever make the concrete weaker. See the graph at the end of this URL:

http://wgbis.ces.iisc.ernet.in/energy/water/paper/drinkingwater/wellsconstruction/appendix4.html

There are some who say the concrete in the Hoover Dam is still curing.

There is no need for concrete to breath from the point of view of the strength of the material. There will be moisture retained from the original mix and it is possible some are confused about the chemistry of concrete and think it needs to dry, but the truth is the complete opposite of that.


Vaper barrier for kerdi lined shower walls

Kerdi is your barrier if properly installed it will stop water from migrating. I don’t recommend a barrier behind green board it is better than standard sheetrock for moisture but sealing it may cause more problems than can be gained. A good quality exhaust fan with the lowest noise or Sones will do be the best way to go.


Adding 50amp box directly beside electrical panel

Can't do that, regional variations are not going to allow that much of a basic violation of standard practices in any region where NEC/CEC applies at all.
You need a chunk of conduit here. If it's steel conduit, you can have 3 wires instead of 4, since the conduit is the grounding conductor in that case.
That covers 1&2&3.
For 4:
You can use an "old work" box in drywall, but I would not advise doing that with a 50A receptacle/plug given the forces involved in plugging/unplugging those monsters. Surface mounting a box on the face of drywall is unusual to say the least, and would still be a problem from the plug-force point of view. You could screw a board into the studs and mount a box on the face of that, but it would be cleaner (given that your panel is flush-mount) to just remove a chunk of drywall, drill your hole, install blocking between studs to mount a box, install your conduit and box, replace and patch the drywall, and have a flush receptacle solidly mounted.
If you were planning to drill through the stud from inside the electrical panel, that's a Very Bad Idea and I suggest you think about why that might be and then not do that.


Is there a specific type of motion detector for use in long hallways?

If you are able to wire in a device at a height of 7' on one end of the hallway, you can use this Lithonia Acuity HW13 Hallway Sensor that will give you a straight line range of up to 130 feet.

When choosing a motion sensor, I usually take into consideration the motion angle and the square footage of the detector. We use 180 degree detectors in our hallways.

Here is a diagram of motion light switch that covers 180 degrees at up to 900 sq. feet. It would cover appx. 16.9 feet in either direction and up to 16.9 feet in front of it with an overall square footage of 900 square feet.


Your photo is not all that helpful but it appears that you are attempting to screw the new unit into a part off of the old one.  You should remove that part that is sticking out from the disk and get to the standard plumbing stub that is coming out of the wall.  That is where your new shower head should attach.

I have no idea what that circular plate is doing.  Is it a part of the new one or the old one?  Some better photos of what you received from Amazon might help here.


My second stab at answering this:

Since this is not a heat pump, I now see more clearly you have a photo that shows your blue wire connected to the coil of a contactor in the unit that is separate from the contactor controlled by the white wire but also with heavy supply wires coming into it.  Judging from the large size of the wires fed into this contactor, I believe this was originally meant to be control for stage 2 electric heat.  However, given the small gauge white wire that is connected to the load side now, I cannot say what has been connected in place of stage 2.  I can say that unless that small white wire coming off that contactor is separately fused, then it is probably a fire hazard.  I also see in the same photo that you have a lot of bare wire exposed on that heavy conductor.


What is this 2" Diameter Hole in Basement Foundation Floor?

maybe i am missing something here, but isn't that a floor drain, just with no cover on it?


Are HVAC Transformers Interchangable (if their power ratings match)

The voltage needs to be the same, and the VA needs to be greater or equal to what you have now.  If your transformer is 40VA and you replace with 60VA, that is fine.

I would stay within parts intended for use in HVAC units. Electronics supply houses will happily sell you 24VAC transformers, but they may not be listed (certified) for HVAC use.  Anyway, HVAC units will be cheaper due to being made by the millions.


Bathroom sink occassionally backs up into tub

A partial blockage allows some draining, but will backup when the water flows fast. It's not unusual.

You can clean the line with a snake - let the water run the whole time (to wash the dirt away, and keep down the smell), and go back and forth with the snake letting it spin and clean the walls of the pipe.

I also don't see a vent, but it may be hidden.


Building indoor water feature / water fountain

I've built something similar for outdoor use, but it could just as easily have been an indoor fountain. The easiest way to construct it is from pottery, preferably something non-porous.

If you go to a Garden Ridge or big box hardware store you should be able to find a good selection of pots, and it usually works out well to buy multiple sizes of the exact same style of pot so you can layer them. It is best if the largest/bottom pot doesn't have a drain hole on it. The more "falls" you have in the fountain, the more you will get that nice waterfall sound.

You will also, of course, need to get a fountain pump (also available at the HW store), and some decorative rocks to fill each of the pots. I really like the black smooth river-stone type.

You could probably also create a pretty cool effect by adding a rain chain to the design.


Are there solar lights that can be put inside existing lamps?

You could maybe buy some cheap solar lamps, and tear them apart to use guts to replace your existing lamps, but my guess is you're going to have trouble mounting the solar panels somewhere that doesn't look goofy. If you mount them away from the lamp itself, then you're going to have to run wiring (and as you said, that was not done well and has been disconnected). If you're willing to run new wiring, then you can definitely use low voltage LED bulbs, where you just need low voltage cable that goes back to a transformer somewhere (or battery + solar panel) - this is much easier and safer to install than high voltage cable (where you pretty much need to run it in a conduit anywhere underground).


What to put in 60A GFCI breakers in Subpanel?

The problem is the breaker needs to protect both the loads and the wires. There are (at least) 3 different ways your 25A heater could fail, requiring a breaker trip:

Short Circuit - That is easy. A short pulling hundreds of Amps (or whatever the service will supply) will trip a 60A breaker almost as fast as it would trip a 30A breaker. Good
Ground Fault - A ground fault will trip a GFCI breaker at very low current, no matter what the rating of the breaker is (30A vs. 60A). Good
Moderate overload - This is the real problem. If you have some sort of fault in the heater - perhaps a component starting to fail but not totally failing (because if it totally failed it would either fail open - safe - or fail closed - short circuit). BAD In this situation, you could have 40A or 50A flowing through and it would not trip the 60A breaker. But it would melt your wires and start a fire.


Gutted a basement and found a window, what should I do?

Unless the existing window is leaking, the sole criterion for judging better and worse options in this case is the likelihood of future bulk water infiltration.

The current installation is performing functionally and aesthetically as part of the building envelope. Breaching and patching the envelope is not a repair, and at best will only perform equally well with the current situation in regard to the prevention of bulk water infiltration.

From an insulation standpoint, the cost benefit analysis should factor thermal performance based on the weight of an empirically proven installation versus untested new construction and the requirement that the new construction must occur under less than ideal conditions (i.e. under a porch).

The existing window wasn't a problem a year ago. It isn't a problem now. It is unlikely to be a problem a year from now.


Is it safe to assume a wall is not load bearing if the studs are on 24” centers?

Nope...2x4 studs at 24” on center can support roof plus ceiling up to 10’ height.  2x6 studs at 24” on center can support one floor plus roof plus ceiling up to 10’ height without analysis. (See ICC Table R602.3(5).)
Without analysis means an architect or structural engineer could provide calculations to prove that they could be further apart, support more load, or be taller than specified in the Table.


Ceramic tiles on drywall on steel studs, any problems?

Movement is the enemy of masonry of any type. In this case, it depends on a few factors. How much movement? How often does the movement occur? What products were used to install the tile? What size and type of tile?

If all you're asking is whether some cracking is likely to occur, the answer is yes. However, it may be negligible from an aesthetic standpoint. The severity depends on the things I mentioned.

If you're asking how you might prevent damage, that depends on whether the wall interior is still accessible. If so, consider adding stiffening members to reduce deflection. More studs, engineered wood, heavy steel, or other devices could stiffen the wall and reduce movement.


Were gfci's required in detached garage built in 2003?

GFCI's in garages have been required for a lot longer than 2003 according to the National Electrical Code.

From NEC 1999:

  210-8 Ground-Fault Circuit-Interrupter Protection for
  Personnel

  (A)(2) Garages, and also accessory buildings that have a floor
  located at or below grade level not intended as habitable rooms and limited to storage areas, work areas, and areas of similar use.

The 2002 Code says the same thing in the same section.

If the garage was built in 2003 it should have had GFCI protection installed for all receptacles.


Do z-wave products suffer any limitations in the UK because of radio limits?

Z-Wave is not limited in UK as Z-Wave is a standard protocol, the Power Save mode CAN be enabled but is not enabled by default.


Combining Air Conditioner with Air Purifier

My wife is asthmatic and has strong allergic reactions to dust, mold and dust mites, so we deal with this very condition.

There are some 'portable' air conditioners that draw air from inside the room and cool it, while also cooling the room by blowing the heated air outside. These come with rudimentary filters, but also have the added benefit of creating a slightly negative pressure environment which can help remove allergens.

Additionally, because they are actively condensing some moisture from the room, it will additionally remove some pollutants. I know this is true anecdotally as I have to infrequently clean the condensing coils and filter regularly and they are often dark and extremely soiled.

This unit sits on the floor, and uses a plastic shroud (that must be fitted) to seal the exhaust out the window.

I believe this fits most of your requirements. Although I did not notice it at the time we purchased ours, I believe there are some models available with HEPA type filters also.


Something to catch exhaust particles made by bench grinder

Here's what I went with:

It does not look pretty, but it does work.

Many thanks to all who helped. :-)


Letter I in that diagram, the primary pump check valve, is your problem. It is either missing or not operating correctly. The water being discharged by the backup pump is draining out the inlet of the primary pump.

Also, the primary pump check valve needs to located below the wye fitting and above the primary pump like it is in the diagram. If it is above the wye fitting, then it won't work.


Installing a celling light with 2 black and 1 yellow wire

Do you have a volt meter or a way to detect which of the lines have power?
In my area one of the blacks would be hot but having 3 wires is unusual.
a switched hot goes to the brown wire or L terminal.
The neutral goes to the blue or n terminal.
I would check with a meter to see where there is voltage.
black to black?
then voltage black to yellow?
Last the other black to yellow 0 volts?
I was giving an example as 3 wires would not be normal with 2 the same color if you could take some measurements it would be helpful.
I have seen black as the hot and neutral depending on country.
If you could describe the wires coming in the box I can’t make them out clearly which ones are together etc
No one has answered probably because there is not enough information.


fence post setting regular quickcrete vs.fast setting

If the setting time is not an issue, you can certainly use normal quickcrete - or save even more money by purchasing cement and aggregate (sand/gravel/rock) and really making use of the mixer.

Standard concrete mixing practice is to mix the dry materials and then add water. Common error is to add too much water and make the resulting concrete weak, though fence post setting is not exactly a high stress job, normally.


Is it safe to use my oven with no light bulb in it at all?

Never leave a live empty socket unless it is behind a guard for safety reasons. It would be better to leave the old bulb in. Big box has replacements last time mine went out. Couple of bucks. Then at least you can check the progress of your pizzas.


When I flush the toilet it leaks between the bowl and the tank. How do I fix it?

There is a rubber gasket that goes between the tank and the bottom of the toilet.  This is sold in a kit that also includes the bolts for the tank because these bolts are almost always completely rusted and can't be reused.  Be ready to cut the bolts if the nuts will not come off and be careful not to crack or damage the toilet.

Sample repair kit

Since you are taking the toilet completely apart, it probably makes sense to also replace the fill valve and the flapper.  These are also sold as a kit for around $20.


Why is my refrigerator so loud? Can I fix this?

Here's an outside the box idea (which assumes that your main problem is that it wakes you up):

Get one of those timer plugs like they have for holiday lights and let it "unplug" your fridge while you sleep. You'll need a beefy one to handle the compressor spike when it kicks on (check the ratings on the timer plugs and compare it to the max rating of your fridge). Since the fridge door won't be opened, your food should be fine, though I'd test it the first night to be sure with a fridge thermometer. If your fridge is still cold in the morning, you might have a solution!


You’ve given most of the required information in order to size the beam. I’ll assume some dimensions and you tell me if I’m wrong.
This beam is on the second floor and only supports the roof. The roof load is comprised of Live Loads (snow load and attic storage load) plus Dead Loads (joists plus ceiling finish, plus insulation plus light fixtures, etc.)
You have indicated the snow load is about 20-25 lbs. per square foot (psf). I’ll use 25 psf. You didn’t give the span of the roof joists that rest on this wall, but I’ll estimate 12’ each side. Therefore, if half the span rests on the outside walls, then the remainder rests on the wall. So, 6’ on one side + 6’ on other side of beam = 12’. Then multiply by 25 psf snow load = 300 lbs. per linear foot (plf) snow load on beam.
The required Live Load is 10 psf in attic.  So, 10psf x 12’ = 120 plf live load on beam.
You also indicated that the roof structure rests on this wall and it’s not a truss. The Dead Load of roof framing AND ceiling framing is about 20 psf. Therefore, 20 psf x 12’ = 240 plf on the beam.
So, the Total load is 300 plf + 120 plf + 240 plf = 660 plf on beam (assuming the roof joists and ceiling joists span about 12’ each side on the beam).
So, in order to span about 11’-3”, you’ll need 6-2x8’s or 3-2x10’s or 2-2x12’s. All are pine (per your direction) with a grade of No.1 or better.
If you use Doug. Fir, then you can reduce it to 5-2x8’s with a grade of No.2 and better.
Use two trimmers at each end and make sure there’s a support (something that equals 2 trimmers) under each end all the way down to the footing.
Sizing the footing is another issue. You’ll need to make that a separate question.
If the wall does not have plywood on it to connect the beam to the trimmers, I’d use a metal post cap connector like Simpson ACE series and a metal post base connector.


When installing backer board for wall tiles, do the screws need to be absolutely flush or even pushed into the backer?

Since you will be applying thinset and tile, you have a lot more "play" in your screw head depth.  While you of course want them to be as flush as possible, the tile over thinset will even things out as you apply the tile and make them flush.

If this were drywall, the story would be different.


How much heat loss through bathroom fan vent?

You probably want to install some kind of a damper or louvers that will minimize air exchange through the vent when the fan is shut off, right? I would expect that the fan assembly itself might have a damper built into it, but maybe the housing is binding the damper. Or maybe it doesn't have one.

http://www.batticdoor.com/bathfandraftblocker.html

http://www.askthebuilder.com/bathroom-exhaust-fan-leaks-cold-air/


PVC solar 2" pipe joints degrading from ultraviolet...something I should anticipate more of?

PVC (plumbing) is not rated for sunlight exposure and needs to be painted or otherwise shielded from sunlight.

PVC (electrical) is not rated for plumbing/pressure use, but is UV resistant.

So, if you have unprotected PVC pipe in the sun, expect more problems. And paint it, though already-damaged sections may still fail after painting due to existing damage. Paint should be applied after assembly, including couplers/joints.


How can I repair screws in furniture with stripped holes?

Although similar to the tooth pick trick, a real good and solid fix it to drill out the stripped hole to a size 1/32 inch smaller than a piece of hardwood dowel. Apply a good wood glue to the dowel and tap it into the clean drilled out hole.  After the glue has dried, flush cut and sand the dowel smooth to the wood surface. Now drill a small pilot hole and re-install your screws. This should give you a strong permanent fix.


Ceiling Fan Light Only Works when Fan is On

This was the solution that worked.

SWITCH  --------->  OUTLET

Yellow  ------------>  Black

Red--------------->  Red

Black ------------> White


Single handle shower valves normally have some way of adjusting the "all the way hot" stop of the handle.  In many cases it's just a toothed plastic ring under the handle that can be moved to the next tooth or two to make the water hotter.  This is meant to be a safety feature so even if the handle is cranked all the way on you don't get scalding hot water.

Your new water heater might not be set for quite as high of a temperature as the old one, so you're two choices are to adjust the shower or adjust the water heater.  Note that adjusting the heater temp might make all the two-handler faucets hotter, so consider that.


3 sets of wires in outlet box, lights won’t turn off

You have hot wired your lights.

The light switch seems to be fed from the receptacle below it. (Cable C) So, the white wire on the switch should be re-identified as a hot wire with black, red or blue tape. It is now the hot feed to the switch. If this wire comes from the receptacle below it should also be re-identified there. The black wire in that same cable is the return leg from the switch. Your lights (Cable B) should be fed with the switch leg wire not the hot wire from the panel, and the neutral from Cable A.

In the receptacle box you should have a hot feed to the receptacle as one cable of the cables. (Cable A in your post.)

It sounds like the other cable (cable B) feeds your lights somehow. Strange way to wire it but from what you said that would be why your lights are now on all the time.

If you connected all the blacks and all the whites together in that box the lights would be on constant and the breaker would trip when you turn on the switch since it would now be a dead short. Since you didn't connect Cable C the switch does nothing at the moment.

Good luck and stay safe!


How does this sink faucet handle come off? (no visible screws)


Why is the fridge water line popping out of the connection when under pressure?

Make sure that the pipe is inserted into the valve as far as it will go before you tighten the compression fitting - it would only slip out if not properly tightened against the ferrule.

Two other recommendations:

Get rid of the piercing saddle valve and install a ball valve (1/4 turn) that has either a compression fitting or is soldered in place.
Scrap the plastic pipe and pick up some 1/4" flexible copper supply line.

The first is more important.  The piercing values are usually not to code.  They can be difficult to turn off (not good in the event of a leak), and often the pierce does not make a  large enough of a hole for adequate water flow, which can result in ice making problems and slow water dispensing.


Single Dimmer for multiple lights each having a one way switch

Trivial, but it won't work as you'd like with common gear

You can have a dimmer controlling some number of lights.  You can also have a switch interrupting each individual light (at its simplest: a "pull cord" on each fixture). The switch needs to be downstream of the dimmer (between the dimmer and light).  It should switch the hot wire only (unless you are in the Philippines, then follow local code).

However, how well this works will depend on the type of dimmer used.

If you use cheap, common, bog-standard leading-edge or trailing-edge "Triac" dimmers (98% of what you'll find in the home improvement stores), then brightness will be irregular.  Switching lights on and off will change other lights' brightness, possibly significantly, and you may need to readjust dim levels as you switch lamps in and out.

If you want to avoid that, you can pursue other technologies:

Commercial grade 0-10V dimming.  A dimmer sends a 0-10 volt signal on 2 additional wires to each fixture. However the price will give you sticker-shock.
Low voltage LED "PWM" dimming.  The signal is a "duty cycle", or what fraction of the time the signal is "on" versus "off".  This can be sent directly as power to the light, or a signal to an amplifier circuit at the light.  This runs on 12 volt or 24 volt DC, and all this tech is available dirt cheap.  IKEA has systems based on it (their lamps are a great source). Leviton or Lutron actually makes standard form-factor wall dimmers that do 12/24 volt PWM. Meanwell and GE make respectable power supplies. And while we normally warn you away from the sea of cheap Cheese junk out there on Amazon Marketplace, eBay and Alibaba, it's a lot less dangerous when it's 12/24 volts (and I admit using that myself).
Smart light bulbs.  In this case you have the smart bulbs talk to the hub or whatever... and command the bulbs to any brightness you want via the smart system, which you control via a variety of methods.

The 0-10V system can easily control lights on multiple circuits; that is to say, the dimmer does not need to be upstream of the light switches.  The same is true of the PWM system if you use amplifiers


There are still toilets with bowl heights of 14.5 - 15.5". It seems as though Kohler (among others), like to advertise their "Comfort height™" toilets. However, they do offer toilets in all height ranges.

Standard height: 14 1/2" - 15 1/2"
"Comfort height": 16" - 17"
ADA Compliant: 17" - 19"


How can I tell if a given roof vent is still active, connected?

One thing you can do regarding the question if it an active part of your plumbing is to turn on your water sources one by one. While water is running down the respective drain put your ear to this unknown vent pipe top and listen for the sound of running water.

One way to make this process efficient is to have two people talking on cell phones. One person is on the roof to listen at the pipe. The other person operates each sink,  toilet or washer in turn while communicating with the person on the roof.

Of course use common sense safety strategy climbing to the roof, especially if it is particularly steep of high from ground level.


New construction windows in historic district

Yes, I think your plan is correct if you mean to shrink the rough openings. I'd be careful to only shrink as far as necessary, though. I'm very familiar with Andersen 400 series windows, and I think you could incorporate the outer vinyl-wrapped jamb rib into the width of your current casing. This means that you may only need to shrink your rough openings 3/4" or so.

At my previous home, circa 1956, I did work like this using 400s. I laid 3/4" thick vinyl stock over the mounting flanges and caulked it to the vinyl exterior jamb rib so that they appeared to be a continuous unit, with the rib protruding about 1/4". Actually, I caulked it to the window, the wall, and the J-channel and used no other fasteners. It looked nice and worked well for the decade I was there.


How to wire switch for outside motion sensing light

Here's what you need to know about motion sensors.

They already have a light sensor, and already won't turn on in daylight
They need time to get acclamated. Interrupting power breaks that.
When you connnect power to a motion sensor, it turns on for several seconds.

The motion sensor needs 24x7 power, not interrupted

A motion sensor needs power 24x7.  A motion sensor needs to scan the environment repeatedly, get a sense for what "normal" looks like (and it may not be its first view), store that, and compare it to future scans.

Meanwhile the motion sensor's daylight sensor needs to calibrate itself to what day and night look like in the light location.  It's not a matter of absolute lux - a light in a northern exposure in forest may see lower lux by daylight than one at night in an urban environment with street lights, traffic headlights and city glow.  The sensor needs a day-night cycle or two to calibrate, and then it needs to store that data.

Your timer setup, designed to switch off plain lamps, is constantly cutting power to the motion sensor.  Which does what, anyone? Anyone? Bueller?

Wipes out the motion sensor's memory. Now the motion sensor acts like a fresh install.  First, it turns on regardless for a few seconds, to inform the installing electrician that the unit has good power.  Then it falls back on factory settings for day/night lux until it learns (which it can't). It hasn't really had time to get clean scans of the area, it just sees this angry customer and has no idea if that guy is always there.

Sensor before switch?

The simple fix is to put the motion sensor ahead of the switch.  The motion sensor has power 24x7, does its happy thing, and has no idea you have "cut the lamp connection" downstream.  This only works on motion sensors with neutral wires.  Oh wait.  The timer needs power too.

This just doesn't work.

You have them wired in "And Logic", meaning light turns on if timer and sensor call for it. That can't work.

It is practical to wire "Or Logic", meaning the light turns on if either the motion sensor or timer calls for it.  Motion sensors (with neutral) are happy being one of several things that turn a light ON.  That's just not very useful.

Remembering that motion sensors already have light sensors and won't turn on in daylight.

Make up your mind

So really, this comes down to "junk the timer+switch" or "junk the motion sensor".

Honestly, motion sensors work fine if you give them an opportuntiy to settle in.   Too many restless consumers don't, because they don't  realize what's going on.  Bypass (and eventually junk) the timer and switch.

Alternately, the timer would probably make a lot more sense if you had a plain light on it.  Intermatic's steel chassis equipment is Good Stuff, if you junk it, disassemble it with respect and sell it on Craigslist.


Connecting 2 switches to single power source

Partial answer so we can knock out the easy part.
Grounds are super simple.
You do not need to run ground wires to switches if the mounting screws go through metal. Those ground via the mounting screws to the metal box.  Any ground pigtails on the switches can be capped off, as long as the switch has a metal yoke. (where the screws go).
That doesn't work for receps, unless they're "self-grounding". It looks like that GFCI is self-grounding.
Therefore, all that's left to do is make sure every wire coming into the box is connected to the metal box. I see a generous 6 ground screws, so 1 per screw and you're done with grounds.


Toilet weak flush. The water in the bowl swirls, but it didn't flush stuff into the pipe

There are 2 things that could be causing your problem. A partially plugged drain slowing the water. Or a plugged vent that is not allowing the water because a vacuum is being created.

For me, when I have a slow drain like this I will use a toilet auger to make sure the toilet it self is clear (had a kid flush a dead light bulb and did not find it until using the auger, which broke the bulb).

If the auger makes no difference, I pull the toilet. It's not that hard, just a bit messy. Turn the water off, disconnect & flush the toilet. A shop vac is handy here to remove reaming water. Remove 2 bolts anchoring the toilet to the floor. Lift the toilet, and now you can see the drain and possibly the wax seal on the flange (or on the toilet).  I use rubber gloves and a small putty knife to scrape off the old seal. Was it centered?  It could be the problem if not centered.

At this point I run a snake down the line, and I also examine what I can see. Has somebody poured grease down the toilet? Found that quite a few times, but usually the snake fixes the problem. In rare cases, I have found a dead squirrel in the vent line and a bird's nest but a plugged vent can cause problems also, but usually other drains in the bath also have problems if this is the case.

Once the line is snaked clean, I press a new seal on the toilet (I like the ones with the urethane core but a solid wax ring is cheaper, just a few bucks). Place the toilet back on the flange and put the 2 anchor bolts in. Connect the water and give it a try.

Chemical drain cleaners usually don't work well on toilets because of the large volume of water and if the water is slowly draining it won't be in contact long enough to do any good. After my troubles with a flushed light bulb I now auger the toilet because that one cost me hours to figure out. The bulb was stuck in the toilet trap. And water would run slowly but not flush.


Three way switch with intermittent light functionality

The switch likely has nothing to do with it.

Sounds like you need a new ballast. Or in the era of efficient LEDs, possibly a new fixture, if you care to upgrade.

I used to have a dying fluorescent fixture that was highly humidity sensitive - it would start reasonably on dry days, and take minutes or hours on wet days. There's an LED there now ;^) More light, less watts.

The 25v reading may indicate a bad neutral connection somewhere between the switch and the panel. What's the reading between the wires that are at 125 & 25 relative to ground? 100V, 150V or something else? It may also be the result of inductive coupling between wires and a meter that does not load the line much (induced voltage, which would drop to zero if any amount of current were drawn from the wire, but modern meters don't draw much current at all.) Essentially two parallel wires acting as a low-grade transformer.


If I'm interpreting your pictures correctly, the cable you show is the one that went to the old light/fan. If that is the case unless you purchase a two function or three function switch as described in your installation instructions and run at least a 14/3 or 14/4 cable with ground you're not going to have separate controls for the light, fan and automatic humidity control.
With what looks like a 14/2 w/ground you will have to wire all three functions to your one single pole wall switch. That means when you flip the switch on, the light and fan will turn on together but you will lose the automatic humidity control feature. The black wire you see is for the light, the grey is for the fan and the brown is for the automatic humidity control feature.
The only other option from what I see is if you can run a new cable to the fan. Adding another switch doesn't help unless you have at least a 14/3 w/ground or 14/4 to include the automatic humidity control supplying the fan/light.
Edit
If you have only three wires (black, white & ground) going from the wall switch to the fan/light and you can't run another cable you might want to consider returning it and getting a simple fan/light setup that will work like your old one. Right now you're paying for features like the timer and humidity control that you can't use.


Is it possible to transmit a decoder's UI over Wifi instead of using an HDMI cable?

Rather than use WiFi, you can use a specific transmission system.  These are known as videosenders or digisenders.  I use a German made system for sending the signal from my Sky satellite box to the television in the bedroom.

They are available in the 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands.  For the HD that you require I suggest that you would need to use the 5GHz variant.  You will also need to ensure that the version you buy has suitable input connections for the feed that you can provide.

All videosenders have a backchannel for sending signals from the remote control to the box downstairs.

They are quite common in the UK, there is some information here but it refers mostly to the 2.4GHz variety.


My eq-3 Bluetooth Radiator Thermostat CC-RT-BLE is just showing "UPD". How can I "unbrick" it?

The official statement is that if you have no calor BT app that is currently paired, you are lost and should return the device to the dealer as broken.

However, there is a way out - the following steps are written for a Linux environment but probably can be adapted to other OSes:

Install a current (!) VirtualBox and VirtualBox Extension Pack for USB support
Blacklist btusb module and possibly more specific device drivers like ath3k if it applies to your system to keep the Bluetooth USB device unoccupied (revert this later!); give chmod a+rw permission to the USB device file under /dev/bus/usb/xxx/yyy, see lsusb
Install RemixOS in a VirtualBox VM, add a USB device filter to expose your Bluetooth chip to RemixOS
Install calor BT on RemixOS, run it at least once
Determine the device Bluetooth address: Open the device by unscrewing the four screws, then gently pulling the turning knob outwards, remove the cover; locate the "ADDRESS" QR code printed on the front of the circuit board; scan the QR code to retrieve the Bluetooth adress in form M001A22XXYYZZ (I had to take a picture, crop it and then run the QR scanner on the image); the Bluetooth address then is 00:1A:22:XX:YY:ZZ; replace the cover, again gently pulling the turning knob outwards, turn it to make it fit the turn encoder; screw the cover
Manually set up the calor BT configuration to address the bricked device. Save this as container.json, replacing all XX:YY:ZZ by the address determined above:

{"clients":{},"devices":{"00:1A:22:XX:YY:ZZ":{"availableFirmwareVersion":null,"firmwareVersion":null,"groupId":"17f51411-4be0-4155-98f6-9a03bbde5681","groups":[],"id":"00:1A:22:XX:YY:ZZ","label":"Device","lastStatusUpdate":0,"lowBat":false,"unreach":false,"updateState":null,"operationLockActive":false,"temperatureOffset":0,"valvePosition":null,"type":"HEATING_THERMOSTAT"}},"groups":{"17f51411-4be0-4155-98f6-9a03bbde5681":{"channels":null,"devices":["00:1A:22:XX:YY:ZZ"],"homeId":null,"id":"17f51411-4be0-4155-98f6-9a03bbde5681","label":"Room","lastStatusUpdate":0,"lowBat":null,"metaGroupId":null,"unreach":null,"activeProfile":null,"actualTemperature":null,"boostDuration":0,"boostMode":false,"controlMode":"AUTOMATIC","maxTemperature":29.5,"minTemperature":5,"nextSwitchPoint":null,"profiles":null,"setPointTemperature":17,"windowOpen":null,"windowOpenTemperature":12,"type":"HEATING"}},"home":{"absenceEndTime":"","absenceType":"NOT_ABSENT","availableAPVersion":null,"clients":[],"connected":false,"currentAPVersion":null,"deviceUpdateStrategy":null,"ecoDuration":null,"ecoTemperature":0,"groups":["17f51411-4be0-4155-98f6-9a03bbde5681"],"id":null,"lastReadyForUpdateTimestamp":0,"location":null,"nonAbsenceGroups":[],"pinAssigned":false,"powerMeterCurrency":null,"powerMeterUnitPrice":0,"timeZoneId":"","updateState":"UP_TO_DATE","dutyCycle":null},"metaGroups":{},"weather":{"temperature":0,"weatherCondition":"UNKNOWN","weatherDayTime":"DAY"},"homeGroup":null,"inboxGroup":null}

Maybe use http://www.jsoneditoronline.org/ to edit this.
Now, install this configuration inside RemixOS: make sure the VM is shut down
Mount the RemixOS VM image, first making the VM image available as a block device (using qemu-nbd from qemu-tools):

modprobe nbd
qemu-nbd -c /dev/nbd0 --partition 1 <path to RemixOS.vdi>

Now mount it: mount /dev/nbd0 /mnt
Copy container.json to /mnt/android-2016-06-30/data/data/de.eq3.ble.android/app_data/ (might vary depending on RemixOS version)
Unmount the RemixOS image:

umount /mnt
qemu-nbd -d /dev/nbd0

Boot up RemixOS; run calor BT; go to "Room", then "Device", then "Update firmware"
Firmware should be transferred (showing moving bars next to "UPD" on the device), then rebooted, device is then going to "InS" mode, turn it off and on again to enter date setup, etc.

If this fails during firmware transfer: Keep trying, set the VirtualBox USB mode to 3.0 - I had to try really hard to get this done.


What should I do about an above grade cinder block basement wall that is wet?

I have had this problem. The block on my basement wall was not sealed. When it would rain for a very long time it would eventually saturate the block and start to soak through. The blocks would fill up with water and it would take weeks to dry. Use seal or paint to seal the block that is exposed to the weather and it should help.


Cap off hot water from bath with two pipes

The temperature limiter is a TMV or Thermostatic Mixing Valve.  It will have two inlets and one outlet.  One inlet is for hot, and the other is for cold.  So, it would appear that what you have is two colds and one hot.  The cold water pipe is probably split somewhere before you see it coming out to supply the cold side of the faucet and the TMV.  The inlet and outlets are normally marked somehow, and it should be apparent if the outlet is going only to the removed fixture or continuing on to another fixture as well.

You should be able to cap off all the pipes without affecting any other fixture if the outlet only supplies to removed fixture.

In some cases (in the US anyway, it appears you are in London) the hot water can come up to one fixture and then go back into the floor and continue on to the next fixture.  In this case, the two hot water pipes would need to remain connected to each other, but it doesn't seem like this is what you are seeing.

Based on your new picture: Yes, the output of that is only supplying that one sink.  You should be able to remove the limiter and cap all the pipes coming up out of the floor.  Mark the hot and cold pipes somehow to help out the next guy.


Replacement of plywood on open deck above garage

This is not going to work.  Plywood moves less than normal wood, but it still moves.  It will be impossible to seal the joints between the sheets.

I would use ordinary plywood or chipboard, cover it with a waterproof membrane (probably EDPM), and then cover that with something else (stone chips, decking, whatever).


In my garage can a refrigerator and a separate deep freezer be plugged into the same outlet

You'll want to find out how many amps that circuit provides and, if possible, how many amps or watts each unit can pull. In terms of watts, a 15 amp circuit gives 1800 watts, and 20 amps is 2400 watts. If your fridge and freezer aren't crazy old, there should be a label inside the door that tells you this. My freezer says it's 5 amps and my younger fridge says 3 amps (for comparison). Older devices may vary, depending on the size.

To find out how many amps that plug can give, plug something like a lamp in and flip breakers until it goes out. That breaker will tell you how many amps it is.


I see no problem with that.  The wall below takes all the weight. All you need is something to keep the joist in place and from falling over.  Hangers would certainly do that.


Should oil, spirit or water based stains be used on Medium-density fibreboard (MDF)?

I really like using a sealing primer like Bin's  Bulls Eye. this is a pigmated shellac based primer that can be sanded smooth as glass. It cures very hard, blocks any stains well and is an excellent base for topcoats. For a top coat, you can use a couple of coats of good grade latex gloss or semi gloss (personal preference).  If you want a really hard protective finish, let the latex paint cure for a couple of days and overcoat it with several coats of WATER  based urethane.


I would use caution with whatever you do there is particle board behind that and if it swells up if it hasn’t already it may be tough to repair without a commercial steamer.
I have used a damp towel and an iron to fix flood damage like this. The trick is to get the veneer damp and hot it becomes almost like pasta noodles I then use a wood glue and saturate the back side (the wood glues I use are water based).
After glueing and making sure I have enough weight pushing on the surface to hold it let it dry slowly a fan can help but don’t add heat that causes the veneer to  pucker unless really clamped.
I have used this method in both homes that the kitchen flooded and to recover some 20’s furniture that the owner wanted fixed.
With a little patience you may be able to bandaids this, I say bandaids because I have not had good luck with particleboard after a flood.


Is polystyrene safe to use as a wall of a grow box?

30 degrees is fine, otherwise you'd be seeing melted polystyrene containers everywhere, especially around coffee machines..
The sheets can soak up water so it will need water proofing.


Michigan is too broad a geographic area. You need to contact your local Authority Having Jurisdiction (AHJ) and ask. (You'll usually find them at city hall, in the building permits department.)


Seeking a way to operate a Laundry Dryer when I'm not using my Kitchen Stove/Oven

Bad idea.  Those large NEMA 10-50 connectors are not  made for frequent use. Because of the very high insertion force, they are actually much more fragile than you would assume.

Also, you are almost certainly dealing with old 3-prong NEMA 10 ungrounded connectors.  Dryers or stoves connect via an exception in the electrical code, in which they are allowed to bootleg ground, tying the machine chassis to the neutral wire.  This is dangerous because if the neutral wire ever breaks, it will electrify the machine's chassis!   The logic is "these connectors are unlikely to fail because they are rarely unplugged“.

See a problem?

An additional problem is that dryers are made to be matched with 30A breakers, not 40A or 50A.