I replaced the plug in the garage and arced. Now I some plug work and some do not?

I cannot comment as I am too new to the forum. When you say you arced the wires do you mean you caused them to arc flash? If this did happen your breaker should have tripped. Also are these lights on the same circuit? Were these lights switched on when this arc occurred? Was this arc between a live and earth wire?

I would try switching all the breakers off and back on as I've known breakers to stick, where they look like they are on but they have actually tripped. I would also suggest checking the bulbs of these lights, if they were on at the time you could have burnt the filaments out or blown the leds dependent on the type of bulbs because an arc causes a surge of current which can cause bulbs the 'pop'. This definitely should have caused the breaker to trip otherwise the breaker is not fit for purpose and should be assessed by an electrician.


Cleaning a dryer vent with a sharp elbow

I've had good luck with the brushes that come with the Lint Eater type products you mentioned... but tied on to a piece of rope.

First step is to get the rope through the vent. I hook up a shop vac to one end and feed the rope in from the other. The shop vac will suck the rope through the vent. Sometimes tying a cloth rag to the end of the rope increases the force of the suction on the rope. When the rope arrives at the other end, tie the Lint Eater brush to the rope.

Now comes the fun part: pull the rope back out the other way, dragging the brush behind it.

Additionally, you can tie a rope to the other end of the brush before you pull it back. This lets you pull the brush back and forth a couple of times without having to repeat the shop vac trick.


How do I insulate my Laddomat 21 boiler charger?

They talk about using EPP-Insulation which is expanded polypropelyne foam:

  EPP is flexible foam that is used as a packing material for delicate electronic parts.  It is also used in the bumpers of some automobiles.  It is a rubbery material that is light in weight, yet very durable.

http://www.flyingfoam.com/FoamTypes.html

Based on that, I think you could do quite well with simply buying some basic pipe insulation

and do some creative wrapping of the insulation around the fitting, adhering it with duct tape (not directly to the device but insulation to insulation only).


Why doesn't our new apartment sink drain after the first day?

It is possible that the plumber installed a "balloon" in the drain line, in order to perform pressure testing.  The plumber is supposed to remove the balloon after the pressure test is accepted.  On rare occasions, the plumber forgets to remove the balloon.

The plumbers hired by my homebuilder made this mistake.  It took days or weeks for the balloon in our drain line to cause the sink to stop working.  During this time, we had increasing amounts of gurgling, cross-talk between sinks, and slowing down of drain times.  A competent, third-party plumber we hired was unable to find the problem.  The builder failed to identify the problem on their first visit(s).  Both the builder and the third-party plumber guessed (incorrectly) that relocating and/or replacing a "Studor valve" might fix the symptoms.  Eventually, the builder's punch-list/final clean-up guy identified the real problem, but only because the balloon was located in a cleanout whose trim work was done improperly.

Studor is a brand of air-admittance valve, or AAV.  These valves are used in some jurisdictions when it would be inconvenient to vent a plumbing fixture through the building's common plumbing vent stack.


What you can use is roll on roofing, here's some information. The issue with a coating, like a thick paint type of thing, is that joist in the plywood sheathing, there will be differential movement, especially in the vertical direction (in and out of the sheathing face).


What's the name of a mortise lock that uses no key?

The word you want is "passage" - passage sets are made for hallways and closets without locks.  So if you search for "passage latchset" or "passage mortise latchset" you should find what you need.


You cannot just replace the lamp, you also had to replace the coil so it matches the power of the lamp. Sometimes you had to replace even the starter with a matching type.

LED lamps available in shops typically don't have more than a few thousand lumen but you could look for LED retrofit lamps for street lighting on the net. They are available for E27, E40 and other sockets, too. Of course you had to remove the coil and the starter from the lamp fixture then.


Can I insulate my soffit vents in the garage for the winter?

Definitely close off the ceiling rather than plugging the vents, IMHO.

The "fanfold" insulation [typically 1/4" X 4ft X 50 ft - R1 possibly some thicker versions available, on a quick look around - thicker would of course be higher R-value, as well] intended for use under siding (and sometimes roofing) might be another option, in larger sheets (less joints to seal.) More than just vapor barrier...and it might support more serious insulation (just not too much) above it.

I presume that you recognize and accept that until you do drywall over it, this (or vapor barrier, or XPS sheets, etc...even exposed fiberglass, to an extent) is a fire hazard. In a similar situation, I'm putting my effort towards getting the drywall on the ceiling so I can insulate the heck out of the ceiling - a 5000W heater does not go very far, otherwise. Specifically, 5KW * 3413 btu/kWh = 17065 btu/hr (input) - .vs. 720 sqft (30x24) of R1 (1 Hr x sq-ft x degree F/BTU) ceiling would only net you 23.7 degrees (F) (17065/720) above outside ambient if that were the ONLY place heat was lost (floor, walls, doors all infinitely insulating, and zero air exchange - obviously an incorrect assumption - just illustrating the point.)

If the walls are 8 ft high, amounting to 864 sq ft, plus the 720 sq ft of ceiling, and we assume that all are insulated to R11 (optimistic for many garage doors and all regular doors & windows - but low for most modern walls and ceilings) the same 5KW could heat to 118 F above outside ambient (but I'm still ignoring the floor and air exchange...)


Yes, you can usually reuse the jacks and cabling
Most of these points have already been touched on in the comments, but here is my full answer:
1 - The jacks can be reused as long as they are in good condition. The main thing you want to watch out for are bent pins where the patch cable (aka the network wire from your computer) plugs in. There can be bent pins that don't affect the 2-wire phone cable but that will affect the 8-wire network cable.
2 - While you only need 4 wires connected for standard networking, if you ever use Power-over-Ethernet or some higher-speed connections (which admittedly may need higher quality wire) then you may need all 4 pairs. I normally (and for many years now) connect all 4 pairs routinely to future-proof things.
3 - You can basically just pull the wires off the jacks, cut off the existing end (just the last inch or 2) to have clean cable, strip more of the outer jacket if needed and then punch down.
4 - The key is to use a real punch tool such as Cable Matters 110 Punch Down Tool with 110 Blade . More $ will get you a better quality tool, but if you use it for just a few jacks then anything will work fine and will work a LOT better than trying to use a screwdriver.
5 - T568A or T568B doesn't matter. Just make sure you do the same on both ends.
6 - Your router or switch needs a separate home run to each device. Ideally you will put that where both cables terminate in one location and that way you can connect a computer at each "phone jack". Alternatively, you can put the router (and other devices connected directly to it) next to one jack and use a patch cable where the two cables are together to go from one jack to the other and put a computer at the other location. Quick ASCII art:
1 --------------------------------- 3
2 ----+
      |
      |
      4

So either router at 1/2 connecting to both 3 & 4 or router at 3, patch 1 to 2, computer at 4.


Your #1 and #2 have a deep relationship so let's answer those together. Your GFCI has a LINE and a LOAD side. The LOAD side is protected by the GFCI. As long as your electrical device is not in an area it would directly come into contact with water (i.e. inside the shower/tub), and is attached to the LOAD side of the GFCI, it is compliant. In other words, it isn't just a good idea to hook it to the GFCI, it is required by code.

Your third part is a bit confusing. The answer stands if you're hard wiring it in, or just adding an outlet the rack can reach. As a matter of course, I would recommend wiring up an outlet rather than hard wiring the rack. If something happens to the rack, you still have a functional receptacle, rather than a strange box with capped off wires and a blank face plate.


Wiring smart switch, confused about mishmash of wires in wall box

That appears to be a very straightforward setup, with neutrals in the box. You may well lack grounds at that era. You could have had switch loops, but don't appear to in this box.
Following normal procedures:
Unswitched Line Power coming in on black to the hall switch, fed from the hall switch to the outdoor light switch.
Switched power from hall switch out on red.
Outdoor light switched power out on black, split three ways.
Neutrals joined.
If two switches in a single box are joined, that's nearly always going to be the unswitched power to both.


Water leaking when we are away for a few days

(Not going to be as helpful as I'd hoped, but maybe helps you think of something you hadn't thought of)

Since you mentioned the kitchen is right below, I'm going to assume finished walls/ceilings and that you can't easily trace the pipes(or maybe you're lucky and it's a drop-tile ceiling?).

I've heard of a few ways to find a leak, but they almost all involve being able to reach the pipes - either to spray something like dish soap on them and watch for bubbles or put an improvised stethoscope(flat-head screwdriver, usually) to them so you can listen for the leak.

I've had both tub/toilet gasket go and not be obvious for a few days (wood subfloor wicked the water to about 4ft away in both cases), so that might be something to consider too.

Either way, there's a pretty good list of steps to try here:
https://www.plumbingsupply.com/how-to-check-for-leaks.html
Most of it depends on having access to the piping though.

Having said that, unless the local plumber has a camera s/he can fit down the copper pipe (?), they're going to have to make holes too...


Does "stacked switch with two separate legs, one 3-way and one dimmer" electrical part exist?

Here is a double 3 way it will work single gang double 3 way it will work for your needs except the dimmer. One switch used for 3 way and only 1/2 of the 2nd switch is used for on off. Ok dimmer it gets a bit more expensive as you will need this style retro double digital you will also need a second switch single gang that can talk to this one similar to this single dimmer. I have not used a double with a single in the past so double check that the single wont affect both on the double.


How to mount a 1/2" UNF drill chuck on an angle grinder with M14 thread?

Make sure that your drill chuck is indeed a 1/2"-20 UNF thread. Because threaded drill chucks come in several variants (source):

3/8"-24 UNF thread
1/2"-20 UNF thread
5/8"-16 UNF thread (or maybe that should be 5/8"-19 UNF?)
M12x1.25

If it's indeed a 1/2"-20 UNF thread, here are several options, using varying amounts of commercial parts and DIY:

Buy the required adapter. They are rare though, but you can try your luck with one of these:

Milwaukee 4932430464 (also here) ("Winkelschleifer-Adapter M14 für Lochsägen-Gewinde 1/2"x20", GTIN/EAN 4002395381258)
Festool 484291 ("M14 Stirring Rod Adaptor 1/2", GTIN/EAN 4014549088500) Discontinued product, but still rarely found, like here.

Combine a male/male adapter and a nut. So, you buy a "M14 male to 1/2"x20 UNF male" and a long (40-50 mm) M14 nut. For the thread adapter, you can try get hold of any of the following:

Ruko 108115 ("Adapter mit Gewindeschaft M 14 für Bohrfutter mit Artikel-Nr. 108 116", GTIN/EAN 4007140077967)
Festool 769150 ("Adapter MA M14-1/2"x20")
Collomix Adapter 1/2" outside – M14 outside
Eibenstock Adapter 1/2" to M14
Make your own, by welding M14 and 1/2"-20 UNF bolts back-to-back, with their heads together.

Weld a 1/2" UNF bolt into a long M14 nut, and cut off the head of the bolt. But that could be difficult to get perfectly straight.
Cut off the M14 bolt from the angle grinder, and weld on a 1/2" UNF bolt instead. This could also be difficult to get perfectly straight when rotating, and "damaging" the angle grinder will not be acceptable in most cases. Except where you have one to spare, or it's just the angle gear from a broken angle grinder that you are building an adapter for your power drill from.
Or use your lathe. If you have one around :) to make the adapter.


Using fire retardant sealant for low-voltage cables through walls

If you don't run conduit, you won't be able to pull wires with a pull string going through holes in studs anyway. So you might as well firestop them (or run conduit and firestop around the outside of it.)


Will my new adhesive-backed cork tiles adhere to my existing sheet vinyl?

I can't answer for certain, but adhesive is still adhesive (no different than laying vinyl on top of vinyl), so I would assume (possibly incorrectly) that the adhesive is similar.

I can only say what I would do if this were something I was going to try -- my thought would be to clean first with a good degreaser, then with vinegar and water so that I had an extremely clean surface.

I would only consider this if the old vinyl is smooth on the surface. If not, I would approach it just like when laying vinyl over vinyl, following the recommendations from Lowes to use a coat of embossing leveler with a straight-edged trowel.

Once completely cleaned and with a smooth surface, I would lay the cork.


What is the proper method for repairing insulation nicks in wiring?

Electrical tape can insulate a splice all on its own, so this should be fine

UL-listed thermoplastic electrical tapes are intended to be the sole insulating means on a splice or joint (the White Book says as much), and are tested for their capacity as an insulating material, so using them to repair damaged wire insulation within a junction box should be fine in practice, even though neither the NEC nor the UL White Book speak directly to this use of the product.


Can I use existing telephone wire as a pull for new cables?

It depends. If it was installed originally, it should be stapled, in which case you can't use it. If it was fished through the wall after the fact then yes you should be able to pull using it.

I would recommend pulling polyline first and then pulling the new cable through, along with another piece of polyline.

The cable will stretch and break if you pull to hard, and if it goes around hard bends it will very next to impossible to pull all the way through, so you might still end up needing to cut some access holes to use as pull points.


Can I use quarter-turn ball valves with compression fittings or threads for my water shutoff valves?

Yes, we typically are recommending 1/4 turn ball valves for valves that are not used very often.  This would include sink stops, laundry stop, and main shut off.  However each of those requires a unique solution to replace them per circumstance.

The hose bibs we would not recommend a 1/4 turn ball valve as ball valves are not designed to be used often and should not outlast a globe valve which is typical on hose bibs.  Also, if you have freezing temperatures at times, ball valves for hose bibs are inherently not frost free.

A push fit type fitting with rubber gasket (shark bite) for the supply side of the main shut off is generally not a good idea as they are not a very robust connection for something that is always on, does not have an easy means of shutting off (to some people), and is usually hidden.  All other locations should be good for a push fit type fitting however I would not personally recommend them else where either if you can avoid them.

In general, if it is a sweated connection, I would keep it sweated or threaded; and only resort to push fit (again, shark bite style) fittings if you have to.  Example would be the water is not shuf off completely with the main and city shutoffs off and you cannot get the water away from the connection long enough to sweat; in cases like these we have resorted to a push fit connection.

Also, there is another common type of connection, a  compression type connection, that utilizes a brass or plastic compression piece to "squish" around the pipe and seal things; these are usually very reliable but are only readily available on certain types of valves.

For the main, I would recommend someone properly sweating in some sort of solution even if you need to hire it out.  Many times we convert to PEX for simplicity and speed but we still sweat on the adapters on either side of the conversion.

The other locations are not typically sweated connections and should be easier for you to replace as a home owner with a good set of plumbing tools and sealants.  Hose bibs many times are actually sweated and again, we sweat on an adapter farther back and usually convert to PEX.


What is mortar doing on the roof????  you mean brick siding up to the roof or on the chimney?

Regardless, adding  mortar dye will not weaken the mortar if used properly. I would bet a paycheck that the contractor forgot to add it and is covering his butt. A good contractor would have discussed any concerns with the customer before doing the work. To use a different colored mortar on a repair where visible, sounds pretty incompetent to me.


Would two 70 pint dehumidifiers work as well as one 140 pint unit?

You crossed the line into industrial

I immediately noticed that a search for 70 pint dehumidifiers yielded the usual consumer tier listings... Target Walmart CostCo Home Depot etc. Different deal for 140pt. It gave my local heating /cooling contractor, damage response companies, and industrial suppliers.

So you have made a qualitative leap. From Yukon to Humvee.  This also affects what the customers are looking for.

The consumer product wins when you put it in your cart, what happens afterward hardly matters.   The industrial product wins then it has lowest total cost of ownership.
the consumer unit is built no tougher than it needs to be to be parked in a corner for five years. The industrial unit is designed to be dragged around to job sites every day.
the consumer unit is absolutely designed to work on lowest common denominator mains power,  probably 120V at 12A max.  The industrial unit,  all bets are off. It's assumed a lot of equipment will be in use at that job site,  and someone will be managing electrical loads.
it is also assumed that very dirty power will be on that job site, possibly from a generator,  and so the unit will be built for that, and also will have no compunction about creating dirt on the lines.
as part of the "total life cycle" mentality, the industrial unit will be repairable for considerably less than the cost of a new one. This maintenance may be required.   The consumer unit, into the trash it goes.
industrial units are often deployed with pusher fans to circulate humid air to the unit, so one unit can service a large area. It is sized for that. A consumer is unlikely to do such engineering or desire it.
the consumer unit factors for consumer sensibilities in style, efficiency and noise.   The industrial unit, nope.

These factors, rather than cost, should guide your decision.

Nothing wrong with arrays of cheap expendables;  Google won the search business using numerous cheap beige box PCs while competitors used top tier DEC and Sun systems. Google was forced to learn to adapt to constant hardware failure.


Everything in my house vents into the ceiling cavity. Should I change this?

In an apartment building they may have deliberately designed that area to function as a plenum space. That design would -- one hopes -- include selecting/arranging building materials that could tolerate the moisture these fans would pump into that zone.

In your house, it's less likely that folks made the appropriate effort.

Rot isn't the only issue. At best, more moisture in your insulation will mean it insulates less well than it should. I don't know enough to have any valid opinion on whether the fact that you have the spinners to help actively encourage airflow will make up for that.

Personally, I'd say either fix these to exhaust to outside, or at least spend a bit of money to get an expert opinion on whether you can get away with not doing so.

(One of my bathroom vents exhausted into the attic. My inspector, an old-timer, grumbled but didn't actively recommend fixing it. My insulation contractor took one look at it and said "I'm fixing this.")


Can POP (Plaster of Paris) and Paint done without waiting

POP (plaster of paris) achieves full hardness in about 12 days at STP.  but for your purposes its entirely cosmetic.  you should be able to very safely paint 24 hrs after installation.  give it an extra 24hrs on the ceilings to be safe.  you can help things along enormously by using a dehumidifier to speed up the curing process


Water Heater electrical installation to breaker box

For a typical 240V tank style water heater you will need a 30A/240V circuit. No neutral is required.

You CAN use the white wire as a hot going to the breaker for a straight 240V circuit such as this. You just need to mark it as a hot conductor with a permanent marker or such. You can use any typical hot color such as black, red or blue. You DO NOT need to use a red wire.

Now....you ask "Can I install the red line to a second hot breaker". This implies there is a red wire in the cable. If this is the case then yes, you must use the red and you can just cap off the white in the water heater since it is not used.

You CANNOT simply use a "second hot breaker". You MUST use a two-pole breaker for a 240V circuit as previously mentioned.


Switching old light switches with new ones

The wire going between the switches is the hot wire. Verify you still have a hot as if this is missing none of the switches will work.


PVC is not rated for and not safe for compressed air service, with the limited exceptions of "if buried in the ground or completely screened in wire mesh to catch the shards."

It makes lovely shrapnel - it has injured people. Nice and cheap until it costs you something more dear than money.

Here's a 480 PSI (water, not air - no PVC is made or rated for air service) that worked for 15 years and expired at 175 PSI (air) or less.

Link for the above picture. The writer of the link may have "learned" the wrong lesson - even at lower pressures, the pipe degrades and fatigues in air service, and fails in a fashion that is dangerous.

An OSHA link from 1988.

A pipe manufacturer page

Some more reading/experiences/etc...


You should make sure the door and the window are caulked all the way around the trim.

Sometimes painters neglect to caulk the tops of windows which eventually leads to leaks.


Options for replacing mortise lock with keyless lock

There are certainly mortise-form-factor smart locks; I installed one of them last year. They tend to be commercial-grade rather than home-grade; more durable and able to handle more complex programming but also more expensive.

At one point several manufacturers were offering smart mortise cylinders, which did a digital handshake with a powered key to make the key extremely difficult to duplicate. Thay would install into your current latch mechanism. But I presume that isn't what you:re looking for.

If you were a paying customer I'd ask you to be more specific about what you need and then do a search thru the manufacturers. A full-time locksmith would be more aware if current product lines and would find the answer faster.


Repair bottom plate rot in bathroom interior wall

Best to remove the tub as there may be more, but if you can see the rot, and reach it without the removal of the tub, then I would say fix it up. Just make sure to seal the replacement and the area around it just in case the rot does actually go deeper than you can see.


What's the best way to waterproof a concrete structure for a tropical climate?

I would use the HRWR admixture to help seal the concrete. Alone, it might not be the best roofing solution, but it's well worth the minor cost for the extra protection.

The biggest problem that I heard was foot traffic. Normally I would recommend EPDM, but I'm not so sure about foot traffic. This sounds more like a terrace, in which case, silicone cement is most commonly used.

However, something like a layer of asphalt would be more durable. This could be layered over steel. I would consider using coal tar (sealer) on top of the asphalt (which works better than bitumen/petrol tar) for shedding water. However, using coal tar is against roofing codes (causes cancer) in most of the world.

But one alternative that was not mentioned would be a green or living roof. I don't really know much about the materials involved, but in a tropical climate, it might be best to just go with the flow (in a sense). Fighting the elements can sometimes be harder than working with them.


How do I determine what supplies to buy to insulate an attic?

Actually it is quite simple.

Take your dimensions of the area to be covered.  Example: 25 feet X 20 feet = 500 square feet.

Determine what kind of insulation you are going to use. Fiberglass blanket, blow in cellulose, etc.  Blanket is easy, select the R-value type you need, look on the package for how much area it covers.  Example; a package covers 88 sq ft. (typical).  Divide the area to be covered by the amount in a package  500 / 88 = 5.68  or 6 packs.
You may have to double the amount if you want to double the r-value of the product.  Example: two layers of R-22 give you R-44. (R-40 and above recommended for attics)

If you are considering blown-in cellulose, consult the chart on the bag to determine the amount needed for the R-value you want to achieve. The chart will have amount per square foot factors you need to determine how many bales it will take for your area.

Use "Propervent" panels, the air flow baffles you asked about, only if you have vented soffits and either a ridge vent or gable end vents. These must be installed before you add the insulation. They simply rest down on the soffit vents and staple between the rafters.

There are no special tools required to install blanket insulation. A good utility knife, blades, straight edge, dust mask, eye protection and maybe a cheap tyvec bunny suit. If you are considering blow in, you can rent the machine at many places including Lowes or HD for around $25 or less if you buy enough insulation from them.
If you give me the exact specs and dimensions you want, I can calculate the material list for you.


What types of tubing can I use with Push-to-Connect fittings?

You need to use tubing that is rated for hydrogen gas. McMaster-Carr may have some. Likely you'll have to use stainless steel or an exotic plastic like teflon. Normal hardware-store tubing will react, possibly violently, when used with such fluids/gasses in them. If you're cracking water into hydrogen / oxygen, that line will need to also be customized for carrying mostly pure oxygen.


If the bathtub flange is too proud of the studs to allow the backer board to fit acceptably, the studs should be shimmed out so they are even with the flange.  If the manufacturer of the tub says so (and they probably do), the backer board should go over the flange.  Find (or make) some wood strips of suitable thickness, and glue or staple them to the studs above the tub flange.


How do I remove the stair treads from under the stair skirt in order to replace just the tread?

The skirt board will be difficult to keep intact by removing it. In an older house, the treads will be face nailed through the top surface, most likely in 3 different rows, 1 at each edge and a row in the middle. The best route to take is to split the tread lengthways to reduce it to narrower widths to pull smaller pieces from around the nails that are holding it in place. There is a strong chance there will be a few nails going into the riser as well, split the tread there first and release those nails, and pull them out. Split the tread next where the next line of nails are and remove that one and its nails.
Do this until you get about 1 1/2" from the riser going up, you may have noticed by now that there are nails going into the back edge of the tread. Carefully pry the last piece off and rotate it out of the pocket left by the notched skirt board. You may be able to back these nails out with a hammer, but you may be able to cut them off and set the remaining "nub" below the surface with a nail set. This should cleaned down to the bare wood so the new tread will be glued to this, and the left over nail shanks will get in the way.
Another method to use, which is a blend of what I described above and another technique is after the nails in the riser at the front of the tread are found and removed, locate all the nails, or at least some of them, and using a nailset with the end, the same size as the nail holes, (most nailsets come in 3 different sizes) drive the nailset into the spot where the nails are, setting them deep, very deep... all the way through the tread deep, deep enough to split the tread in the way I described above but not using chisels or prybars, although they may be handy here too. Remove the split wood as it comes loose.


How can I attach a safety gate at the bottom of the stairs?

Could you attach a board to the wall, that spans the distance between the stud, and your ideal hinge location for the baby gate?   For an example of what I'm talking about-- as well as plans for a cool parallelogram baby gate-- see the following:  http://woodgears.ca/home/baby_gate.html  (Note I am not talking about the gate at the top of the stairs, that you see at the top of the linked page, but rather the gate at the bottom of the stairs.)


How to get a new tumbler pattern to re-key existing locks?

You can have a locksmith rekey the locks, or you could even do it yourself with a rekey kit. To do this the cylinder will be removed, and the pins within it either replaced with different ones, or in theory they could just be swapped around. After this, the old key will no longer open the lock. You will need a new key. This must either come as part of the rekey kit, or one could be cut based on the new pin arrangement in the cylinder.

Do it yourself rekey kits are available for some lock brands online.

Schlage has a rekeying manual online that you can read and decide if it is a task you want to tackle or to leave to a locksmith. I would expect a locksmith to do it fairly inexpensively if you're able to bring the lock sets into the shop.


Drilling weep holes in your foundation can create additional problems.

Water problems around the foundation can be caused by: 1) High watertable, or 2) surface water runoff.

1) If you have a high watertable, a perimeter drain is a must. (Depending on the size of the house, we may run a few drainlines under the house too.) If water is in the crawl space and the drainpipes are not deep enough to collect the water, then weep holes through the foundation wall MIGHT be appropriate.

2) If water is collecting around the perimeter of the foundation, weep holes are NOT recommended, because water will run into the crawl space.

Btw, cinder blocks have voids and can fill with water. Weep holes will allow the water to drain out, but should be installed through the outer shell (face) only. Installing a hole through the inner shell will allow the water in the cells to drain into the crawl space.


Plumbing jacks without cover on top, is it normal?

Plumbing vents (in the USA, anyway) are normally not covered.
Rain will end up the same place as any other wastewater in a properly built system, and does not amount to much, given the size of the pipe.
Animal entry is not unheard of, but is rare. In the unfortunate event, they also normally end up (dead) where the wastewater goes - I've see a sewage pump jammed by one - exactly once. Not a common occurrence.
The vent freezing up in winter is one reason NOT to put a cap on it. That becomes much more likely with additonal restriction and cold surface for frost to form on.


How do i remove mineral deposits from a toilet's rim jets?

Found an even better article a few years later, again:

The best way to completely clear the rim jets is to plug each jet with plumbers putty, pour acidic toilet cleaner into the overflow tube located in the toilet tank, and let the acidic cleaner sit for a while and dissolve the build-up and deposits. After a few hours, remove the plumbers putty and flush several times. Finish the job by scrubbing with a brush to remove any leftover debris.

Older answer
I just happened across this comprehensive answer a few years later.  Here's the content:

You can test the toilet by pouring a 2-gallon bucket of water directly into the bowl. If the water swirls and goes down and stays down, then the jets are probably clogged.
You can repair this condition yourself with a little effort and a $20 bill. You will need a gallon of calcium, lime and rust remover, sold under the brand name CLR (at most home stores), a 1-quart soft-plastic container (metal might scratch the ceramic inside the bowl), a plastic bucket, rubber gloves, eye protection and a well-ventilated room. Use a portable fan if you have to. Wear a long-sleeved shirt and pants to protect your skin from the chemicals. Read and follow the safety directions on the CLR container.
First, turn off the water supply to the toilet. There should be a shut-off valve on the wall or floor under the tank. If not, turn off the water supply to the home. Flush the toilet, then drain and sponge out as much of the water as you can find from both the tank and the bowl.
Next, remove the tank top and the rubber flapper valve at the bottom of the tank. Start the cleanup by pouring all the CLR into the tank. It will fill the bowl as it enters and starts to clean the jets. Using the plastic container, scoop up the CLR from the bowl and pour it back into the tank.
Keep scooping and pouring, and you will start to see flecks of mineral deposits inside the bowl. At some point, the CLR may start to foam as the chemicals react with the calcium and lime, and you may notice an acidic odor.
Leave the room or use the fan and venting to avoid breathing the fumes. When the air has cleared, continue to scoop and pour until you see the CLR running out of the jets freely.


Should I COMPRESS fiberglass OR use foam insulation?

If you use anything Use foam, fiberglass gets its R value in the volume.
The block wall actually has an R value, I think when I poured my shop walls there was foam on outside and inside and I think the wall was rated at R 50. Since you have a solid wall I might just have an air space. As 1” of foam is expensive for the R value and the air space is actually an insulator. I would base my choice on the r value of foam panels vs the cost.


How do I clean mold off my bathroom ceiling?

White distilled vinegar works great. Just put it in a spray bottle and spray on to the moldy surface. Wait an hour and then wipe down surface with water. I used to use bleach but it only really works on non porous surfaces.

Does your bathroom vent well? Try to determine the cause of the mold and fix it. Also, don't let it build up until the next inspections. good luck.


What type of home security system does not expose cameras to hackers?

One that is not connected to an internet service.

Additionally, you can make sure the cameras are behind a good router with a firewall.

Don't shop at Wal Mart, look for a good security camera system that doesn't use an internet service monitor your system.

You should monitor the system unless you want to hire ADT or a similar reputable service.

Good luck!


How can I tell the handedness of a bolt?

The torque on the bolt is highest when the blade is engaged. Be careful when thinking of this since as the blade is engaged and accelerates, the blade itself—due to the acceleration (or resistance of that acceleration by the blade itself)—wants to "slip" in the opposite direction. This "slip direction" should be the direction that tightens the bolt. So then loosen the bolt in the same direction as the blade rotates.


How can I acquire or create a replacement latch for my service panel?

My solution was a small piece of stick on velcro that secured the door when it was closed, and then released the door with a small tug.  As it was placed on the inside of the door it was not noticeable when the door was closed, and it was also thin enough that the door looked properly closed.


How to clean a calcified bathtub outlet that I can't dismantle?

If you can't remove them, you can use lemon juice or vinegar. The challenge will be to soak those filters without the liquid going everywhere.

If the seal around the faucet is good, I'd probably get a small container and some putty and cut the bottom of the container so I could place it over the faucet.

Use the putty to temporarily seal around the container and then fill it with lemon juice, vinegar or a commercial decalcification solution so the filters are covered.

Then just leave it for a few hours - this should work very effectively.


Single switch with 2 lights, not in series


How can I prevent my clothes dryer door from fogging up?

I went through this recently with my girlfriends dryer.   Here is what I learned:

Her outside vent hood seeped rainwater, not much but enough
Her ductwork had a tiny amount of lint which soaked up the rainwater
Her “outside air” ducting for the all-electric central heat and air system damper didn’t open all the way causing the air to be drawn from and through the dryer ducting.   The moisture in the ductwork lint was drawn into the clothing left in the dryer.   (Her house is new and sealed very tightly!)

An additional clue something wasn’t right was indicated by the exterior vent for her kitchen cook stove - it “rattled” when the air conditioner ran!

Solution:

Replaced the dryer ductwork and exterior vent.
Disassembled dryer and cleaned entire dryer ductwork path
Cleaned the central air exterior air feeder pipe, cleaned the exterior dampener
Replaced furnace filter.
Cleaned a/c condensate pipe (ran hose water through it until it was no longer
draining “green” water)
Fixed her supper on the Weber charcoal grill.

She is happy now.  The dryer no longer “stinks” from the “wet lint” smell, her clothes remain dry and her air conditioner is working better.


Looking for a large pull-down hinge mechanism

Cables, Pulleys, and Counterweights would probably be the easiest and most effective way to DIY a shelf to be raised into/lowered from a skylight without extensive fabrication abilities.


Sanding screen vs Sandpaper for hardwood floor

I have years of using both.  I have no scientific data or anything like that.  If I had big pieces of lint/whatever stuck in polyurethane then I would use a sanding screen.  If I had a large area of issues I would use sandpaper.  A screen will allow you to knock out things that are not flush with your surface while leaving your surface in tact - see @DA01's comment.

What I am not sure about the comment is for fine sanding.  Yes screens are great when finishing off drywall mud when you have a few bumps but they are really good at any point where the area you actually need to sand is a small percentage of everything.  Screens are for when there are imperfections littered over your surface, sandpaper for the whole surface (think divots and air holes).

I find that sandpaper is more precise, and i feel that screens last longer and pick up more mistakes.  This is scientifically proven because I use screens a lot and my drywall pros never do.


wood studs that would block the air duct from going directly

I assume you mean straight down in the wall with the mirror on it. I can see the top plate of the wall behind the mirror, and it's doubled. That makes me think it's a load-bearing wall. I could be wrong on that, and if I'm right you'd be taking a big risk in modifying it. So my best advice would be to consult a professional on this one. You don't want to risk compromising the structural integrity of the house.
If you do want to go it alone, to give you a direct answer, and assuming it's load-bearing: The wall is holding up the joists above it, and what's important is that they remain supported. So you'd need to a) cut the top plate in such a way that the part you remove is entirely between two joists; do not under any circumstance leave a joist with nothing under it, and b) place a stud at each end of the opening you create, so that the top plate and the weight it's carrying remains properly supported.
But again, I strongly recommend a pro in this instance.


Can I level floorboards with metal or rubber washers?

Shimming a floor is the wrong way to get it level, it creates lots of pressure points that will result in cracking and more leveling problems in the future.

If the joists are unlevel, you need to sister on a new joists to the side that is level. It should extend well past the unlevel section or to the next load bearing structure.

If the subfloor isn't level, then you need to put down a self leveling compound (you'll find it with the cement in the big box stores) Take care to mark the location of your joists before putting this down, and make sure any holes are patched or blocked off ahead of time since this will flow right through them.

Also note that this will make a surface level, not flat, so it may not be the best solution if the entire floor is out of level. If you need a flat surface on an unlevel floor, you want something thicker than the self leveling compound (possibly thin set, though I have no personal experience) and a long straight edge to spread it evenly between any high points.


I have had moisture problems many times with gas furnaces. Some furnaces gas lines have a drip leg after the shutoff valve, this leg is a 4-12” leg going down that is capped. This is there to catch water and rust from getting into the valve.
If no drip leg moisture gets into the valve and the moisture hangs the valve up and a drop of water on a orifice can stop the gas flow since the orifice is small and water is ~200x denser than air.

Moisture can be the issue if you do not have a drip leg it may help to install one if you have a drip leg turn off the gas prior to the leg and clean it out to see if this helps. I always use gas rated pipe dope and a bubble solution to test for leaks after cleaning.

This if moisture is the issue once dried out the valve will usually operate normally or have for me , I lived at the bottom of a long run and had to clean my drip leg several times a year.


Why is there sand/gravel under clay tile In a toilet room rather than concrete slab?

The floor was probably installed over the main/original slab using a "dry pack" method, wherein a sand and cement mixture is mixed to a stiff (but not wet) packable and slopeable consistency. The flood likely compromised the integrity of the dry-pack.

After careful tile removal, you may be able to use a wet mortar mixture to resurface the original floor. I would, however, worry about moisture underneath.


How should I connect my replacement 3-way switches?

First off, the wiring of the existing setup looks totally normal as depicted in the diagram.

It looks like you can use these new switches in the current wiring setup. But first it is necessary to understand the connections of the two right cables shown in the upstairs switch box. One of these goes off to the light fixture and the other is the incoming power cable.

Cut the power at the circuit breaker box and make 100% sure that the power is off with a non-contact circuit tester. Also good to verify with a volt meter as well.
Remove the twist on wire connector that joins the two black wires in the upstairs box. Also remove the black wire that connects to the current upstairs switch Common terminal. Make sure you position all the wires so that they are not going to touch and are safely away from any other terminals or the electrical box and grounds. Next step is to identify which of the two right most black wires comes from the power panel circuit breaker and which one goes to the light fixture. The safest way to do this is to use a wire tracer tool from the light fixture box. The alternative, but less safe, is to temporarily turn the power back on and use a volt meter to see which of the two black wires becomes energized with the AC mains voltage. Once determined turn the power back off and/or remove the wire tracer. Mark the correct cable as LIGHT and the other as POWER so as to not confuse which is which.
You will use the AUX switch in the downstairs location. Remove the old switch and connect the new one as follows: Red to Traveler terminal - White to Neutral Terminal - Safety Ground to switch ground and Black will be capped off and not used.
The RELAY switch will be used in the upstairs location. Remove the old switch and then follow the steps below to connect the new relay switch.
Note that I will refer to your two right most cables as the LIGHT cable and the POWER cable as you determined and marked in step 2. As drawn in your diagram the left cable is the one that routes to the downstairs switch box.
Connect the white wires of all three cables together along with a white pigtail. This will be a wire nut that has four wires in it. These will now connect the neutral of the incoming power cable to neutral for the upstairs switch, to the neutral return from the light fixture and neutral for the upstairs relay switch on the pigtail.
Connect the other end of the white pigtail to the Neutral terminal on the relay switch.
Connect the safety Ground from the relay switch into the three ground wire connections in the box from the three cables.
Connect the red wire to the Traveler terminal on the relay switch.
Connect the black wire from the marked POWER cable to the Line terminal on the relay switch. This should connect to nothing else.
Connect the black wire from the marked LIGHT cable to the Load terminal on the relay switch. This should connect to nothing else.
The black wire in the left most cable will not be connected to anything and should be capped off.

That should do it. You can double check your work, mount the switches to the box and restore power to the circuit.


Hanging large TV and media cabinet on cement block covered with drywall

The walls of standard 8" concrete block is only about 1-1/4" thick, which is not much depth for embedment for expansion type anchors.  For this reason I think it's safer to use a toggle of some kind in block.

I find this type of toggle is easiest to use and will work fine even with drywall and hat track on top of the block:

The one in the picture is branded "Snaptoggle" but there are many brands.

Although 1/4" toggles would probably have enough strength to mount the bracket right on the block, I'd bump up to 3/8" toggles to compensate for the gap.


Bought a US appliance and powered directly off Aus mains, is it boned?

Does the device have a transformer or similar internal electrics?

If so there's a very good chance you've burnt it out. The fuse only protects against excess current - not incorrect voltage.


Goodman GMNT100-4 Unit- Blower Motor Works for Air But Not the Heat

Check to see if the HEAT terminal on the circuit board is getting energized when the blower motor should be running.  If the motor is getting power, but not spinning, then there's a problem with the motor. If the motor is not getting power, then there's a problem with the circuit board.

If the motor is getting power, but not spinning, it could be:

A bad connection between the circuit board and the motor
The wrong motor lead landed on the HEAT terminal (but that would likely just spin the motor at the wrong speed)
A bad motor capacitor (Probably not if A/C works)
A bad motor winding

If the board is not energizing the motor terminal, it could be:

A bad timer
A bad relay
A bad circuit board trace


You probably want an epoxy based filler such as Bondo.  A variety of manufacturers have a version of this.

These products are a little more complicated to use than traditional wood fillers, but they are pretty impervious to moisture once they harden.  You need to mix small batches that can be used in a few minutes. Nitrile/latex gloves are a must.

Once done, better than wood or MDF for durablility.


The way you insure that wires are left in good order when they are done, is that you do not pay the drywallers in full. If you hold off on paying them in full and wires need to repaired, the amount of the repairs will come off the amount owed to the drywallers.


Sealed in this case is weatherproof, save your sanity and use something like this:

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Taymac-1-Gang-Horizontal-or-Vertical-Mount-Weatherproof-While-in-Use-Cover-Kit-MKG410C/202284520?N=5yc1vZca29

But feel free to recess it into your house.


Installing in-wall speakers in an exterior basement wall

Never mess with basement walls. This is not toung in cheek. If you want to add wiring go surface mount! I say this from working with several homes below grade from the west coast to the great Lakes area.  Changing vapor berriors or drilling walls cutting channels are all opportunitys to create leaks in a dry basement. I am not a high tech audiophile but have made mistakes 2x in below grade wiring that caused me to have to do a bunch of work from the outside to eliminate the new leaks I created and these were on my homes, lessons learned for me I hope you don't repeat.


If the switch has no exposed metallic parts after installation—and has no ground terminal—then a ground connection to the switch is not needed.  Connect the three ground wires together (one from the power source, and two for the travelers).

If the timer has exposed metal, then there should be a ground screw.  If the junction box it is installed into is metal, ground the box by adding a fourth ground wire into the junction with the other three grounds, and screw the other end of the wire to the j-box.  Use metal screws to install the timer into the j-box:  This grounds the timer and was the standard way of house grounding up until sometime in the 1960s.

If the j-box is not metal, but the timer has some exposed metal, run a ground wire to it and fasten it securely somehow.  (Maybe add link to a photo of the timer for better advice.)


The type of siding shown in your picture is most often used to serve as both the siding and sheathing all in one. A common term for this plywood material is T-111 plywood.
You would do well to check your house construction to see if there really is a second sheathing layer. If you find that the T-111 is nailed directly to the outside of the studs you may want to reconsider removing it. Because if you do you would have to come back at more expense to install sheathing as vinyl siding cannot be mounted directly to studs. The better strategy is to just install the new siding right over the T-111.  If you do that you can then just use the pocket trim at the vinyl ends just butted up to the deck and caulked at the join.


In Canada, NMD 8/3 is allowed for up to a 40A circuit, NMD 6/3 is required for 50 A (Actually NMD 6/3 has an ampacity up to 55A, but try to find a 55A breaker…). Sorry, Eric.

Additional info: You may find some ampacity tables that list NMD8/3 as having an ampacity of 55A, but these tables assume a 90˚C conductor temp, and the code says you need to use the 75˚C ampacity when connecting to terminals rated to 75˚C, which includes all domestic circuit breakers and the NEMA 14-50 receptacles used for ranges and stoves.


Framing an appliance opening in a load bearing wall?

I see no problem with recessing this into the wall and if it gives you more fridge for the space, do it.

Things to think about:

Just overdo it.  Buy a 2x12 from big box, cut it into the three pieces you need, put two jack studs on each side and a king, 3 cripples on top.
I would try to keep the drywall on the other side
If you have electrical you should put it in armor to protect it.
If you have a water line, I would protect it up the wall to a point - lots of ways to do this.
Make sure your fridge will lay flat.  Since you are taking out a bottom plate, thinking that will be lower than floor.  You will have to fill this in with flooring or some other stable material that will not move when pushing fridge in our out.


GFCI breaker is tripping when it rains on completely internal circuit

People who have GFCI trips are way too quick to blame the detector rather than consider it may be doing its job.

Rain is very consistent with a genuine ground fault.  Since NM cable jacket is at least modestly effective at excluding water, you should check each of your junction boxes on the circuit for water ingress. Not because of a two-bit electrical problem, but because the water is rotting out your house.

The "ground fault" part can be tested.

Regardless of load

Ground fault current will definitely be observable if you take the hot and neutral wires and tape them together (so the two wires are right next to each other) and put the clamp meter around that.  The amount of load on the circuit won't matter, since magnetic fields from normal current will cancel out (hot current and neutral current should be equal and opposite).

If the ground fault current is returning via a ground wire, you will see it with a clamp meter on the ground wire.  The amount of load on the circuit won't matter.

Another good ground-fault test is to plug in a device via a 2-prong "cheater" (takes 3-prong, has 2-prong and a grounding tab). The tab must not touch ground and the device must not touch anything or be wired/connected to anything.  If it stops tripping the GFCI in that mode,  that means the device has a ground fault.

If all normal loads are removed

If all intended loads are off, you could also clamp the hot or the neutral.

If it's a hot-ground fault, you can also spot it by putting a neon 2-wire voltage tester or other extremely small load  in series with the hot or neutral on a circuit with no loads attached. (I don't know if the fault is on hot or neutral). The current flow will make it light.

Dimmers are loads. Did they bootleg ground?

Keep in mind dimmers, motion sensors, lighted switches, non-hand-crank timers, smart switches etc. are loads themselves.  Most of them need neutral, and often, when a neutral wire is not present in the box, the installer will bootleg neutral off of ground. This is a ground fault and will trip a GFCI.  And such loads are typically so small that they are barely at the threshold of detection for GFCIs.  As such, they don't reliably and instantly trip.

Anyway, if you had any of these ground faults, then all you did by changing GFCI is get a duller GFCI (higher threshold of detection).  You should still check for, and fix, any ground faults.


You're on the right track

Since you have a suitable panel, and enough spare space in it, I would go for what you describe, using 3 6AWG wires for the 50A/240V circuit and 2 12AWG wires for the 120V circuit (as well as a 10AWG ground, if you're in plastic conduit that is).  You'll want to use a GFCI breaker at the panel for the outdoor 120V circuit, by the way, as that keeps it safe from the weather, vs a GFCI receptacle outside which can get affected by water that leaks into the receptacle box.

If you're going to do this using cables, then you can use 8/3 on a 40A circuit or 6/3 on a 50A circuit for the 240V receptacle, with a 12/2 extending into the 240V receptacle's box and spliced there to some 12/2 UF or two 12AWG THWNs in conduit to connect to the 120V receptacle.


Pros/Cons of using Adhesive on Vinyl Plank Flooring?

Floating floors are a thing because the flooring material will expand and contract over time with the environment of the house.  The subfloor is also going to move, and chances are they are not going to move in the same direction or rate.  Gluing down what is made to be a floating floor can cause joints to open up or buckle.  If the floor moves 1/2" over a 20 foot span, something has to give.

Now, for your project, you're talking about a much smaller scale.  I haven't seen the full plans of what you're doing, but it probably doesn't matter much if you use adhesive or not.  As long as the flooring isn't going to slide off the side of the particle board (rolling a chair around is going to make the floor want to slide), I don't see a reason to use adhesive.  Of course if you did use it, I doubt the expansion and contraction over the 5-6 foot area (total guess) that you have is going to drastically affect the joints.


Is it possible to make my own solar water heater?

Yes, of course. There are a huge number of well-tested DIY projects you can find here: http://www.builditsolar.com/Projects/WaterHeating/water_heating.htm

I would heavily recommend browsing that site and learning from the experience of others who have already done what you're interested in doing so you don't burn even more money.


Why is there always crud in my tap water?

Hard to know without doing some investigation or starting to take steps to address it and see where it pops out.
One thing to try, if you have not, is to flush the fixtures while the end of the faucet or showerhead is off - run 10-20 liters of water though, full-blast, both hot and cold. That should remove anything just sitting in the pipes. You might also want to turn off your water heater (depending what type it is - this is primarily for a tank-type heater) and flush it from the drain connection.
Most likely is that this is coming from the water heater, as various dissolved minerals are prone to come out of solution when water is heated. But it could possibly be coming from the street supply. A filter might address that adequately - one for the output of the hot water needs to be specifically made for handling hot water. I like the so-called "spin down" filters that do most of the filtering by swirling the water to throw particulates out, and then have a central screen - the nice thing is that they also have a valve on the bottom to remove accumulated debris without actually needing to change the filter, so they are economical and convenient to maintain .vs. filters with replaceable filters. The screens can be cleaned or replaced if needed, but they usually don't need to be replaced.


replacing dishwasher hose, which way do I turn this?

When dealing with anything threaded, the thing to remember is "Righty Tighty, Lefty Loosey"
If you want to remove the hose then you have to get a wrench on it and turn it to the left.
If you want to put the hose on and tighten in you have to turn it to the right.
If its a portable dishwasher you may be able to move it and tilt it in a position that allows you to have better access.


Possible Electrical Short After Drywall Installation

This sounds like a rather dangerous situation. The drywall installers no doubt did not install metal straps on the studs wherever an electrical wire crossed through the stud. Most likely a drywall screw or nail has gone into the stud and entered a wire that crossed the stud in the same place.

The fix for this may require a professional electrician unless you are pretty familiar with electrical wiring work. It will be necessary to cut the power to the circuits and open all the applicable electrical boxes and disconnect the various lights, switches and power feed wires. Then shorts checks can be made using an appropriate ohm meter for all the wires in the area between the boxes.

Once the short is located it will likely be necessary to remove the drywall in that area to replace the wire.

Do not leave this problem go. It sounds like you have a medium resistance short in some wire/stud crossing. I say medium because you did not mention that it is tripping a breaker. The resistive short can produce a lot of heat and could definitely lead to a fire in your wall or ceiling.


Do I need a wire clamp where a cable exits a wall?

No, you don't use those where wires enter a wall.
Those clamps are used when the wire is transitioning into a box or panel.  The purpose is to protect the wire from the relatively sharp edges of the box/panel and to prevent undesired movement after installation.


I would first ask why you removed the water meter. they are usually sealed with a type of non removable link that has to be cut to remove so the customer can not move the meter and steal water. Usually, if there is a leak at the meter you should contact the water company and they will fix the problem.. That said, if this water meter is the one supplied by the local water company, you could call them and ask if they could provide you with the correct type gaskets (leather). If they ask why the meter was removed find a credible answer that you think they will accept. I rarely saw rubber type washers used on a water meter.


What thickness, size, and quality plywood is required for an aviary floor?

A standard residential flooring panel is combination subfloor-underlayment with a 16 inch span rating and with tongue and groove edges. This is usually a 5/8 or 19/32 inch thickness. Thus the joists are spaced on 16 inch centers. The joist size cannot be determined from the information provided.

That is just a starting point. Bird droppings are very corrosive and can quickly degrade such floor panels. You should not only consider a thicker panel, but some sort of topping much more resistant to bird droppings.


With rain water only it is much easier. I am guessing that is 4” inside diameter clay pipe, I would excavate a bit more and cut the bell on the left or dig back to the next section. With both ends open purchase some flexible drainage pipe (commonly used for a French drain). Split the flex and put it over the clay and then cover the end where it is split with plastic. Then backfill and it will be fine for as long as the clay holds up. This is a small job and a heavy duty garbage bag wrapped around the split at rack end will work to keep dirt out. So you cut the end of the flex put it over the clay at each end then cover with the plastic trash wrapping snug at each end or opening. Backfilling with gravel is best but the dirt that was removed can be used for backfill,

If this was for sewer my answer would be much different but rain water it could be even something solid over the break then plastic to keep the dirt out , I have had patches like this last for quite a few years when another section failed and I replaced the entire line.


Should I use conduit for a less than 10' run of 6/3 THHN in my garage

If you have evidence of rodent damage to other wires in that location then maybe it's worth doing something more. But otherwise if using conduit is the more difficult method, I don't think I'd bother. If your garage is open framing and you can run from point A to point B in an approved NM fashion, that's the way to go. Nail a plastic 2 gang box to a 2 by and run the #6-3 NM. BTW I think #8-3 NM would've been OK for that circuit.


Running a series of LED lights I have questions on 12 v power

While @cde 's comment is noteworthy, I try to answer your question as good as possible.
One note: the right word for the things providing power to LED-lighting systems is "LED driver" in the US and "electronic control gear" (ECG) in the rest of the world. Naming it transformer leads to confusion. I'll use "transformer" here, for consistency, though.

Option 3 will yield the probably worst result. 112 ft will pile up astonishing 35 A current on your wires. While gauge 12 is sufficient to bear that load without causing fires, it will suffer a significant voltage drop of up to 1V at the end of all striplines. This means you may encounter dimmed or even no light output from the most remote LED striplines.

Option 1 suffers the same drawback but not to this extent.

Option 2 is probably the best option for minimized power loss and homogeneus light output.

You do not write if all your 8ft tubes are adjacient, so there may be significant cable length to add for the calculation of a voltage drop.

I'll try to summarize some general advice for your situation.

If you can, mount the transformers as close as possible to the LED strips in a 12V system.
Compare prices. Single huge transformers do not necessary save much money compared to smaller ones. Smaller transformers can be placed closer to the LED and in confined spaces.
If you have to run long lines with high light output, switch to 24V-Systems. Transformers are smaller, you can chain more LED-strips together and you can use longer and thinner cables to connect your LED-strips.
Pay close attention to the specifications of LED-strips and transformers. In most cases a 12V transformer for halogen lights is incompatible with LED-strips. You need a LED driver or ECG (electronic control gear) specifically designed for LED lighting.
consider using retrofits, as cde suggested. But you have to pay close attention if they meet all regulatory laws in your country. There are plenty retrofits on the market which pose a fire hazard or hazard of electric shock to their users.


How can I remove skunk smell from house?

I have used that mixture with good success.  Make sure to wipe down everything that the dog might have come in contact with, and I mean everything. Floors, walls, trim, doors, etc. You might need to repeat the procedure a few days later.

The skunk odor tends to linger quite a bit and you will find that it gradually reduces in intensity over time but is still evident.  Anytime your dog gets wet you smell it, likely for months!

If it is really bad and does not go away you might opt to bring in a professional cleaning company who will have stronger chemicals to deal with it.


1” conduit has plenty of room for four #6 copper THHN. Although the ground can be #8.
1” conduit also has room for three #4 aluminum XHHW and a #6 aluminum XHHW ground, if you’d like to save some coin.  The lugs are aluminum, do why create a dissimilar metal problem?
Your #6 copper or #4 aluminum may be breakered at 70A, hence my reco for that size of ground.
Having a little kitchen is like being a little pregnant, when it comes to number of circuits required!  You still need two  dedicated circuits for kitchen counter receptacles. The oven needs a dedicated circuit.  Disposal. Dishwasher. Built in microwave. Etc. The bathroom needs a dedicated circuit.  Laundry room etc. We are going through panel spaces very fast!
As such the spa panel will not cut it and you’ll want gosh, at least a 20 space... but getting too few spaces is a serious blunder easily avoided,  so why short yourself... get a 30.


With uneven work like that you will have to build up the sheetrock side I use a wide mud knife at least 12" when trying to cover uneven areas, as far as the kind of tape paper or fiberglass I use both but preferr fiberglass in this case as it helps reduce cracking. Also I would not do in 1 coat but use several thinner layers. For areas like this I will use "hot mud" because it sets quickly and in some cases as soon as the first layer is complete the starting area is dry just don't mix two much up or you may have a mud tray that turns into a brick before you get done. The last caution is hot mud is tough to sand so I will put my base coats on then a thin layer of topping mud very easy to sand but it takes a day to dry.


Why do I have to hold the handle down to flush the toilet?

First try shortening the chain, it sounds like the chain is not pulling the flapper past the breaking point (the point where it stays open on its own).

If that doesn't work, you can try replacing the flapper.


How much weight is safe to hang from a 1/2 inch thick maple board mounted to the wall?

I would use a T-nut on the back. If you are using softwood, you can usually pull the nut flush by tightening hard. With hardwood this probably won't work, instead, counterbore with a Forstner bit just enough so the nut is flush. With this method, the wood will be almost full thickness and you can re-tighten from the front if necessary.
The T-Nuts that you are likely to find at a home improvement store are designed for softwood. They might work, but there are special T-nuts for hardwood.
https://www.mcmaster.com/tee-nuts/
IMO, a T-nut and hardwood will be really strong, the weakest point will be the lag bolt pull-out strength. I would use 4 lag bolts. The top two are the most important. You want the top two lags into the stud to be near the top of the board. If the distance between the barbell downward force to the pivot point is larger than the distance between the top lag and the pivot point the force will be amplified.
There are tables to determine lag-bolt pull-out strength. You need to account for the moment arm (distance to the pivot point). If the distances are about the same, then the force on the lag-bolt will be about the same. It is difficult to tell from the pictures, but the distances look to be similar.
Be sure to account for dynamic loading, don't assume that people will always gently put the barbell on the holder. I would use 3X, so you want to support about 450 lbs momentarily.
I am having trouble finding a definitive website, but I believe that a 1/4 lag screwed into a wall stud has a pull-out of about 300 lbs. So, the top 2 lags should hold, assuming that your moment arms are about equal.

Edit: since Forstner bits are something you may not have or want to buy, you could use a spade bit for the counterbore, the hole won't be pretty, but it won't show.


The inside walls of your home will have mold spores from day 1 keeping the home well ventilated and dry keeps the mold from growing.
If you look in your attic you will probably see some black spots that’s mold.
Mold needs moisture to grow if the wall is dry it won’t grow so at this point if the area is dry there won’t be mold growing since it sounds like there was no insulation to hold the moisture.
With that information having remodeled many homes both for myself and professionally the insurance company is most likely right.
They would not want to have the wall covering to start failing when it could be a cause of this pipe failure. And further damage resulting from not doing things right the first time.
So I believe they are correct and you will have no problems.


How do I mount 20 lb speakers to drywall between studs?

They make many different types of wall anchors.  I have used different forms of E-Z Anchors for years and am happy with them.  They hold up to 100 pounds in sheetrock with their toggle lock anchors.  1 of the normal screw anchors can hold 25 pounds in half inch rock.

I am sure those brackets have more than one mounting hole?  Place on the wall where you want, mark the holes with a pencil, "screw" in the anchors in the pencil marks and attach with screws and you should be good to go.  Now, this is assuming there isn't 1/4 inch rock on the walls :-)


How many "layers" of surge protection is considered useful?

Before you even start on surge protection, look at your service entrance ground and consider adding to it if it's inadequate by current standards (it may well have been adequate by code when it was built, and still be underbuilt by current standards.)

For instance, if there's a single ground rod, you might consider adding 1, 2 or even 3 more spaced 8-10 feet apart. An effective ground is the backbone on which anything else you do to deal with surges rests - if it's not good, nothing else will work very well.

The answer I linked in the comment explains pretty much what I do, which is a somewhat layered approach. I guess I can link it again here. What does a surge protector do that a breaker doesn't?

The version of "whole house" protection I use is not a "plugs into the panel like a set of breakers" thing, so you could run a second set in a (preferably steel) junction box closer to the end-use point if you wanted to. I think they fit inside a 6x6x4 box.


New 1/4in plumbing shakes when cold water shuts off; worried?

You probably have always had the problem but adding the T made the problem noticeable. As far as I see this there are 2 problems. First the plumbing is loose and needs to be secured you may have not heard it in the past but it was there adding the T may save your plumbing because now you know it needs to be anchored. 2nd be prepared to replace the saddle valve these things are trouble waiting to spring a leak at the worst possible time according to Murphy's law. Do you need to lower the pressure NO! Pipe movement is a flow issue pressure can make it worse but why sacrifice wonderful water pressure when all that is needed is to anchor the pipe.


How do I remove this fitting on water heater T&P relief valve?

You will need to cut the PVC pipe. Because of the shape of the elbow you will likely need to make a cut just below the male adapter where it screws into the relief valve, and another on the horizontal pipe, to facilitate removal. Make sure your cut on the horizontal leaves room for gluing a fitting to the downstream side.

It might be a good idea to investigate whether or not it is feasible to cut the horizontal farther downstream on the other side of the wall, as it appears this is the second repair on the line and you will soon run out of room for future repair.

To make future repair easier you might be able to use an elbow union, you will need to assess if there is sufficient vertical distance. Also, union elbows are not very common; you may need to visit a specialty plumbing shop or order one special.


Wiring a bathroom fan/light with only one neutral wire

There are two neutrals on the fan light, because

The fan gets a hot and a neutral.
The light gets a hot and a neutral.

By giving you separate neutrals, it gives you the versatility of being able to put the fan and light on separate circuits, or other circumstance where you'd need separate neutrals.

In your case, and in most instances, both devices share a neutral - the two hots (red and black) are switched, the neutral is not.

You address this by just sticking two 6-inch wires (of the size you are using in that circuit; larger is allowed, smaller is not) in those connectors, then joining those two wires and your supply neutral with a wire nut (or splice connector if you're in Europe.)  I would not alter the fixture.


I believe that the red arrows are pointing at the tabs that actuate the spring clips in the holes on either side of them.
Depress the spring clips  by inserting a small flat blade screwdriver into the opening and press down,  then insert wire into hole, release spring clip and the tension should keep the wires snug.
I believe that there a two holes on each side so you can send another set of wires out to daisy chain  another fixture.


What is a good way to attach vent covers to ceiling vents in my basement?

You have the wrong register cover for a ceiling. The one you have is a floor register, it just sits in place. You need a register like this one that screws into the ceiling.

This will also distribute the heat more evenly.


Connect new gas dryer to an old 15/16” gas pipe

Remove the flare fitting from the 1/2" pipe and get a 1/2" hose with 1/2" FIP fittings on each end similar to the hose pictured below. If there isn't a gas shutoff valve for that section of pipe, you'll need to install one. Use pipe joint compound or gas rated Teflon tape.

Many locations do not allow people to connect their own gas appliances but require them to contact the gas company for the installation.
This is for your safety. Even if it's not required it's a good idea to have the gas company do it. They will check for leaks and the safety of other connections.


How does one determine what size I-beam is needed?

Go to college and earn a degree in civil engineering.
Take and pass the EIT Exam.
Get a job in the business of determining appropriate beam sizes for varied projects and work there under the supervision of registered engineers for 5-10 years or so.
Get the recommendation of 2-3 of these engineers and then take and pass the PE Exam.
Congratulations!  Now you are qualified to make such determinations.


I see damage to sill (under window), brick mold (covers/protects L/R window edge).  Not shown but certainly contributing is the flashing/dripedge/overhang ABOVE window.

If rot extends through sill and there wasn't proper waterproofing UNDER the sill and above the basic framing, your wall below the window is at risk.

This looks like a replacement window job that didn't address water-shedding/building integration.

As such, a replacement window is relatively easily removed.  Replacement wood and the rot issues can dealt with much easier.  Then waterproofing can be integrated below, on sides and above.

This JLC article deals with replacement windows in brick, flashing and water management.


What should I use to prime an old plaster wall before skim-coating with new plaster?

No, use a weak solution of PVA in water (5 parts water to 1 part PVA) instead.

Paint the wall with this and leave to dry, then re-skim.


Wiring home network patch panel (568A vs 568B)

Sorry if this simple answer comes across as too basic. But you really could get the decided by looking at your own setup.

Rewire at the end that has more slack cable in case you need to cut it off some to re-do it.
Evaluate if the wall jack is reliable if re-wired. It may need replacing if not reliable for multiple re-configurations.
Evaluate if the press fit connections on the patch block are designed for multi termination usage.
Work at the end that is physically easier to access.


How to deal with Carpenter Bees boring into my front porch?

Spar varnish, no exposed natural wood.

Stain doesn't cut it, they hate gnawing through paint.

We use a couple red or incense cedar chunks in various places like you use Zinc sacrificial anodes for marine electrolysis control.


Red wire is connected to ground screw in my 110 volt receptacle

That outlet was miswired, and I would be very cautious with all of the wiring in that house. There's no telling what other "shortcuts" were taken.

Provide photo(s) of the outlet/setup.

Does that Romex also include a bare wire?

Does a circuit tester (like below) show the outlet as wired correctly?

Get yourself a voltage tester.

Also get yourself a continuity tester. If possible, rent or buy a MegOhm
Meter, AKA "Megger".

Switch off and or unplug everything on that circuit.

Switch the breaker off or unplug the fuse at the circuit panel.

With a voltage tester, make sure that no AC is present in the outlet.

The megger should show very high resistance (greater than 200K ohms) between the hot (black) and neutral (white).  If it doesn't, something is still on that circuit or you have a serious problem.

The megger should show less than 2 ohms resistance between the neutral (white) and the bare wire (if present).

In this case, the megger should also show less than 2 ohms between the neutral and the red wire.

Trace the red wire through the house/junction boxes and make sure that it eventually connects to a proper ground wire or the ground buss in the main panel.

If the bare wire is present and grounded, use it instead of the red wire.

If not, and the red wire is properly connected to a ground, then wrap the ends of the wire with green electrical tape at every box/or panel where it appears.  This is the code correct (in many jurisdictions) way of indicating the non-standard wire use.

If the above conditions are not met, or you can't trace the wire, hire an electrician.


Does this wiring look normal? If so, how can I connect a porch light to it?

There is no way to tell what to connect to. It depends on how they wired it. I think it is safe to assume you should connect to the single black since it is in that box by itself like that. And yes, you would connect to the white and green with the other two wires. The instructions are not sparse, they show what you need to connect to. They do not know or care how your house is wired, nor should they. I will say, that box for the porch light is NOT appropriate. That is a collar box meant to mount onto an existing flush box. The wood of the logs is exposed to the back side of the box.

I also see a hole in the back of that collar box. Is this new light meant to be inside or out? If outside you'll need to replace that existing Wiremold collar box with a regular box, then run a cable from the back of the box into the back of a flush box outside.


How can you tell if it's safe to hang weight from the ceiling?

It's impossible to say with any confidence without knowing the details of your house's construction.
If there is a regular room above (not an attic) the ceiling you want to hang the rings from, normally those ceiling joists above are also the floor joists of the room above.  If it was constructed to modern guidelines those are going to be pretty strong - if you hang the rings from two parallel joists so the load is spread across two joists, and your attachment is sound and solid, that should be strong enough to hold you.  After all, it would hold you if you went upstairs, stood over the rings, and jumped up and down.
However it may very well cause enough movement to damage the ceiling drywall, make the floor squeaky, etc., especially if you made a habit of it.  If you were jumping up and down on the floor above, the subfloor and floor would help spread the load.  With rings, the forces generated by your weight and motion are focused on a single point and may cause the joists to flex more than intended.
If your attachment is not solid, that's a whole different story.  For example if you anchor your eye bolts into strapping rather than joists, that will either rip down the ceiling, rip out the eye bolts, or both.  If you find a joist but hit it off center and crooked, the eye bolt will look fine from below but will be hanging by a little sliver of wood and will rip out under load.  If you're upside down on the rings when that happens, it will be ugly.


What could be causing our cedar siding to be warped near the chimney?

I will give a bit of an answer on what I see. It looks like the siding is taking on the salts from the masonry cement. The brick gets wet during a rain, the cedar that touches the masonry cement wick up the moisture from the brick which always has minute traces of the salt in it from the cement. Check out efflorescence This is what looks like in on the faced of the siding to a degree. Then it may be just blistered paint.

This is why the question of, "is the chimney added later" If it is, then the masonry cement while it was being built, cannot be cleaned off, and is in direct contact with the wood of the siding. If the chimney was original, there is a good chance, if the builder did it the way it is supposed to, the brick was laid first and the siding was run to the brick, keeping the cement away from the siding, albeit very close still, but still not touching the way a later added chimney would.

As mentioned before, it may only need what a good painter can provide, scraping, cleaning, priming and finish paint. To do it so it does not come back for certain, would require the removal of the siding, a small piece of flashing set to the brick, enough to nail to the subsiding and over the brick just enough to cover what the siding may touch. caulk the flashing to the brick, and caulk the siding to the flashing. Paint it up. Good till the cows come home.

Another way to accomplish that is to cut the siding with a circular saw set to depth so it does it cut ONLY the siding. The cut can be made as close as 1 1/2" from the brick, eliminating the need to replace the siding. The flashing mentioned earlier, now needs to be wide enough to go under the edge of the cut siding, and still reach the brick. After that is set, cover it with a piece of trim thick enough to have the face of the new trim just a little in front of the thickest part of the siding. Perhaps 1" thick...

This has become more than a  bit......

7-9 edit

To elaborate on the comment about the sun on the west side. The sun will draw out the moisture more rapidly on that side and therefore, expedite the depositing of salts on the surface of the siding. It goes like this, the brick gets wet and with that the salts in the brick or masonry cement, in trace amounts get sucked into the end grain of the wood siding. when that occurs, the siding swells which will start hairline cracks in the paint. This allows the moisture to get carried through the grain, and evaporate through the crack in the paint. This helps push the paint off the surface of the siding and make it bubble. The salts traveling with the moisture are deposited behind the paint as well as some leech out through the cracks in the paint too.

This is repeated each time the chimney gets wet from rain or melting snow and compounds the deposits formed the brick. The sun drawing it out on the one side more readily makes it even worse. In masonry, moisture is always seeking equilibrium, as the sun dries out the surface, the remaining moisture within the chimney moves toward the dry area, but since it is drying out faster than the other side....  Well I hope you see the point I am trying to make.


How to remove/replace the cartridge for this Delta Monitor shower faucet?

Well I discovered that the model i had was a Delta 1500 series Monitor faucet. Through internet searches I found a Delta conversion kit. It upgrades your 1500 series to the newer 1700 series. Part # RP29405. It comes with a cartridge, new springs and gaskets, bonnet nut, sleeve, shower head w/chrome neck, and complete 1700 series handle assembly. Everything is chrome. It turns out that the 1500 series uses the universal valve so the 1700 series cartridge fits in it.

A couple of tips to using the conversion kit. First it comes with 2 sets of gaskets that sit in the back of the valve housing. Use the thicker ones. I used the skinnier ones because they were the same size as the old ones I removed, but it still leaked after I screwed the bonnet nut on. I finally tried the thicker gasket (the thicker ones are connected to each other) and it sealed it right up. I believe the 1700 series cartridge is slightly shorter than the old 1500 cartridge and thus why the thicker gasket was needed. Second tip is the new shower head might not fit on your old neck. Mine didn't and I wasn't in the mood to change that out just yet, so I have chrome handle and back plate with the brass/gold shower head and tub spout. I have both pieces, but I'll save that for another day. Right now the shower is back to working with full pressure hot and cold. Now I just need to replace the water heater elements and I'm back.

If you have a 1500 series faucet and want to upgrade to the 1700 series. All you really need is a 1700 series cartridge and a 1700 series handle assembly. If you can find the handle assembly separate locally or on CL or something you can make the conversion much cheaper possibly. I ordered the conversion kit from Amazon + the chrome tub spout with pull down shower activator for $128 shipped, 2 day Amazon prime. Not too bad. Hope this helps someone down the road.

Sorry for the lack of pictures. I was fighting this thing in low light and no help. The instructions that came with the kit didn't help much.


How can I get my sink's trap to fit around the rest of the drain assembly?

I can't see the drain exit from that photo, but I recently resolved this exact issue at my home by installing a slight bend in the horizontal run from the wall (with a 22-1/2 or 30 degree ell), which offsets the connection to the trap. This allows standard trap components to be used.


How should I wire a dimmer into a 12v DC SPDT On/On setup

The section or graphic titled 'SPDT ON/ON SWITCHES' near the end of the linked article illustrates exactly the same circuit used for a "3 way" light in a mains-powered home.

If you want the dimming function to happen regardless of which switch is turned on, that's easy. Insert the dimmer in the connection between the battery and first switch, or between the second switch and the lamps.

While technically it would work to let the switches cut the power from the dimmer to the lamps (ie, insert the dimmer between the battery and the switches), it's probably superior to place the dimmer between the switches and the lamps. With it placed here the switches cut the input power to the dimmer. If the dimmer were left always powered as in the first arrangement then it would consume some energy even when the lamps are disconnected. That's not ideal in a battery-operated context.


What else should I check to troubleshoot an outdoor post light?

Check on the walls of your garage, inside and out for a GFCI outlet. Also check at the base of the light post. GFCI's are usually used for light posts and are usually to blame for what you're experiencing.


Is there any reason that plumbing can't be adjacent to a heating/cooling duct?

In my experience, there are at least two things you should be aware of.

Running hot and cold water lines will cause the water temperature in the lines to change a lot quicker than ambient. The actual distance of the run and distance between pipe and duct will affect the effect. When my air conditioner is running, the hot water gets cold within 15 minutes since it's last use and then requires running the water for an extra minute or two to clear the lines. The opposite is true for the could water when the heater is run. This is really only a minor inconvenience, but a moderate inefficiency.
A floor vent in a room with running water will eventually flood, even if it's only a small spill or leak. The water will run through the vent and eventually come out in an inconvenient and unexpected location. The moist duct will collect lint, then mildew or mold and will be a pain to get clean.

Because of point 2, I would strongly recommend raising the duct and vent at least an inch proud of the floor around it.


Using a 1-pole GFCI to test half a multi-wire branch circuit

I would suggest rather than leaving one hot disconnected you connect the two hot wires together. That way you can test the whole circuit at once and you don't have to deal with a loose and potentially hazardous wire.

This should only be done once you are reasonably confident that no hot-hot-neutral 240V devices are connected to the circuit.


How would I disable my range oven's timer?

I have an almost-as-old-as-yours Magic Chef oven, and the igniter and the oven light should work fine with the clock disconnected. Here's how to do it.

unscrew the back panel to get to the clock.
There will be two wires connecting to the clock: a white wire and a black wire that's daisy-chained to the light switch on the left side of the top panel.
disconnect both wires by wiggling their wire clamps and pulling until they come off.
cover the bare metal ends of both securely and thoroughly with electrical tape. This is very important!  If those wires contact any nearby metal you'll short the circuit at best, and at worst cause a fire-- unintended sparks around gas ranges are a shortcut to a very bad day.
I'd suggest taping the now-fully-insulated wires to the back of the clock panel so they won't be dangling in the back of the range where it might be hot enough to damage the insulation on the wires.


Why does my circular saw shaft spin and blade does not?

Because you loosened the nut or bolt holding the blade to the shaft.

  it stalled so [I] loosened the bolt a little

It would probably be more appropriate to  ...

sharpen the blade or
cut more slowly or
make sure the kerf isn't closing onto the blade due to ...

poorly supported workpiece
stresses in wood


How do I protect the walls next to a 24 foot tall red brick fireplace when painting it?

It makes me die a little inside when people paint over raw red brick....

That said, you tape and paper the walls where they meet the brick. Then you plastic from the paper as far out as you think you might overspray. You may even want to form a "curtain" out of the plastic to keep the brick in a make-shift paint booth.

It is just as you would mask any other wall, though you will likely need to touch-up the seam where the brick meets the treated wall, it shouldn't be too bad.


Can Kerdi board be painted instead of tiled?

Yes you can paint over Kerdi board but you will need to give it a light coat of joint compound and do a little sanding.


How to fix bottom of door frame (light puppy chewing)

Spray it with a very light water solution of cayenne pepper after perfectly sculpting & restoring the frame to new condition with wood putty & sanding &  priming & painting accordingly. Get the pup more or some chew toys & approved rawhide bones to address the teething issues...one's that hold treats will make the pup forget about the door frame.


How do I patch this hardwood floor strip?

I'd gently lift the cracked strip into its original position, then fill under and around it with a stainable, hardening wood putty. Once it's cured, stain it to match the lighter color in the wood grain. Use a permanent brown or black felt pen to simulate the dark grain.


You probably have a ground fault outlet that has tripped. look around your kitchen for an outlet with a red and a black button on it and reset it. You might have to look in your breaker panel for a breaker with a reset button on it.


Proper way to repair old plasterboard walls?

That looks like plaster to me. They would typically (there are many variations on this... a pro-plasterer could be more definitive) apply what is called a brown coat over a substrate (maybe wood lath with scratch coat, maybe button-board, maybe gypsum board, maybe wire, etc.). The brown coat was cement mixed with a large proportion of sand. Then they would trowel on a finish coat of what you might think of as typical plaster.
You should be able to use whatever plaster material you want, including cutting out sections a installing gypsum board and feathering into existing wall sections. You could just skim-coat the entire wall with plaster (after addressing cracks/defects).The key is to properly prepare the surfaces prior.


Dual-flush Toilet Not Filling Up Properly

Don't worry, dual flush toilets aren't any different. It sounds like your Fill Valve (the tall thing on the left) is on its way out. You can do a new one with just big pliers & you'll need to replace the water hose from the wall to the toilet. $30 & 30-minutes, at the most, should get you back to normal. Or, call Roto Rooter if you don't do that stuff. It's common but not too predictable, every 10-years is a good preventative rule.


What materials can be used to create cold air returns?

Panning seems to be allowed for return ducts only. I'm not sure if it is code compliant for all states, but it is allowed in the northeastern US. My house has one area that is "panned" in such a maner on the return duct. It is not lined inside, just normal 2x construction. The outside is panned with sheet metal.

This is an alternative to the sheet metal.


Installing a new electric cooktop details

I believe the simplest way to put it is, it needs to be on a dedicated 40 amp double pole breaker.

With a 240 volt appliances there are 2 "hot" lines, usually a red insulated wire and black insulated wire. A neutral, usually a white insulated wire, and a ground wire can be bare wire or sometimes insulated in a green covering.

The 4 wire connection is the accepted code compliant connection, the 3 wire has been phased out, but still does exist in older connections.

I hope this gets the idea across. There are a few well versed electrical guys on SE that really know the ropes well when it comes to electrical issues. They may be able to fill you in a little more.


How can I mount a 2" mast to the side of a utility pole?

Try searching for "utility pole standoff bracket" and you'll find things like this Garvin bracket. Also check if the Band-It Company has something you can use.


This is a bit of a broad question. Better at what? On what surfaces?

Paint/primer combos are just high build paints with good hiding abilities.

If you're painting over a new drywall one coat of paint and primer doesn't seem to give good results. You can use the first coat of paint/primer as the primer coat but why use a $30 per gallon paint/primer as the primer coat when a $10/gal PVA primer (or more savings in 5 gallon buckets) has been doing that job reliably for years.

Painting over bare wood? Most good latex primers won't seal the wood to prevent tannins from knots bleeding through so I wouldn't count on a latex based paint/primer to do much better. There are specific primers that work well in these situations.

If you're concerned about inhibiting mold you should first look to correct that conditions that are favorable to mold growth. Up until recently paints could only inhibit the growth of mold on their surface but now there's a mold killing primer made by Zinsser who I believe was the first company that was addressing mold/mildew concerns in their paints and additive products. Personally I would use traditional means of killing mold first and possibly use that primer for some extra piece of mind.

Going over oil based paint with latex or a high gloss sheen with flat? These are applications where you should get better performance with a primer that works well for those applications.

Paint/primer products work well for going over already painted surfaces where you just want to change the color of an interior surface. The high build will make covering the old color more effective and you could possibly get away with just one coat. I personally always like to do two coats though.

Primer is not a single product. There are many different types of primers suited for different situations. If you want the best results choose the right primer for your specific application. In some cases the primer will be cheaper than an extra coat of paint/primer, in others the primer may be the same cost or more expensive but will give you better results for that specific application.


How do I fix the compression fitting connection on my refrigerator water line?

This video shows basic assembly of small compression fittings. The only things I would add:

the ferrule (whether plastic or brass) is indeed a "single use" item, as mentioned by @Tyson and @Ed Beal
you can use a brass ferrule on plastic tubing, but not a plastic ferrule on copper tubing
the video says to tighten a single turn past hand tight. I say tighten well, regardless of turns needed; you need to actually squeeze that ferrule onto the tubing.