the effect can be achieved by getting something like a hula hoop (cut it open) or a piece of small gauge metal rod bent in to a circle. then sew a pocket along the edge of the fabric, like a pair of pants or hood with a draw string. thread the rod or hula hoop through, then do something to close the loop. with the hula hoop, i would recommend a dowel that fits snugly and a screw. for the rod, i recommend a small piece of tubing with hose clamps. affix the ring to the ceiling in the middle of the room.

temporarily affix planks of wood (something like 1x2 pine or thinner) to the walls all around the room, against the ceiling. stretch the fabric to the walls, and use a second piece of wood to sandwich the fabric, clamping it between the pieces of wood. when you have the look you like, screw the pieces of wood together. don't trim the excess yet!

remove the wood/fabric/wood sandwich from the walls, turn the wood 270 degrees, and affix it to the ceiling. to be able to do this, you can strategically cut holes in the fabric that will be invisible when you're done because of the natural creases you have created. through these holes you can screw the sandwich to the ceiling.

once you've decided that you like the look/positioning/whatever, you can cut off the excess.


How can I prevent this concrete block wall from falling over?

It's really hard to say without being there in person. The wall certainly looks unstable and ready to be taken down, but a lot of concrete walls can look terrible, but still be structurally sound. We owned a house with a concrete block wall reinforced with rebar that had perhaps a 10 degree lean outwards that looked like it'd fall any day, but it took a LOT of sledge hammering, chiseling, jacking, and gas-powered diamond-blade cutting to actually get it out. It likely would have stood for another 50 years on its own.

In your situation, it appears that you've lost all the earth around your footing. At this point, it may be a lost cause and you'd be best taking it out. Ideally, you'd then replace it with a stepped retaining wall using a dry-stacked block. The dry-stacked blocks are a) easier to install and b) when installed properly will allow water to drain through rather than build up behind the wall pushing it out.

All that said, it appears that your neighbor has build a foundation right up along your wall. I don't know where you live, but I'd think in a lot of places that'd be against code (you typically can't build that close to the property line). In addition, it seems risky for them to depend on you to hold up their foundation with your wall. Seems that they should be bearing part of the ownership of whatever is retaining the earth on this property line.

Finally, if that's a down-spout in the lower photo emptying between the two walls, then a) take it up with the city, as that is likely also breaking all sorts of code regulations and b) your neighbor really should be worried about that. You don't want a downspout draining near the footer of your new kitchen's foundation.


How many screws do I need in my subfloor?

According to Table R602.3(1) of International Residential Code (IRC), subfloor fastener schedule is as follows:

3/8"-1/2" panels. Use 6d common nails, spaced 6" apart on edges and 12" apart in the field.
19/32"-1" panels. Use 8d common nails, spaced 6" apart on edges and 12" apart in the field.
1 1/8"-1 1/4" panels. Use 10d common or 8d deformed nails, spaced 6" apart on edges and 12" apart in the field.

NOTES:

You can use screws (and I recommend you do), however, they must be equivalent to the nails listed in the code.
"edge" refers to the perimeter of each panel, while "field" refers to fastener not at the edge of each panel.
If you're building from a kit, you should follow the manufacturer's installation instructions.


If the caulking isn't applying to the paint, you can try scuffing the paint just below the top of where the caulking would affix with 120 grit sand paper. However if the floor is moving it could be pulling the caulking further than it is designed to stretch. For the latter issue, is your goal:

Aesthetic, you prefer to have a seamless transition between the floor and the baseboard

Sealing, you need a water or airtight finish?

For aesthetic reasons like an uneven floor with minimal vertical movement, you can try using quarter-round to follow the contour of the floor. Or remove the baseboard altogether and scribe the bottom of the baseboard to match the contour of the floor, then cut and sand to fit.
For aesthetic reasons like a moving floor that slips horizontally, or a need to have a watertight/airtight seal, remove the baseboard and use clear silicone bead against the wall and floor. Then apply a vinyl/rubber baseboard with some pressure on the bottom lip that will allow for flex. You could also use a rigid baseboard as pictured, that is scribed and cut to shape to match the contour of the floor, then reapplied as the silicone bead is still wet. Silicone has some flex in it and when done "blindly" will tolerate movement better than face sealing.
If the floor is meant to be floating, like many wood laminate snap together floors, and some linoleum floors, you may not be able to use caulking for a seal at all. If water/air tight seal is required, the floorboard may need to be raised slightly and a closed cell foam or rubber strip is used to make the seal, then concealed behind a quarter-round face at the bottom of the baseboard. This is why many commercial baseboard applications are done with vinyl baseboards, which can accomplish a degree of both water tightness and flexibility for floor movement.


Our house is from 1970 and we have three of the exact same model faucets. The handle in particular is a bit rough on the hands so we were eager to replace. The drain cover says Price-Pfister.

Similar to above, the spanner nut was in there tight. On one of the replacements, I was able to use a type of hook wrench pictured to function as a way to hold it in place while I turned the underside of the spigot clockwise. This caused it to loosen. On another, I had to spray some WD40 on there to loosen it then once again hold it in place while I turned the underside of the spigot clockwise.

On both there was no budging the top assembly. Essentially you have to loosen it enough to be able to pull and expose enough spigot to take a mini hacksaw and saw it a little more than halfway. It takes about 10 minutes. After that it bends and breaks rather easily. Fortunately I did not need to break out the Dremel tool.


Is there a way to fix a leak in the pressurized side of a pool system without digging it up?

The practical answer to both your questions is NO.

One possible solution for you to consider is routing a new line that skirts most of the patio and and then joins into the existing piping near the pool entry.


What is causing a whistling sound coming from my upstairs bathroom?

Water pressure:
This could be caused by higher than normal water pressure, that's why the noise changes when you turn on the sink (you reduce the flow to the shower).
Solution:
You could adjust the Pressure Reducing Valve   for the whole house (if you have one), or install one on the line to the shower.

Reducing Washer:
In most newer shower heads, there is a washer that reduces the water flow to save water.
Solution:
Removing this washer and replacing it with a normal one should fix the problem (but then you'll be "wasting" water).

Diverter:
This might also be caused by the diverter (the mechanism that diverts the water to the shower head, rather than the tub spout), if the valve is not functioning properly it could cause noise as the water passes through it. This may be accompanied by a small amount of water still flowing from the tub spout when the shower is on (basically it could be creating a "water whistle", similar to how a flute works but with water instead of air).
Solution:
Replace the diverter.

Loose Pipes:
The noise could be increased by improperly secured plumbing, as the pipes are allowed to resonate freely.
Solution:
Properly fastening the pipes using clamps, may reduce the sound.


Loosen the base swivel of a Delta faucet

Those joints usually aren't user-adjustable, and they're often a bit snug at first until they're used a bit.

I suggest that you re-seat the faucet (to get the o-ring into correct position), snug the mounting nut(s) firmly, and see how it operates then.


Can I have a 20 amp breaker, 12 gauge wire, and a 15 amp switch?

No. You could have a 15 amp breaker, and this would then be fine (oversized wire is OK.)


Will separate dishwasher drain cause sewer gases and wet dog smell?

The smell is almost certainly from your AAV.   While they are not to dispose of gases from the pipes, they always do.   Having an AAV makes really no sense because you are going into a wall.
It doubly makes no sense because there seems to be another drain without one - unless I am not seeing it in the picture.
The only "fix" is to have this drain attached to a proper vent which is probably in the wall behind it.   There is no other "fix" unless you just upgrade the AAV and hope it does a better job of not letting smells out.
As far as dishwasher - it should be going into garbage disposal.   I don't think that is the smell issue but might as well get it right.


My kitchen outlets are starting to wear out.

In many kitchens (In USA/Canada, anyway) kitchen outlets are wired as a MWBC with the two receptacles operating on different legs of the service. Rather than being at the same voltage, the hots on each half of the outlet are 240 volts apart (120 from neutral for each.)

If your "multi-outlet-adapter" internally wires the hots together (rather than feeding half of it's receptacles from one, and half from the other) it will presumably make a large nasty spark and hopefully trip the breaker when you plug it in.

Most adapters don't comment on how they are wired internally. Wiring the hots together would in general be a bad idea (as MWBCs to split outlets are not uncommon) and as such might be rare in well-designed products, but not all products are well-designed.

If you are replacing the outlets (receptacles) anyway, it might be worth replacing them with ones that don't need an adapter to give you more receptacles, or to add additional outlet boxes if you are finding the current outlets insufficient to your daily needs.


How do I keep runoff rain from flooding my carport?

Assuming you can't get the political problem solved (letters to the editor time, perhaps), you need to address the part where "driveway sits low so all the rain comes in like a river" (though you might also take the practical citizen approach and see if there's anything blocking the ditches and drains that you can, as concerned citizen, remove on your own.)

You'd be looking to build a smooth, drive-over-able, dam across your driveway. You may need to extend it with smooth, mow-able wings onto your lawn/yard. Alternatively, you make a wide smooth ditch that you can drive through, again extending of into the yard so the water has somewhere to go. In either case the aim is not to "just stop" the water (that is a game you almost always will lose at eventually) but rather to divert the water around your house/carport to somewhere less problematic.


They are springtails.

There's a picture of one looking happy at It Takes Two to Tango… or Does It? The Curious Courtship of Collembola (Springtails).

Insect Identification Key Order Collembola: the springtails and snowfleas has another picture, labelling the little creature as a globular springtail.

The Kids' Inquiry of Diverse Species has this to say about the diet of springtails:

  Although many species are herbivorous, others are carnivorous feeding on other springtails, nematodes and other small arthropods. Those springtails living in leaf litter and soil usually feed on fungi, plant material, feces and algae.

So there is no need to be concerned.


How to hang a heavy mirror with rotating support hinges?

50lbs is definitely something drywall or plaster can handle, but absolutely go with using the studs. Just regular wood screws or decks screws are fine, 2" to 2 1/2" long maximum to avoid any unknown electrical or plumbing. You can also double the screws on top of each other for more security.

Using the hinges or rings as they are will keep the mirror more vertical & tighter to the wall, but you have to very carefully level the screws based on the hinges or rings being under some amount load or weight. They may be out of level with each other or one may also be bent higher than the other.

Using the hinges or rings as anchors for a hanging wire, which is their intended & normal use, will bring the top of the mirror out from the wall & pitch the viewing angle down a little. But you only need 1-pair of screws side by side in one stud & leveling is done by centering the wire on the screws.

The short wall studs could indicate concrete, brick or cinder block construction halfway up the wall. The whole garage wall should read this way & was typically done to withstand slight car impacts. If it's just a 2 to 4' area then it could be the remnants of a fireplace or chimney.


How can I prevent an outside lock from freezing?

The problem here of course is that snow/freezing rain gets into the lock and freezes.  With a house, this isn't normally a problem for a few reasons.  First, you use it often enough that it doesn't get that bad, and second the inside of the house is warm, which prevents water from freezing inside the lock (unless it gets really, really cold I suppose).

You might want to look for a lock that has a metal shield over the area where you insert the key to prevent water from getting inside.  Similar to what you have on a car door lock (and for the same reason).  Personally, I've never seen any home locks like that, but that's not to say they don't exist.

A simpler option, and the one I would suggest, would be to put a plastic baggie over the doorknob and secure it with a rubberband.  Then just take the baggie off when you need to unlock it and put it back on after you are done.  It's a bit inconvenient, but if you hardly ever use the shed in the winter anyways, it should keep the water out and is probably the most practical option.


Did four LED light bulbs break my light fixture?

Sounds like you broke a socket or wire when replacing the lamps (bulbs). This could have happened with any lamp, it was not the fault of the LEDs.

Try to reset the breaker with no lamps in the fixture at all. Then put in one lamp at a time and try again each time.

Either way, I'd replace the fixture. If that is not possible financially I would remove the fixture and find the bad wire/socket and remove it.


the reason is the shape and location of this ledge:

Therefore, take all the ledge off, look for slits (which are taking water inside from all terrace), seal them and if need, give on edge some suitable profile you can see here:
https://www.riversidesheetmetal.net/flashing-metal/masonry/custom/


What do I need to do if the neutral bar is live in the panel box?

If the main breaker was on this would be expected if you put the breaker (in its on position) in before connecting the neutral and there was something turned on in the branch you were connecting. If something is drawing on a circuit there is going to be current flowing back through the neutral - that is what the neutral is for. It completes the circuit from the hot to ground.

A good way to think about this is to think about your wiring as plumbing. The hot wire is the water pipe, and the neutral is the drain line. When you turn on a faucet, it opens a circuit and the water flows from the water pipe into the drain. What you did is similar to what would happen if you left a faucet open, then turned on the supply line before you had the drain connected. It leaked.

If a light switch was turned on or something was plugged in, you completed the circuit when you got the wire close enough to your neutral bar for it to arc. This wouldn't happen if (as @NiallC points out) the main was turned off. If you were grounded and touched the neutral, it would have completed the circuit through you. You should never assume a neutral is safe if the branch is live.


I want a cheap solution for water heating, maybe even something I can build myself, please give me some ideas

Unfortunately nothing in life is incredibly easy, and solar is no different.  I would NOT suggest attempting to install it by yourself or even with the help of some untrained friends.  Most average people wouldn't attempt to install their own electrical, or even their own water heater, but for whatever reason, some people believe that solar is easy.  It's not.  If you can't install your own water heater, you shouldn't even think about installing solar yourself.

What you can do, however, is analyze whether or not you are a good candidate for solar in the first place.  You might find that you are a great candidate for solar, or you might be able to mark it off the list, narrowing down your options, making your decision eaier.

Question #1:  Since you are in the Southern hemisphere, you want it on the North side of your roof.  How much available roof space do you have on the North side?  Solar hot water panels, for typical homes, will require an area between 9'x9' and 18'x9' in size (horizontal x vertical.)  (Note: If there is no room on the Northern roof, but you can install them on the ground near your house, then that is also acceptable.)

Question #2:  Are there any trees or other objects that will shade the Northern side of your roof (or the ground location)?  If so, would it be reasonable to remove the objects causing the shade?  Shade between 9:00 to 3:30 should be avoided, and shade between 10:00 and 2:30 is unacceptable.

Question #3: Is your storage acceptable for solar?  You should have roughly 10 gal + 20 gal/person in storage.  You should have an electric/gas heating element within the last 40 gallons of the hot water outlet... and plenty of storage near the cold inlet that is heated exclusively by solar.  The element near the hot out is there to heat the water in case there is no solar input, and the storage space heated exclusively by solar is required so that the solar can have a chance to heat the water without having to compete with the electrical/gas element.  For this reason, a two-tank setup is ideal.  In the diagram below, the cold water enters the tank on the left, which should not be plugged in or connected to gas, instead being heated exclusively by solar, which feeds the tank on the right, which should be heated by gas/electric.  With this setup, solar should be able to provide ~85% of your hot water.

Question #4: How many "sun-hours" do you receive in your location?  (This is not equal to simply how many hours of the day that the Sun is out, but is a measure of how many watts per square meter fall at your location.  It is a product of intensity/angle, duration, and cloud cover.  Any measurement that you might find from a location within 100-150 km is sufficiently close.)  Low exposure to the Sun can be compensated for by installing an additional panel, but if your area gets under 2.8 sunhours/day, I don't know that I'd recommend solar.

If any of the above concerns are applicable and not rectifiable, then you can cross solar hot water off the list.  Unfortunately, not everyone is a good candidate for solar, and solar HW systems that are designed poorly are a waste of money, but well-designed systems installed on homes that meet these minimum requirements work exceptionally well and will produce hot water at a fraction of 15 cents/KWh electric.. or even natural gas.  Though certain components will need replacing, sturdy flat-plate collectors should last 50-150 years (in a drainback system) and withstand up to baseball-sized hail.

Though I cannot install it for you, very detailed information is available on my web site's page on how solar hot water works.


Water still circulating through toilet even after I shut off the water supply!

My guess is that the shutoff valve (the first thing you showed in the video, near the floor) is not 100% shutting off the water. Hard water can cause this as deposits inside the valve can prevent the gate from fully shutting.

You could either replace the valve stem (can be done without shutting off hour house supply) or replace the shutoff valve entirely. I generally prefer replacing the entire shutoff valve with ball valves rather than gate valves, because I find they last longer and are easier to operate.

Here's an example of the kind I like to use: Ball shutoff valve example


matching paint color over different wall coverings

You need to hit all the walls with Kilz until they are consistent.  The purpose of primer is to make dissimilar underlying surfaces similar so the paint goes on equally.

That is not the job of paint.  You can do it with many coats, but why? Primer is cheaper than paint.  Also, the paint chips that you picked your colors from are exemplars of your paint over white, not whatever colors you are covering up.

If you're saying "primer isn't getting the job done", what you're really saying is "I'm not willing to use enough coats of primer to get the job done, and I somehow want that to work out anyway."


Using liquid sandpaper (deglosser) with polyurethane varnish

Yes, after sanding you can use the liquid deglosser for a final wipe down and cleaning prior to applying fresh coats of varnish. Using it alone in lieu of sanding is not a good idea IMO.

Do not use it between coats, just give a real quick fine sanding (or steel wool) and wipe down with a damp cloth or tack cloth.

Use outdoors or with good ventilation as that stuff is a volatile solvent.


How do I install an old work junction box around fire blocking?

A horizontal board between two studs is typically fire blocking. The idea of fire blocking is to prevent a cavity in a wall more than 8' high where fire can quickly spread. You'll see this in any room with over 8' ceilings. For it to work properly, you can't have any gaps allowing air to go from the lower cavity to the upper one. This means any gaps need to be caulked with fire rated caulk (that's typically the red or orange caulk). Why the heck someone installed this blocking and electrical box in the same place is bizarre, either one could have been moved up or down a few inches.

To work around this, you have a few options. You can cut a gap into it, and fit your old work box, but from the small opening you'll have a very difficult time cutting out the back. The result will require a load of caulk on the 2x4 that you squeeze the old work box into. And you'll need to install it a few inches to the side so there is some material continuous from side to side.

You could also fix this the right way and open the wall up, and reinstall new blocking a few inches up or down. Then you can remove the old blocking and install a new work box.

And the easiest solution is as DA01 says, install the new switch a few inches higher so it's above the blocking. I'd probably go with this solution myself, unless you feel like doing some drywall repair.


Where in the fire code does it say gasoline may not be stored indoors?

Gasoline is allowed indoors. However, the occupancy then becomes H-2, and fire walls, ventilation, etc. are required. (See Section 307.4)


Do pressure reducing valves also function as check/one-way valves?

First, no, they don't function as a check valve.  They limit inflow by dynamically changing the valve opening so that when less pressure is on the out side, the valve opens up fully, and too much pressure on the out side causes the valve to shut.  In a no pressure situation (where water could go backwards), it won't be impeded at all.

Assuming that this is for your residential plumbing, you generally wouldn't install a check valve, because you want to be able to drain the system at the shut-off if you ever need to do any modifications.


The "round sensor in the ceiling" is part of a fire alarm and/or ignition/fuel cutoff circuit for the furnace and is EXACTLY where it's supposed to be.
It's a "heat detector" (smoke insensitive, not prone to false triggering) and when things get too hot, it may (depending on what it's connected to) set off an alarm, cut off the fuel supply, or otherwise take action appropriate to having a furnace that is in thermal runaway (or on fire.)
Do NOT insulate that!
If you want to insulate the rectangular ducts, knock yourself out. If you are getting  lot of heat off the round exhaust flue, you might want to contemplate a more efficient furnace; if you want that insulated, you may need to upgrade to (rather expensive) double or triple-wall insulated flue pipe to do the job properly/safely, and then you'll just be conducting even more heat you paid for outside than you are now.


What's the suggested standard gauge wire for a given current?

I cannot speak for the US system. In Europe there is not one system, It is not a continent wide electrical code. Every country has its own wiring regulations and code. With that said there has been large efforts to harmonize systems from country to country. Also in Europe we do not use the AWG (American Wire Gauge) cables are graded/categorised by there cross sectional area. i.e 2.5mm or 4mm etc. The following is directly from the BS7671 which is the wiring regulations code for the entire of the U.K while other European countries may be slightly different it would be very similar.

http://www.batt.co.uk/upload/files/table4d1abs6004bs6231bs6346_1220253954.pdf

I should also point out it is very hard to have just one table as there are literally 40 pages of tables. Because you have to take into a large amount of factors including. Conductor material, Type of sheath composition. Thermal abilities of the cable and the environment it will be in. The type of containment/fittings. and then there are applied factors such as correction for heat and density of cables and voltage drop. The lists go on and on.


Can you use three 2x8 sandwiched with 1/2" plywood between to get a 16' header

A beam made up of multiple members with plywood spacers can be done, if the fasteners are up to code.
However, that really isn't your question. You want to know if you can reduce the depth of your header while also increasing it's length. For any given condition (loading, length, beam size, material (wood or steel)), the two things that most affect the design are those two (smaller differences have larger ramifications).
Further, for a longer beam, deflection controls not strength. Deflection is many times more dependent on the depth of the beam rather than the width.
Therefore: You CAN NOT make up the difference in depth by widening the beam.
To get a more specific answer will require a site visit by a structural engineer so they can determine the loading and other site specific conditions.


Is a sandwiched beam made out of 2x4s laid flat a suitable for a 15' span that doesn't carry a load?

If you put a beam across the room you'll feel bad every time you look at it.  if you have a flat ceiling, you'll feel proud.

Use joist hangers to put some 2x4s between the ceiling joists so that they pass just above the 2x6 (stuff's going to sag), drill through the top plate from below with a spade bit and screw the 2x6 to the 2x4s remove the wall and top plates patch and plaster the ceiling.

If you can't get into the ceiling to get enough access to fit the hangers you could just lay 2x4s across the top of the ceiling joists and use really long screws, or maybe even come through the roof with threaded rod.


How to clean wood stain off of vinyl porch?

The exact fix depends on the stain, but try a few common solvents like rubbing alcohol, wd40, and acetone (nail polish remover). Be sure to try them first in an inconspicuous non-stained area with a cotton swap, as some solvents can etch some plastics, e.g. acetone and ABS.
You might also try steaming through a towel; that can remove some things solvents have trouble with.
If all else fails, you might be able to carefully bleach the stains to reduce their appearance. Regular bleach or the hydrogen peroxide gel packet from a cheap blonde hair-coloring kit would be my choices for that.


Bathroom outlet has poor Continuity, no tripped breakers

Sounds like a loose connection somewhere.

This outlet may be the culprit, or maybe one upstream.

Since this outlet was the most recently changed, I would take off the wires and check them with a volt meter so see if you are getting consistent power to that point.

Then reinstall the outlet and see how it goes.

From that you should be able to determine the location of the problem.


Should I connect the ground in the outlet for the dryer and the panel?

Older electric dryer circuits allowed the use of 120/240V non-grounding 3-prong receptacles. These were NEMA 10-50 configuration. In these circuits the neutral served as both the neutral and the grounding conductor.
If the ground wire existed though it definitely should have been used, but it is not uncommon to find what you describe.

I would certainly terminate the ground at the panel at the very least. A best case scenario would be to replace the receptacle with a 4-prong dryer receptacle and change the cord on the dryer to match.


Can I use self leveler over existing floor

Use Plani patch 1mix 2 liquid looks like milk try to get loose paint off first


Need help identifying "pre-stripped" Phillips screw

The top looks like a Pozidrive or Supadrive and the bottom looks like a Quadrex to me.
If those don't work, you can always cut a flat blade slot for a protruding screw and remove it that way. If that doesn't work, particularly for the top screw which looks actually stripped, get a screw extractor and take it out that way.  Always try first without drilling and if you drill be careful not to cut the head off the shaft. For one stripped screw I absolutely could not afford to break, I stopped trying to turn it before it was stripped bald and used PL4OO to glue my screwdriver into the screw.
If you don't need to free the hole, if a screw is soft enough to strip, it's soft enough to drill the head off.  For large lag bolt type screws, you can even drill a pilot hole and reclaim the hole by drilling the screw out with increasing sized bits, but these are extremely likely to come out with a screw remover.


Once fully dry, your paint should be quite waterproof. However paint designed for interior use on wood generally will not hold up well when used outside on plastic.

Probably the cheapest way to go would be a can of spray-paint and some masking tape. Use the tape to outline a square or rectangle. Use more tape to hold down some old newspaper, cardboard, whatever to keep overspray from making a mess. Apply several light coats of paint in accordance with the manufacturer's directions. Allow each coat to dry per the instructions in a dry location.

Once it's dry, use a marker of a contrasting color to write your house number on the paint.

Alternatively, you could use that tape to outline some numbers then mask off the rest of the bin and directly paint the numbers.

Another alternative would be to use a marker (in a color that would be visible against the color of the bin) to just write directly on the bin. This is only applicable if it meets the regulation that caused you to start the project in the first place.


How to choose from options from house painting company?

I don't really know what cheapest paint vs. thicker paint means.  I am assuming that the cheaper paint is still a good paint if this is a company using it - not just some guy with cheap paint.  So I am making an assumption.  I am also assuming that the three levels all involve the same Day 1 finished look of the house because really if you are paying them they should be doing a professional job on any of the choices.

So:

I would not expect said company to exist in 6 years let alone 14 years.  They could.  But your expectation for this type of company is they won't.
If said company had a lot of issues with their paint, it would probably be more cost effective to fold and open under a new name.  And if the company does a great job then you probably have no reason to call them back.
It would be very difficult to prove that an issue 5-14 years later was due to the company's installation of the paint.  They will invariably come back with a list of home owner reasons.
You can't expect a company to come out and fix nicks, oily hand marks and so on.  There is wear and tear on paint due to the owner.  If you don't ever touch your walls and the temp/humidity levels in your house are acceptable a good paint will last 20 years easy.  But it doesn't in high traffic areas because we hit the walls with our body, hands, feet, furniture, whatever.
Do you even know if you will be in the house in 15 years?

So yea I would go the cheapo route.  Maybe get a little more information on the paint difference between 1-2 and look up the manufacturer info and reviews for those paints.  If there is a difference I would say slap on paint #2 and keep the warranty at 6 years.  You have to be honest with yourself.  Would you expect anyone to come back and repaint your house anytime after 3-6 months?

I have used TONS of different painting crews.  I verify while they are painting the exact type of paint.  Most of the time I choose the paint and provide that for them - I think you should ask about this option.  Often they might say well we only use this type of paint - and then be like great I will buy that then, as long as said paint is good.  I then look over their work as they go along and then inspect paint.  On last day I walk around with little bits of blue painters tape and mark any missed spots.  They fix those spots and we are done.  I don't call them back 3 months later if there is a scuff mark on a wall or if something is peeling.  If a week later I notice that they missed something big maybe I call but that is kind of on me - I missed a closet one time (well they did too) and a couple guys came to paint it.  That's it though.  If some guys come paint your house they don't own your wall issues for the next 15 years.


Why are kitchen base cabinets usually screwed to the wall?

Nearly all the reasons you proposed for leaving them free are rare occurrences. (I'm not sure what "doing the stove" means. Cleaning?) On those occurrences it's fairly easy to pull a few 3" screws and do your business.

To my mind they don't outweigh the reasons you offered for anchoring them, which mostly involve stability (safety) and a quality feel. Most folks want a sense of built-in cabinetry, rather than freestanding furniture, which can wobble and shift with use.


What's the difference between XX Volt and XX Volt MAX on rechargeable lithium ion batteries?

There is one brand of "20-volt Max" tools that reasonably clearly state on their packaging something to the effect of:

Battery provides 20 volt maximum starting power. Provides 18-volts in use.

As a matter of fact, they'll sell you a simple physical adapter (and some wiring between the contacts) that will allow you to use the "20-volt max" batteries on their older 18-volt line of tools.
TL;DR:
"Max" is 98.475% marketing because "Max" sounds, well, like more than "not-max". (And 99.238% of all statistics on the internet are made up on the spot.)


Does a pressure tank need to be near the water fixtures?

only if you have a line that 400 feet away from your tank that is 1/4 of a inch. you will have two problems. one is that you use to much water for your pump to keep up with. second at a give presser your flow rate will be maxed out due to the size pipe you have. so if you have a 1/4 size pipe. you wont have any flow. because it will take alone time for water to flow. now if you really want some flow. put a 12 inch pipe to your buildings. still just having the one tank. but to be real for a second, just install a 1 inch line to the buildings. unless you have a 5 inch spout the one inch line will do you fine. to answer your question if your tank stays at the pressure 80 pounds. your only reason of no flow would be the pipe size. you want more flow. get a bigger pipe


How do I repair a drywall ceiling when there is blown in insulation above?

Drywall is easy to patch without having to cut it back to expose a joist.  Here's how:

Cut a piece of thin wood to a length that is a couple inches longer than your hole.  A paint paddle or the thick side of a wooden shim works well for this, but any scrap piece of wood will do.

Drill a screw partially into the middle of your scrap piece of wood.

Using that screw as a handle, insert the piece of wood into the hole and center it so that it makes a bridge across the hole from the inside of your ceiling.

Again using that screw as a handle, drive two additional screws through the existing drywall and into the part of the scrap wood that is hidden behind the drywall on either side of the hole.

Remove the screw that you've been using for a handle.

Cut a piece of scrap drywall into roughly the size and shape of the hole, and screw it into the piece of scrap wood.

Use joint compound or Spackle to finish the cracks and screw holes.


THHN use with Blue Plastic Romex Connector Switch/Outlet Boxes

You cannot use THHN without running it in conduit, with suitable terminations, all the way into the boxes.
The blue plastic boxes are not suitable for this use. They are cheap junk for running NM/B only, and not suited to other wiring methods, and it's dubious if they are suited to that, IMHO. I used them as an ignorant kid. I don't use them now. They are chintzy and fragile at best.
Masonry boxes, from steel, with knockouts, exist, and don't even cost much money.
You should have fully completed the conduit paths when building the wall (ENT is the classic masonry wall conduit) all the way into their boxes. You may now need to partially demolish your work and redo it correctly, if you have "formed blue boxes in place without addressing the need to connect to conduit" which is what I think I'm reading.
Each and every sub-panel needs 4-wires (or 3-wires and continuous non-flexible metallic conduit, but with a pool involved, you may need the wire anyway) from the main, or the upstream sub-panel - hot, hot, neutral and ground. Connecting them to a local grounding rod is fine, but not a replacement for a grounding wire (separate and isolated from neutral) all the way back to the Main Panel feed and bond point.


How best to add sockets to a fused spur?

UK wiring standards.

Your builder is half right and half wrong.

(a) Is the circuit a ring circuit or a radial circuit? Standard circuits are:

ring circuit, wired in 2.5mm cable with a 30A fuse or 32A circuit
breaker
radial circuit, wired in 2.5mm cable with a 20A fuse or circuit breaker
radial circuit, wired in 4mm cable with a 30A fuse or 32A circuit breaker

If the circuit is a ring circuit then an unfused spur can supply a maximum of one single or one double socket. A fused spur, as you propose, can supply an unlimited number of sockets with a maximum load of 13A.

Your building is proposing extending the ring. To do this correctly a second cable would have to be run back to the point where the spur is taken from the ring, and the ring broken with each side connecting to one side of the new wiring. Connecting to another part of the ring randomly to form a 'figure 8' circuit is not permitted.

If the circuit is a radial circuit then it can be extended with an unfused spur-off-a-spur as the cable is sized to carry the whole load of the circuit at any point. The radial must be extended in the same size cable as the existing circuit.


Push up on the pointy thing and pull on the drawer.  see details here


Just to answer your question, you could always use a common Intermatic double pole single throw timer. You'd have to have a fixed "off" pin and just rotate the time wheel to an hour before the "off" pin each time you used the shop.These timers are relatively inexpensive and available everywhere. It would also give you the ability to set the heater to go on at a certain time so it's warm when you get there.

Another alternative would be to get count down timer from a heating supply company. They're good for up to a 6000 watt heater. They are over twice the price of the Intermatic

Providing more information on your heater will help us to help you further.


Replacing receptacle, ground and neutral are connected

Hot1 and Neutral1 are the feed from the panel.  Hot2 and Neutral2 feed the next receptacle in the chain.

If you connect Hot1 and Neutral1 to the receptacle, this receptacle will work.  If you also connect Hot2 and Neutral2 to the receptacle, all the devices downstream will also work.

Depending on the new receptacle you're installing, you should wire it the same as the old receptacle.

Just remember that the "black" ungrounded (hot) conductors should be attached to the brass colored screws, and the "white" grounded (neutral) conductors should attach to the silver colored screws.

As for the ground. It's odd that there's only one grounding wire.  Where does it come from, one of the cables, the box, somewhere else?  In any case, the bare grounding conductor should not be connected to the grounded (neutral) conductor.


Is my plan to drain foundation wall water reasonable?

I'd be looking at something simpler, like the baseboard waterproofing systems shown here and here (links for visual reference only).

Even if you designed something similar yourself it would be easier and more likely to result in success than trying to fill the wall and seal all those pipe penetrations.


Circuit Breakers: Do they degrade over time and start tripping?

Don't assume it is the breaker...

I had a tripping fault that was intermittent, spent a huge amount of time looking for it...

Eventually it became so frequent that I disconnected room by room every single appliance and eventually found the culprit - a washing machine that was failing when under load and hot...

So, it may not be the breaker - it could just be doing its job and keeping you safe from faulty equipment... You need to investigate.


Insulate the frame of a door to stop odor outside while closed

Stopping the cold from coming in is a matter of stopping outside air from getting in.  Stopping air flow will also prevent odors from coming in, so most of the guides you see for "weatherproofing" will apply to odor reduction.

Note that a strong odor is much more noticeable than a little bit of cold air, so when following the guides, be as precise and thorough as possible to stop as much air as you can.


Can I use screws for attaching a ladder to a bunk bed?

Yes. 8 high-quality gold or stainless (not black oxide) construction screws (two at each connection point) with at least 1-1/2" penetration will hold with more than enough strength for even a typical adult.

In this case, use 3" or 3-1/2". Torx are much nicer to work with than Phillips. Pre-drill 3/4 of the screw's length and the diameter of the screw shank.


How can I square the end of a 4x4 post by grinding or sanding?

Do you have a saw? Any sort of saw, be it hand saw, circular saw, hand or power miter box. These are all appropriate tools for squaring up an end like this. Even a jig-saw with a long enough blade should get you a cut that's close enough to finish sand.
An angle grinder would not be a good tool for this, which is probably why you're not finding any wood cutting blades. Usually an angle grinder is not a woodworking tool. You can use it, but you'll end up burning the wood with a grinding disk, and probably with a standard cutting disk, too.
You can use a hand plane, though planing end-grain is very difficult and requires a very sharp blade and proper setup of the plane (check out the Woodworking sister site for plane setup details - I know there have been questions about that there). If you don't already have one, you're going to spend more money, time and frustration trying to get this setup than it's really worth, especially if you expect this to be a one-off situation.
You could also just use your sander with something like 36 grit paper. You'd be surprised how quickly that will chew away wood. Get close to your finish line with the 36 grit, then switch to something like 80 or 100 grit to get really close, then switch to a higher grit if you want/need a finer finish, or just finish it up with the 80 or 100.


I'd consider building one of these as out of the scope of even my abilities, and I have access to a full machine shop / prototyping facility and own almost every tool known to man. The intricacies of these articulating mechanisms, which must be extremely robust to handle the forces involved, and which probably have highly tensioned springs inside them, would put me off to even attempting this.


Should water heaters be turned off (for safety) when not in use?

No: water heaters are designed to be left on 24/7/365. You might turn one off if you're leaving for a vacation to save energy, but safety isn't part of the decision.


There should be minimum clearance specifications in the installation manual, so you should consult that. Anything else mentioned here is speculation.
You should shield the water heater from the shower spray.


Venting a direct vent fireplace into an existing wood burning stove flue

Hard to say without seeing it, but typically you can use the existing flue provided you add the proper direct vent chimney insert for your particular gas fireplace. Alternatively, you can possibly knock a hole in the back of your chimney and just go out the side if you'd prefer (more labor, but less flue inserts you'd need to purchase).

UPDATE:

We actually did this recently. We ended up taking a direct vent unit and have the exhaust going through the existing flue (about 20'). For intake air, we're letting it take it from inside the house (since this isn't a primary heating unit, the loss in efficiency isn't a big concern for us). We've ran it a few times and seems to be working just fine.


How can I add a recepticle to this junction box full of push splices?

Good news and bad news.

The good news is, this is very strightforward.  This box is being used solely for distribution.  There are no switches involved here, so you have the good luck that the wire colors happen to match up to wire function.

All these wires aren't just sitting here waiting for you.  They all are already doing a job.  One cable (black/white pair) supplies power and the other ones take power onward to places where it is being used.  If you separate them, those other places will no longer have power.  To add a load here, you'll need to add its black, white and bare wires to each group, and keep the others still together.  That means putting 5 or more wires together.

Stab connectors

The wires are going into jab/stab connectors, which are full. You cant add wires, and they can't be used twice anyway.

To remove each wire, grip the stab connector firmly and pull the wire out firmly while twisting slightly (45-90 degrees).  If the connector has a release tab, that may help.   Start with the longest wires until you get the hang of it; don't twist the wires exscessively as you don't want metal fatigue.  Do not simply cut the wires, because wire length is precious.

The stab connectors are single-use and there is no saving them.  Into the trash they go.  They make "lever operated" connectors that are far more reliable, and they can be reused.  For novices, I recommend connection styles made for re-use.

However, stab junction blocks have one merit, they can take as many as 8 wires.

Box fill

The bad news is the box is getting pretty full.  We calculate box fill based on cubic inches.   This 4x4" deep box has 30.3 cubic inches.   You are working in 12 AWG wires (do not use 14 AWG wires here!), and those take 2.25 (2-1/4) cubic inches per wire.

All grounds count as 1 wire.  All cable clamps count as 1 wire. That accounts for 4.5 cubic inches, leaving 25.8 cubic inches.  That is enough for 11 black and white wires.  You have 8 already, so you can add one more cable here before "cubing out".

You can get yourself more cubic inches by adding a "domed box cover" (4-10 cubic inches)  or a "junction box extender" (21 cubic inches).
Another option is to add a receptacle here.  They make 10.2 cubic inch domed covers with a cutout for a receptacle.  A receptacle or switch costs you 2 wires' worth (4.5 cubic inches), but when added to the box, you have just enough room for 14 wires.  (7 cables).

Further, certain receptacles allow "screw-to-clamp" wire attachments (back wiring under the screws, tighten to clamp). These take 4 wires per side, so you can use this type of receptacle to splice 4 cables into each other also.
if you need more than 4 connections, you can "pigtail", run a short wire  between one splice group and the other.   Pigtails count for 0 cubic inches.


Your thermostat provides nowhere to attach ground, so you won't be attaching it to anything, unless the junction box is metal, in which case it must be attached to the metal box.
The white wire is being used as a hot, and needs to be re-marked by wrapping it with black tape.
NEC 110.3(B) says you must install the item according to its labeling and instructions.  That means you must read them :)
You have the heater version of a "switch loop" and it can only support 1-pole thermostats.  That's not necessarily failure.  However, each 2-pole thermostat treats that situation differently.  Some have instructions on how to wire it. (use one pole? wire both in series? IDK, check the instructions).   Others say not to do it. Others can't do it, e.g. almost any thermostat with onboard smarts that needs power.


Installing motion lights on a fixture with a dimmer switch

The dimmer modifies the sine wave and the fixture may not work. many dimmers  use silicone controlled rectifiers and only 1/2 of the energy wave is passed on even at full on. Only having half wave to work with can keep the fixture from working or may over heat and even damage components in the motion light.
Because the manufacturer states to not use this fixture with a dimmer it would be a code violation to do it.


What could be causing these cracks in the drywall?

It looks to me like the cracks are appearing on the board joins.

Some possible causes there are:

Something went wrong with the drywall tape, or there was no tape used at all? You may want to scratch around and try to find some of the tape? I think i can actually see a bubble seam on the wall, indicating that your tape is pushing out. I would say they didn't pre-fill the join seams when applying tape -- basically a poor taping and preparation job.

Other - Less likely Faults:

The boards may not be secure enough (ie, enough lateral supports, and my be vibrating too much (wind or knocks)
Structural Fault - do they all follow some sort of pattern? the house may be settling and structurally changing
Excess Moisture: easy to check (if the area around the crack is damp)


Metal box grounding question GFCI outlet

That is what is called a “bootleg ground” and it’s both against code and dangerous. This can be done when there is no ground in the box. It works because the ground and neutral are connected back in the main panel. However, there are problems, such as if the neutral wire back to the panel fails, suddenly, the outlet ground is at 120 volts (through the load, out the neutral pin, through the wire to the ground pin.
The interesting thing is that it appears that the wires are going through conduit which should provide a good ground to the metal box.
Assuming that the box is indeed grounded, all you need is to install a “self grounding” GFCI.
On the other hand, if the box is not grounded, what you must do is install a GFCI, leaving the ground screw disconnected. Also, label the front of the outlet “no ground”. There should be a label in the packaging that you can stick on.
A GFCI is the only legal way to install a 3-prong outlet on an ungrounded circuit.


Explosive Backup in Shower/Toilet in Small House & Clear Bubbles in Sink & Toilet of Main House

It is very common to see (and/or hear) all manner of bubbling and gurgling when you have a partial or complete main line sewer clog. Call a reputable drain cleaning service. You can safely assume that running a cable down the line from the smaller house will get to the clog, but let the plumber tell you that because they often "guarantee" to clear the clog. Make it a point to be home when they do it, so you can inspect any material they drag up out of there. They may also be able to let you see what is going on using a borescope camera.


What are my options for saving this building?

Ultimately, I decided to save it.  I used stacks of cribbing with large beams to jack the building up off of the failing foundation walls.  Similar to this (much larger) example:

Once I had it up on the crib stacks, I was able to remove the jacking beams, pour concrete footers/piers, and set 6x6 posts.  The building now rests on those posts and sits firmly.  Once closed up, it became a nice storage space.


Does the granite countertop on my deck require separate footings?

Assuming your deck is somewhat modern and properly designed and built, it can easily handle a live load of 13 pounds per square foot (no extra footings required, no need to worry about aligning the table legs over joists, etc).

That said, I am assuming your deck is somewhat modern and properly built.
You should consider paying a structural engineer to take a look at your deck (especially the ledger connection to the house, which is a typical weak spot).  That would be a lot cheaper than pouring new footings and going crazy overbuilding it, plus it will give you a piece of mind.  You might be surprised how inexpensive a structural engineer costs to take a look at your deck and give an opinion.


Do I need to weatherproof my outdoor conduit?

Short answer: Wet locations only require corrosion resistant materials. But I would use compression connectors outdoors anyway.
From the National Electrical Code

358.10 Uses Permitted.
(A) Exposed and Concealed. The use of EMT shall be permitted for both exposed and concealed work.
(B) Corrosion Protection. Ferrous or nonferrous EMT, el-bows, couplings, and fittings shall be permitted to be in-stalled in concrete, in direct contact with the earth, or in areas subject to severe corrosive influences where protected by cor-rosion protection and approved as suitable for the condition.
(C) Wet Locations. All supports, bolts, straps, screws, and so forth shall be of corrosion-resistant materials or protected against corrosion by corrosion-resistant materials.

Good luck!


Preventing outside heat from hitting cabinets

You could add a layer of rigid insulation to the back of your cabinets, but you'd lose a couple of inches of space and you'd want to add a covering over the insulation. Plus, I doubt it'd do much (for all the effort), because the heat is already in the cabinet.

Likewise, removing the cabinets and installing insulation in the wall seems expensive...and maybe the wall is already full of insulation.

The best way to keep heat out is to prevent it from entering the wall...how about building some latticework outside and planting some vines to cover it. The trellis should be a few inches away from the wall to be most effective. (I suppose you could be really creative and build an insulated wall with latticework on it to really "protect" your wall.)


Terminal block kenmore dryer all wires connect. Have one lose bare wire where does it go

Normally there is a green screw to the frame of the dryer for that wire called the equipment ground.


How many circuits are recommended for this basement game room remodel?

I'm going to leave minimal for someone else and answer smart....

Put the lights on their own 15A breaker.

Put receptacles on a couple of 20 amp breakers.

If you MUST share (or think you must) put half the lights and some receptacles on one circuit (probably 15 amp unless you really want to run 12 gauge to lights) and half the lights and some other receptacles on another. Having lived with shared outlets and lights, I'm opposed to being left in the dark when a receptacle is overloaded. A lighting only circuit almost never trips, IME.

Being a basement I think you need everything to be GFCI protected at this point - either with GFCI breakers or with a GFCI as the "first thing in line" as it comes off the breaker.

Tester 101's answer to my question about lighting circuits did come up with a figure of 3 volt-amperes per square foot based on use as a dwelling for minimum power required. But minimums can be exceeded.


Is my 4-way switch replacement job safe and up to code?

Yeah, that looks right to me,  the remotes only need neutral and comms.  I presume the master puts only enough power on that comms wire to let the remotes power up, and uses that same wire for comms.  Good design, leave it to GE.


Electrical Code for wiring multiple outlets

The Code requires that continuity of the ground wire (equipment ground) cannot depend on a device.

The Code also requires that the continuity of the neutral (grounded conductor) cannot depend on a device if you are using a multi-wire branch circuit (Two hot legs, a neutral, and ground).

The Code never requires the continuity of the hot leg to be continuous.

So, that means if you are not using a multiwire branch circuit then you can use the clamps on the devices for the hot and neutral. The ground would need to be pigtailed on every device but the end of the line. If using a MWBC then you would also have it pigtail the neutral on all devices but the end of the line.

Wago, Ideal, and other push-in connectors are UL listed for use and can be used for joints in an electrical installations. Or you can use wire nuts. The choice is yours.

Good luck and stay safe!


Contractor vented bathroom vents in attic, now I have mold. Is he accountable?

Venting to the attic is never correct, and was not good 'workmanship' even before the 2006 IRC cycle.  Even if you asked a contractor to vent to the attic, they should have refused, or made you sign a waiver.

Your first step is to research the contractor claims process in your state.
Your second step is to contact the contractor and explain what happened.
Your third step is to contact the bonding company of the contractor: they have teeth, if need be.

You paid to have fans routed to the outside: the contractor should be liable to finish the job as specified, and to pay any consequential damages for failing to do so.


What's the maximum allowable height between a shower drain and the trap?

According to the International Residential Code, the maximum vertical distance between the sink drain and the entrance to the p-trap is 24 inches.
source

Be aware that it'll make a fair bit of noise dropping that far.


Do new integrated kitchen faucets come with threads for adapters?

The second Delta faucet that you linked is not going to be at all compatible with your fish tank cleaning system. The first VCCUCINE unit may be usable if the aerator on the non-spray spout is removable. It looks like from the view below that it may be removable as per the small flats on two sides:

...but it would not be fun to have to remove that part every time you wanted to use the fish tank cleaning adapter.

Also be aware that there a plethora of sizes of threads used for faucet aerators. Some are internal (F type) threads and others are external (M type) threads. Then throw in inch and metric sizes and realize that there will be a good chance that your existing faucet adapter may not work with a new faucet even if it does have a conveniently removable aerator.


Installing smart switches, instructions don't match my wiring?

I have the same smart switches and it was a breeze to install.  Have you downloaded the Kasa app on your phone?  Once you open the app and select new install, select the diagram that represents the currently installed switch.  After that it gives step by step instructions for proper installation.


Trying to identify the names of ikea hardware

It's part of an IKEA TYSSEDAL Bed frame.
Part number 124401
Assembly Instructions
Ikea will be the only place to find a part like this.
According to Ikea:

Sometimes things don't go as planned. If your order arrived incomplete, contained damaged products, or didn't even show up, we're here to help.

Visit your closest store
Email us
Give us a call 1-888-888-4532

They should be able to help you if you tell them "Tyssedal bed frame part number 124401"


How to determine phase and neutral on a wall outlet?

Quickest way is to turn off the mains and unscrew the socket and determine the polarity by the colours (Blue being NEUTRAL and brown being LIVE).

Otherwise if you have an EARTH connection nearby (copper pipe for instance) use that to determine which one has the highest RMS voltage from EARTH. Neutral shouldn't be that far off EARTH while LIVE should be 230V (ish)

(this is also why I like the British mains plug)


Yes it's definitely possible. If you have carpeting you often can just push the wire under the baseboard in the gap left for the flooring.

Otherwise the most common option is to remove the baseboards, and then cut out a strip of drywall at the bottom of the wall. You hide your wires in this channel, and then replace the baseboards.  Make sure that when nailing your baseboards back down that you don't hit any of the wires.

The above advice does not apply to line-voltage wiring but can be used for Telco wiring.


Are there any tricks for using an oscillating multitool?

Like you, I find it more effective as a cutter through harder surfaces if you move the blade across the surface you wish to cut.  I also apply light pressure to the tool while "sawing" with it.

Although in your case, it probably was simply that the wood was very hard.


laying a brick patio in extreme temperature setting

Weeds grow anywhere...whether you mortar or use sand.

If you live in a freeze/thaw area, you definitely don't want to use mortar, as it will eventually crack, and cracked mortar is a lot harder to maintain and remove weeds from than sand is.

Also note that you don't want to use just 'fine sand' but polymeric sand. Polymeric sand needs to be wetted after application and it will 'lock itself' into the joints.

Regardless, every other year or so you will need to likely brush a bit more sand in and pull a few weeds. But that's still a lot less work than maintaining mortar joints.


Ok I am going to post something for a 3 way switch wiring - keep in mind if you have a pre-wired ceiling fan box the red wire for a ceiling fan is typically the light kit (attaching to the blue wire of the Light Kit) and the black wire is for the fan.
In the first diagram below the red wire is a traveler wire.

Take note the fan diagram below is showing a speed switch for the fan and a separate dimmer switch for the light.


How can I repair a circular drywall patch seam?

That electrician was no plasterer.

First you need to get rid of the high spots where the paper part of the drywall is showing through, you might need to cut that out with a knife. after that you just need to fill it with plaster filler until it's flat then sand it smooth and paint.

If you light it at an extreme angle the high spots will be easily visible.

you probsbly want to use poweder based fiiller, not pre mixed joint compound,  the powder stuff sets hard quicker and shrinks less.


Where do I attach the Ground and Neutral inside a sub-panel?

In your main panel there's a fat bus bar down the left side. It has a lug up high and another at the bottom (hidden from view behind some wires). Those lugs should accommodate your neutral and ground wires.
Unfortunately... you've kinda got the wrong panel for the detached garage. There's a requirement that all circuits in the building can be shut down with no more than 6 motions - by turning off no more than 6 circuit breakers, in other words.
Usually this is accomplished by using a main-breaker panel rather than the main-lug type panel you have there. You could add a QOM100VHCP or QOM125VHCP main breaker to that panel but it'll be more cost effective to return the panel and buy one that has a main breaker already installed.


Staples are far more prone to cause leaks than roofing nails. For a  pro roofer with a coil nail gun, they save no time at all .vs. using nails. For a non-pro who can actually use a hammer, they save very little time .vs. nails.

Likewise, in the normal process of construction, it's quite common to have some period of time where the underlayment is the only thing on the roof surface. While you may have time to screw around with "a strip of underlayment, a few rows of shingles" it's not efficient for a roofing crew - get the underlayment on the whole roof, which is then considered "dried in" as it will immediately shed water if not left like that for too long, come back and shingle (if shingles are what you are using on top) in one go.

(While we are here, might as well mention considering upgrading to ice and water shield, aka self-sealing membrane, for at least the bottom few courses as insurance in case of ice dams. Some folks do the whole roof with it.)


Refurbishing the space underneath stairs

This is just standard lath & plaster, which was the classy, professional way to finish walls until after WWII. Prior to that, gypsum board (sheetrock) was considered to be substandard and "cheap." I wouldn't necessarily bother taking this all down, although you certainly can gut it down to the studs.

If you can identify where the studs are, and use screws, not nails, you could fasten sheetrock straight down on top of this and you'd be fine.

On the other hand, there's nothing wrong with a lath and plaster wall. In fact it's thicker and stronger than a sheetrock-finished wall. So if you could just repair the plaster, that might be another good way to go.


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


Time to look into every nook and cranny.  Pull the fridge out, check all cupboards, clean under all furniture.  Location can be anywhere were there is a food source, which can be just about anywhere food or organic material can fall/kicked under/forgotten about.

Start with the obvious locations first; in/around trashcans, pantries, fruit/vegetable storage, fridge and cooking areas.  If you have pets, check any area where they could possibly get and leave a mess (under/behind furniture).

Also they have a life cycle that is anywhere from 1 week to 4 weeks.  If you kill the first wave, keep up looking/cleaning as the second wave can still be in the process of maturing.


Cant remove brackets on underside of bathroom sink

In both cases I see a U shaped metal foot that attached to the fitting by two spurs that pass through hole in it,
This is probably tigtened (and loosened) from above.
however if you spread the arms of the U apart it will let go.


If the switch has only the traveler wires, with the feed in the light then you basically do not have a neutral at the switch.  So a second switch can not be added at that location with out adding a neutral.  At the light the feed can be "tapped" hot and neutral and ran to a new light with a new traveler to the new switch.


I use an 18" piece of 3/4" rubber automotive heater hose to get to places like that. I slip or force one end of the hose into the hose to the vacuum cleaner and vacuum with the open end of the rubber hose. Be careful you do not damage some delicate heat transfer fins in your appliance.


What type of foundation is best in an area with silt loam soil, cold climate, and high water table?

You have several foundation issues to consider: 1) deep enough to eliminate frost/thaw heaving, 2) deep enough to insure stability, 3) deep enough to resist seismic activity,

1) There are lots of charts that will tell you the minimum depth required to reach the frost line. A slab on grade is NOT acceptable, unless it’s structural and tied to a “deep” structural foundation system.

2) In order to find stable soil, you’ll need to go very deep. (Where I live we use piles or piers and go 70’ deep.) We use a geotechnical report performed by a geotechnical engineer. They drill over 100’ deep and take samples. Those samples are analyzed and they produce a report that allows us to recommend the correct foundation.

3) If you live in a seismically active area, you’ll need to consider a “deep” foundation system too. If so, you’ll need an architect or structural (not civil) engineer.

Your neighbors that build on piers, but still have problems, probably did not account for axial load and it settled rather than heaved.

Depending on your soil conditions, you may need DRIVEN piles rather than POURED piles (piers). I’d talk to a local pile driving company and see what their costs are for various pile and pier foundation systems.

Also, because you mention fluctuation in water-table, you’ll need to account for insect infestation.


What is the life expectancy / MTBF of a 60 gal. water heater?

I have never heard the term "mean time between failure" used for water heaters. Love it.  I can tell you, that on my inspection reports, I advise that the average expected life span of an electric water heater is 10 to 15 years.  If you have very hard water, don't drain it annually to remove sludge, or check/replace the sacrificial rods every 3 yrs, you may not see the maximum life capability. I have seen them last up to 20 years, but that is rare.


A combination of a solution of bleach water at the A/C end and a shop vac at the outlet may be useful. I had a similar clog in the drain with two elbows instead of sweeps (inside the slab) and the snake only goes so far. The snake helped open a bit of travel for the chlorine water, which takes some time to be effective, but the shop vac (wet/dry vac) really made the difference. If you duct tape the vac hose to the outlet end of the drain, you can be assured of maximum power, but even holding your hand around the end helps.


Cement board isn't intended as a finished floor. It's not as dense as concrete. You'd find high heels and chair legs punching into it in short order, leaving you with a crumbly mess. Obviously you'd also have to tape all the seams and skim the screw holes, but you'd still have air voids across the entire surface to deal with.

I'd try epoxy over good (hardwood veneer?) plywood before cement board.


This would appear to be most likely a faulty pressure switch.

Start there.

The job of the pressure switch is to turn on when the water pressure is low, and turn off when it is high enough - this is most commonly a 20 PSI range (ie, 20-40, 30-50 or 40-60 PSI.)

The pump is evidently working.

The pressure gauge is evidently working unless you see some other behavior that suggests otherwise, such as a non-zero pressure when you drain the system.

A tank problem would not cause uncontrolled pressure rise. The most common tank problem (failed bladder/waterlogging) would cause abrupt pressure rise and the pressure switch would cut off very quickly.

Unless you have gremlins that would have altered the adjustment of your pressure switch, all reported symptoms point to switch failure. Start with replacing it, should be in stock at most any hardware store.


How to identify the C terminal on my HVAC

Your guess is correct

The C/3 terminal on your control board is indeed the C terminal you should hook your spare (blue) wire up to.  How do I know that? Well, your compressor contactor's coil needs to be hooked between Y and C, like a lightbulb connected from switched-hot to neutral with the thermostat from R to Y taking the place of the lightswitch going from always-hot to switched-hot, and we can identify the wire running off to the compressor from the Y terminal (its the other wire connected to the Y terminal, given that the thermostat is wired to it as well), so we know that the other wire coming from that compressor cable must land on the C terminal.


how to connect C wire to Weil-McLain EG-65 Series-5 gas steam boiler

According to the control wiring supplement for your boiler, there should be a C terminal on the transformer, adjacent to the R terminal.  Look for the terminal on the transformer with the green wires going to it.


Since the wood is apt to move a little, I suggest you use "tear away bead", and maybe apply some painter's caulk after a season if you see any gaps. The alternative would be flat taping, but that depends on a pretty close fit between the drywall and the timber.


What to keep on the wooden table to make the surface heat resistant?

When we had a wooden table as a child for every day use, we kept a layer of tempered glass that sat up on silicone feet so there was a thin air gap between the table and the glass. The glass covered the entire surface of the table, so there was no risk of spills or hot items damaging the actual wood surface of the table.

I would look into something that definitely had an air gap below it. A stone, ceramic, or glass cutting board (or a tile tray) with feet would work.


How do I update two 2-wire switches housed in a single box? Both switches are combination switch and PILOT light

It sounds like the old switches were hooked up using the bare copper grounding conductor as a grounded (neutral) conductor.  This is NOT the proper way to wire this switch. To wire the new switches properly, you'll have to install an additional wire between the switch and the load.
It sounds like you have a situation like this...

But what you need, is something like this...

About the Device
The device you're trying to install has 5 screw terminals. On one side it has 2 COMMON terminals, which are likely either black or brass in color.  This side also contains the GROUNDING terminal, which is likely green and located kind of off by itself.
On the other side of the device, there are two screw terminals. The first is the LOAD terminal, and is likely brass in color. The other terminal is the GROUNDED (neutral) terminal, and is probably silver in color.
COMMON
The COMMON terminals are used to supply power to the device.  It's typical for only one of the terminals to be connected, but possible that both can be used.
GROUNDING
The GROUNDING terminal is used to connect the device to the equipment grounding system.
LOAD
The LOAD terminal is used to supply power from the switch, to the light or other load that is being controlled by the switch.
GROUNDED
The GROUNDED terminal is used to complete the circuit so the pilot light can be illuminated.
Internally, the switch looks something like this...


If the benches that you have are indeed the Norden style of benches from IKEA like this:

Then it would be possible to shorten them slightly by cutting an equal amount off of each end if the bench top. Several things to consider when proposing to do this:

Some IKEA products are made of a particle board that is veneered with a nice wood face and edges. If the top boards of this bench are made that way then the shortening would leave ugly raw edges on the ends of the bench.
Cutting wants to be uniform from both ends so the bench remains having a balanced and even look.
Do not shorten so that the top gets closer than say 1 inch (2.5 cm) from the legs.
If the ends of the top are cut it will leave a raw wood edge that would need to be re-finished. Good guess as to what type of finish has been used by the manufacturer.
If you cut only one of the two benches they may no longer look like a "matched set".
The type of saw used to trim the bench top will have a lot to do with how nice the cuts look and whether or not there is any chipping or splintering.


How to fix sink disposal leaking problem?

That leak is coming from the bottom of the disposal which means the bottom seals or the bottom has rusted out or cracked.
You'll need to replace it. Sorry about that.


Well, basing the calcs on water, that is around 568kg or 1253lbs plus the weight of the tank itself and any associated pipework. Whether or not it will support such a load depends on the thickness of the concrete and whether or not it has any reinforcement.

Adding weight to a basically suspended slab increases the tension on the concrete and generally, concrete is weak in tension (unless reinforced).


Feed-through vs. non-feed-through GFCI for kitchen backsplash?

Second thought: End-run around the whole problem

You don't need to keep that exact configuration.  You need 2 switches, and they make double switches on a single yoke (fits like a duplex receptacle). Move both switches to the rightmost yoke.

Now the left yoke is a receptacle and an abandoned switch.  You are entirely free to put whatever kind of common receptacle you want to put there.

------

Are you sure you aren't doing this the hard way?

A lot of people believe that "GFCI" means the ugly square receptacle with the Test and Reset button.  That's not true at all.

GFCI is a level of protection provided to a circuit.  Current flows in loops -- GFCI compares current on the hot and the return (neutral) - if they are not equal, leakage is occurring.

This can work anywhere in the circuit.  The closer to the circuit breaker, the better, because that protects more of the circuit (including the wires, which does help).  In fact they make GFCI circuit breakers, and those are a very elegant way to solve this problem!  The GFCI Breaker protects every single receptacle on its circuit.

Super important point right there.

GFCI breakers can be expensive.  You can do the same thing by adding a GFCI module before the first receptacle.  The module takes hot and neutral from the panel (in its LINE inputs).   It gives GFCI-protected power out its LOAD outputs.  Easy peasy, cheaper than a breaker.

Wiring that can be a little awkward.  But receptacles are wired in a chain.  You can just find the first receptacle in your chain, and replace it with a GFCI module, and feed the rest of the circuit off tis LOAD terminals obviously.   A GFCI module designed to replace a receptacle looks like this.

Hold on. That looks like there could be sockets there.  That's true.  Can it protect the downline circuit via the LOAD terminals and also have sockets there?  Yes it can.  Can I get those?  You already have.  That's what you've been installing all along.

The point

Stop thinking of GFCI "receptacles" as receptacles.  Think of them as dedicated GFCI protective devices designed for the singular purpose of protecting downstream loads via their LOAD terminals... and also they just happen to have a couple of convenience outlets on their front.

Back to your switch

It's rather awkward to fit a half-GFCI half-switch.  Aside from being an expensive oddball, it raises more questions than answers - is the switch side protected?  Do I break tabs off, or not?  How do I avoid confusing my neutrals and causing a big problem? How do I even wire this thing?  HELP!

We can avoid the entire exercise by simply fitting a GFCI protective device upstream if it.  Either as the breaker, or at a receptacle location that is before the switch location.

I would just change the coverplate so it matches. You could change the switch/receptacle, but those darn things are like $10.  Ouch.

Get yourself a GFCI tester (a common 3-lamp tester with an extra "Test" button) and you will be able to defintively tell when an outlet is protected.

One more thing.

When you install a GFCI receptacle or deadfront, reset it (make sure it's on) -- and then shut off the breaker for 10 seconds.  Turn it back on.  Did the GFCI trip simply from shutting off the breaker?  If it did, back to the store it goes - that one is a poorly made piece o' junk.  Quality GFCIs don't do that.

And the labels.
Lastly if a plain receptacle is protected by a GFCI, it needs up to 3 labels on it, if the fact on the sticker is not obvious.  (2-prong sockets don't need "No Ground" stickers, duh... things with Test and Reset buttons don't need "GFCI protected".)

"GFCI Protected" - the inspector must see these on plain outlets to approve them.
"No Equipment Ground" - required only if the receptacle has a ground pin, but isn't grounded.
Reset in laundry room etc. for unexpected locations of the GFCI reset.  This isn't required by law, just a good idea.


Help in identifying a mystery wall socket

Thanks for providing the "opened" picture, which clearly reveals that this is 300 ohm TV (and/or FM radio) antenna twinlead.

Not quite as obsolete as a buggywhip, but pretty close.


I Forgot about this one. 5.8KW on a 240V would only draw a little over 24 amps. in the U.S. this would require 10 Awg wire. A standard wire type THHN 10 Awg crosses over to 4.166 MM as the aprox diameter as listed in the NEC chapter 9 Table 5. I am surprised the cable is not melting this is way under sized.  To answer the question: No it is not correctly wired.


Can I wire a 3 way switch to a light but also have an always-hot receptacle?

Due to the way the three way switch is wired, you will not be able to do this. Either, your outlet will turn on and off with the switches, or you would essentially render the switches "Always On" (By connecting both travelers together in the outlet). Regardless, your best option is to run a new line to the outlet. See the diagram below:

You should be able to daisy chain off a nearby outlet so you don't have to go all the way back to the breaker box.
Good Luck!


Is it OK to drill/notch an end joist (not rim/band joist) as long as it's continuously supported by a foundation wall?

It would be ok to notch or drill the end of the joist on a supporting member. Keep it in the middle or top section, not the bottom where it is bearing.

Rim joists DO bear load in many cases, however, drilling holes will not significantly downgrade the ability to carry that load and therefore it's ok. HOWEVER, rim joists on the second level or higher can be part of the lateral system and at most remove 1/3 of the depth and in the middle of the rim joist


What to do about a gas leak on my air conditioner?

Sounds like a leak of coolant gas.  Though I've never had an AC with indicators like this, what's the model?  It will eventually force the compressor to shut itself off or else the compressor would burn up from lack of lubrication (which is also included in the coolant).  At which point, the AC will no longer work.  You need to find the leak and fix it, then have the system recharged.  Since the coolant likely isn't available without a license in your area, you'll need a contractor for this.


How to repair asphalt roof with no decking

Your roof has Osb sheathing for a deck.
This particular roof has used Osb that has a foil overlay on the underside that theoretically blocks some radiant heat from entering the structure.
Repairs and re roofing would proceed as with any roof on OSB.
https://lpcorp.com/products/panels-sheathing/radiant-barrier


You've got a few problems/misconceptions.  First there's no such thing as a 100-amp battery; however 100 amp-hour would be typical of a car-battery-sized thing.  An amp-hour is an amp for an hour.
Second, you can't get 100 amp-hours out of a 100Ah lead-acid battery, at least not for very many cycles. That would be 100% depth of discharge, and that is very destructive to lead-acid batteries particularly.  That's something you just have to know about lead-acid; if you use more than about 30% of nameplate capacity, you will be doing damage, shortening battery life and reducing capacity.  That is a downside of lead-acid.  The upside is the price.
If you want a battery that does exactly what it says on the tin, try nickel-iron.
And with a solar setup, you typically want a 3-day battery capacity to bridge you across cloudy/stormy days. It's OK if that dips somewhat into the "don't cycle every day" level, but that means an average day should only dip a lead-acid by 15-20%.

Another thing you'll need to know is that inverters take a significant amount of power simply to be spun up.  (Inverters don't literally spin, but they draw standby power as if they did).

Say you want to power a refrigerator. Very easy load; 2000W startup surge, 100 watt operating (25% of the time) and 0 watts idle. The startup surge is relevant to sizing the inverter, it's not a burden on the battery.  So you get out your sharp pencil and say 100 watts x .20 = 20 watts average, x24 = 480 watt-hours (40 amp-hours) per day.  Easy peasy right?
Hold on. You don't know when the fridge will want to cycle. Let's just armwave that an inverter takes 2% of its max load as vampire loss simply to be spun up. That 2000W inverter therefore takes 40 watts (better inverters take less). Oh, snap. Now we're talking 960 watt-hours, 80 amp-hours per day. Plus the fridge.  So we're now tripling the size of our pack!  Whoops!

Golly. Engineering is hard.  So now you need to be a little more cunning. For instance shift as many loads as possible to low-voltage DC (lights, easy; internet router easy; TV possible with many TVs; so at least you have Netflix.)  For the fridge, they do make 12V fridges, but you could also "hack" the fridge with an extra thermal sensor that spins up the inverter only when the fridge needs it.

Anyway, to get back on to your question, wattage is the unit that remains consistent across various voltages (not counting conversion losses, i.e. that inverter).
Watts = Volts x Amps -- and Watts doesn't change.  So if volts change, amps must too.
That means When you change volts, you must recalculate amps or vice versa.
Your 500W appliance is a 500W appliance at any voltage.   So at 220V it is 2.27A and at 12V it is 41A.
Toss in another 10% everytime you change voltages.  So at 12V, figure on 550W or 46A.

One more big nit to pick. You are running a "generic standard 500W appliance" I know that's an academic number, but academically...
You do not run "generic standard appliances".
You re-evaluate each load, considering carefully the wattage it draws vs. what the most efficient appliances draw.  If you want to keep the inefficient appliance, how much will it cost to provision the extra power?  Compare that to the cost of upgrading.
Say you have an old Westinghouse fridge that draws 300W.  The very best efficient fridges draw 50W. Saves 250W, but costs $600.  Well here's a question for you.  How much will 250W of additional solar/battery capacity cost you?  Is it more than $600? Yes. Yes it is.  Goodbye Westinghouse, grats on your new fridge!
Likewise

A 1-connection washing machine that heats its own water? Nope, you use a 2-connection washing machine and a solar-thermal system, and wash your whites on sunny days.  Or stop wearing white :)
Plain old beige-box gaming PC with an 850W power supply in it? Nosirree, it'll cost $12,000 in additional solar-battery to power that, and that'll pay for a new Mac Pro 3 times over.  So you shop for a PC optimized for energy use and doing what you need, e.g. Mac Mini + external VPU that you only switch on while gaming.
55 watt T5 fluorescent light you already have, vs 44 watt LED light for $50 -- 11 watts saved - except only 10 minutes a day, so 0.07 watt on average.  Not worth the $50, don't upgrade.

Every load gets evaluated like that.


Your city waste department handles color coding of garbage, recyclable materials and other such items.Typically you are correct - Blue for recycle and Green for Garbage.

Who provides a can for compost - if they provide one at all.
What can is used for what purpose.

All Cities in the USA have their own requirements.
You will need to look in your City Web Site page and they should have a contact number for the Waste Collection Division - they can and will provide you with the details you request.


Why are ground and neutral bonded at the main panel?

The reason they're allowed to be mixed in a main is a convoluted tale.
In principle they're supposed to be separated there too; however panels need a feature to keep 120/240V power from floating at some unnaturally high voltage to earth, e.g. 9600V from a transformer leak. That would cause problems for insulation in devices.  So they take one of the active conductors, name it "neutral", and bond it to earth. The transformer then forces the other conductors to be the appropriate distance (120V) from earth.  This bond is called the Neutral-Ground Equipotential Bond.
It would be perfectly OK if neutral and ground were merely close; so for instance a 1-volt transformer would be a fine N-G bond, giving neutral a 1-volt bias from ground and the other legs 121V and 119V biases.  That is certainly better than the alternative, a 9600V, 9720V and 9840V bias from ground!  However a piece of copper is the cheapest available bond.
At that point, manufacturers said "Wait, since they're all connected anyway, why not just let people use all the same bar?"  There was no reason why not, so NFPA allowed it.
You're absolutely right; in a lost neutral situation, which happens a lot, current starts flowing across the N-G bond into the earth to the transformer's ground rod and back to the transformer.  However the grounding electrode wires are plenty large enough that the limiting factor will be the conductivity of the earth.


Can I warm up a swimming pool by submerging black-painted milk jugs in it?

I'm not clear on how some milk jugs are going to heat the pool. Most of the light will have scattered before it reaches the submerged jugs. Plus the surface area is going to be minuscule compared to the pool area, unless you have thousands of jugs.

Finally, I thought one of the main benefits to a pool cover was to reduce evaporative heat loss. Underwater jugs won't help you at all.


Repairing a GE stackable washer and dryer damaged by an unbalanced load

There might be a suitable answer here which says:

Check the wires going to the lid open switch to see if they are disconnected or severed, which apparently happened from an excessively unbalanced load.
If so, reconnect the wires and reset the washer logic by turning the cycle control knob to the 4 o'clock position, press and hold the start/pause button until the light blinks (3-5 seconds wait).  Then, while holding in the start/pause button, turn knob to the 6 o'clock position (blinking light should stop).


How to install a ceiling lamp that doesn't have holes

You take up the cable to the right length using the bracket in your last picture. Then you can pull the conical cover up. When I've used these, there's always been either (i) a little plastic screw in the hole you can see at the bottom of picture 3 or (ii) some form of friction clip built into the point of the cone.


How can I build a temporary support for rafters?

If you have space and there's any structure left near the ends, the easiest way is to not replace the existing rafters and joists, but to sister a second board on the side of each. Attaching the two with bolts every foot or two (50 cm). Use several bolts at the ends of the wider lumber (7x2).

If you don't have the space or the existing structure has rotted to the point that it won't hold a bolt, then a temporary support is very similar to the existing structure, built as close as possible to location you're working on. If there is a load bearing joint above your structure (unlikely for where you're working, this is typically seen with a load bearing wall and two joists meeting over top of the wall), you would build support for each side of the joint. If the existing structure has sagged, you'll want to jack it back up before installing your new support.

Note that when it comes to engineered joists and rafters, they are frequently designed with precisely engineered joints and webbing to carry the load. If you cannot match exactly what was done before, then I would recommend getting a professional, or at least the advice of an engineer.


Way to prevent mineral buildup in toilet?

The lime or other minerals are dissolved in the water, so no amount of filtering will typically help.

Solutions for hard-water involve treating the water in some way.  Hard water creates many different problems, and usually toilets are the least-expensive issue.  Killing your hot water heater is typically the most immediate side effect, and certainly you'll have scale buildup elsewhere in your plumbing that you don't see.  As a result hard-water treatment systems typically treat the whole water supply for the house.  There are a few main categories for the most common water-treatment systems:

Water softening through sodium ion replacement (aka classic water softening systems)
Reverse Osmosis (typically the most expensive option)
Water chelation (a more modern method.  By way of example this is a chelation system.  I've never used it and I'm not advocating for it, it's just less familiar to most so I wanted an example).

In short, hard water sucks.  If it is causing problems for your toilet it is causing problems elsewhere, and you might as well treat the whole house (which is pretty much the only option anyway).

Note for apartments: I can't imagine there are any jurisdictions where you would be responsible for fixing this mess. If your toilet is clogging due to build up caused by hard water, that's clearly not your fault or your responsibility if you are only renting.  That's not to say that forcing management to fix it is easy, and, not being a lawyer, I'm not sure how this would collide with a lease provision that makes you responsible for clogs (although again, I can't imagine such a provision would apply to clogs like this anymore than it would apply to clogs caused by tree roots).  Yell at management until they fix it.  If they can't/won't, then it may be time to start apartment hunting the next time your lease is up.