What type of wire should I use for about 80ft run to a She Shed in 1" conduit for a 60 AMP subpanel. Can I use 6-6-6-6 Gray Stranded AL SER Cable?

SER cable is no good underground
NEC 338.12(A) point 2 prohibits the use of type SE (style U or style R, it doesn't matter) cable underground, even when in a conduit/raceway.  Besides, you really don't want to be pulling that alligator of a cable down a 1" conduit to begin with, as it won't fit very well at all, leaving you calling the electrician in to bail you out.  In particular, a typical 6-6-6-6 Al SER cable has an OD of 0.717" or 18.2 mm, which means it takes up 260.5 mm2 of fill area.  This barely fits into 1" conduits of most conduit types, a bad omen for a multiconductor cable to begin with, and does not fit in the worst-case scenario of a 1", Schedule 80 PVC conduit.
Furthermore, 6AWG Al is limited to 50A when landed on the 75°C capable terminations in distribution equipment, not the 60A you were hoping for.  As a result of all of this, I'd put in 3 6AWG copper THHN/THWN wires instead (two blacks and one white), with a bare 10AWG copper ground wire.  This takes up a mere 103.4 mm2 of fill area, less than half of the space the cable takes up, while being a far easier pull through the conduit, and fully Code-legal in this underground application.
Once you get to the shed....
Once you reach the shed, you'll need to install a subpanel there.  This is where most folks screw up; they chintz out and put in a tiny panel, thinking that's all their feeder can support or simply looking to shave a few bucks off the project cost, when they're really setting themselves up for an expensive panel swap down the road.  Instead, I'd put in a 24-space or 30-space, 100 or 125A, main breaker panel.  The oversized main breaker in the subpanel is no big deal as it's simply serving as the shutoff switch required for the structure by NEC 225.31, and the extra spaces provide plenty of expansion room for whatever crazy tools your significant other decides to get into.
Because you're putting in a feeder and subpanel, you'll also need to run some 8AWG or 6AWG bare copper from that subpanel to a pair of 8' ground rods driven a minimum of 6-8' apart.  This provides natural electricity, such as lightning-induced voltages, a path back to Mother Nature, while the equipment grounding wire in the feeder provides an easy route wayward utility-generated electricity can take to get back to the neutral-ground bond in your main panel and thus back to your utility.  As a result of this, you'll need to make sure the bonding screw or strap in your new subpanel is removed, or simply left uninstalled to begin with, when you install it.
TORQUE ALL LUGS TO SPEC
Last but not least, 2017 NEC 110.14(D) requires that all breaker and loadcenter/panel lug-type connections be torqued to the labeled torque values using an inch-pound torque wrench or torque screwdriver.  Even if your jurisidiction hasn't adopted the 2017 NEC, this is still a good idea anyway, as this Code change was made because of studies that were done that showed that the electrician's office manager (or a DIYer) was as equally unlikely to torque a connection correctly with regular hand tools as the electrician was!


There is no real difference from 2ea 45 degree bends, and 1ea 90 degree bend so there should be no problems in doing this. I would check the installation instructions as they may specify the total angle allowed. (I am guessing since you show 2 pipes it is a high efficiency unit with a closed fire box 1 for the fresh air and 1 for exhaust. On the large units I have installed the vents were powered by a fan and it allowed for a total of 360 degrees (4 90's)  and the pipe could run horizontal with a slight slope for condensate to drain back. on the smaller units that use natural convection they were limited to 180 with no horizontal runs. More info on the type we could provide better answers.


General convention is "Up" is on and "Down" is off. However, for a 3-way switch, "light is on" is on and "light is off" is off, and people manage to live with that every day.
I would recommend that you install your standard toggle switch with the lettering readable from the normal, human, upright position. However, as noted in the case of the 3-way switch, people can function when the toggle isn't in the "normal" position, so there's probably little danger and only minor confusion if you install the switch in the "Down" is on position.
Also, it doesn't matter for a simple toggle which wire (power supply vs load) is attached to which screw. Think of the switch as another piece of wire completing the circuit - it doesn't matter which end is "closer" to the power source and which is "closer" to the load, does it? That's all a switch really is - another piece of wire helping to complete the circuit, it's just that this particular piece of wire makes it easy and safe to break the circuit and turn off the flow of power.


Those MPPT controllers seem appropriately sized compared to panel capacity.  The panels might output slightly more under absolutely ideal conditions, but those are rare.

70A into a 450 amp-hour battery means you would recharge them from zero in 6.5 hours (which you should not ever do, allowing lead-acids to fall anywhere near zero, that is).

So your charging rate is 0.1555 "C", which is high, but still within limits for lead-acid.  It may tend to heat up a bit given the fairly fast recharge rate, which may cause high water use.  Be careful; use distilled water for makeup water, because if you're frequently adding water, that means any impurities in the water get concentrated fast.


California Title 24 implications for bypassing ballasts in my 4-pin (GX24Q) fixtures

From page 9-45 of the California Energy Commission 2019 Residential Compliance Manual (emphasis mine):

Example 9-39
Question:
In the kitchen above, I am replacing one of the recessed downlight luminaires. Must the new downlight luminaire be high-efficacy?
Answer:
Yes, newly installed luminaires must be high-efficacy and meet the requirements in §150.0(k). Screw-based sockets are not permitted for newly installed recessed downlight luminaires in ceilings.

An E26 socket cannot be installed in recessed downlights in California and remain compliant with Title 24's Building Energy Efficiency Standards.


xmas lights bulbs provide continuity but do not illuminate

Christmas light manufactures have started to make mini-bulbs that include a "shunt" device that allows the light to pass current even if the bulb has been burned out.

Image and more detailed information about holiday lights at Energy.gov.

Your "anomalies" are most likely burned out bulbs that have the shunt wire working.  The other bulbs that don't work and also don't pass current have burned out and do not have a shunt, or it is not working.  Neither of these bulbs should be used.

As for the strings that do not work, you can try a device that is made to try and get all the shunts working.  There are products such as the LightKeeper that have a "quick fix" mode.  These send an electrical shock down the wire to try and activate the shunts.  I have used one with some success, but it doesn't always work.

Another procedure I have tried with some success is using a non-contact voltage detector to see where the voltage "ends" on a plugged in set of lights.  I was able to untwist the wire every once in a while on the broken set and probe for voltage.  Using a divide and conquer type search, I was able to find a bad bulb pretty quickly.  That LightKeeper Pro has a built in voltage detector for this, but I think I used another detector I had in the tool box.


How to cut a 4x4 fence post lengthwise and at an angle?

A Minimum 10" circular saw or table saw are the best options either would be $500 w/ the table saw being the best option.

A band saw could also work.


You are describing a bladder tank, rather than a conventional tank. In a conventional hydropneumatic tank water is pumped into a tank containing air. The air then compresses pressurizing the water. Unfortunately air is soluble in water, which decreases the volume of air trapped in the tank over time. That means that conventional tanks must be somewhat oversized to slow the loss of pressure and occasionally recharged.

Placing a flexible bladder between the air and water prevents the air from dissolving into the water. The air side of the bladder must be "pre charged" to a pressure above atmospheric pressure to prevent stress on the bladder though. It's Boyle's law all over again. Pressurizing the water side to say 60psi would really distort the bladder unless there's a substantial pressure on the opposite side counteracting it.

It's the pre-charge pressure, P1, which is actually the "third" pressure in your equation. It's introduced by the fact that the tank is higher than atmospheric pressure to begin with. In a physics textbook question on Boyle's Law the bladder may be absent and the tank start at a standard atmosphere making the atmospheric pressure "cancel out."

Technically the manufacturer's calculations will be based on the ISA, or international standard atmosphere, and your actual drawdown will vary with the actual atmospheric pressure so it will vary slightly. A given tank would have a slightly higher drawdown in Mexico City since there's less air pressure at the faucet due to the elevation. As a practical matter holding tanks aren't sized to the drop so it doesn't matter.

Put another way any water coming out of the tank must make it's way against the current atmospheric pressure. Typically you would assume ISA to keep things simple since the daily fluctuations are small. The pre-charge pressure, is large enough comparatively to have a significant effect on the drawdown.


This was a triplex at one point in time

What you are seeing here is an electrical system that was originally built-out for a separately metered triplex (or a duplex with commons/"house" loads) that has then been converted, along with the building, to single-family residential duty.  Originally, there were separate meters in all three meter sockets, and each meter needed its own set of panels in order to keep tenants' loads from getting mixed up, which'd violate NEC 210.25:

  210.25 Branch Circuits in Buildings with More Than One
  Occupancy.

  (A) Dwelling Unit Branch Circuits. Branch circuits in each
  dwelling unit shall supply only loads within that dwelling unit
  or loads associated only with that dwelling unit.

  (B) Common Area Branch Circuits. Branch circuits installed
  for the purpose of lighting, central alarm, signal, communications, or other purposes for public or common areas of a two-
  family dwelling, a multifamily dwelling, or a multi-occupancy
  building shall not be supplied from equipment that supplies an
  individual dwelling unit or tenant space.

As a result of this, you now have a single-family house with three sets of panels in it, all with their own main breakers.  This is fine, at least as of the 2017 code (albeit not in the 2020 NEC), due to what is called the "rule of six" or "six throw rule" given in NEC 230.71(A), paragraph 1:

  230.71 Maximum Number of Disconnects.

  (A) General. The service disconnecting means for each service permitted by 230.2, or for each set of service-entrance
  conductors permitted by 230.40, Exception No. 1, 3, 4, or 5,
  shall consist of not more than six switches or sets of circuit
  breakers, or a combination of not more than six switches and
  sets of circuit breakers, mounted in a single enclosure, in a
  group of separate enclosures, or in or on a switchboard or in
  switchgear. There shall be not more than six sets of disconnects
  per service grouped in any one location.

Someone was lazy, and probably created a Code vio in the process of being lazy

However, when your house was converted to a single-family dwelling, whoever did the retrofit took the lazy way out.  Instead of ripping out the metering hardware and replacing it with a single meter socket, they left the existing hardware intact and rewired/jumpered it for use with a single meter.  This creates an issue, though, as you're most likely overloading the remaining meter socket by pulling the full rating of your utility service through it.  This is because while your have a 200A service, the individual meter bases are likely only rated for 125A.

Fixing this issue will require converting this mess to use a single-position, 200A meter main. The good news is your utility does not seem to be picky, as their service requirements permit either ring-type or ringless meter mounting for residential services, 200A and below. (They require lever bypasses for larger or commercial services, which forces those to use ringless meter sockets, but that's not a concern for your situation.)

However, there are three pieces of bad news here.  The first issue is that a single meter must be between 5' and 6' from grade level, so that it can be read & serviced without the use of a ladder.  Worse yet, the service mast is on the right-hand side of this all, which is quite constraining as many combination overhead/underground meter-mains have their utility wireway on the left, meaning customer wires can't be routed out that side of the box.  Finally, any changes to this arrangement will mean cleaning the whole thing up, since your utility forbids both double-lugging of meter sockets and the use of metering cabinets as junction boxes.

Given the physical constraints involved, our options for converting this mess to a single main breaker configuration are severely limited by available hardware, and to a lesser extent by space issues.  However, there are still a couple of paths available to us if we do not wish to rip out all the hardware here and replace it, as the existing QO panels still appear to be mostly usable once the grounding and bonding is corrected.

Tap-dancing our way around these constraints

While replacing the existing "200A" meter-socket with a meter-main that has a 200A socket/main breaker and three 125A feeder-breakers in it seems like the most obvious way to fix this issue, the difficulty with that is that there isn't enough space above the right-hand panel to fit a full-sized meter-loadcenter combination without putting the meter well above the 6' maximum your utility permits for single meters.

This doesn't mean that we can't swap a 200A meter-main in for that socket while leaving the existing panels largely untouched, though.  What we can do is take advantage of the NEC's feeder tap rules to use a 200A meter-main breaker combination to feed the 3 125A panels without having to mount 125A breakers in the meter-main.  This allows us to use a smaller meter-main, and also gives us more flexibility as to what hardware layouts are available to us.

In particular, Square-D makes a suitable meter-main in the CQRA200 (one can also use a CM200S or RC200S with a QOM2200VH field-fitted, although the CQRA200 is a cheaper/easier-to-find solution).  This part is a 200A, ring-style, single-breaker meter-main with enough neutral terminations for our 3 neutrals as well as the grounding electrode conductor to the meter base, and more importantly, it puts the breaker on the left and the meter on the right, unlike most other meter-mains and meter-loadcenters which have the meter on top or on the left. (There are some underground-only units with the meter on the bottom, but we can ignore these here since you have overhead service.)  This replaces the right-most meter-base, where the existing 200A meter is located.

Now that we have overcurrent protection and metering handled, it's time to invoke the feeder tap rules in NEC 240.21(B), which is what allows us to connect 3 125A feeder wires to a 200A breaker without providing overcurrent protection at the point of origin.  In order to do this, though, we have a few constraints we have to follow:

The tap conductors must be protected from physical damage, which we can accomplish by running them in metal conduit
They must not be too small (no less than one-third the size of the upstream breaker, to be safe in all cases where tap rules can be applied), which is satisfied here as we have 125A taps from a 200A main
And they must terminate at an overcurrent protective device, such as the existing main breakers in your panels

With those rules in mind, we can specify the wires as 1/0 aluminum XHHW-2 single conductors in 1.25" rigid conduit, replacing the hubs atop the existing panels with Square-D B125s (unless they're that size already, of course). A T body takes the place of the center meter socket then, with the left-hand meter socket being replaced by a LR.  The wires to the right-hand panel exit out the bottom of the meter-main to the hub atop that panel, while the wires to the center and left panels exit out the left side of the meter-main to said T body, where they go their separate ways.

Inside the customer area of the meter-main, we then make our splices.  The neutral wires are handled in a normal fashion, landing on neutral/ground lugs in the meter-main.  The hot wires, though, will require a different strategy; one could use a pair of insulated setscrew-type mechanical lug connectors to splice the feeder tap wires together, but that'd take up quite a bit of valuable box real estate.  Instead, we use what's called a power distribution block, mounted into the meter-main cabinet, to make these connections; this is permitted by NEC 312.8(A) in conjunction with the rules in NEC 314.28(E).  In particular, a Mersen MPDB67142 with a pair of MPDBC6667 covers snapped onto it can be used here, mounted in the top right corner with the "line" (large holes) side pointed upwards.  The hot conductors from the panels are connected up into the "load" (small holes) side, one wire per hole with each leg having its own pole on the block, with a 2/0 copper THHN jumper running from each PDB pole to its corresponding hot lug on the CQRA200's main breaker.

Consolidating with a trade-in

If the tap-conductor route is not acceptable to you, the alternative would be to replace the far right-hand panel with a 200A, overhead-feed, surface-mount meter-loadcenter and use some 1.25" rigid nipples to carry the triplets of 1/0 Al feeder wires off to the other two panels through the side knockouts, replacing the hubs in those panels with Square-D blank-out plates (order a pair of BCAPs).

However, most overhead-feed meter-loadcenters cannot be used, due to the fact they use a utility wireway or tunnel run up the left-hand side of the customer space to permit underground feed as well; as a result of this, we are limited to models that support only overhead feeds, not underground service, and this is quite a stringent constraint indeed, limiting us to a handful of models.  In fact, the only model in Square-D's entire lineup that supports this is the SO2040M200S, and we can't use it here as it cannot accept 125A breakers. (It's Homeline, not QO, as well, but that doesn't matter since we can't use it anyway.)

The remaining options, then, are the Siemens MC2040B1200S(Z) and the Eaton MBE2040B200TS.  They are both ringstyle meter-loadcenters without bypass features, with 20-space, 200A interiors, and having no documented stab limits I can find.  With either of these, you'll want to use appropriate 125A breakers to protect the feeders to the other three panels (two outside, one inside), as well as a 2-pole 20A breaker to replace the existing branch breaker in the far-right panel, and an extra neutral lug kit so that you can land all the feeder neutrals on the meter-loadcenter's neutral bar.  The good news is that the new feeder wires can land where the existing service wires landed, or you can have them switch places with the existing outgoing feeders if you want the downstream subpanels inside to have their own disconnects.

Things to remember in any case

With either approach, you may have to do some jiggering of alignment of parts in order to get things to fit together; the worst-case is having to bend the service mast itself in order to get it to line up with the meter-main's hub fitting, although that may not be needed, depending on how the existing meter socket's hub is positioned.

You'll also need to ensure that all the various lug- or set-screw type connections are torqued to specification with an inch-pound torque wrench or torque screwdriver; this is required by NEC 110.14(D) these days, and is a good idea even if your AHJ has not adopted the 2017 NEC yet, lest your electrical system give you the loose lugnut!

Finally, the existing grounding electrode conductor will need to be routed into the new meter-main.  An Arlington GC50 or equivalent grounding conductor connector is helpful for getting it into the meter-main box, and you'll also need to fit an Intersystem Bonding Termination device to the grounding electrode conductor at this point so that the cable TV installer, etc have places to land their ground wires.


Sound Proofing the wall between bathroom and bedroom

You deal with it by doing couple of things in parallel:

Decouple sound sources, quiet pipes in the walls

Make sure to wrap all pipes in either soundproofing mats or just carpet underpad (that's what I did), especially where the pipes touch the framing, to reduce sound transmission directly from the pipe.
Make sure nothing rattles/moves, e.g. all pipes are securely attached.

Add more mass to the wall, reduce the sound from the bathroom itself

Use thicker drywall, or double drywall, with Green Glue between the layers.
Add Roxul Safe'n'Sound or similar soundproofing bats into wall cavities. This will also somewhat help with noisy pipes.
Use acoustical sealant in all outlets or other openings in the wall.

Deal with the noisy fixtures

Get a quieter bathroom fan, if yours can be heard outside of the bathroom.
Make sure your water pressure is not too high, install/replace water pressure regulator if needed.
Invest in quality plumbing fixtures. I found that cheapest faucets often make much more noise than quality ones. Same for shower head. Also, 2 gpm showerhead will typically be quieter than 2.5gpm (less water).

In any case, if someone takes a shower, it will still be heard in the room right behind that drywall. Doing all this will reduce the noise, but not eliminate it completely. I did succeed to make my basement much quieter doing basically what I wrote above, and it wasn't terribly expensive (I didn't do double drywall though), just don't expect miracles.


Tear out regular mesh Fiba tape in tub setting?

Long term consequences? Yes. The thinset mortar and the backerboard will release alkali when exposed to moisture and over time that will deteriorate the fiberglass resins in the tape. Major consequence? Meh... the tape is there to reinforce the corners and edges against minor shifting in the house structure so that it doesn't result in straining the mortar, leading to cracks and dislodging of the tiles. If it's a tub area, only the lower areas will likely see enough moisture contact to affect the alkali release, so then the rest of the tape in the corners is still going to aid in keeping it all together. And besides, you may not get a lot of shifting of the structure anyway. Not everyone even uses tape at all!


Can 2 light bulbs of 120V in series be used on 230V AC?

It is possible, as long as they use the same power (or resistance).

However, it comes at a risk. If one of the bulbs uses less power (for whatever reason, maybe damaged/end of light ... see Ferrybig's remark below for a good reason), the other uses more, and will break (faster), so it's not a perfect solution.

Because of P = V * I <=> 150 = 110 * I, I = 1.36 A for two bulbs, which is 0.68 A per bulb.

For the 220V way: P = V * I <=> 150 = 220 * I, I = 0.68 A per bulb.


Splicing new wire into existing home wiring

There's no problem with your plan.  However, if you have aluminum wiring, you're going to have to use connectors listed for AL.


You have the right idea

You understand that a wire going into a backstab right next to the screw is the same as going to the screw.   And you understand that when a wire goes to the backstab, and another goes to the screw right next to it, those wires are also connected to each other.

Let's pause, to remove confusion, and take that load/switched wire that was on the old right switch (the black one) and mark it with let's say yellow tape because it'll match that Lutron.

Respect how it was before

Now, look at the previous configuration.  You had the supply wire, a switch's lower screw, the pigtail between switches, the other switch, and this mystery wire all connected to each other.  And they are all black.  And they are the only black wires in the box (since we re-colored that yellow).  And, spoiler-alert, they were all intended to be always-hot or "line".

Since they're meant to be together and are the same thing...  Connect them all together.  So you'd join the 2 black wires from the wall (i.e. not yellow) with the 2 black wires or pigtails to the new switches.


How should I attach a pergola to my rooftop deck?

I would use titan post anchors for the posts.

For the ledger on the hollow block wall you can buy masonry anchors designed for that. Hilti makes tons of really good anchors. For hollow CMU walls, how they work is you drill the hole and insert a screen tube and fill it with the adhesive. Then when you insert the bolt it pushes the adhesive through the screen making it expand wider than the width of the hole.

Hilti

Simpson Strong Tie


wiring in a electric furnace to electrical subpanel

No, that's not going to work.  The furnace requires more power (maybe 3 times more!) than the whole subpanel feed can supply.


What is best way to make up difference between concrete and drywall in garage

I recommend you do not embark on this project.

If cost is of a concern to you, I recommend you do not embark on this project.

With that out of the way, you suggested you want this to be astetically pleasing. The best way *and functional way, to obtain the result you want is to build a wall to attach the drywall to. This means removing the existing drywall, insulating,etc - or build a wall on top of what you have.

If you do not want to do that, (which is the most expensive, and best looking approach), you could (for example), use 1 piece of 5/8, and one piece of 1/4 drywall. That gives you 7/8".

You will want to vapor barrier, or at least use greenboard due to its moisture and mold resistant design. You would then have to contact cement it and place bricks against it until dry. You will then also have to blend the edges, of the seam that now exists - and this is a NIGHTMARE.

The better approach of doing this, would be to cutback the existing drywall farther up the wall, revealing the studs, and adding horizontal pieces toed in, to use as the support behind the seam. You could still contact cement it when it meets the concrete. Or - you could use cement board, or glue in furring strips of your own instead of using double drywall sheets.

There are quite a few ways to accomplish what you want, but honestly, it isnt advisable. You can paint the concrete, or add colored aluminum as flashing. You could use molding and cut a channel in it, then use this to trim the drywall where it is already.

It all depends on the money you are willing to invest, and if you live in a wet or wintery climate, you can expect it to get damaged/dinged/dirty/wet in the first 2 years.


Closed the closet door and Kaboom the acorn thumb latch broke off. Looking for a solution to open it

A screwdriver (suitably small/thin)
A wire
An ice-pick (right, nobody but old folks has those)
A nail
Pretty much anything that fits through the slot and allows you to lever up the latch bar. That will be easier if you can hold the door in such a way that there is little to no pressure on the latch.
Point the tool of whatever sort downwards as you push it in, then tip and lift it upwards.
It appears that even if you were to remove the hinge pins, the fit of the door in the frame is such that you probably can't pull that side of the door outwards, due to interference by the barrels of the fixed hinge.
If the latch broke, you may be able to just pry up the remaining bit of the latch, if that is still in place.
Depending how the doorframe on the latch side is configured, an old credit card inserted between the door and frame below the latch and moved upwards may also work.


How do I identify if a caulk is water-based or solvent-based?

No definitive general rule that I know of.  Back in the day all silicone caulks could not be cleaned up with water, nowadays there are water-cleanup silicon and siliconized caulks.  It always says on the tube if it is water cleanup.  Also, the base doesn't really define how it gets cleaned up either.  GE makes some 100% silicone based caulks that while wet, can be cleaned up with water thanks to some chemical soup they came up with.

Generally, latex and acrylic based caulks should be water cleanup.  Generally, silicone, butyl, (poly)urethane based caulks will not be water clean up. But, as I mentioned, there are exceptions.  You have to read the manufacture's specs.  When it is water clean up, that is a selling point, and will be obvious on the tube.


Identify if this is a load bearing wall from the blue print

It took me a while to figure our the drawing of the first floor are first floor and ceiling, not first floor and floor joists. (Is the first floor is a concrete slab?)
There's a 6x12 beam (triple 2x12) in the first floor ceiling supported at one end by the alcove wall.
Superimposing the top floor over the lower floor shows that above the wall with the alcove is a wall of the upstairs closet and above that a beam that's supporting the air conditioner.
So yeah, it's extremely structural.

It may be possible to fit a new beam (green) to carry the end of the 6x12 and connect them with a suitable hanger
bracket, but you'll probably need an engineer to figure out what type of beam, and there will be a big hole in the ceiling to repair. The walls at either end of the beam will probably need to be strengthened too. Additionally the 6x12 is now spanning a greater distance and may also need to be upgraded.


Where can I get a switch for a 30A circuit?

You may not find one at a box store or your local hardware store, because they are rare in residential settings.  However, if you go to an electrical supply store, they will have lots of them. Hubble, Square D, and others


What components do I need to finish my shower installation?

Look at the bottom of the Amazon page where it says "customers also bought this" there's trim kits there that have exactly what you're missing. Pretty typical for a contractor to use a rough in kit like you did and then let the customer pick a trim kit later. The only problem you have is you're limited to trim kits that work with the 01-31XA valve body. You should be able to find one you like. Here's one Pfister 01-8CBC Three-Handle Tub and Shower Combo, Chrome
Fits 01-31XA valve body
The Pfister Three-Handle Tub and Shower Trim Kit comes with classic Brass Cross Handles, flanges, bell-shaped shower head, and a threaded tub spout. The upgraded Polished Chrome finish and Brass Cross Handles is a great addition to any bathroom. Valves not included.


Is this neutral-ground bus bar configuration correct?

If this is the only panel box, or the main panel box, then the neutral and ground wires may terminate at the same set of bus bars. This is where the neutral and ground wires are bonded together. What we might be seeing is a dual bus bar setup that is stacked and offset like stadium seating. They are likely permanently bonded together. There is no stipulation in the order of termination so long as only one wire is secured per terminal (unless the manufacturer specifies otherwise).

The ground wires outside of the box are improperly terminated. They should run into the box and to those bus bars. Look at the corrosion and dirt on that twisted mess. It most likely is not able to conduct fault current properly to trip a breaker. That's a fire and electrocution hazard right there.

Splices in the panel box are allowed so long as they are properly spliced and the total wire volume does not fill the panel to the point where you need to squeeze the cover on or tamp the wires so the cover fits.

Multiple cables through a single clamp is also a violation as the clamps are only rated to secure a single cable. The only way multiple wires can terminate to the same knockout is if the clamp is rated to do so. Standard clamps in the picture are rated for a single cable only. Multiple wires in a single clamp can slide against each other allowing them to pull out. So the dunderhead electrician tightens the clamp even more possibly damaging the cable in the process.

This is an older panel box which was built in a time where the NEC didn't stipulate more room for a panel box. Modern boxes have much more room. Tandem breakers or skinnies are allowed only if the number of circuits does not exceed the panels rating. E.g. a panel rated for 20 circuits which has 20 spaces (a 20/20 panel) can only have 20 circuits regardless of the type of breaker used. You could have 5 tandems and 10 singles for a total of 20 circuits. It can not be filled with 20 tandem breakers for 40 circuits or any combination which exceeds 20 circuits UNLESS the panel has a higher circuit to space rating like 20/40. This change was done in 2014 to alleviate overcrowded panels.


Can I combine ground and neutral wires before they connect to their bus bars?

No, you can't do that because a single fault would make it deadly.  Consider what would happen if the combined neutral+ground wire came loose in your panel -- all the current that was trying to return via neutral wouldn't make it, and instead it'd be able to flow back along the ground wire, energizing the chassis of your appliance with 120V.  On the other hand, if they're separate wires all the way to the panel, either one coming loose won't create a safety issue.  What you can do instead is put a junction box next to your panel, as far as the current wires reach, then splice to a short length of new wire to get the needed reach.
You shouldn't put two wires on the receptacle screw unless it's meant for that, and it's probably not.  A better way of doing it is to pigtail the ground to the receptacle: wire nut the box ground, the receptacle ground, and the incoming ground wire from the panel together.


Light switch shorted; can't figure out why

Looking at that old cloth insulation I would guess a short in the box developed when you pushed everything back in, it worked so you know you wired it correctly.

With the breaker off, pull the switch back out, you can wrap the cloth with electrical tape but I prefer heat shrink tubing, I usually carry it to make repairs for cases like this, slip it on and heat and it is much easier to work with than tape wrapped wire. But you probably have a roll of electrical tape, and that will insulate the wire.


Propane HVAC system - convert to use wood burning stove?

It's possible, but unless your furnace is way over sized, you can't just stick a heavier box in the same packaging and burn wood in it. You can reuse the duct work and blower, but everything else would need to be replaced. Depending on how much heat you need, it may not make sense to place the fire box where your furnace is. Further more, you may want to keep the propane as a back up. Don't discount how convenient it might be once in a while to turn a valve, strike a match, turn a switch and have instant heat.

Heating 100% with wood in any cold climate takes a huge volume of wood. If you don't plan for easy transport of fuel from storage into the firebox, as well as good storage convenient to vehicle access, the scheme is doomed. Because of this, many serious wood burners have a boiler system to move heat from the firebox to the air handling unit (or directly to radiators). It's much easier to move heat stored in a fluid than to lug blocks of wood through the house and up and down stairs.

Consider carefully if you're ready for this. Every part of wood burning is dirty, hard work. When you factor in all the costs and effort, propane can be a competitive alternative. Another option many people take is to leave the HVAC system and install a wood stove in the main living area at a central location. The wood stove is capable of heating much of the house. The HVAC system is used to keep the outer rooms heated. This will typically involve re-balancing the duct system and moving the thermostat.

There's a lot of different possible solutions, what's best will depend on climate, house size, lifestyle, personal habits and preferences, etc. Locate contractors that specialize in wood fired heating systems, not just simple stove installations. It takes someone with that experience to make a reasonable recommendation based on your particular situation.


What are these razor blades called and where can I buy them?

Thanks to Ed Beal, I looked at the name on the tool. That also led me to take a scouring pad to the blade itself and lo and behold it's a Cartonax 45


High elevation non- pv Burnham boiler with Tejurland powerventer installed at sea level

I'm not clear on what you need repair help or a help deciding how to deal with the situation. Any burner, be it oil, propane or whatever at high elevation needs to be derated. So for gas, smaller orfus sizes. So if the boiler was designed for 2000 foot elevation it should be under firing at sea level. But in this case with your 203ncl-tei2 it's up to 2000 feet elevation most gas burners are factory 0-2000 feet from the factory including this one.

Boiler information

Www.ecomfort.com

The guys at Burnham are telling you that it is not approved for power vent. That just means that it was not tested for the application, which means it's not to code, no matter what. That also means you are liable for any harm or damage if you are aware of the issue. That doesn't explicitly exclude a aftermarket add-on power ventor. The aftermarket manufacturer can give approval for the specific model and assume liability, but you would need documentation. If I'm ever in that situation I will inform the customer and depending on my gut feel about them (or how well I know them) I will red tag it and give them a couple of options for replacement or do the repair and tell them that I was never there. I would only do the latter if I really know them well and I'm confident that it's safe. So basically, tag it. If the motor is humming and has the right voltage and the cap (if equiped) is good it's the motor. But I wouldn't change it. I'm in Canada and our codes for HVAC are more strict than in the US so it's hard for me to say to you that you should decommission the unit in the middle of winter but if the s*** hits the fan you don't want to be holding the bag.


Should neutral and hot wire be tied together if not in use

No, these should be capped off as your picture shows.  If they are still live, code requires that the ends be in an approved box with a lid, and not concealed behind drywall or plaster (i.e. so the next person can get to it.  It looks like the conduit that brings the wires to the metal box has lost its nut to keep it attached to the box;  you should try to replace that too, so that the individual wires don't become abraded and short across the edge of the hole in the box.


In this context a boiler is more-or-less the same thing as a tankless/on-demand/instant water heater. From what I can gather the term 'boiler' is used instead of one of those other terms based on characteristics of the unit or the usage. Heaters with higher BTU (or kW) ratings, or designed for higher duty cycles, or used as a heat source in a space heating or space heating plus domestic water heating application are often called boilers.
AFUE is annual fuel utilization efficiency. It is a measure of heat output (in the heated water) vs heat input (heat capacity of the fuel gas being burned). Higher AFUE is more efficient.


30V showing on terminal of 3 way switch when switched off

This sounds like phantom voltage. Most meters are high impedance and will show a voltage on a wire that has voltage close to it.
If everything is working properly with your switches there is nothing to worry about.
Phantom voltage can be found all over your home and it is not dangerous.
If your switches are working you can ignore it.


how to know if the water valve connection is metal or plastic?

You look at it, and feel it. That looks very much like a plastic valve, based on the color, the mold seals and the details molded into it.

Does it look like plastic, or does it look like metal?


I think I'd run furring on the ceiling first, then frame the walls up to that so you can nail the top plates into it and help support it.

Since you'll have spray equipment on hand I'd then spray the entire thing for maximum moisture handling and hang drywall (or something more robust).


In the UK you would need to pay a professional to remove, or make safe, the gas pipework for the hob.

You would also need to pay an electrician to do the work if you need a new circuit for the new electric hob. Whether you need a new circuit depends on the diameter of the wires in the existing circuit and some prescribed "diversity" calculations about the total loads.

On the whole, I'd pay someone else to do this and to certify it has been done to the appropriate mandatory standards.


Will a shorter bar increase my chainsaw's power significantly?

No. Or yes.

It isn't like gearing. A shorter chain doesn't compound torque like a smaller gear does. The amount of force applied at any point on the chain is identical.

However, the shorter bar limits how much contact the chain can make with the wood. Herein lies the difference. If you're cutting 16" of wood rather than 18" the motor isn't working as hard.

Should you do it? Probably not. You needlessly restrict yourself with respect to reach, and you can accomplish the same goal by working in a less aggressive manner when you're dealing with maximum-depth cuts.


Lamp buzzing when off, only on two specific sockets

If it's buzzing, it's not off.

Often this is a dimmer that is not QUITE off. For instance dimmers often have free-motion inside the dimming range, then a stiff detent before bottoming out at hard "OFF". People often think the bottom of free-motion is off, and they never realize to push past the detent to actual "off".  It would be a lot weirder if you had a dimmer on a dimmer, and adding an LED/CFL to the mix gets weirder still.

When you say "only does this on two sockets", that comes back to the theory that these are sockets which are switched from a light switch somewhere.  If it's not dimmed, and it shouldn't be, there could be trouble in that circuit.

If a light switch works a receptacle, it can't be a dimmer unless it uses a weird receptacle keyed to only accept lamps.

Does everything plugged into those sockets buzz?  Or only that one lamp?

If a dimmer is not involved, then I'd say you have an electrical problem of some serious concern.   A lot of newer electrical work is done very cheaply, with the 60 cent builder grade receptacles instead of the $3.00 goodies, and with "back stab" connections instead of screw terminals or screw-and-clamp.  In that case, take apart the receptacle and change it to a quality receptacle with screw or clamp wiring.


Installing UK/EU electric radiator in USA… 50/60Hz significant?

The resistive element in the heater will not care about 50/60Hz.

The motor, however, will - to start with the different frequency will change its speed.  This in turn will change its current draw, to either less or more than it is designed for.

This, however, seems like a fool's errand; resistive electric heaters are dirt cheap.  You will spend more shipping one heater intercontinentally than the heater is worth.  Buy your heaters on your own continent.

The only case I can see it being useful to even think about the question is if you are fitting out a blue-water boat capable of an ocean crossing; or fitting exotic machinery unique enough to justify crossing oceans (say, in a container).  Or military equipment.

P.S. Thermostats.  US vs EU thermostats work completely differently and incompatible.  In North America, the thermostat either switches the full 240V current, or switches a low-current, low-voltage signal.   In EU, the low-current signal thermostats use full mains voltage.   None of these three thermostats are compatible with each other.  Using a foreign thermostat is not wise, as it will be unsupportable - local HVAC guys won't know what to do with it.


Why are ground wires required to be so large if a short results in an immediate breaker trip?

Total heat notwithstanding, wires also have resistance.  As in "ohm" resistance.

What you may not be understanding is breaker trip curves.  Breakers have a thermal trip mode from 1.0x up to about 10.0x breaker rating, where the action is delayed as a bimetal strip warms up.  This is to be permissive of motor starts, inrush current, or "toaster and microwave at the same time" short term overloads.  The thermal trip is sized to warm at about the same speed as the wire in the walls, so it trips somewhat before the wire warms enough to be dangerous. That requires matching between breaker and wire size.

Breakers also have a magnetic trip mode that instantly trips at around 10x breaker rating.

With too-small a ground wire, the breaker cannot magnetic-trip because it cannot flow enough current to hit 10x, because of the too-high resistance of the wire.  And as you can guess, that's trouble.

Now we're in thermal trip mode.  We have a 70A breaker's bimetal strip, in a race with a #14 wire to see if the breaker trips before the #14 wire hits Fahrenheit 451.  Obviously, the breaker is going to lose.

Now as a stupidly practical thing, one way you can solve this is do the big stuff in EMT or other fixed metal conduit.  In those cases, the steel conduit and boxes are the ground path.  And steel conduit has such good conductance (1/resistance) that it can ground pretty much any wire that will fit in it.


Storing energy from small wind generator to power led garden lights

A deep cycle battery is what you want. A standard car battery really is not designed to charge and discharge where a deep cycle is made to do that so it will have a longer usable life.


Inverter air-conditioning units or non-inverter air-conditioning units?

Rather than focussing on how it's done (inverter drive) focus on what it does (variable speed compressor)

Essentially, the variable speed allows the compressor speed to match the cooling load, so rather than a fixed speed compressor starting, cooling, stopping, starting, cooling, stopping a variable speed model can simply adjust its speed to match the cooling load, while running continuously (until there is no cooling load, or one below the minimum speed it can run efficiently, anyway.)

That has several potential benefits - one is that starting the compressor motor takes considerably more power than running it - so many starts and stops add up - this (alone) might be what someone who says "they only save power over 8 hours or more" is speaking of. However, I think any such statement is far too general to pay much attention to, given the variations in individual units (I've been considering mini-split heat pumps, and have read a lot of data sheets - some are surprisingly different even for closely related models made by the same factory...)

Additional benefits are that rather than the system blowing air that's cold, and then stopping, it blows air that's cool, all the time. Among other things, this improves dehumidification performance and is also usually more comfortable.

You state that you use your air conditioning less than 8 hours per day - but how many days a year? It is true that if the initial cost of something you use rarely is much higher then the payback for any more efficiency (from a unit costing more) is very long (and may exceed the useful life of the product, in some cases.) However, that is not something that is amenable to analysis from afar, and will vary with the initial cost, the energy cost, the use, the climate...

If your cooling needs are limited, and the cost differential is high, just look for the best efficiency among the lower cost type units, and don't worry too much about "the future of HVAC" if having it does not make personal economic sense for you. Something better may be invented before this air conditioner wears out...

Of course, if you are buying 9 of the things, you should at least consider a central system. But that may not pay off in a reasonable time, either.


Replace window with New Construction window

You almost certainly can't use New Construction windows without at least removing some siding. This type of window is intended to be installed before the siding is on, so you can integrate its built-in flange with the wall's water-resistive barrier (tar paper or Tyvek housewrap, usually) using tape and good lapping, all of which requires several inches of space on all sides to work. If you're not planning to remove the siding to expose your wall's WRB, then there is no advantage to using a new construction window.

With Replacement windows, you can order them in whatever size you want, so getting a window that's too small shouldn't be a concern.


No studs just furring strips on brick for cabinet install

Cut horizontal areas behind your wall cabinets for new 2X4 or 2x6 nailers set at the tops of the wall cabinets so they are in line with the screw rail of the new cabinets. Cut out the firring strips too. Cut the where the ends of the 2x will be an inch or two behind the edges of the cabinet, so if the wall paint chips or paper tears, it will not show.

When you cut out the wall, the 2X material should be very near the thickness of both the firring strips and drywall, 1/2" drywall plus 3/4" firring strips, should mean you will need to thin down the 2X material a bit. A table saw can do that with care.

To install the 2X, you can use flat head expansion anchors and construction adhesive

Place an anchor on each end and through the rest of the length of the 2X, about 8-12" apart. Place a few large beads of construction adhesive on the back of the 2X after you drill all the holes in the 2X, but before you drill the brick. It is important to get the anchors in the brick, not the joints, although the horizontal  joints (bed joints) may work, surly the short vertical joints (head joints) you need to stay away from. If the brick is a "core brick" a term used for brick with holes in the inside, do not place any anchors in the middle of the brick, only near the ends. If you know them to be solid brick, then it will not matter.

After the blocking is in place, secure the cabinets with what should take 2" screws, if your cabinets are made with 1/4" backs and 3/4" screw rails and 1" to go into the new blocking you just added. Ideally the screws could be 2 1/4" but typically are not available in that length. 2 1/2" screws could work, but you are taking the chance that the point would "bottom out" on the brick surface before the screws drew the cabinets tight to the wall. I have had screw points dig into the brick a bit before they started shoving the strip off the wall, but that is the chance you would be taking. IMO, not worth the chance....


Condensate pipe touching basement floor ok?

Yes, the floor was the downfall of the old pipe, the copper will do much better. While everything looks dry, the floor & bottom of the wall concrete is moist from microscopic condensation, since they're always colder than the air.

Starting the condensate pipe as high as possible will minimize pipe problems & more importantly draining problems. You want the pipe pitched downward for as far as possible to the sump.

Preferably the pipe should never be flat or level & it should have a close by trap, like under your sink. The pipe should also have a clean-out, this is actually a bleach pour-in. Condensate is quite nasty & stinks if the pipe's not bleached once a year or as needed.


Half-inch Gap between wall and floor in second floor bedroom

I called in a competent contractor and here are his findings.  He took up some floorboards next to the gap.  There was a gap between the bottom of the sheet rock wall and the floor. He cut through the subflooring in order to be able to look at the joists. The joists were solid.  There was no indication of infestation. There was an uninsulated heat duct running between the joists.  He went to the basement and checked for termite damage and found none.  His conclusion is that the gap between the second floor wall and floor is due to shrinkage of the wood, exacerbated by the heat duct running nearby.  He said there was no need to do any work as nothing was really wrong.

BTW, there is also a gap between an interior wall and a poured concrete floor in my foyer, but that is not below the gap on the second floor.  The two gaps are independent.  The gap between the wall and the poured concrete floor is due to the dirt below the concrete settling.  The contractor suggested to leave it be since it is not likely to get worse and the fix would be costly for little benefit.

It is nice to deal with an honest, competent contractor.


Can I install a row of bricks on a slab to support a shed?

Michael Karas is correct in that a half-height block foundation wall is common, but that doesn't really address your concern about water intrusion. His suggestion to seal the block does, and that wouldn't require the blocks in the first place.

I would build your walls with bottom plates of treated lumber one nominal size wider than the walls themselves, and place the plates flush with the outside face of the wall sheathing, resting on foam "sill seal".

Then I'd install a metal flashing against the plate, lapping onto the concrete. This I'd caulk to the concrete with urethane or other high-performance caulk. Wrap the building with housewrap fabric lapped onto the flashing to create a full drain plane.

For extra protection you could apply a paint-on waterproofer or asphalt caulk to the area behind the flashing before it's installed.

  |          | |
  |          | | <-- sheathing
  |  stud    | |
  |          | ||
 _|__________|_||
|   plate      || <-- flashing, caulked to the slab
|______________||___


This is a super hard problem, because you are renting and seem to be "at war with" with your landlord and AHJ, rather than working with them. That's a shame, because what you want is reasonable and it should be possible to get all to agree to it.

What you have done so far puts the landlord in a no-win situation: he absolutely must positively end the practice by shutting off the power and evicting you.  If he does not, he becomes liable for it just the same as if he did it, for lawsuits if anyone is injured, and if the city finds out, fines and paying a pro to rip it out and search for any other gypsy work. Meanwhile, if the city gets wind, they will condemn the occupancy and again you will be evicted. The landlord might even "drop a dime" so the city is evicting you (not him) and to avoid the fine.  Any costs for him would come out of your deposit.

That said, I think a proper generator inter-tie is something most tenants would find valuable.  So from the landlord's perspective, he has a more marketable property if it is so equipped.  So there is certainly room to work out an agreement.  In your shoes that is what I would seek to do.

Of course all work would have to be to Code and inspected. Depending on the jurisdiction, it might have to be hired out unless the AHJ recognizes you as qualified to do the work.  I assume that would zorch the deal.  But you don't know 'til you ask.  I suspect outside the big cities, where everyone is just trying to get along, the AHJ may abide reason.

Do keep in mind that all tool-installed modifications become property of the landlord the moment you install them.  You must do good work because it is electrical, but you must also be prepared to leave it (intact) for the next tenant when you move.  That is the price of being a tenant, just like having to suddenly drop $2000 on a furnace is not.

Many ways to get a generator interlock when you don't have one:

Convert each load to be cord-and-plug connected

And just run an extension cord to it.

For instance your furnace wiring probably ends in a simple $1 Handy-Box.   Stick another one 3" away from it, and use the furnace wiring to fit a receptacle there.  Then add a short cord with proper strain relief coming from the furnace which, you guessed it, plugs into that receptacle.

Power failure comes, run an extension cord down there and do the obvious.

This is Code legal because Code allows utilization equipment to be cord and plug connected for special applications like this.

This will set you back about $10 per circuit.

On each circuit, add a DPDT switch

A DPDT (double pole, double throw) switch has 6 screws and has an A side, a B side and a common. It's a mini transfer switch and costs about $10.

find an appropriate location along the circuit where this will be possible.  Wire the common on the DPDT switch to the downline circuit,  the "A" is wired back to the service panel, and the "B" goes to an inlet.  Or alternately, wired to a subpanel exclusively powered by the generator.

Switch both hot and neutral.

The trick to wiring this is you lose about 18" of wire with the 9" of wire that needs to be inside the box so you can work on it... so you need to make that up somehow.  You can do this near the service panel or a load and simply replace the now-too-short section.  Or you can put two boxes 18" apart, and have a 3' jumper between the two boxes.  The second box can be a good place for the inlet.

I know I went real fast by the part where the generator has a cheapie subpanel all its own.  This can be a tiny thing, it is just to provide correct overcurrent protection for each branch, e.g. A 14 AWG-wired branch needs 15A breaker protection. Or you can use inlets and extension cords to the sockets on the generator.

Install a subpanel with onboard transfer switch

The general idea here is that you install a new sub-panel near the main panel (or wherever else convenient).  You then take each of the circuits you want to power off the generator, and permanently relocate their hot, neutral and ground (the whole cable really) to the subpanel.

This type of subpanel has a "sliding piece of metal" interlock which prevents both the utility supply breaker and a breaker in a very particular location from being on at the same time.  Obviously, you put the generator backfeed there.

Where it differs from the "retrofit this" example that I moved from the bottom, is that in this case, the manufacturer has engineered the whole kit-n-kaboodle to work together - subpanel, breakers and interlock - so it costs far less.  It fits the breakers and the breaker bolt-down feature (discussed below) is present.  Often the top 4 spaces are occupied by two 2-pole breakers; and a simple bit of sliding metal sits between them.  It's super simple and easy to understand.

Yeah, but with a lot more spaces.

This is big-box's offering. A real electrical supply house should have much better options.

As always with subpanels, spaces are cheap, so don't scrimp on the spaces. 30 is not excessive, running out of spaces is seriously frustrating.  With 4 used, that leaves you 26 spaces to put loads on.  I myself would go 42, but I'm crai.

The tie from main breaker to sub should be the biggest wire-breaker match-up you can stand to pay for.  The breaker in the main panel must match the wire you are using since it protects the wire. The breaker in the subpanel is really just there to be a cheap high-current switch.

The breaker on the generator side should be sized for the generator, unless the gen has its own onboard overcurrent protection, in which case again it's just a switch.

When moving a circuit, if it doesn't reach, I simply put a large box where it and other circuits can reach - typically a 4-11/16 deep box - and bring the cable into that box, then extend the last few feet to the new sub.  I do this all the time for other reasons.  Use good wire-nuts (Ideal) and nut quite firmly (it is one place "gorilla tight" is appropriate). I've never had a splice problem.

When using the subpanel, simply cut all the breakers off including the interlocked main breaker, hookup and start the generator, turn the generator-side main breaker on, and throw on circuits one at a time as desired.

A subpanel with an external transfer switch

This option may be more expensive since it isn't using $10 breakers as cheap switches.  Or maybe; the above pictured "micro subpanel" would totally work as an external transfer switch. It certainly doesn't work as a subpanel.

This has one big advantage: you can switch neutral. That matters if it's downstream from a GFCI or AFCI, and many generators have integral GFCIs these days.

This is a large DPDT, or 3PDT (double/triple pole, double throw), changeover switch.  You can use ones specifically made for generators, or ones made to switch 3-phase power. (neutral as the third "phase".)  The point is they are double throw, so the "common" position is connected either to source "A" or source "B", and A never connects to B (hence the interlock).

A and B go to mains and gen; common goes to the new subpanel.

Made for 3-phase.

Again, a real electrical supply house will have much better selection and price. The switch, and the mains to subpanel wiring, should be as heavy as you want to pay for.  The switch-to-gen wiring can be sized for the gen.

Here, you use a perfectly ordinary subpanel, with no special features needed.  It can have a main breaker, or not.  Then as above, you cut over to the new subpanel the circuits you want to have on generator.

An external automatic transfer switch

As the last case, ditto ditto ditto but with an automatic switch that senses mains power and cuts over to it when it's present and stabilized.  You can also get switches which will auto-start the generator.

You can guess the huge gotcha: since you wouldn't be there to throw over circuits one by one, it slams all load onto the generator.  That requires a higher "tier" of generator product, not a $1000 model with wheels but more like a $5000 job that bolts down to a slab and takes natural gas.

You can't do this, but for others...

Retrofit an interlock on an existing panel

There are several companies that make aftermarket interlocks for almost any panel.  These work about like what you're doing now: you retain your existing main breaker, fit your generator backfeed breaker in a very specific location, and then they supply a sliding metal bracket which interlocks so the main and this backfeed breaker cannot both be on at the same time.  Done and dusted.

There are two serious hitches with this: First, they don't make such things for every single panel, so it's luck whether your older panel is supported.  (cooking up your own [that works] is far better than having no interlock, but it isn't listed, which means it isn't legal.)

The other hitch is a special rule in Code for backfed breakers, which is that they must be "bolted down" so they can't easily snap out (most breakers on most panels snap out) and nail somebody with their exposed metal bits.  That requires a design concession in the panel.  Or simply a panel where all breakers normally bolt down, such as some Siemens panels.  (doing it anyway isn't legal, but again is far better than not having an interlock, can't tell you to break Code.)

What not to do: octopus "transfer switches"

You will see these multiple-circuit "transfer switches".  They look like something out of an RV, very impressive with an entire row of 6-10 switches, sometimes breakers too.  They are aggressively marketed, and all too easy to buy.  However they are a nightmare to wire.

Because for each circuit to be put on generator, they require you intercept the circuit on the way into the service panel. Divert the load side to the box, divert the line side to the box also, so it can be on "A" and common on the switch (we're up to 6 wires so far), then also the wires to the generator.  And that again for each of 6-10 circuits.  It's crazy bunches of redundant wiring, hard to understand and unnecessary.  But like I say, the generator salesman practically won't let you leave the store without one.  He gets a commission on those hokey things and not on subpanels.

Not pictured: 52 wires going in and out of it.

The only nice thing these transfer switches do is allow some circuits to be on "line" while others are on "gen".  I fail to see the usefulness of that. If utility is available, just use it.


Spot light LED bulbs (MR16) flash once when turned on. If I put 1 normal halogen in then it solves the problem. Why?

This symptom is impossible without silicon electronics being involved in the delivery of power. Passive wires and windings are not capable of causing this.  Common problems are common, and my first take is usually correct - a series connected old-style smart device.

But Carl Witthoft has an interesting theory: these are probably low voltage bulbs.  We know voltage is right because the LEDs do work properly when power is available.  That's not surprising, since many LED products use constant current power supplies in switch mode, which can easily accommodate a range of voltage.

Most low voltage power supplies are passive, or at least well behaved.  So I normally don't think about them.  It would certainly explain everything if you had one that was "too smart for its own good".  The five LEDs should draw power comparable to one halogen (at least on half the AC cycle... since the D stands for "diode"). So there's clearly something a little more sophisticated going on.  I could see some power supply designer thinking himself oh, so clever for adding a protective circuit that shuts the supply off if it doesn't detect any halogens.  To be fair, LED lighting is a very new concept.

For reference, the usual cause - and my first guess - and the one to apply if this proves to be 120VAC circuit -- relates to dimmers, sensors and other smart devices designed to substitute for an old switch in a "switch loop", where there is no neutral.  These devices place themselves in series with the bulb, and power themselves by letting some current flow through the circuit when the light is "off".  This depends on particular characteristics of incandescent (and halogen) bulbs.  It often doesn't play well with fluorescents and LEDs.  This is why Code now requires neutral in switch loops - so a new generation of these devices can power themselves directly off hot and neutral.  For this, the answer can be to roll back to a plain switch - unless neutral happens to be in the box, in which case use a modern device.


You can fix the cut by sanding an area about 4 to 6 inches to either side smooth out the area then skim over with a bit of drywall patch 'mud'. You can buy it already mixed in a small tub. Use a 4 inch wide putty knife and press a small amount with some force into the scratch. You can go over it a few times and scrape it away again to get some practice. It is important to know that the better you apply the mud the less sanding you will have to do after.

When the mud is dry, you will need a fine sanding block. The easiest way to make one instead of buying one is to fold a paper towel and lay it on a 8 to 10 inch piece of 2x4 and wrap sandpaper over the paper towel. The paper towel will act as a bit of cushion to push the paper out in the middle so you are not sanding with only the edges. You want to use fine to very fine sanding paper I think 220 grit is good.

Sand softly to blend the repair into the wall, look at it from the side to see if you left a lump of mud over the scratch, you can use a straight edge on the wall to check, but don't be too concerned because often the mud over the drywall seams isn't flat either.

As for the texture, it looks like the paint is more than one layer and was applied with a roller. Your patch will only have one layer and will be smoother than the rest of the wall. if you paint the patch first, let it dry then go over it 2 more times it should blend in well. You could use a thicker paint that will show the roller marks better.

Drew K


Boiler not responding to external wired switch

I managed to isolate the fault down to the RF receivers. Both on the blink. Receiving ON signal but not opening the switches to their respective valves.
To do this I uninstalled both receivers and manually opened the valves, such that I had a basic setup of just the main time switch and no thermostat. Everything working.
Then I took one of the RF receivers and installed it in place of the time switch, using its remote as my room thermostat and timer. Intermittently the receiver failed to open its switch to the boiler. Giving the unit a whack tended to fix it!
So now I know which part was faulty.


Is this wall board made of dangerous material?

You can buy an inexpensive asbestos test kit if you're concerned.  One of my family members bought an old house and successfully used "asbestos test strips" from the local home warehouse store to determine that the floor tiles were asbestos.


Bsmnt Watch Dog Battery Flashing "Add Water" but the water level is to the line

It sounds like your plates are sulfated and the charger/watchdog is interpreting this as low water. In some cases a hard discharge cycle or two may extent the life, but it is probably time to replace. You don’t want to find out when you need it that the battery quickly dies when loaded down.


How can I protect a hardwood floor from a rolling office chair?

In two old homes now I've shredded the wood floor under my chair, monster splinters eventually emerging.  I work at home in semi-rural New Hampshire.  I think they're very old pine floors, so softwood.  I plan to try Shepherd Brand Urethane Casters after putty and repainting.

From the manufacturer's site, "Nylon tread for carpeting, and urethane tread for hard floors."  Much buzz on Amazon about these.

Edit: After months with the new casters there are no new paint flakes or splinters. I haven't repainted the floor yet, but it appears these casters will do the trick.


The best way to water test a roof is to have one person on the roof with a hose and another inside watching for water to begin entering.  The idea behind a water test is a process of elimination.  You want to start the water test at the lowest point of the roof closest to the interior leak.  Turn the water on, wait 15 minutes, then start moving uphill and in a progressively wider arc every 15 minutes.

Considering that you've already coated the roof with elastomeric paint, it's likely that the leak could be coming from the edge detail (coping metal, drip edge, fascia, etc), a flashing, or even through the frame of the bay window itself.


What kind of tool is used to stir paint in a can?

You can get a mixer tool that attaches to a power drill. This does a much better and faster job than the wooden paint stirring sticks you can pick up at any paint store.


Will a rusty tool or bolt lying with other tools or bolts induce them to rust as well?

Rust is not mould, rust is oxidization of the metal and cause by the oxygen in the air.

Most tools, nuts and bolts have a rust proofing in the form of a light coating of oxidization (often of a metal that's not iron) that will isolate the material underneath from further rust. A scratch in that coating will then let the rust spread again.

For long term storage you can oil the tools.


This is going to require a bit of...help.

Your problem is that your zone board uses its O and B inputs to determine how to run the underlying HVAC system, while the Y and W inputs are used to control the damper for the zone.  (Residential zone boards are basically very crude versions of what is called a Variable Air Volume, or VAV, zoning system in the commercial HVAC world.)

Your old (electromechanical) thermostat was able to provide these outputs independently of Y and W as it was...rather dumb, simply providing them through extra contacts on the thermostat's changeover switch.  However, while the T5 is a much more sophisticated thermostat overall, it makes some assumptions about the way HVAC systems work that aren't true for you.  In particular, it assumes that any O or B signal present is used to control a heat pump's reversing valve (some systems use O, others B, the difference being whether you need to energize the signal to get the thing to heat, or energize the signal to get the thing to cool), and thus you only need one or the other, not both at the same time, such as in your case.

So, we'll need to add some parts to adapt your new thermostat to work with your zone board.  In particular, we'll need:

4 DPDT HVAC (fan) relays (24VAC coils, quick-connect terminals, flange mount)
Some 18/8 thermostat cable you can shuck for 18AWG solid jumpers
Some wirenuts suitable for 18AWG wire, and some red (22-16AWG) female quick connects
Self-drilling sheet metal screws suitable for mounting the relays into the zone board's housing
A crimper (preferably of the ratcheting type) for attaching the quick connects to the wires, and a screwdriver and wire cutter/stripper (of course)

All these relays get wired as in the diagram below, where W, Y, R, C, R1, O, and B designate terminals on the zone board and corresponding relays in the circuit, and the wires are color-coded largely according to standard HVAC color codes, with green and black being used for internal functions.  What you are doing here is using a pair of stick circuits to create a memory of sorts that stores the last function (heating or cooling) the system was using until a call for the opposite function is made, which causes the system to change over between heating and cooling at that time.  Of course, if you aren't comfortable wiring this, this job is well within the domain of a skilled HVAC technician or controls electrician.


Ballast replacement is fairly straightforward.   I still prefer fluorescent tubes because I can easily find quality fluorescent tubes in 90+ CRI (in fact Menards stocks them), and I have serious doubts about the real quality and longevity of the LED "cheapie" tubes.

Start with a "ballast disconnect"

For this you need to shut off the circuit breaker supplying power.  You then put the ballast disconnect at the point where the power supply (typically 12-14 AWG wire) meets the ballast (18 AWG wire).  Some disconnects care which side is the heavier wire, i.e. the yellow Wago types.  If there are 2 power cables going in and out, then either use the Wagos (which provide for that) or pigtail it.

Once that's done, you'll be able to service the fixture without turning the breaker off. Just unplug.

Next select the bulbs

Those look like 48" bi-pin tubes (the most common one). From looking at the "old" Keystone ballast, your old ballast was for F32T8 tubes, 1" diameter (T8).  Which means it's not that old.  Don't use F40T12 tubes, 1-1/2" diameter, they will fit but they are not electrically compatible unless you change to a T12 ballast.

Look at the existing ballast

The big label on the old Keystone ballast says your bulbs are instant-start, with 1 wire per end of the lamp.  Gotta watch out for that 2-yellow 2-red 2-blue color scheme as it's also used by 2-lamp rapid-start ballasts.  This is an example where the diagram really matters.

Check the new ballast also, the wiring may be subtly different.  If the Lowes clerk picked your matching ballast by the same wiring diagram, that's handy, but double-check the type of tube it's made for.  Here are generic drawings of ballast wiring; yours may vary.  For instance yours wires like two separate 2-tube instant-start ballasts.

This is from my big answer here.

Historically 4-lamp fixtures often had 2 ballasts.  There is a mounting site in your fixture for a second ballast.  Aside from using the more common 2-lamp ballast. it also let you feed them from 2 switches for "high" and "low".

If the ballast is a goner, you'll have no trouble finding 4-lamp ballasts in either instant (1 wire) or rapid-start (2 wires).  Rapid-start gives better tube life; a sub-type is programmed-start which gives superb tube life - something to think about if the fixture is hard to access.  But if you switch to rapid-start, you'll need to change the lampholders (tombstones) on the end of the tubes to a non-shorting type.

Edited significantly  based on updated info


What goes into replacing a package unit (HVAC)?

I would look into renting a “reach forklift”, or boom lift forklift, suitable for rough terrain.  They have names like Gehl, SkyTrak, JLG & Genie. The last one I rented was $250/day with a delivery charge of $75.00. A crane requires a certified crane operator which goes for $100/hr in my state with a minimum rate; that’s for just the operator.  So the forklift saves big time. (They go up to 40+feet, depending on model.)
As far as the charge for connections, that is off topic, but I can say on a condo it would require a licensed electrician at a minimum in my state,
possibly adding the required 120v receptacle as well, as I don’t see that.
Possible changes in mounting, power, gas, drains all add time.
With commercial properties, like condos, we usually have to meet current code when there is a change (your neighbor going from 2.5 ton to 3 is a change).
So as far as cost, there may be multiple trades required in your state and some other changes we don’t know about. So the cost may sound steep to me, but I did not bid the job and don’t know all your local requirements.
The more requirements, the higher the cost.


Are 2x4 rafters legal in Connecticut? 13 ft runs

Certainly not by current building standards. I'm not familiar with the snow load factor that is used in Connecticut, but if it's the 40 PSF that I suspect you would need 2x6s, possibly 2x8s.  Note that the span measurement goes from the peak of the roof to the wall parallel to the ground, not along the slope of the roof, so I can't give you an exact answer without a better measurement.

Side note: The more immediate concern is that it doesn't look like there are any rafter or collar ties at all visible in the photo you posted.  Unless the roof ridge is structural (i.e. a beam sized for a cathederal ceiling the size of the garage and posted to the foundation), the roof is going to have a strong tendency to pancake and put outward thrust on the tops of the walls.

You can address both problems by installing rafter and collar ties, and then adding purlins starting about half way down the roof deck.  Basically what you would be doing is converting the existing roof framing into trusses.  That said, it would likely be a lot easier (and likely cheaper if the roof deck also needs to be replaced) to reframe it.


You should never, EVER put a space heater (or other high-draw appliance) on a plug strip!!

Even thought they are rated for a certain amperage or wattage, most are cheaply made and cannot handle the load of a single high-draw appliance. It's not that they will definitely fail, but unfortunately your experience is not at all uncommon.

What happened to yours was likely not a short circuit. That would almost certainly trip a breaker or fuse. It was probably a poor connection inside the plug strip. A poor (high resistance) connection under high load will create a tremendous amount of heat, but will not draw any more current. So a fuse or standard circuit breaker will not see this as a problem. The same thing can happen with a loose plug/receptacle combo. It's all about Ohm's Law.


How to install a window ac in a room with improper window provision

Considering the circumstances you may be facing having to shift your premises back to the previously workable configuration!!

On another track you could consider using a different type of portable A/C unit altogether. There are available floor standing units that vent out through a large flexible hose to a window. There is typically an adjustable panel assembly that can be fitted to the window (see below). Note that there are also styles of these that use two of the flexible hoses.


Why would cold water be introduced into underfloor heating system?

As longneck mentions this is a pressure reducing valve and this connection of the domestic cold water to your heating system is called the system make-up. It used to fill the system and to maintain the heating system's pressure. The knob on the top can be turned to adjust the system's pressure and should be done while the system is static.

However, a pressure reducing valve is not a cross connection device and should not be considered as one. While by its nature it creates a lower pressure on the heating side then that of the domestic side (therefore not allowing the water to back feed due to the pressure difference), if there is a drop of pressure on the domestic side (the required significance would depend on the domestic system pressure) or if the safety mechanisms on the heating side fail (such as the boiler fails to cut off and the pressure relieve valve fails to open) the heating side can result in a higher system pressure then that of the domestic side. This valve will not prevent back-flow in such scenarios. For true cross connection prevention you would need a double check valve or a reduced pressure back-flow assembly.

One last note: if you shut off the system make-up be sure to periodically check that the heating system maintains its set pressure. If the system drops too low you could cause damage to your heating source if it doesn't have built-in low water cut-off.


Checking online there are the actual unit dimensions for these doors on the "Big Box" websites. I am finding the actual sizes are 81 5/8" in many cases. Tight for your opening but a little off the header will get it in. As a note, this is for an exterior door. Typically interior doors are perhaps a 1/2 shorter. If the header needs a 1/4" taken out of the bottom, and you have a 2x6 header for a 36" rough opening, there will be no issue. The sheathing on the wall outside aids in supporting the surrounding framing.


Can I replace a recessed lighting track without replacing the fixture housing?

The track and the housing are apparently separate components, judging by the photo. The question is how well they're fastened together. I'll be surprised if anyone knows that particular fixture well enough to tell you offhand.

I wouldn't hesitate to investigate. Disconnect power and start disassembling. Use a rotary grinder if necessary to remove rivets, screw tips, or sheet metal tabs.


What is the best tool for cutting large lumber lengthwise?

I initially totally misread this and was thinking the pieces were 2.4 millimeters thick, not 2.4 meters long. To that end, I've removed comments about hand-sawing - that's... impractical for this type of operation. Power tools are the appropriate answer here.

I'd recommend a band saw for resawing operations like this. Generally, band saw blades take a thinner kerf than a table saw will, so if you need each piece to be as close to the 62.5mm as possible, this would probably be your better bet.  I believe you'll find it easier to find finer teeth on a band saw blade than a table saw blade, and for cutting a piece that's only 2.4mm thick, you're definitely going to want something with very fine teeth if you're looking for a reasonably nice finish - 2.4mm is in the "thick veneer" range.

Upon my reread of the dimensions in question, you will not be too terribly concerned with a fine-tooth, narrow blade for kerf minimization. You'll want a wide blade for straighter tracking, and few, big teeth for fast cutting in tough wood.

Additionally, you want a 250mm (~10") deep cut. On a normal table saw with a 10" blade (fairly standard in the US, not sure about other locales), you won't actually be able to cut all the way through this depth. A band saw will be your only option. You'll need a big band saw that can handle that depth of cut.

The hand-held circular saw mentioned in the comment to this answer:

Will not have the depth of cut you need.

The blade is 190mm in diameter, you'll only be able to cut with the 95mm radius, but you don't get full access to that - the depth of cut is only 66mm according to the specs on the page linked.
flipping the sleeper over will only get you a partial cut on the other side.
You'll still have plenty of wood (250mm - 66mm - 66mm = 118mm) left in the middle that you'll have to cut another way. You're only going to cut 1/4 of the way through your sleeper with each pass!

Will not have the control necessary for getting an accurate cut. The sole plate of the circular saw will only have 62 mm (~2.5") to sit on the wood - it will be way too easy to tip the saw, ruining the vertical cut you're trying to make

You don't indicate how many of these pieces you've got to cut, but you might actually want to consider using a hand saw for this - you're only cutting through a 2.4mm depth. A Japanese-style saw can be had with very fine teeth, and for that thickness thinness of material, you'll find that the cut will go pretty quickly by hand.

Also, don't forget that you'll want to measure and cut to take into consideration the kerf if you need both pieces to be the same to the 10th of a mm.

In either powered-saw case (band saw or table saw, as mentioned in another answer), be sure to take great care that you don't lose any fingers (this remains as generally good advice). - you're working with some fairly small pieces...

You will need a band saw to resaw these sleepers.
You're dealing with pressure treated lumber, so they will be heavier than non-treated lumber
You'll want to make in-feed and out-feed tables to help support the work.

All-in-all, you may want to consider asking the sawmill if they can resaw them for you - they'll have the proper tools and the know-how to do this quickly and safely. Don't just "ask" them to do it, but be prepared to pay for the service - it will be far cheaper than investing in a band saw that will have the capacity you need. Unless, of course, you want a new toy tool. ;)


Code requirements for moving 3 prong dryer outlet

There are others (Harper, ThreePhaseEel) who will likely provide a ton of details. But in a nutshell:

3-prong does not provide the same level of safety as 4-prong.
3-prong is grandfathered in, but when you make a change you should switch to 4-prong. New work should definitely be 4-prong NEMA 14-30. I don't know if code strictly requires a change to 14-30 in your situation (the real pros can weigh in on that). But from a practical standpoint, once you are already doing the work you might as well spend a few $ on a new receptacle and new power cord and do it right (unlike my electrician years ago).
When you switch, in addition to the new 4-prong receptacle and new 4-prong dryer cord to match it, there is a ground-neutral bonding jumper that MUST be removed on the dryer.

Your pictures pretty clearly show that there is no existing ground, and you have also made it clear that a new cable back to the main panel would be quite expensive. If a retrofit ground using existing wiring (e.g., connecting to the ground of the washer receptacle, provided it is legal (large enough wire or other grounding mechanism)) is not practical then I would consider a combination of (a) replacing the regular breaker with a GFCI breaker to provide protection and (b) replace the existing 3-prong dryer cord with a longer 3-prong dryer cord to take care of the extra several feet. I do NOT recommend using an extension cord - they are available but that is not a good idea, and may even be against code for a nominally permanent installation.


This is an old question, but there are several solutions here that may help others who stumble upon it.

The easiest and most consumer-friendly way to do this is with a "smart" thermostat, these are designed to be controlled remotely and also can be activated when you're home/away, at a set time of day, minimum/maximum temperature, or when you reach a certain distance from your house (tracked by GPS).

The Sonoff you mentioned is capable of doing this as well, in a tinker/hacker way. I would actually recommend you use a 2-channel Sonoff so one channel can control heating and one channel control cooling. As you're configuring the Sonoff remember that "inching" means "momentary connection" and "locking" means "closed circuit" like a normal switch. I believe thermostats "lock" until the desired temperature is reached. Sonoffs contain relays with several hundred volts and several amps of capacity.

As @dandavis commented previously, I would wire these in parallel with your thermostat wiring so that your thermostat still controls your system also. The answers about what to connect with what should be in your thermostat manual, I haven't read it. If you're more of a "do-er" than a reader, you can use a voltmeter to check the thermostat's continuity during operation and figure out where to bridge your Sonoff that way.


Adding whole-house surge protection to main panel

First I would like to extend my sympathy for you having a ZINSCO Panel. It is without question the worst panel ever manufactured except for a Federal Panel. However I must say that it has kept many an electrician employed on the replacement of these panels. The breakers have a tendency to weaken and spread over time and that causes arcing and overheating on the bus basically destroying the panel. I would recommend replacement at you earliest convenience.

Now on to your problem. The surge arrestor is designed to be installed on a 20A/2P breaker. If you try and connect it to a larger breaker you are not protecting the Surge arrester circuit small as it may be. In Commercial installations we are required to install in line fuses if we are installing on a larger breaker.

Tapping on to another breaker is allowed but only if that lug is designed to accept two conductors. The only two residential breakers that allow this that I know of are Sq D QO style and Cutler Hammer CH style and definitely not ZINSCO. So you will have to pigtail the conductors of the Surge Arrester to another circuit, then connect it to the breaker.

Mounting the Arrester anywhere on the panel after the Main doesn't have a profound effect on the Arresters use.

Hope this helps.


Bathroom Remodel Drain/Vent Configuration

The fact that the sink is technically being individually vented back to the 3" vent is throwing me off.

I don't have a copy of the IPC 2018 code and I'm in Canada, but I believe the codes are similar.

Is there any way to extend the 3" portion closer to the sink so that you can still run the fixture arm with only 135° change in direction? You can then offset the vent back to the existing location once 6" above the flood level rim of the sink:

With the above alteration, this would be a clear wet vent.

A few additional notes:

The fall on the fixture trap arm can not exceed that of the diameter of the pipe. So for 1-1/2" run with 2% grade the max length would be 6' and 2" pipe would be 8'.
A fixture trap arm cannot exceed 135° change in direction (except for a toilet which cannot exceed 225°).
The length of the wet vent is not limited.
A toilet must be the last fixture in a wet vent (or connected with a symmetrical fitting).


Wiring question - Swapping in GFCI breaker for my dryer

Go for it

Since you have a full four-wire connection to a NEMA 14-30 receptacle, your plan to replace the breaker with a GFCI breaker is sound, as long as the dryer is properly configured for use with a 4-wire cord.  Note that this will also let you know if your dryer has a ground fault, so you may wish to keep an appliance repairman's phone number on hand in case it turns out your dryer needs fixing.

While you have the outlet box open, it would be a good idea to take a couple lengths of bare 10AWG wire and a wirenut and use them to pigtail the box ground screw and the outlet properly, as well as changing what looks to be an improper ground screw to the correct screw, namely a 10-32 fine pitch machine or self-tapping screw (the latter is available as the Garvin GSST).


How do I diagnose a defective switch in a 4-way setup?

I agree with gregmac that is probably a wiring problem. If it isn't a wiring problem it's probably the dimmer and the dimmer itself may even be the wrong type. You might think about getting another three way switch and replacing the dimmer for test purposes only. If it works with the 3 way switch you know it's the dimmer. If it doesn't work then I would bet the dimmer was miss-wired when it was installed and I would start to see if the carriers and the line/load conductors are on the right terminals of the switch. If that isn't the problem then you probably need on site help to troubleshoot the problem.

I am assuming that most of us don't want to answer this question is because it takes quite a bit of work to try and explain how to troubleshoot the circuitry. Not that it's hard but as my instructors told me "it's easy once you learn how to do it."

Hope this helps.


Why is my garage door suddenly not operating at all?

Okay, I figured out on my own. I found the user manual for my model (Genie ISD990), and the troubleshooting section says "reset opener - unplug" if status light is blinking (1 blink). I unplugged the power, wait for a few seconds, plug it in again and it works now. Don't know what has caused this. This opener is at least 10 years old, but never had any problems.


Voltage tester indicates the wall has an electical charge

If the "voltage tester" is one of those "tick tracer" type that don't actually need to touch two wires (or one wire and ground), they function my simply detecting magnetic fields AROUND wires. So they will "light up" by just being NEAR wires, even wires BEHIND something else. Basically, it doesn't mean anything in the scenario you described.


I routinely test POE network devices with 50m or more of coiled up cable attached to them, particularly when sorting out a new install (it gets to pass the first tests all coiled up before we run it out to the proposed location and test it, then run the final cable through the building.) So coiling is not the issue.

The photos leave it a little vague, but the second one looks like you might have white/green and white/blue mixed up.


My living room needs more ambient light and I'm reluctant to drill holes in my ceiling. What are my options?

A standing floor lamp that emits light up will reflect light off the ceiling and create ambient illumination. However, it won't be connected to a wall light switch (unless you have or wire a switched outlet). I actually prefer standing lamps to overhead lights, since overhead lights can create harsh shadows (especially if there's just one bright one in the center of the ceiling).

As for the brightness: I like to use bulbs in the 400 to 1000 lumen range ("40 watt" to "60 watt" incandescent equivalent, if you're stuck in the 19th century mindset). I personally find anything brighter than that to be unnecessary—I'd rather have more lights than brighter lights. But that's really an interior decoration / preference question.


Concrete crack repair: (polyurethane) crack filler versus new concrete patch

If the cracks are due only to an initial settling, and the slab is now stable, patching with concrete definitely does have the benefit of being the same material and can be stronger.  However, this makes the whole slab one block again.
The advantage of the flexible sealants is that if the cracks are due to seasonal movement of the slab, they allow the slab to still move a bit while still being sealed (like a control joint).  If a concrete-patched slab needs to bend or adjust a bit, it will just crack itself again.


Venting the crawlspace is important. It helps to reduce moisture by allowing air to circulate and by equalizing the temperatures inside and out and thereby preventing condensation. I don't know about Ontario, but I'm in Ohio and I believe the building codes here (about the same climate) specify venting crawlspaces at specific ratios

  This is a good article which explains vented and non-vented
  crawlspaces and how they are supposed to work better than I can..

Open up the vents when it gets warm in the spring and close them back up in the fall when the air cools down. There are even automatic vents available that will do this on their own at appropriate temperatures without using electricity.

Additionally, you should probably install the plastic vapor barrier on the dirt floor and walls to keep out additional moisture (we do it here) and some screens over the vents would be good to keep insects and other uninvited guests out of there.


Why are double glazed windows useful in summer?

Double glazed windows help in controlling the inside temperature keeping it warmer in winter and cooler in summer, making it a smart way to reduce heating and cooling costs. Double glazing is quite effective as it stops all heat transfer from one side to another. It also stops UV damage.