Would it ever make financial sense to install a GFCI breaker vs an GFCI outlet?

Blame glitter obsession

This is a matter of philosophy, rather than pure finance, although builders, being the glitter oriented types they are, tend to treat it as if it were the latter.

Why GFCI breakers?

One of the major problems with GFCI receptacles is that a receptacle in a location can control power to a totally unrelated-seeming location.  While this isn't a problem for small appliance branch circuits due to the Code keeping unrelated receptacles off of them, garage, outdoor, and basement receptacles suffer from this on regular basis.  For instance, an outdoor outlet might be controlled by a GFCI in the garage, or a garage outlet might be controlled by the GFCI for the wet bar in the basement.

The centralization of all circuit protection into the main electrical panel neatly avoids this problem, as now there's only one place to reset a trip, namely the electrical panel.  Another edge that GFCI protection at the panel provides, especially for high power appliance circuits such as the kitchen outlet and laundry circuits, is superior fire protection -- glowing connections often induce ground faults, and a GFCI will react to and trip on this secondary failure, shutting off the power (this is why many AFCIs incorporate a ground fault trip calibrated for higher trip levels than a "true" GFCI).

Another problem with receptacle GFCIs is that they aren't applicable in all cases where GFCI protection is desired -- such as when a circuit other than a 15 or 20A, 120V circuit needs GFCI protection.  (For instance, protecting a church baptismal font's immersion heater that runs off of 240V, or protecting the 240V outlets for your garage workshop for that matter.)

Why GFCI receptacles?

However, there is an expectation in this day and age that the bathroom GFCI is in the bathroom, and likewise with the kitchen.  The use of GFCI breakers for these circuits is often seen as counterintuitive and inconvenient -- many people would look for a tripped GFCI receptacle in their bathroom, but not look to the panel (which is further away, and possibly harder to get to) for a tripped GFCI breaker.  Furthermore, the use of GFCI breakers can make a trip condition ambiguous -- did this breaker trip on a ground fault or an overcurrent/short?  A related issue is that a GFCI breaker might conflict with an AFCI requirement, such as for the kitchen and laundry circuits; while DFCI (dual-function circuit interrupter) breakers combine the two protection functions, they are only available in single pole, limiting their applicability.

Finally, GFCI breakers can behave counterintuitively when applied to multi-wire branch circuits as leaks on opposite legs can cancel each other out, preventing the breaker from tripping in a circumstance where one would normally expect it to trip.  GFCI receptacles can only protect the legs individually and thus force the neutral to be demultiplexed, avoiding this matter altogether.

It's up to you at the end of the day, but my vote is...

While this is up to you as the Code doesn't care where the GFCI protection lives as long as it's there to begin with, I personally prefer the protection-at-the-panel approach, as long as your panel type and available slots allow for it.  It's simpler to make modifications to the branch circuits without inadvertently defeating GFCI protection when the GFCI is in the panel, and it also means that there's no risk of sharing or overloading a neutral on a GFCI-protected circuit as the GFCI protection in the panel will catch that right away.


Is a glass shower screen a suitable backing for mosaics?

Generally glass bonding is done with a special adhesive that is UV cured.  I'm uncertain as much as far as the cost for it.  I have always used silicone to bond glass, it's what my family business uses to assemble/repair fish tanks.

The silicone would also work perfect for you in place of grout.


How can I live in a large house and not have high utility bills?

Good insulation, double glazing, air conditioning used with care (-8°C difference from outside is enough in summer, 20°C is ok in winter), class A++ electric appliance, gas tankless water heater, led lighting.


How do I use dust saved from sanding Corian to fix scratches?

Similar to using wood dust mixed with wood glue to fill in some imperfection on a wood project. You will always see it, but most other folks won't. Kind of depends on the scratch.

If you have a scrap of your corian, put a scratch in it, take the dust, mix with some epoxy fill the scratch and sand flush. See if it works to your satisfaction. Then put away that experience to the day if and when you actually scratch your bar top. And don't forget where you put those corian sandings.

My assumption is that epoxy will stick to the corian and not pop off.


screws, bolts or nails for ground level deck framing

Traditionally I would have just used 20d galvanized box nails, 4 per joist end.. Since you're nailing into end grain you need a substantial fastener. Hot-dipped galvanized nails have a rougher texture that grabs fairly well.

However, since your deck is floating I'd maybe want to use screws. This will keep any motion that occurs from working things loose. 3-1/2" Torx drive  screws that are coated for exterior use would be good.


need feedback on radiator heating systems and carbon monoxide

If your carbon monoxide detector is going off, you have a carbon monoxide problem. Contact your utility or local emergency services for a more thorough test. The symptoms you describe are consistent with early stages of carbon monoxide poisoning.

If your radiators heat with hot water or steam, or another system other than forced air, you will not have return ducts. That is normal. Carbon monoxide inside homes typically originates from a gas-burning appliance directly -- so in your case it would be gases coming up from a heater or boiler (probably in the basement). Alternatively, it could be that the exhaust duct / chimney is leaking into your apartment, rather than completely exhausting outdoors.

Get this looked at right away by professionals. BE VERY CAREFUL and do not venture downstairs; if the CO problem is bad in your apartment, it might be much worse in the immediate surroundings of the heater. Be safe!


Carrier Fan Coil Unit heat function does not come on

I think I can answer my own question. I checked the thermostat again, and this time I flipped the switch that says 1) for gas or oil  and 2) for electric ( thermostat controls fan). Running with the switch at 2), the fan operates and  I think the heat comes on. I will try it again tomorrow with my multimeter, checking for temperature rise.


Sound coming from lower floor to upper floor

Such is the down side of hard floors; they aid in sound transmission. Carpets used to absorb this, but nobody likes carpet any more.

There is no building code requirement for sound proofing between floors. It is often done as a "feature", but not having it is not indicative of something being "wrong" with the construction.


How to permenantly close and seal wood fireplace

Removing the facade is not usually very hard. Where you will run into quite a bit of work for a brick fireplace is with the hearth. Usually these are poured and removal may require a jackhammer, sometimes only a heavy demo hammer is needed. As your hearth is above the floor level it may be part of the base of the chimney.  So removal is not a minor job but could be done DIY.

I understand you want to reclaim the space but for me it would be all or nothing . Remove the entire thing for a few inches of space, or install a gas or pellet stove insert and seal it so you don’t loose heat up the stack. I have installed gas log inserts that ran for a month on a 5 gallon propane tank, this increases the home value verses the cost of demo and reducing the home value. I did remove a fireplace in my 1930 farm home as it was in a poor location and was not safe to use. However I added a free standing high efficiency stove in another room (addition). I would use caution with a partial demo as that could be considered a liability for future sales this is why I say all or nothing, a fireplace that is not usable will reduce the value or has in the past, a simple change to a gas log insert brought the value of one home we flipped ~15k and that was 20 years ago.


Smoke detector at highest point of pitched ceiling - good or bad?

It's generally best to install smoke detectors up high where smoke will reach them as quickly as possible.  However according to the NFPA you may have some latitude, and you actually don't want them all the way at the apex of a peaked ceiling.

source:  https://www.nfpa.org/Public-Education/By-topic/Smoke-alarms/Installing-and-maintaining-smoke-alarms

There are additional considerations for placement at the above link that should be reviewed if you decide to move your smoke detector.

Keep in mind that that smoke detector may very well be required by local building codes, and you'd want to be careful that any changes you make are code compliant.


I am building a off grid house in Ghana and would like to use an American 200 amp breaker box and plugs

Two Systems of Electricity
Throughout the world, there are basically two different systems of electricity that (almost) every country uses one of.  Both are safe, and neither is particularly better than the other, but they are different, and not directly compatible.

120/240V 60Hz

This system is used primarily in North America, and is often referred to as US style power or split-phase power.  120V is used for small things, and heavy loads use 240V.

230V 50Hz

This system is used in most of the rest of the world besides North America.  It's sometimes referred to as European style power, as that is where it originated.  Note that while it's 230V nominal, some locations actually use 220V or 240V, which is within acceptable tolerance of 230V.
Since this system is used so widely, the availability of equipment is actually huge -- if you don't like the style of something local, there's probably another country with the same power system that has what you want.  So, for example, while you might not like some of the options local to Ghana, you can always import from the UK, Australia, Germany, China, France, etc., and they will all be compatible with your local power system.
Build to Local Standards
As I understand it, you're planning to build an off-grid house in a location where the local regulations are lax enough to allow for either system to legally be used.  Since most of the devices you're hoping to power are expecting 120/240V 60Hz power, you're thinking of building that type of system, even though 230V 50Hz is the official standard of the country.  I would strongly advise against this, for many reasons:

All electronics and electrical building materials used in this house must be imported from North America.  While this might not seem like much extra work when you're building the place, it will be a big pain every time something breaks and needs to be replaced.  This is especially true if the dead item is the inverter, since you'll be without power until you can source a new one.
Local electricians will not be familiar with, or qualified to work on, a 120V system.  As such, you will have to DIY almost all electrical work, and will have trouble getting good help.  An electrician trained only in a 230V system could easily make dangerous mistakes on a 120/240V system.
When you eventually sell the place (which will happen someday, as houses almost always outlive their owners), the next person will not be able to plug in their electronics, and will not know how to work on the system.  As such, they will almost certainly want to rip it all out and replace it with the standard system used in the country -- and they'll deduct the price of doing that from the price they're willing to pay for the place.
When guests come over, they will not be able to plug in their cell phone chargers or other electronics.
Local regulations may change.  While at the moment, the government in question isn't strictly enforcing that all buildings in the country use the country's official power standard, can you guarantee this will still be true in 30 years?  It's not impossible that the government would make you change it later, at your own expense.

As such, I highly recommend you build a 230V 50Hz system as the primary power system for this house.  In order to use the devices you like, I recommend you evaluate them on a case-by-case basis, and replace them with a 230V version if there's a good one available, or get a converter for only that device.
Powering Electronics from the Other System
It's very often possible to power devices that were designed for one system on the other one, but how easy that is depends on the device in question.  Broadly, there are three categories:

Universal Input Devices

These devices don't care which system they're supplied from, and will happily work on either.  Usually all you need to do is change the cord, or use a passive plug adapter.  They can be identified by their label, which will say something like 100-250V, 50-60Hz.
Most modern DC electronics these days are designed to be universal input.  This includes most computers, cell phone chargers, TVs, etc.  Check your labels; you might be surprised to find how many devices you can use with no conversion.

Things that care about voltage, but not frequency.

Things like light bulbs and toasters do need the voltage to be correct, but they do not care at all about frequency.  As such, they can be powered with a transformer of appropriate size (a 240->120V step down transformer in your case).  Again, check the label -- it'll either say 50/60 Hz or it won't mention frequency at all.

Things that care about frequency.

These will almost all be electric motors (or things that have them inside, such as AC compressors, and your washer and dryer).  Most low-cost AC electric motors are synchronous with the grid frequency, and will run 20% faster on 60Hz than on 50Hz -- which will likely burn them out.  Frequency isn't nearly so easy to change as voltage, so for these categories of appliances, I recommend replacing them with a local version wherever possible.  If you absolutely must use one of these, then you need a frequency converter, which will be expensive.  On these, the label will specify voltage and frequency exactly.
Note that some motors are not synchronous to the AC frequency.  In that case, they'll be in one of the two above categories.  In particular, newer HVAC units are often coming with 'inverter' compressors, which cost more but allow for better efficiency, and are usually universal input.


How do I secure electrical wiring to a pocket door frame?

My expectation when opening a door (either hinged or pocket) is that the switch is inside on the strike side of the door.  Strike side location would avoid the pocket door completely.
You are asking for trouble by routing the cable so near the surface. If you are trying to use NM cable, you would have to armor the cable the whole way up, because its not center stud (I believe within 1.25 inches of stud edge.

National Electrical Code 2011
ARTICLE 300 Wiring Methods
300.4 Protection Against Physical Damage.
(D) Cables and Raceways Parallel to Framing Members and Furring Strips. In both exposed and concealed locations, where a cable- or raceway-type wiring method is installed parallel to framing members, such as joists, rafters, or studs, or is installed parallel to furring strips, the cable or raceway shall be installed and supported so that the nearest outside surface of the cable or raceway is not less than 32 mm (11⁄4 in.) from the nearest edge of the framing member or furring strips where nails or screws are likely to penetrate. Where this distance cannot be maintained, the cable or raceway shall be protected from penetration by nails or screws by a steel plate, sleeve, or equivalent at least 1.6 mm (1⁄16 in.) thick.


If the feed only has two wires (not including ground), it's possible that it's only 120 volts (hot, neutral, ground) or 240 volts (hot, hot, ground). If there's only a single pole breaker, then it's probably 120 volts. If there's a double pole breaker, it's probably 240 volts. You can measure it of course, if you have a volt/multimeter.

Since the new cooktop has an additional wire, I'd suspect that it requires a 120/240 volt feed (hot, hot, neutral, ground). This means that you're going to have to pull a new three wire with ground cable, or an additional wire if it's wired through conduit.

If the feed is 240 volts (hot, hot, ground), and you've connected the new cooktop as described (black to black, white to white). You've potentially connected an ungrounded (hot) conductor from the feed, to the grounded (neutral) conductor of the cooktop. This is very bad, and could kill somebody.

Contact a local licensed Electrician, or do some more research before continuing with this project.


On your first question, those are rating limits.

Look at your coffeemaker, "capacity 10 cups" etc.  Can you make 4 cups? Of course. They are saying if you put more than 10 cups, it won't work.  Your S-rated (112mph) car tires are also safe at lower speeds.  Etc.

125V is the max limit for the socket (due to insulation strength).   You don't get to choose the voltage in your house, the power company supplies 120V in North America.  This would be the wrong socket, say, for Europe where line voltage is 230V.

75W is the max limit for the socket (due to thermal heat from the bulb).  Since the ruling factor is heat not light, you are allowed to use any bulb less than 75 watts actual.  So if you have a 26-watt LED (bright like a 150W incandescent), that is fine since it's well under 75W.

On your second question, if your breaker is 20A, then use of 12 AWG cable is mandatory all the way from the panel to the ceiling box where the chandelier attaches.  This is another "rating-like" thing; you're perfectly welcome to use larger 10 AWG cable but you cannot use the smaller 14 AWG.


Appropriate heatgun for removing cellphone screens/backs

You would want to get what's called a hot air rework tool. It's basically a small, usually digital hot air gun. You can adjust the air flow and temperature accurately. Since you are working on a very expensive device it's worth the 50-60 bucks on Amazon.

https://www.google.com/aclk?sa=L&ai=DChcSEwim2JbIt8TgAhWXVg0KHdhXAZgYABAfGgJxYg&sig=AOD64_36vNmm026oQN5wswhU3_F0NFlXiw&ctype=5&q=&ved=2ahUKEwiFuJDIt8TgAhVCneAKHb6yC9QQwg96BAgKEB0&adurl=


Consider all the dual-basin kitchen sinks... "If it happens, it must be possible."


I've seen this before in rentals I own, lights with no boxes, I wouldn't do it but that must be the local building code. If you cut the ground wire you can make a pigtail to reconnect the ground and the new fixture. The wire nuts for ground (green) have a hole in the top to feed the new fixture which makes it easier.


Can you install stone veneer at an angle?

You certainly can set them in angled patterns. The aesthetics are a separate question. Do keep in mind that in addition to the spacers you're likely adding a number of cuts that you wouldn't have otherwise.


Is there a safe way to rewire original sconces?

Your pictures don't show any wire coming out of the wall at the sconce and the wires in the central box look like they're cut short with no slack to pull out of the box to work.  Knob & tube is normally attached to the knobs inside the wall and run as separate discrete wires so you cannot pull new Romex "through" the old wiring.  Expect to run new wire from an accessible connection point all the way to the sconces, including installing new boxes and cover plates to attach the sconces to (yes, that means cutting holes, pulling wire, and plaster work).
I'm not sure what type of wire would be suitable to run through the fireplace surround due to heat from the fire. I would try to locate the first stud on either side of the fireplace, then run new Romex in that stud bay, installing boxes to relocate the sconces outside those studs, then patch the holes where they used to be.  Relocating the sconces would apply whether you're running 120v or low voltage.


If what you're saying is the tub will be on top of 2x10 at 16" on center spacing, with a span of 9 feet between bearing points that continue down to the foundation, you'll be fine. A drawing of the complex framing you seem to have would help out immensely. I still recommend doing the drawings and getting permits: I have a lot of experience framing houses, but I'm not an engineer. You can find span tables online that can help you determine weight allowance for framing members.

FYI, the 'average fill' is probably based on the displacement of two people in the tub; even if you could fit more water in, you'll probably want to only fill it halfway before two people get in.


Is it normal for the concrete covering my interior perimeter drain to be damp?

Ideally, the builder installed a vapor barrier under the whole slab including the drain but it sounds like they cut a hole in the barrier to dig the pit for the sump. Since concrete is fairly porous, it's probably wicking water from the ground. If it bothers you, try a sealer intended for concrete with your problem. Unfortunately, you can't tell how much pressure the water is under because it evaporates or runs into the sump. Although it shouldn't be much, it will still wreak havoc with surface coatings.


Can I solder galvanized steel to stainless steel?

YES You can weld or braze galvanized but first the zinc needs to be removed or it won't stick well with either method and welding on galvanized metals releases nasty vapors that if breathed affect the liver. I usually grind the zinc back about an inch weld and then use a cold process galvanizing spray to re coat, it works fine, I am in the process of building my grand kids a swing using galvanized pipe/ conduit and have made lots of things using this method.


A visual inspection of a tripped residential breaker is not likely to reveal that it has tripped.  Tripping happens internally and does not usually move the lever visibly.

Instead, feel the breaker handles by giving each lever a slight nudge toward the "off" position.  Those that are "on" will resist being moved.  A tripped breaker lever will easily move.   To reset it, turn it all the way "off" and then "on".


How many degrees (angle) to open the water at the curb?

90 degrees if it's a ball valve.  ??? (certainly more than 360 degrees) if it's a gate valve.

You'll know it; there's a "stop" when you are at limits of travel.  Turning force will greatly increase.


How can I bore a hole through a framing member, without causing a lot of damage to the wall covering?

Best way to work through this is with a flexible drill bit.  Most common length is 6'. You can either drill down from your hole or up from your basement. There is a tool to help you guide the bits:

(source: homedepot.com)

(source: homedepot.com)

If 6' is not long enough you can buy bit extensions.  Most of the bits have a small hole at the end of the bit you can use to attach a pull string once the bit is drilled through to its destination; this making pulling a wire back through relatively easy.  They are also usually self-tapping so you just aim it where you want and let the drill do the rest of the work.

Make sure to mark any important infrastructure like power and gas lines - you don't want to hit any of those while drilling.


I suppose it's at least half an answer, so moving from comments:
If the fans are wired to run that way your house may well be built to a high standard of air-sealing, and the fans running (possibly with a heat recovery ventilator involved) may be an important part of maintaining good indoor air quality - at which point the power to run them is not a "waste" and the heat/cold required to adjust the air they replace is far less than that required in an older house with random air leaks.
In that case, turning them off may cause major indoor air quality problems.
The above is the only case I'm aware of where bathroom fans are set to run continuously as a deliberate design part of the HVAC.
A mechanical vetilation requirement evidently was integrated into IRC circa 2012
As for the other half of the question, the linked document notes a minimum efficency for bathroom fans of 2.8 cfm/watt and a maximum ventilation rate for them of 90 cfm, leading to a maximum power draw (per fan) of 32 watts, or roughly 282 kwh/year. Or it could be as low as 31 kwh/year for the minimum sized bathroom fan (10 cfm) or even lower if the fan is more efficient than the minimum required efficiency.


The walls should have the seams taped and then primed, especially where tile will be installed. The area where your hand is inserted looks like the drywall needs to be shimmed out or refitted to be even with the worktop, unless it's the worktop that's not straight, unlikely.


Fitted Cupboard With Angles - How To Prevent Tops Of Doors Catching When Opening?

Is the problem that the rear corner or rear face of the door collides with the face (or the front edge) of the cabinet box?

Concealed hinges are adjustable for the gap between the door and the cabinet box/face when the door is closed. People like the gap to be as narrow as possible, but some minimum amount of gap is needed so that the door can rotate about the hinge without hitting the cabinet box. Maybe you have the gap adjusted too tight. With that style of hinge one of the screws adjusts the door right and left (when closed) and the other screw allows adjustment of the gap. To me it appears the rear screw adjusts the gap.

Those look like very heavy/wide doors. By that I mean they'll apply a lot of leverage against the hinges. It might be worthwhile to again consider using two doors. Instead of putting one hinge on the left and the other on the right as originally conceived, install the hinges on the right-hand edge of both doors.


Frigidaire freezer making intermittent grinding noise

A grinding noise audible in the cold compartment of a freezer or refrigerator is usually caused by ice buildup on the recirculator fan. The ice can be removed by removing the food and leaving the appliance off for 24 hours with the doors open. If the ice comes back inconveniently often then a door seal may be failing and allowing too much outside air to enter the compartments.

However the noise in your video could also be caused by a worn bearing in the recirculator fan. You'll know which problem you have once you have removed the ice. Of course the only cure for the bad bearing is to replace the fan.


Degrease and etch will help paint adhesion. the epoxy paint may be enough to seal the cement by itself, check the preparation instructions on the finish coat you have chosen.


I would not tile for a temporary surface.
I would get a sheet of sanded 3/4”.
If you only need a 4x 6 or 4x 8 lay the sheet down and cut the carpet at the edge.
Remove the cutout carpet and tack strip. Put plywood in the hole and use a few deck screws to hold the plywood in place. I might get some carpet threshold and lock the carpet down or use some screws and washers to hold the carpet in place.

The plywood will hold up for a few years and be easy to remove.
Tile will be more expensive take longer to put down after that all the work to remove and dispose of the debris.

If you want a surface that will last a Formica sheet on top of the plywood will last a decade or more. And when pulled up could be used someplace else when done.


Looking for a particular dual-track shelving bracket.

Brackets of the type you want are made. Specifically designed for supporting wall mounted cupboards, white boards, panels etc.

These were spotted in a UK web site for SPUR Shelving. You would have to check if the slot height and spacing on SPUR products matches those of the particular twin slot standards that you are considering.


What are my lighting options for a pole-barn garage?

I'd probably try for a mix of natural light, fluorescent, and point lights.

The natural light will be the most economical, but obviously fails at night.

The fluorescent lighting should give you enough light for most working conditions.

And the point lights should help for when you need to do detail work or get under the hood of your cars. You can find point lights on articulated arms, that way you can just grab and move the light to wherever you need it. Mounting an arm or two on each pole would probably be enough.


Which sanitary tee for kitchen sink plumbing?

I have seen both 2" and 1-1/2 adapters at the drywall waiting to accept the white "tubing" (yup, that what plumbers call it, the thin white pipe used under the sink). From a practical standpoint, as to what readily available at your local hardware store, I would choose the 1-1/2 ABS sanitary T plus an adapter at the wall. You can also use the 2" abs and adapt down to 1.5" abs in two abs pieces, then get an abs straight piece then the 1.5" abs to male threaded tubing adapter. The latter solution has more pieces and is therefore slightly costlier.
I'll let someone else pontificate on Code.


Why is my two year old A/C compressor cycling every 10 seconds?

The technicians found low refrigerant and a slow leak at the fill valve.  They replaced the valve, refilled and tested the system and all seems well.
This leaves annoying open questions that can no longer be answered including:

Why did the self-diagnostic
detect Locked Rotor (4) and not Low Charge (1)?
How did a "slow leak" spontaneously develop after the end of last summer that progressed as far as immediate low-pressure-shutdown for the beginning of this summer?

The technicians were not interested in contemplating these things so I'll just have to move on without answers but with a working system.


Is there a thermostat-controlled corn heater sized for a shop/garage?

I'd seriously reconsider heating the section of the garage where the vehicles are stored. Storing vehicles in a heated garage in the winter rapidly accelerates rust formation.

http://www.cars.com/go/advice/Story.jsp?section=top&story=car-talk-tips&subject=more&aff=cartalk


Plumbing: Can the drain go down into the floor after the p-trap inside the vanity, or must it go in a wall?

I have plumbed them both ways many homes have the plumbing hidden in the walls but sometimes it is easier to go through the floor so whatever is best for your layout is fine, the only negative of going through the floor is you loose a little storage but this is not much a sacrifice compared to the ease of not having to open the wall and with a small sink it can be much easier to go to the side and down compared to back through the wall and then down.


Systematic process to find replacement fluorescent T5 lamp holder

You just need a t5 tombstone, that looks like a tall one measure it and places like 1000 bulbs.com or other places have them, depending on quanties for less than a buck. Just make sure if shunted or non shunted you get the correct type, if you get non shunted you can always add a jumper if needed.


Simple software for stress analysis of wooden structures?

Other than knowing they are out there, the money no object end of the spectrum is not a place I play much, and you can easily exceed $250,000 for software AFAIK.

For practical applications where the right answer is not "hire a structural engineer and let him/her worry about the software" (or become one, if it interests you enough) you need to understand enough of their lingo to use the simplified tables and calculators that are available from various places.

A whole set of calculators from Cornell
A wood beam calculator
Another wood beam calculator

I think all of these (or most) do include a bending term, either as a limit on input, or as an output. Your loads generally need to be self-calculated from (pounds-per-square-foot X square feet supported by beam), though some of the calculators will do that for you. Pay attention to whether you are being given a number with a safety factor built in, or not. Realize that wood is a variable material, and if you use a piece of wood where a flaw is stressed, it may not hold what the calculators suggest based on idealized wood and the assumption that you would have rejected such wood or used it in a manner that would not stress the flaw.

For the specific part of the question where you mention "developing intuition" there is a great deal to be said for building small models (the more accurate the model, the more accurate the intuition gained will be) and stressing them to failure. Grab a couple bags of popsicle sticks and tongue depressors (or both may be labelled as "craft sticks") and make some piles of broken kindling.


Concerned about roof trusses and ceiling joists in new-construction home

There is probably a very good reason why this house is sitting there in this unfinished state and up for sale. You should definitely do a detailed investigation of the history surrounding the design, permitting and construction of this house. You may very well find information that would help you understand just what you are getting into should you stay on the path of purchasing this unfinished shell.

The issue that you describe is a very big problem and could very well require removing the roof and replacing the trusses with properly designed assemblies on proper spacing. What may look like a very good deal could end up costing you way more in the long run to get the problems corrected and to pass inspections.


How can I tell if my two-pronged outlets have ground wires behind them?

What's the point of making them grounded? Either a) safety or b) to plug in 3-prong plugs.  There are several ways to do that.

You see the hole on your second photo? That's where the single screw goes.   On your first photo, the screw is covered with many layers of paint.

I would not stick a spike in there and gore up the threads.  Just get the proper screw.  They come free with outlet covers, which cost 30 cents.  Sand the paint off the head if you mean to put a voltage probe on it.

At this point, the layers of paint will have schellacked the outlet covers to the wall, and you'll need some careful knife work to separate them. Err on the side of damaging the outlet cover. They make oversize outlet covers for a neater appearance in this situation (not 30 cents). And next time you paint, take the covers off first.

Safety

If you can live with 2-prong outlets, you can render those safe by feeding them from a GFCI breaker or receptacle upstream.  Since GFCI breakers cost more than receptacles, especially for some archaic panels, I have been known to put a receptacle inches away from the panel and feed the whole circuit from that.  Plug a nightlight into every outlet in the house to make sure you don't have any crossed neutrals that would prevent the GFCI from working.  Put "GFCI protected" labels on all protected receptacles.

3-prong outlets

If you have provided GFCI protection, it is legal to fit a 3-prong receptacle if you also add a sticker saying "No Equipment Ground".   If that sounds like it doesn't protect equipment, exactly - some equipment cares about that for non-safety reasons, e.g. being sensitive to "static electricity" (ESD).

If you want real grounded outlets, and you don't have good ground in the junction box, you can retrofit ground.  This is easier than pulling all new grounded cable, since it's a single bare wire, and since every circuit served out of the same panel can share ground wires.  The only requirement is that the ground path be thick enough its entire length; so plan for this.  Runs to your heavy appliances (range, dryer, water heater) can be a backbone for the other grounds to connect to.


How would I go about turning a tree in to a tabletop?

Sorry, but I think you may be looking for trouble here. I'm a bit of a perfectionist in my own work, and you may well be willing to accept something more rustic than I'd tolerate. Even so, there are things you will want to do.

This will take some skill to do well, and a lot of time to season that top, and some luck to hope that it does not warp and split too badly. A thick piece of wood will take time to dry until you can be confident that it has stopped moving around. I'd want to give it a year at least, and in a place where both sides will have equal opportunity to lose their moisture at the same rate. Otherwise it will warp or split. Find a spot to store the wood that will avoid it warping under its own weight. For example, if you just stand it against the wall in your garage for a year, next year you will find it bowed under its weight. Worse is if you put it on a pair of sawhorses, as then the bow will be serious. So you might want to store it in a spot where it is supported by wooden stickers every foot to let air in. I might even add stickers on top, then weights on them to try to keep it flat.

And slow drying can be better than a fast dry. So, for example, suppose you put a fan next to the wood, hoping to dry it quickly? A bad idea! This will draw out the moisture near the surface of the wood quickly, but leave the center wet. Splits and checks will form before you can blink an eye. As a wood turner, I've learned to coat the surface of a partially turned bowl completely with wax, letting it dry very slowly over the course of a year. Then you finish turn the warped bowl next year if it has not split or warped too badly.

Dealing with wet wood fresh from a tree is very different from working with wood from a lumber yard, where they were able to dry the wood in stacks in a controlled process. Then you get to select only the wood that is not warped anyway.

Drying the wood can be helped in several ways. First, there are waxy coatings specifically designed to coat things like endgrain. Woodturners use them a lot. This will indeed help reduce end checks. The idea is to prevent the end grain from drying more quickly than the rest of the board, which would then cause end checks.

Another product is also useful, pentacryl. Again, it is available from wood turners supply houses. The idea is it gets into the cells of the wood and keeps them stable in size. It won't be cheap, as you need to completely soak the wood with it. I recall reading that some turners will actually dunk a bowl into a tank of the solution, letting it be completely absorbed into the wood. But it does seem to work from what I've read. (I've never used it though.)

Once it has dried (a moisture meter is a useful tool to test that) then you will need to flatten the top. Some of the tables you see of this kind are made by individuals with access to huge pieces of woodworking equipment, able to flatten very wide boards. If not, then you will use a hand plane and need a good eye for flatness. A long jointer plane is nice for that. (You can buy planes in antique stores, and they are surprisingly inexpensive.) Again, it depends on how the wood has moved after cutting to know what you will need to do.

There are also tricks with dovetailed keys that one can do to deal with any splits, preventing the splits from going any further. In fact, if done artfully, these can be very pretty, the mark of a skilled woodworker at work.

As for the legs, personally, I like the look of a set of wooden trestle table legs. The nice thing here is it actually decreases the probability of the top warping at the corners being a problem. If you have a top held up by posts at the 4 corners, then any warping will be magnified.

Next, consider what you will do at the bark edge if you were planning on leaving it natural. Removing the bark is best, especially since this is where beetles thrive. Ash borers will vacate once the tree is dead, but there are also powder post beetles to consider. Don't bring them inside your house.

Finally, consider how you will finish the top. A thick slab like this should probably have the same finish on top as the bottom, as otherwise you will again have warping issues. Water will enter the pores of the wood, causing it to swell with changes in humidity. (One humid day will not matter. But seasonal changes will cause problems.) A thick top that is sealed on one side will be an issue.

So while I don't want to completely dissuade you on this table, I'd also suggest you do some research into the idea. And don't expect that you will have something to use next week.


Is it advisable to mount an outdoor air-conditioner on a wall with brackets?

An air conditioner can be installed on pretty much any brick, concrete or block wall. As long as it is installed properly, there is no issues to it falling or structural integrity of the building. Air conditioners are mounted on brackets all over the world, especially where space is a premium. You can always place rubber pads between the brackets and the unit to help dampen any vibration. I suggest gently having the technician place 1 screw on either side of the brackets and condenser to keep it from being knocked off easily.

A properly leveled and mounted condenser will transfer the same amount of vibration into the building as one on a patio stone, as long as there are no issues with the unit. I find Majority of condenser/compressor vibration and noise is transferred into the home from the line set and not the brackets.


Structure for mounting TV above fireplace

If I were you I would frame in a 2x10 flush with the tile roughly a little longer than the TV's mounting bracket.  It would be hidden for the most part behind the TV and would be secured to the wall studs for extra strength. It can be painted too.

As a side note, it's important to use pressure treated lumber if building on top of an existing fireplace.

Our TV is mounted above the fireplace.  It uses a special hanging adapter made by the TV company that uses a steal cable so it literally hangs like a picture.  I used two 5/8 lags with washers to hang it, but could have opted for a normal TV hanging mount. Though it would have probably not have been flush.


Can I use weather stripping inside a shower?

Caulking is the standard method for shower/baths. 100% silicone mildew resistant caulking.

I do not think the weather striping is going to eliminate water from wicking up from the bottom.

Is there going to be something installed over the the drywall?


Fixing awkward gap between drywall and brick

Buy a grout bag and fill it with mortar. Squeeze the grout into the area between the metal corner and the brick.  Making sure the gap is full an level. Let it dry to a point where you can scratch the joint with a stick or tool that has the finish that you like.


Mounting a 23kg 55" tv to stud wall on full motion mount?? UK

Your #2 idea to use some sheet material to span across the whole range of studs is the way to go. However do not use MDF or particle board. Both those materials have terrible screw retention problems. Instead use good quality plywood.

Also use thicker plywood if you can get it. 18mm thickness is a little on the thin side for this application. Try to get 20mm or more. The reason is that full motion TV mounts will put incredible stress on the mounting screws and you want to maximize the ability of the plywood to grip the screw threads and provide the maximal pull-out strength.

Note that when mounting the plywood to the wall always use a pilot drill of the appropriate size for the screw threads into the stud. Sized properly the installed screw will be stronger than if you try to just brute force it into the stud without the pilot hole. The same thing for the mount screws into the plywood - use pilot holes there too.

The size of the plywood sheet may want some consideration. If you can get substantial coverage over studs and still have it largely behind the TV than it will be easy to paint to same color as the wall and be hardly noticeable. On the other hand if it has to be larger than the TV then it may actually be aesthetically better looking to extend the plywood all across the width of the working surface.


Reverse osmosis unit drain clogs occasionally

Most likely you have a plugged flow restrictor.  The flow restrictor regulates the flow of waste water away from the membrane.  If it is plugged for very long, the membrane can become fouled so you might need to replace the membrane and also clean/replace the flow restrictor to restore production.

From the Watts Premier WP-4v manual:

The procedure might be somewhat different if you have a slightly different model.

Regarding the handyman, I have no idea what he thought could be back flushed.


What is this crud in my shower valve, and how can I prevent it?

These are just educated guesses since I cannot feel/smell these white deposits:

My best guess is that your dip tube in your water heater disintegrated.  This is a very common problem especially if your water heater is 10-25 years old.  You simply need to replace dip tube and then go to all valves and faucets and clean them.
Calcium deposits.  I doubt this is it because I have seen it so many times that I think would be able to tell.  The pieces would look more like rocks.  They would have a little bit of greenish white tint.  There is no fix for this beyond filtering all incoming water.
Chlorine tablets.  Your water source puts chlorine tablets in the water.  If you are near the source the tablets may get into your water without fully dissolving. Your issue does not look like this but throwing it out there.
Rubber hoses.  Any kind of rubber hose that you have in your plumbing system.  Water heater, under sinks, for toilets...  These can break down over time and actually the outcome is a lot like yours, except most hoses are usually black.


As you have found, traditional US household telephone wire contains two pairs of conductors. This was normally used to allow two telephone lines to be brought into the house, each using one pair, with both lines available at all places to ease switching back and forth or to let phones with additional switches (or, later, circuitry) switch between those two lines.

Red/green was usually the primary line, buy it was common for some wall jacks to swap the pairs so a single-blind phone would connect to the other line.

In older buildings, where the phone wiring has been changed repeatedly, the two lines may have gotten cross-connected in ... creative ... ways. Ma Bell was somewhat notorious for sloppy, least-effort solutions.

(Alternatively. rare now, you may also occasionally see the second pair just connected to a transformer. These were used to power the lights in "Princess" phones.)


Sharkbite fitting connection is leaking around painted pipe

It looks like the paint on the pipe is causing your problems. I'd recommend shutting off the water, removing the shark bite connector, and stripping the paint for a couple inches on either side. The hardware store will have chemicals to help strip the paint so you don't have to do it all manually.

Here is a video of how to use emery cloth to clean a copper pipe. The video is a bit long for the topic but covers it well: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q4LvzHt4m3M

When you reinsert it, SharkBite recommends 15/16" insertion depth for 1/2" pipe.
 Typically you should measure that distance from the end of the pipe and mark it with a permanent marker so you have a sight line for reference when pushing the fitting on.


You seem to have posts at the face of the existing wall. If that's the case, you don't really need to attach the beams other than to hold them in place in a superficial manner.

Otherwise, joist hangers or full bearing on framing in the wall. In either case you need suitable backing structure on which to mount the hangers or bear the beams. If you don't have studs in the right locations, look into top-bearing hangers that you can fasten to the top of your wall plates.

The fact that one beam appears to connect at an outside corner may complicate things a bit. You won't have room for a standard hanger. You might be able to attach around the corner by flattening out one leg of the hanger. That also may be a good location to cut into the corner stud cluster and bear directly.


Can I run hot wires for both GFCI-protected and non-protected branches in one conduit?

I do that all the time.  For instance in our breakroom, I have black + white carrying non-protected supply, whilst purple + gray carry GFCI-protected supply. They all share the ground of the metal conduit pipe.  Purple + gray land on the GFCI-protected outlets, and black + white land on the non-protected outlets.
You can pick ANY colors you want, as long as neutrals are white or gray, and hots are not (and also not green).
There is no way to "double up" and have white+gray (or purple+black) be the same wire.  That would instantly trip the GFCI device.  Anyway, THHN wire is cheap, so don't worry about it lol.
If you don't actually want to buy purple + gray wire (would have to go to an electrical supply), then just go ahead and either mark the wires with tape, or group them with tape so their relationship is clear.  I'm a huge fan of colored tape for that, but it can fall off down the road.


Could joist bridging prevent movement and noise in my tile floor?

The floor under your tile is moving.  Likely there is enough pressure from the joists in the summer to keep things relatively steady but clearly when things dry out in the winter there is more movement and you get the audible clicking.
The problem is that tile with grout is very intolerant of any movement at all.  The grout will quickly crack and start to pop out of the joints as you have seen.
No easy fix in my opinion.  Your contractor should have ensured that the floor was solid and without any movement before tiling over it.  It seems that was not done.
Now the best you can do without pulling up the tile and fixing the root cause is a band-aid fix.  Remove the grout and re-grout with a more flexible type of grout, such as latex grout. This will just extend the time until you have to do it again but possibly by then you'll be tired of this flooring and can have it done properly.
Some bridging MAY help but there is no guarantee.  It's worth a try at this point.


In a pex household, would it reduce corosion to bond metal plumbing fixtures to my water heater's anode?

Metal water pipe isn't grounded to minimize corrosion, it's grounded to protect people in case something goes horribly wrong and the pipe gets energized.  With PEX, the pipe is an insulator, so grounding is both effectively impossible and not beneficial.

If you were to ground any water pipe or fixtures, you would tie them to the house ground, not the water heater anode.


How can I remove residue left from peel and stick tiles?

The approach is usually progressive. You try a less aggressive cleaner to see if it works, and if not, then move on to a more aggressive. At some point, you may find that the cleaner damages the surface, so test in an inconspicuous area.

I would use paper towels and a mild scrubbing pad, and I would use cleaners in the following order:

a soap based cleaner, such as Murphy's Oil Soap
strong household cleaner with grease cutter, such as Formula 409
a residue remover, such as Goo-Gone
a mild solvent, such as denatured alcohol
a stronger solvent, such as mineral spirits
a mild stripper, such as a citrus based product
a very strong solvent, such as acetone or lacquer thinner (but at this point you are almost sure to damage the surface of the flooring finish).


Is it safe to replace ethernet wall plate with a camera?

It would not violate NEC code. There is no box required for communications cable like cat 5-6. Putting a device that covers the hole even 100% covered is fine.


Roofing choice for outdoor sandbox cover

Purchase a 4'x8' sheet of southern yellow pine (SYP) plywood that's been pressure treated for ground contact applications.

Typically that's an ACQ treatment at 0.40 or 0.60 pounds per cubic foot, and SYP because that species of wood accepts and retains treatment extremely well.

"Ground contact" is the highest level of treatment, and I chose it over the lesser "above ground" treatment because it is directly exposed to the elements, and the additional cost should be negligible for just 1 sheet.

You wouldn't even have to paint it, but if you do, use a paint designed/intended for use on treated decks.

The only thing I'd be concerned about is a finding a way to prevent the sheet of plywood from flying away during storms and periods of high wind gusts.

Depending on the thickness you purchase, it will begin to warp as the main failure mode, not decay or rot. To prevent that you may want to build a frame for it by screwing treated SYP 2x4s on the bottom around the perimeter, and maybe one or two running down the middle of it. Make sure the screws are short enough so they don't stick through the other side and poke little fingers when removing the sheet to play.


Flushed water heater yesterday got a lot of sputtering right after that and today hot water is not flowing with the same pressure as before

You shouldn't have shut off the cold water feed. that helps nothing and may reduce the flushing efficiency.  But you did, so most likely you ended up draining all hot water piping in the rest of the house.  You will have to run every hot water faucet/valve individually until you've cleared all the air out of every pipe.

It wouldn't hurt to re-flush, but this time leave the cold inlet open. This might push some bubbles out of the tank itself.

BTW, there's no reason to turn off the pilot either, so long as you keep the feed open so the tank itself is always full.


How to clean a new tile floor with single component grout without causing damage to the grout

The company says that you do not need to seal it but some users say that it will stain.

So i would use a good sealer on it, wait the time specified on the instructions and then use a mild detergent like TSP and an abrasive pad. Clean with clean warm water and sponge.

(To be fair it is an "Advanced acrylic plus silicone resin formulation" so i do not know how well the sealer will penetrate it.)

Wait a week and seal again and then you should be good to clean it when needed.

It is tile and should not need harsh or extra strong chemical cleaners. Mild soapy water will be just fine.


How do I get a finish on wood that's as bright as when the polyurethane is fresh?

For critical color "warmth" and "color pop" on fine wood projects (e.g. musical instruments like guitars) drying oils (e.g. tung oil, boiled linseed oil) are often used. Sometimes they are then hand-rubbed only, or wax, lacquer, shellac, or even poly are applied on top.
I recommend you visit Woodworking Stack Exchange and search under the "Finish" tag.


20 amp circuit breaker trips after a few minutes or sometimes hours later

If you're getting a plain breaker trip, the usual reason is overcurrent.  You have too much stuff on that circuit.

From your comments, a GFCI outlet tripping is not your problem.

You can get power monitor devices that will tell you what each device draws.  The simplest is the Kill-a-Watt, which for about $20 and measures a single load. They make more sophisticated monitors too.

The breaker that's tripping has a number - either 15 or 20.  That's the maximum amps. Multiply by 120 (i.e. 1800 or 2400), that's the maximum watts, and also the maximum VA (volt-amps).

By now you probably know which devices are on this circuit, so check every one with the tester, one by one.  Check it in the same conditions that make the breaker trip.  Tally up the amps, VA, and watts.

At this point, people often find a big surprise. I can't guess what your surprise is.  Now you work the list, same as you would if you were trying to be "green" or save on your energy bill.  Lots of people with those motives will help you with this problem.

FYI 1 watt of energy, run continuously, costs you $1/year or more.  Some upgrades will pay for themselves.

If stuff is running continuously, you want your breaker capacity to be 125% of the continuous loads.


New construction home, loose foundation anchor nuts

Yes, they’re suppose to be tight. I suspect they forgot to tighten. I’d hand tighten, plus about a quarter turn.

The anchor bolts and nuts do two things: 1) keep the house from sliding (moving horizontally), and 2) keeping the house from lifting up (moving vertically.

I can tell where you live, you don’t have high winds nor do you live in a high seismic area. Where I live we use 3” square and 1/8” thick washers for those anchor bolts and they are 24” oc.  The sole plate would pull through the anchor bolts with those small washers.


How should I sand before the final coat of polyurethane?

Depends on the quality of the existing finish... if it's as flat as you want it to be, then I'd kiss it with 150 on a pole sander.

Link for illustration purposes only: there are many out there...

If you need to knock down blobs/ runs/ etc, then start with 120 on the handheld random orbit sander. Work your way up to 150/220.

Vacuum and then wipe with a compatible tack cloth to remove dust and residue.

If you're having a hard time laying down a perfect coat, make the last one a bit thin -- 10-20% added paint thinner -- and it'll flow better. Also, don't skimp on the brush quality.


2 switches controlling two lights in garage.

Yes you can, you can add those 4 LED light fixtures. Just connect parallel from your existing neutral switch wire and neutrals of the 2 light fixtures that you will be changing.


How to repair botched, colored concrete?

I'm not a concrete expert, but if you don't mind a little extra height (which is often good for aesthetic and drainage reasons,anyway) you might try:

Sandblast the crud off of the top layer of the slab. You want to leave the surface roughened too, and sandblasting accomplishes both.
Was the old slab reinforced with mesh or rebar?  If not, then maybe lay some reinforcing mesh down now.  If it was me, I'd use concrete screws to fasten it, every couple of feet.
Saturate the old concrete with water, so it doesn't "rob" the new concrete while it's curing.
Pour at least an inch of "topping" or small-aggregate concrete.
Finish to taste.

It's probably best to test everything on one slab first, to see how it goes.
See this article for another take on it.

If you do mind the extra height, sandblast and wet, but just use a thin layer of proper topping or finishing cement.  Don't be surprised if it doesn't hold-up as well, though.

Just about any hardware store carries "Topping" cement.  A very common product is QUIKRETE® Topping Mix. Note that it requires an additional "Acrylic Fortifier" if you use it only in a thin layer.

For an even thinner overlay, there are "skim coat" products like "SonoSkim Concrete Surface Finishing".  I've never seen one of these hold up in high traffic areas, but you can reapply it as needed.


Is there an alternative to a self-piercing saddle valve for a humidifier?

I had a self piercing saddle valve on my whole house humidifier when I bought the house.  It had developed mineral deposits in the piercing hole and no longer worked.  I ended up taking it off, cutting the pipe and sweating in a regular valve.  Self-piercing valves are notorious for clogging up and also for eventually leaking.  Since it is in you attic, any leak would drip down onto you ceiling and cause water damage.  I would consider replacing it with a regular valve.


If the black and white wires are properly terminated then there is no problem with having a bare grounding wire in the electrical box.

Common house wiring uses Romex type cabling that has insulated black and white wires and a bare grounding wire.


That's probably an extra-low-voltage DC adapter outputting something like 12V DC.

The word "live" is generally only used for AC 120V or 240V

For low voltage DC the terms are "positive" and "negative". Which is which is sometimes marked on the connector. Alternatively there may be a rib or line marked on one side of the wire. I think that usually marks the positive. If the connector is a typical barrel-plug, they are most often centre-positive - but you can't be sure without testing.

I'd just check with a multimeter to work out polarity. A typical multimeter set to a DC voltage range will show a positive number if the red lead is connected to the positive conductor and a negative number if the red lead is connected to the negative conductor.


Is there a way to find rebar in concrete walls?

X-ray? Sure they do this often in commercial buildings but it's probably well outside of something that is cost effective in a house.

A metal detector would locate the rebar and a tone generator could be used on a wire in the conduit in order to locate it.


Are there ways to catch and detect leaks from a clothes washer? Some kind of tray?

There are trays available in the big box home stores for this. Some come with a knock out for a drain hose if you have a place to drain excess water to. They are sized so most washing machines will fit. The last I bought, in 2017 were about $30 each.


How to get outlets straight inside boxes?

I would hazard a guess that the boxes are not aligned perfectly. This isn't uncommon, and often the metal flanges of the outlet will need to be slightly, deliberately twisted to get the face of the outlet to match the plane of the plate (which will pretty much always conform to the wall). Another factor, as mentioned by @Tyson, is the force of the wires behind the outlet pushing it out of alignment. This can particularly be a problem with 12 guage wire and bulky GFCI outlets.

In extreme cases of vertical box misalignment, you may need to not clamp the outlet flange tight against the box (either leaving it slightly floating, or shim with washers) but in this case it looks like most of the misalignment is horizontal, and can be remedied with a little twisting (but you could maybe back out that top screw a turn or so).

It's also possible to snap off the "ears" on the flanges if any of them are impeding alignment, but it's hard to tell if this is the case from the pictures. Alternately you may need to gouge out a little more plaster under the ears on one side.


Two black cords coming from light fixture.

You are correct the neutral is alway the identified conductor.


There are several common problems with high performance vacuums and circuit breakers. First a vacuum may be drawing close to the maximum amperage on a circuit but with most circuits there may be a few other items that push the total current being used over the trip limit (very common on 15 amp circuits and even happens on 20 amp circuits). The second cause that I have seen in the last few years is AFCI or arc fault breakers, they can not tell in many cases the difference between a dangerous arc that could start a fire and a motor's brushes arcing so they trip. The last case is GFCI breakers, I usually see these trip on start or stop with motor loads because of how they start using capacitors to create a phase shift that can create a small amount of leakage in the ground path causing a trip.
Of course it could be a real fault in your new vacuum but in my experiance this is rare but should not be ignored. Try a different outlet that is on a different circuit breaker, if it works there great if not see the 3 possible problems above or call Dyson since 2 circuits having trouble may point to a problem with the vacuum.


Shower periodically loses hot water, and then the bath faucet will be scalding

Well either the diverter isn't closing off the hot and cold to the mixing valve or there is an issue with the mixing valve itself.  You wouldn't be able to physically see anything wrong with either until you start taking them apart.  If you noticed your handle moving "faster" that can signal that the handle was not tightened properly or has stripped bushings.


A few years ago I replaced the "guts" of my shower's faucet. It was about 10 years old and leaking, never quite shut all the way off. It is not hard at all. Just take off the knobs/face plates and there is usually a special tool that come with the replacement cartridge that allows you to yank the old one out. I probably yanked the old cartridge out with my own pliers but I can't remember. Point is you can do this for far less than $500 and its as easy as sliding the old cartridge out and the new one in. Since yours is 20 years old your biggest problem may be finding the make/model of the specific unit so that you can get the correct replacement cartridges for it.
A "rebuild" kit sounds like it comes with garbage you probably aren't going to need or can buy separately. A replacement cartridge is generally $23 and comes with all the o-rings you need.


Voltage Drop on long runs of LED Christmas Lights?

Causing a fire hazard

That is decided by the presence of a non-faked UL Listing (with file number).  Listings from other NRTLs such as CSA or ETL are also acceptable.

Note that most mail order, everything from Alibaba and AliExpress, and almost anything from eBay or Amazon Marketplace (even if shipped with Prime) is abusing a loophole in Customs/safety regs to sneak in entirely dangerous and defective Cheese junk products. The dead giveaway is the "CE" label they stamp on almost everything, almost always faked; as CE is a voluntary mark only meaningful inside the EU. CCC is another popular fake mark.

  impacting the life of the bulb

It's LED. What will kill the bulb is the driver electronics being cheap; or weather.  Voltage drop won't affect it one way or the other.

  Causing any other problems

Personally, I think running a 500' cord as a single run is a mistake. It will be extremely unwieldy to install.  It has a huge surface area for potential damage, i.e. one hit knocks out 500' of cord instead of a 50' section.  The spools I'm seeing actually don't come with plugs; you are meant to cut the cord to shorter lengths to suit your installation, and put on as many plugs as you need.

So you should be splitting your power feed a fair bit, not least for handling purposes.


looking for hexlike-bit to unscrew bottom of ikea couch leg

5mm is one of the most used sizes for IKEA furniture, but 4mm and 6mm are common as well.  I doubt a nice sturdy foot on a couch would be using anything smaller.

If you have some bike tools around, try them.  They will be metric sized hex.


Stubborn laminate boards that won't lock, can I glue

I don't see gluing the joint being a problem as long as there is nothing trying to push the joint apart, other than a small deflection of the floor while stepping on it. The subfloor itself is supposed to be pretty flat, say no more than a 1/16" dip in the floor with a 4' straightedge. That was the requirements with my floor. Yours may be different. It should be somewhere on the packaging.

Other factors could cause it to separate, for example, and perhaps it really the only thing, is that the interlock that hold the pieces together failed either before or after assembly. If the high part of the interlock gets knocked off, there will be nothing to hold it together. If that is the case, and the missing parts aren't lodged someplace that forces the mating parts apart again, and there is not a place where the flooring drops excessively when it is stepped on, then by all means glue it and forget it.

If the joint has trash hidden under or in it, the glue will be hard pressed to hold it all together. It will fail with movement, the core material of most laminate flooring is not made to handle a lot of movement, let alone glue trying to hold it together as well.


How can I add a circuit breaker when there are no openings available in the neutral bus bar?

NEC 2008
110.14 Electrical Connections. (A) Terminals. Connection of conductors to terminal parts shall ensure a thoroughly good connection
without damaging the conductors and shall be made by means of pressure
connectors (including set-screw type), solder lugs, or splices to
flexible leads. Connection by means of wire-binding screws or studs
and nuts that have upturned lugs or the equivalent shall be permitted
for 10 AWG or smaller conductors. Terminals for more than one
conductor and terminals used to connect aluminum shall be so
identified.

So if more than one conductor can be placed under a lug, it must say so somewhere on the panel (or in the panel documentation).

408.3 Support and Arrangement of Busbars and Conductors. (D) Terminals. In switchboards and panelboards, load terminals for field
wiring, including grounded circuit conductor load terminals and
connections to the equipment grounding conductor bus for load
equipment grounding conductors, shall be so located that it is not
necessary to reach across or beyond an uninsulated ungrounded line bus
in order to make connections.

If you have a bus bar on each side of the panel like in the diagram above, you should not connect the neutral to one bus and the ground to the other.  Neutral and ground from all circuits on the left should go to the left bus bar, and Neutral and ground conductors from the right should go to the right bus bar.

408.41 Grounded Conductor Terminations. Each grounded conductor shall terminate within the panelboard in an individual terminal that
is not also used for another conductor.
Exception: Grounded conductors of circuits with parallel conductors shall be permitted to terminate in a single terminal if the terminal
is identified for connection of more than one conductor.

So if the panel allows multiple conductors under a lug, you can terminate multiple equipment ground conductors under a single lug.  However, you cannot use a single lug for multiple grounded conductors (neutrals), or a mix of equipment ground and grounded (neutral) conductors.
Here's why you can't have multiple neutrals in a single terminal.

Multiple neutral conductors in a single termination create a
significant problem when the circuit needs to be isolated. In order to
isolate  the circuit, the branch breaker is turned off and the neutral
is disconnected  by removing it from the terminal. If the terminal is
shared with another  circuit, the connection on the other (still
energized) circuit will be loosened  as well. Loosening of the second
neutral (loss of neutral) under load is a  safety hazard, and may
establish an overvoltage condition on lighting and  appliances if the
neutral is part of a 120/240 Vac multi-wire branch circuit. Source

And this is why you can't have a neutral and a ground in a single terminal.

The connection of a neutral and equipment-grounding conductor in the
same termination creates a similar issue. One of the objectives of the
particular arrangement of bonding jumpers, neutrals and equipment
grounds is to allow circuit isolation while keeping the equipment
grounding  conductor still connected to the grounding electrode (see
UL 869A -  Reference Standard for Service Equipment). When the neutral
is  disconnected, the objective is to still have the equipment ground
solidly  connected to the grounding electrode. If both the neutral and
grounded  conductor is under the same terminal, this cannot be
accomplished.
Source

You can , however, have both grounded conductors (neutrals) and equipment ground conductors connected to the same bus bar in the main service panel if the grounded conductor bar/bus (neutral bar) is bonded to the equipment ground bar/bus (it's different if you are dealing with a sub-panel, since the bar/bus will not be bonded).
Long story short
You'll have to check the panel documentation to determine if multiple conductors can terminate under a single lug. If they can. You can connect a couple equipment ground conductors to a common terminal, which should free up enough space to add the breaker.
NOTE: This only applies to bus bar terminals, most breakers are not rated to be "double tapped". So you should never have two conductors under a single breaker lug.


Black and Decker drill just started to lose power in clockwise direction. What could be worn off?

Not a switch problem, as it energizes both forward and reverse.

Not a battery/power problem because you have full power in one of the directions.

I would suspect that you busted an internal gear.


What besides smoke might trigger a hardwired smoke detector?

My hard wired smoke alarms go off for no reason once in a while. I noticed it often happens during sudden weather changes so it might be humidity. I also wonder if small insects might get into the alarms and trigger them


how much weight can I lift with 3 2x12x20 feet long beam supported by 6x6 post on each shide this is insde a pole barn

Hmmm...this is difficult. I’ve been staring at this for 20 minutes trying to figure out how to answer this...I’ll try.

Many factors: 1) Design Use, 2) Duration  of Use, 3) Species, 4) Grade, and 5) Exact span.

1) We design BUILDINGS for “working stress”. That is to say, stresses in wood have a “life expectancy “ and we design with a factor of safety. That is to say, we use the ULTIMATE LOAD and then take a factor of safety, usually by a factor of 2 or at least 1.5.

2) Duration of Load: The industry has learned (through testing) that wood can withstand up to double the DESIGN LOAD for impact loads. They define impact loads as 1) Less than 24 hours for double the load stress, 2) less than 7 days for an additional third, and less than 14 days for an additional 15%. (We use this a lot for buildings in snow zones.)

3) Species: Some species (like Douglas Fir-Larch) can support about double other species (like Southern pine.)

4) Grade: Likewise as for species.

5) Span: Is it really a 20’ span or 19’ span? Beams are designed based on NET CLEAR distance between supports.

So, based on all that, I’ll give you a range. 6,000 lbs. for Douglas Fir-Larch with a Select Structural grade and a 7 day duration loading...down to 3,200# for Southern Pine with a grade of #3 and with a 7 day duration loading.

It’s complicated. There are other factors too, but I hope this gets you started.


How can I stop this window from sliding down?

A wooden dowel sawed off to the right length to prop the window open is the traditional answer. You can keep the dowel on the sill when you're not using it.


Can hail-damaged shingles be repaired, or should they be replaced?

The ceramic granules are the protective layer of the shingle. They're not merely aesthetic. They offer UV, impact, and corrosion protection, and the shingle is vulnerable when they're removed.

The roof probably will not leak now, or in a few weeks, or a few months, but eventually the shingles will deteriorate badly enough that water gets through above the top edge of the underlying shingle, and then it can reach the deck and the attic. They need to be replaced.

While you could feasibly get some high-grade roofing adhesive and some ceramic sand and individually repair each divot, the result will not likely last as long as the original shingle would have. It'll also tend to show from the ground, either as color variation or bumps.


Would the "Nest" thermostat work outside US?

Actually, you should be able to make them work in the UK. An electrically savvy friend of mine has one up for sale on ebay along with this note:

I would suggest that only the technology savvy avid DIYer, or keen professional electrician with enough research install this item.  Unfortunately because this thermostat is not intended for direct installation to common UK Central Heating systems, I will not accept returns.  It can be installed though!  It will work just fine when correctly installed, but there are the following caveats:

The Nest thermostat works on 24V AC North American HVAC wiring - in the UK most commonly we have zero volt contacts for Thermostats.  You can easily make this work with a 24V AC power supply and a relay after carefully studying the wiring.  The Nest draws a tiny current (12mA) through the coil to trickle charge its internal battery so I would suggest a good sized relay to avoid buzzing.
The WiFi in the Nest can only handle US FCC approved channels 1-11.  In the UK we allow channels 1-13, so just make sure your wireless access point is not set to channel 12 or 13.  No big deal.
You must skip the 'enter your zip code' stage of the setup process.  The Nest will not access weather data outside of the USA.  The smart algorithms still work fine without weather data - the sensors to check the temperature inside your house is what is most important anyway.
The Nest iPhone and Android apps to control your temperature from your phone are not available outside of the US.  If you have a rooted Android phone, you can install 'Market Enabler' to install the Nest app from the US Market and then it should work just fine.  I have no idea about whether such a thing is possible for the iOS App Store.

Once those four things are paid attention to, it should work well!  Would be a fantastic, high quality, high tech, rare addition to your home and definitely a cool talking point.


Do you remove an AC Capacitor from the circuit before or after you short it out for safety?

Always short the capacitor as early into the disassembly process as you can.  You may accidentally discharge it when handling it or removing it from the unit, and these components have enough energy to kill you.

I make sure to wear jeans and leather boots with a rubber sole when discharging capacitors, and always when it's relatively dry out.  I keep my left hand behind my back and short the capacitor leads with a screwdriver that has an insulated handle.  After about ten seconds of shorting, I double-check that the voltage across the leads is zero before considering it safe.


Pea gravel for the base of the hole makes sense...for drainage. On the sides, less so. I'd opt for crushed rock which will compact better when tamping. If tamped properly, you likely don't even need concrete.


The hot goes through a switch, including a dimmer switch.  So it's always a hot feed in and a switched hot out on a simple spst switch.


Are our cracked roofing tiles dangerous?

The tiles provide protection to the water proof barriers below it. A chipped tile isn't dangerous if it's still secured to the roof with the mortar or foam adhesives they used today. If it's not secure, it could slip out while you're walking on it and you could fall. Walking on lose tiles could damage the layers below, causing leaks. The chipping or broken tiles usually are caused by people walking on them and stepping close to the tile edges. If you have a pieces, there are many types of roof tile adhesives that match roof tiles and you can reattach the pieces. If whole tiles are broken, you might be able to find replacement tiles. If not, you can get some tile mortar and rebuild the tiles. Throw on some matching paint and you're good to go.


You probably should use an English manual
https://blaubergventilatoren.de/en/product/aero-still-100#downloads

The diagram here shows how to connect from the L/N lines of the main panel to the 3 wires (L, LT, N). The second diagram is sharing a light on the same switch.
The S is a manual switch that is part of the circuit. If you do not want a manual switch, then they have a diagram further down to connect just the L and N and use the pull cord.
The way this device works is when you flip the switch to "off", it keeps running for 2 to 30 minutes after it is "off". Obviously, if all you have is L and N, then it won't have power, so the L wire is split into L and LT. Your light switch connects to LT and it tells the fan to "turn on" or "start turn off timer", while it runs off the normal L and N lines.
Beyond that, if you don't know how to split a line, then this installation is beyond your ability and you need to hire an electrician.
Note: The likelihood of your existing wiring having the 2nd live wire is next to none. In your original setup, it would only need one live from the main panel to the switch, and one live from the switch to the fan. This setup requires two live wires; one directly from main panel to the fan and one from the main to switch, then to the fan. There's no reason for anyone to wire it like that with a normal switch, so your new fan probably won't work with a switch. You may have to go with the L/N connection in Figure 13.


What could be causing dampness in a bathroom wall?

If it’s a wall in a high rise, I doubt if it’s a roof leak.

I’d guess 1) If there is a sink, toilet, etc. on the other side of the wall I’d check for  a loose pipe , or 2) I’d check for ventilation/condensation problem.

1) The leak might be from a loose drainline that only leaks when it’s really really full. That is to say, it could take years to produce enough water to create that mold. Fill up the sink/tub and see what happens.

2) If your exhaust fan duct is not insulated, it could create a lot of condensation which can accumulate and run to the floor. (However, I don’t see mold streaks, so I doubt it could be that...)


How should I complete the installation of my flooring where a gap remains against the wall?

I ended up ripping the laminate boards lengthwise using my jigsaw and fitting them in like Jim suggested. I used some cardboard to cut out the shape that the long pieces should be and then drew across the edge of the cardboard piece on the laminate boards. It worked out quite well I think and I hope there won’t be any structural support issues.

The expansion gap between the wall and laminate boards is now a lot smaller.


I doubt that it is asbestos but I would have it tested to be sure. It looks like the pouring wool that my father-in-law used in his attic back in the 1960's


Building 23' of retaining walls is not a small task. This is a giant undertaking. So be forewarned. :)

As stormy noted, 4' is typically the height you can go without having to trigger an engineering sign-off. However, some areas may also have a total height requirement as well. Personally, if I was buying a house with 6 levels of 4' retaining walls, I'd want to see an engineers signature before making an offer. That's a lot of land that's being held back.

As for how far you need to step back, the minimum is the height of the wall. So a 4' high wall would need 4' of space between it and the next 4' wall. More would be better.


Caulk/Putty around Interior Timber Frame Window Gaps

Yes, that appears to be old, dried caulk. The new caulks don't crack like they used to. Get yourself a tube of silicone caulk. It comes in clear and white and possibility other colors. Make sure you get one that's paintable. Clean out the old gap completely. Spraying in some white vinegar will help dissolve the old caulk and make it easier to remove. Wipe down with water and let dry completely. then apply new caulk, following the directions on the tube.


How can I muffle street noise increase from triple-pane windows?

Single glazing with storm windows absorbs sound reasonably well, I would not expect a huge decrease in sound level with triple glazing, but certainly not an increase. Single glazing alone is another story, it's sound absorption is terrible.

The increased sound is certainly due to the frames and adjacent construction. While there is often a correlation between thermal loss and sound transmission, sound is much trickier to manage well. It is sometimes counter intuitive. The construction joints must be carefully detailed. The general concept is to avoid any solid connection between inner and outer surfaces. Any connections should be via resilient, absorbent materials. Typically, you want to fill any voids with sound insulation, though in some cases this has been worse than a simple air gap.

Also consider exterior sound attenuators. Walls, fences, trellises, large shrubs, trees, berms all will help attenuate sound, but when you consider cost vs. benefits, such measures need to be carefully considered.


Should I add sand or more limestone crush to raise a patio with no gravel bedding?

I wouldn't call that a typical base, but if it was properly compacted, it should work. The typical base is pretty much what you described:

topsoil dug down to undisturbed soil and/or topsoil dug out then soil machine compacted
2" layer of crushed rock, machine compacted
2" another layer of crushed rock, machine compacted
repeat until you get to 4" or the desired height (if above 4")
1" sand, leveled
pavers

Note that in this system, you're not designing for permeability or drainage at all. If you are using pavers, this is hardscaping, and is meant to shed water, not absorb it. To properly shed, it needs to be properly sloped. This is true for the base layer as well.

The purpose of the base layer is to create a solid, stable surface. Ability to drain is desirable (to avoid frost heave) but that's secondary to providing a proper surface to shed water.

In your case, it sounds like you already have 4" of compatible material. I'd do the following:

remove pavers
rent a compactor and compact existing base
add additional base material and compact to get the slope you want
add sand
put pavers back
add locking sand to joints

the big catch here is that this will ultimately raise your patio next to your house several inches. If that's tolerable, you're good to go. If not, then you have to do the reverse...instead of adding material closer to the house, you need to take material and remove it further away from the house. This will reduce your total base at the outside edges, though. That may be acceptable in your case.


A/C compressor connection to the house not sealed anymore. How do I fix it?

Remove the silicone pieces and trim the grey rubber back and then use Great Stuff to fill in the voids and insulate the pipes. You've got a pretty good opening there and you don't want any critters crawling in there.


How can I repair a granite countertop where multpile chunks have broken off?

Given that you have a normal size sink you can get up to 48" pieces for less than $100 and sometimes as little as $40-50 for a smaller top.  You aren't going to be happy paying money (you buying materials is $40) and then seeing that the granite with deformations and epoxy lines.  (craigslist has many people selling leftover granite sink tops)


How to open a lock without handle?(with pic)

Now I have solved the issue.
The mechanism is in a reserved direction. To open the door, I need to push towards the latchbolt direction instead of the hinge side. Guess my lock is bit of different from others.
Thank you guys for your helpful advice.


Snaking toilet: regular maintenance or only if issue?

I'm sure there are differing opinions on this but snaking a toilet that is used "normally" should not be a periodic maintenance procedure.  In normal use nothing should be there for the snake to dislodge and it can cause scratches and other wear-and-tear on the fixtures and the plumbing.
Now by "normal" I mean that the only things that should go down the toilet are bodily wastes and normal amount of toilet paper.  Anything else runs the risk of clogging.
If you have some special considerations or there is a known issue with the plumbing, then you might want to do it without a clear clogging issue but a better approach would be to get that problem resolved.


frigidaire glasstop stove element turns off and on during use

Smooth-top (ceramic) stoves can be damaged if an element gets too hot. To prevent this, each element has a thermostat which cuts off the heat at a certain temperature. It probably won't happen if you have a properly-sized pot of water heating up, but if you put the element on high with no pot then the element will definitely start cycling off and on at some point.


Polyurethane is basically liquid plastic. It forms a hard shell, which will protect the wood underneath. Since pine is considered to be a soft wood, the poly will add some impact resistance. The poly itself may chip, but the wood underneath will be better protected than regular latex paint.

I wouldn't be too concerned about the durability difference between paint and polyurethane. They are both quite durable, and should last roughly around the same amount of time.

The thing with woodwork is that once it is painted, it will always be painted. If the wood is nice enough to be stained, then I would go this route.


Fiberous Material White Material below Plaster - Asbestos?

I am almost certain that it is  horse hair.  It was added to plaster as a binder in the old days
This site gives a history of its use and answers a ton of questions you might have about it.

For starters :

  Horsehair plaster, also known as lath and plaster, is typically found in older homes and homes of significant historical value. This practice is not commonly used today. In fact, drywall began replacing the process in the 1950s. However, you can still find a lot of homes with horsehair plaster.
  If you’ve never heard of horsehair plaster before, then you’re probably pretty confused. So, what is horsehair plaster? Why is it called horsehair plaster?
  Although there are different variations, the most common type of horsehair plaster is a mixture of lime, sand, plaster, and horsehair. Yeah, that’s right, horsehair. The horsehair that was used was from the mane and the tail of the horse. Horse hairs are long, strong, and when they’re mixed with plaster, they offer a lot of structural strength.

Still if you want to be positive it is not asbestos have it tested.

And if you need something else to worry about there is a possibility of  anthrax contamination in old horse hair plaster!

Yikes!


What are the requirements for a bathtub or steam shower in a bedroom?

For it to be a bath it requires 2 fixtures (a basin with one or more other fixtures per 2017 NEC) With just the shower I see no problem but you would need to change any receptacles within 6’ to a GFCI.


Can anyone suggest how to connect a CAT6 cable to the incoming 5 pair telephone cable?

Each of the incoming pairs in the telco's 5-pair cable is for a separate analog telephone line (or, in today's world, a single DSL channel). The pairs are identified by color: there's a solid blue wire paired with a white wire with blue stripe (also called tracer); a solid orange wire paired with a white wire with orange stripe, and so on with green, brown, and gray (slate).
The drop cable includes several pairs in case a subscriber might have wanted ability to make a voice call on one line while also using a modem or fax machine on another line. Sometimes pairs "go bad" due to cable damage, water ingress in the cable, etc so the extra pairs also provide some redundancy against that possibility.
I'd connect the blue pair of the CAT6 to whichever of the telco pairs has your primary telephone line, the orange pair to the second line, and so on. If you have only one line then connect only the blue pair from the CAT6.
As for mechanically how to carry out the connection: you need a "punch down tool." These look like 110-style terminals. A professional tool is spring-loaded, trims wires to length, and does other neat things. But you can get a simple inexpensive plastic tool as well -- these are sometimes included with CAT5/CAT6/telephone "keystone" wall plate jacks. If you're careful and attentive, you could even get the wire pushed down into the terminal using a pair of small flat-blade screwdrivers.
Here are a few examples of 110 punch down tools:

Interior wiring is a common source of trouble especially for DSL services. The cable shown in your photo is basic 4-conductor. Twisted pair CAT-rated cable tends to perform better. CAT6 is significantly over-qualified for the application (CAT5e, CAT5, even CAT3 would do) but it is commonly available and there's no appreciable difference in price vs the lesser cables.
The technician might also have recommended replacement for another reason: the home's existing phone wire might run all throughout the house, have many junctions that could be problematic, etc. A new cable that goes directly between the phone demarcation point outside to your DSL modem will eliminate those variables.
With possibility of trouble in your inside wiring eliminated, if the low speed persists the DSL provider may be more willing to troubleshoot their network to search for connection problems.
It's worth confirming whether your service is two-pair bonded or single-pair, and if bonded which one is the second pair. A bonded service with only one pair connected would get half the throughput.
The modem has a WAN port probably because it is designed to work with both xDSL and another service like fiber to the home. In the latter, some providers install a box called ONU/ONT (optical network unit/terminator) to convert from optical fiber to Ethernet. That Ethernet would connect to the WAN port of a gateway device like yours.


Are there any concerns installing kitchen cabinets set away from the wall?

The upper cabinets usually carry a lot of weight, I would use 2+4 framing to extend the existing wall studs out 2 1/2 inches then cover with 1/2 inch plywood so you have a solid structure to screw the cabinets to.


Why is my shower not draining, even though there is no physical blockage?

The next step is to snake the drain with a plumbing snake:

Or to call a plumber.


36 year old no frost refrigerator has stopped heating. Is it worth tracking problem and fixing or is replacement the most economical option?

Replace it. Modern refrigerators are so much more energy-efficient that you'll probably recoup the purchase price in a few years.


How to determine the correct capacity for a sub-panel for a shop?

It's all about Volt Amperes.
NEC 2008 gives us an easy way to do things in residential.

220.82 Dwelling Unit.
(A) Feeder and Service Load. This section applies to a dwelling unit having the total connected load served by a single 120/240-volt
or 208Y/120-volt set of 3-wire service or feeder conductors with an
ampacity of 100 or greater. It shall be permissible to calculate the
feeder and service loads in accordance with this section instead of
the method specified in Part III of this article. The calculated load
shall be the result of adding the loads from 220.82(B) and (C). Feeder
and service-entrance conductors whose calculated load is determined by
this optional calculation shall be permitted to have the neutral load
determined by 220.61.
(B) General Loads. The general calculated load shall be not less than 100 percent of the first 10 kVA plus 40 percent of the remainder
of the following loads:
(1) 33 volt-amperes/m2 or 3 volt-amperes/ft2 for general lighting and
general-use receptacles. The floor area for each floor shall be
calculated from the outside dimensions of the dwelling unit. The
calculated floor area shall not include open porches, garages, or
unused or unfinished spaces not adaptable for future use.
(2) 1500 volt-amperes for each 2-wire, 20-ampere small appliance
branch circuit and each laundry branch circuit covered in 210.11(C)(1)
and (C)(2).
(3) The nameplate rating of the following:
a. All appliances that are fastened in place, permanently connected,
or located to be on a specific circuit
b. Ranges, wall-mounted ovens, counter-mounted cooking units
c. Clothes dryers that are not connected to the laundry branch circuit
specified in item (2) d. Water heaters
(4) The nameplate ampere or kVA rating of all permanently connected
motors not included in item (3).

So we can use 220.82 (B)(2) to figure for the dust collection, freezer, and an additional circuit for receptacles.
1500VA * 3 = 4500VA / 120V = 37.5 Amperes
You'll then have to use the values from the nameplate on the table saw to figure for that (A Volt-Ampere value should be listed on the nameplate, use that number for more accurate calculations). You could also use this method for the dust collection system and freezer since they are both "permanently connected, or located to be on a specific circuit".
3360VA / 240V = 14 Amperes
Now we'll add them up.
37.5A + 14A = 51.5A
So This is what our subpanel will look like.

60A double pole breaker in the main panel.
6 AWG feeder cable for a run up to 75 ft., 4 AWG feeder cable for a run up to 150 ft.
60A main breaker in the subpanel.
20A double pole breaker for table saw.
20A single pole breaker for dust collector.
20A single pole breaker for freezer.
20A single pole breaker for convenience receptacles.

Notes:
Don't forget to balance your loads between the two legs in the subpanel.


Using sodium polyacrylate to clean flooded homes

It is safe enough to use in baby diapers, so from a people perspective, it's safe to be in contact with it.

It is added as an amendment to soil to get the soil to hold more water for plants.  So if you use it inside a house and dump it outside, you could mix it into the soil.

One of the videos mentions adding iodine to the sludge to turn it back into a liquid.  It isn't clear how much iodine you need, or what iodine would do to the soil, but it is used as a disinfectant.  So in a flood situation, iodine in small amounts would probably be helpful.

The issues you raised:

Slippery floors: You need some way to get the water out.  If you have a pump or vet vac (or buckets), you can get the water out as water.  Otherwise, getting it into more solid form probably makes the job easier.  Once it's down to just a slippery film, you would need to clean that up.  You might be able to mop it, or sprinkle on the kind of powder used to absorb and sweep up spills commercially (various materials; a common one is a mixture of sawdust and ground corn cobs).  That's a standard janitorial supply item, and may even be available at hardware stores.  You could also try just wiping it up with rags.

As long as you're aware that the floors will be slippery and take care not to slip and break your face, slippery floors would seem like a minor problem compared to the water,
Ditches: Mud will flow into ditches in a flood.  I would think the powder would reduce the amount of mud flowing into ditches.  Regardless, the powder shouldn't significantly change that problem or the remediation.
Sewers: Mud will flow into sewers in a flood.  It's possible that a lot of the powder mixed with mud could change its flow characteristics inside the sewer and perhaps be more likely to cause blockages.  However, remediation would be the same as for mud, alone.  It would take a freaking lot of the powder to significantly change the mud washing into sewers in a flood.

I think the concern with ditches and sewers is from using massive amounts of the powder outside to stabilize mud flows.  Using it inside the house and then disposing of it responsibly (e.g., mixing it into the soil or hauling it somewhere), shouldn't adversely affect ditches and sewers.