What do you call a false ceiling dropped below a main ceiling used for indirect lighting?

Having been in the business for over twenty years I would say "ceiling clouds" is a relatively new term, although I would instantly know what the customer was referring to if they used this to describe it.

Personally I would refer to it as a "ceiling raft".


You'll have to check the light fixture and the switch to see where the hot wire is.  It can be in the ceiling, with a wire running to the switch to break the circuit, or at the switch and a wire running to the light to power it.  If the hot is in the ceiling, you are in luck.  You can tie into that for power.  If the hot wire is at the switch, you'll have to run a wire down the wall and into that box.  Not impossible, but not easy either, it will be much easier if its an interior wall.  I am an amateur and have done it many times.

I would suggest cutting the power at the breaker, pull off the light fixture from the ceiling, and the switch from the wall.  Then turn the power back on and with the light turned off, carefully probe the wires with a contactless voltage meter to see where the power is coming from.


Scott,

I am not a furnace repair guy or an HVAC guy.  Personally, I'd have to recommend calling an HVAC guy if you don't already have this level of knowledge.  In your area, it may be illegal to work on your furnace, it will likely void any remaining warranty (and the heat exchangers typically have long (5/10 year warranties), the manufacturer won't help you diagnosis it or sell you parts (I know this specifically about Amana).

If you are worried about getting forced into replacing the furnace, try a small repair guy out of the classifieds instead of a big operation with fancy trucks and 'estimators'.  However,

These are things I can think of to check:

Flame sensor: most forced air natural gas furnaces have a sensor to detect that the gas being released is being burnt.
Door sensor: not a very likely culprit, but many furnaces have a service panel open detection switch and won't turn on with the cover/door off.
Time delay screw in fuse (not the circuit breaker): Not very likely because your blower is working but it is a easy thing to check and replace (again, more relevant if your blower isn't working)
Gas valve regulator: I'd have to say use a licensed plumber to replace this item.  Most furnaces have a gas valve or regulator outside the furnace.  I wouldn't expect this to work and then not work however.
Blower capacitor: Many furnaces have a capacitor attached to the blower fan.  Of course, if this was out, the blower wouldn't work.  Be careful replacing capacitors or working near them!  They can kill you (electrical shock hazard)!
Condensate pump: Only relevant to high efficiency furnaces which yours may be at 90%.  I haven't seen a furnace with a built-in condensate pumps (including my Amana) and I haven't seen a remote cut-off switch (including my Amana) in the event of condensate pump failure.  But if condensate actually backed up to the furnace, perhaps the furnace would detect the water in the condensate outflow or in some other way stop working.  New condensate pumps are available at high end hardware stores (not typically Home Depot) and are not too expensive (

I hope that helps educate you.  I'd call a licensed HVAC guy to do this troubleshooting.


GFCE-protected outlet trips, GFCI outlet doesn't

First and foremost, keep in mind that as long as that GFCI is tripping, it is doing it's job and keeping you safe.  Whatever hazard exists, if any, is mitigated as long as the GFCI trips.  If it turns out the GFCI is faulty and is tripping when it shouldn't, it's a nuisance, but not a hazard.

That said, before I'd go any further, I'd confirm that the results you're getting are consistent and repeatable.  It sounds like you just tested twice with the vacuum, once in the island recep, once in the GFCI recep.  I'd repeat the tests several times.

I'd also plug an extension cord into the GFCI, and the vacuum into the extension cord, and see what happens.

I'd also test with something other than the vacuum - a toaster or something with a significant load but not a motor.

Assuming the results are consistent, consider two possibilities:

There's a ground fault in the island receptacle wiring that's causing the GFCI to trip when you use the vacuum on the island receptacle.
The GFCI is faulty; the fault doesn't affect loads plugged in, but does affect downstream loads on its line side terminals.

Number 1. will not be surprising;  getting wires into an island can be a bit tricky.  It's not like setting a box in a hollow wall.  Someone may have abused the wiring getting it in there, or may have failed to protect it from a drawer in the island, or any number of other things.

Of the two, 2. is much easier to test;  just replace the GFCI with a brand new good quality GFCI receptacle.  Use a good brand, one of the better models - might be labelled "commercial" or "heavy duty" or "industrial" or whatever.  Buy something other than Leviton.  Test it with both the test button and a receptacle tester with a GFCI test button.

Replace the receptacle, repeat the tests, and see if the recep was the issue.  If not - the issue is unchanged - you have to conclude there is some fault in the wiring between the GFCI and the island receptacle.

If that's the case, first thing to try - longshot, but take it - replace the island receptacle with a standard receptacle, again use a high quality receptacle, and make sure all the connections are solid.  Test.

Still no good?  At that point the remaining options get quite a bit harder.

Testing the wiring with an insulation resistance tester (megger) may confirm that there's a wiring fault, but the megger may miss the fault.

Replacing the wiring may be a little work, may be a lot.

Taking the wiring out of service may be straightforward.  If you open the GFCI box and find there's a cable that feeds the island and nothing else, you can label that wire, cap it at both ends, and blank off the island receptacle.  The only problem may be when you sell the house, the next home inspector may note that the code required island receptacle is missing.


Can AWG 6 be used in the middle of a 20a AWG 12 circuit?

There's no problem connecting a bigger conductor, as long as the circuit breaker protects the smallest conductor in the circuit. In fact, that big wire will reduce voltage drop over that 100 foot run. Actually, it's 100 feet, plus the length of whatever wiring you run to the outlet and lights, plus the length of whatever extension cord(s) you plug into the outlet.

If you were to use a 12 AWG wire for a 100 foot 120V single phase run, you'd experience almost 8% voltage drop if you were actually pushing 20 amperes. Assuming you had 120 volts at the source, you'd have about 112 at the other end, which isn't a problem for a lot of loads (aside from using a little more electricity), but for some types of equipment I've seen it cause some weirdness. A 10 AWG wire would experience 5% voltage drop over the same distance, and 8 AWG wire would give you 3% voltage drop. If you ran a 240V split phase circuit down that 6 AWG wire, you'd experience about 5% voltage drop if you were pushing 40 amperes of current.

It seems that this existing wire was probably originally meant to warm up a subpanel in the other structure? Why not just install a small subpanel with a 40A two pole main breaker, then run a couple of 15A or 20A circuits out of the subpanel with a little bit of room to grow?  The panel itself would only cost about $15. The breakers would cost a little more if you're required to install GFCI and/or AFCI breakers.


Most water PEX pipe has a UV stable outer coating.

Check the brand and spec sheets. If it is UV stable, its fine unless the sheath is cut or damaged.

NOTE: gas PEX does not have this coating.


How should I go about covering an entire room in black material?

4 feet wide and 200 feet long roll of black paper for less than $25: http://www.amazon.com/Spectra-ArtKraft-Duo-Finish-PAC67304-Pacon/dp/B00006IE1U

I would use painter's masking tape (the kind that peels back off without peeling the paint off the walls and does not leave a sticky residue) and make little rolled tubes of the tape to stick the paper to walls and ceiling, so the tape does not show.


What clear coat material would last as an exterior traffic surface?

Many epoxies are designed to have other ingredients mixed in. That's basically West System's hat.  The garage floor epoxy paints all allow grit and chips to be mixed in too.

The problem is, epoxy is quickly destroyed by UV light, notably from the sun.

There are several other 2-part coatings, and surfboard people are the experts: they work with every kind.  TAP Plastics is a retailer in the west (yes, a retail store you can walk in and buy this stuff) and they have extensive literature about the ups and downs of each 2-part coating system.


Personally, I'd get the table saw a portable folding stand, you can do basically everything you need with the tablesaw and can build any of the jigs you need.

You could also do most of the work with your circ saw and router but getting the wood to the correct dimensions is going to be easier with a table saw since you don't have a planer or jointer.

Instead of mortise and tenon, look at doing half laps for the corner joints and for a support brace or two across the middle. You can probably get some nice looking metal braces to strengthen up the corners as well.  You should be able to do half laps using your circ saw or router. You can also profile all the edges with the router to making look nice.


Is my main-panel's neutral currently bonded to ground?

The neutral and ground do not appear to be bonded

Take a closer look (and attach pictures for us) at the places I've circled in red below

On the right, it appears there's a green screw. According to the drawing, this makes sense, as it serves to bond the enclosure to the ground. It's marked on the drawings as "Bonded." It likely came from the factory like this.

On the left, there appears to be a hole for a bonding screw, but no screw is present. Accordingly, the drawing marks it as "Bond when required." To me, this indicates that the panel can be used as a main service panel when a screw is threaded through the hole in the lug and makes good electrical contact with the enclosure metal. Without this screw, the neutral and ground would be separate in this panel.

It also seems likely that they are not bonded because the there are no green or bare wires going to the left (neutral) busbar, and similarly, only green or bare wires seem to go to the right (ground) busbar.

Unrelated, but I am confused by the utter lack of ground wires anywhere, except the one going off into the knockout on the right and the large, twisted bundle. Do you know what kind of wiring you have in your house? Is everything in conduit or on metallic-clad cables? I'm just curious.


How to repair this hefty wooden fence gate?

The hinge is damaged, it's bent. You should either bend it straight or get a new one. The hinge has three holes for screws your only using two of them. That's putting extra stress on the two that you are using which is probaly why they pulled out. Hard to tell from the picture how bad the wood is split. I would not try to add any wood, if anything perhaps replace the bottom horizontal piece if it's split badly. If it was my gate I would drill holes all the way through and use a nut and bolt as opposed to wood screws to re-fasten the hinge. You should be able to find decorative ones that match. Someone else may come along with a better answer.


Blocking is required wherever a fire or draft can pass from horizontal plane to a vertical plane or vice versa. In otherwords, where the wall meets the floor and the floor meets a ceiling. If fire can pass through one section and travel to another, it needs to be blocked. The 2012 IRC code says that a 16" section of fiberglass insulation will suffice as fireblocking. If you are insulating the outside walls as it is, you will be covered.


One of my glass shower doors shattered! How can I get it replaced?

Check the yellow pages for custom glass shops.  They can make or custom order the tempered glass and may have common sizes in stock.  I replaced a large door a few years ago for on the order of $100 IIRC.  Many will do free estimates, and know the market well enough to tell you if you're wasting your time.

It may also be worth looking at some older, pre-Home Depot hardware/home improvement stores in your area as well.  You'd be surprised how static some of these product lines are, and many manufactures do in fact support their products with parts.

It's probably a long shot, time vs. money and all.  But the help at the box stores typically have no clue, so I wouldn't base much on their opinion.


How can I trace wires from a ceiling box to find the power source?

I recently had to trace every wire in my house to figure out what the heck was going on with my kitchen and dining room circuits.

For the purpose I ended up buying Sperry's Wire Tracker. I think I paid about $50 for it. It has a base unit and a pen. The base unit has two alligator clips that you clip on to a wire you are tracing. It works best if you are tracing two wires that go to the same place for reasons I will detail in a second, but you can clip just one clip to one wire if necessary. Turn off the power, obviously.

Turn on the base unit, then hold down the button on the pen. The base unit uses the wires as an antenna for a radio signal which the pen receives. It will beep if the pen is close to a wire in the same circuit, though the signal attenuates strongly at each junction. It is strong enough to penetrate drywall, but I had the best luck by pointing it at various fictures and switches. You will get a lot of false positives, though, as other wires will resonate with the signal. When you have a candidate wire, touch the metal tip of the pen to the bare wnd of the wire. If it really is on the circuit, the beeping will get louder and clearer. If it's not, it will get staticky.

Remember where I said it's best if you can clip two wires? If you clip, say, the hot and neutral, and then you are at the next branch on that circuit so that you are looking at the other end of both wires, when you touch the two wires together the signal will stop entirely. This is a great positive affirmation that you have the right wires.

Edit: Here's an Amazon link. About $40.


Can I add a new plumbing vent rather than extending to an existing one?

Short answer - if it's relatively easy to run an additional vent pipe, then yes, it is permissible.

See: https://www.bhg.com/home-improvement/plumbing/drain-venting/


Apartment on the top floor gets very hot - cheap, eco friendly ways to keep the place cool?

Adding insulation to your ceiling is probably the ultimate answer, but it may be expensive and disruptive.  The master bedroom in our last house was below a flat roof, and I found the following measures made for more comfortable sleeping:

1) Since the cold air from air conditioners tends to sink, use fans to blow it back up to the ceiling.  From there it will descend and you will feel it more than if it were just all pooling on the floor.  Placing a fan near the A/C source may also help draw a greater flow of cooled air.

2) If you can open windows and the air is cool outside, use fans at the base of the window to blow air upwards.  Same principle as before.

3) Humidity is as much your enemy as the heat.  Although A/C is supposed to dehumidify, I've found that running a supplementary dehumidifier can help.  You'd be surprised how much water you can draw out of the air.  No point doing this while the windows are open, though.


What to use to backfill around the concrete pier block?

If this is going to have pedestrian traffic around it, I would fill with the dirt you excavated and let the grass grow to the edge of the concrete. This will be aesthetically best and also stabilize the moisture level under the block.

Are you going to remove the excess sealant? Did you drill and set the post base in a preformed block?


When do galvanized pipes in NYC residential water delivery pipes need to be upgraded?

Generally, law questions are off-topic, so I'll answer in a way that's broadly applicable. For the most part, building components that are no longer code-compliant are grandfathered in until work needs to be done on them. So if you have a section of galvanized pipe that's rusted or clogged, you'll have to replace that section with copper or something else that's permitted by contemporary code. Whether the inspector will allow you to get away with a spot repair using compliant materials or will consider that the repair means the whole system is no longer compliant and needs to be replaced depends heavily on the personality of the inspector, how well you treat him, and the local construction culture. In other words, the law is not really all that relevant here. Be courteous and maybe put on your politics hat, if necessary.


Can porcelain tiles be installed over ceramic tiles?

Although I would never do this myself, eHow has a step-by-step for this.
Keep in mind that doing this will add thickness to the floor, so transitions into other rooms might be tricky. According to This paper "an abrupt increase in
height" of 1/4" (6mm) "is considered to be a threshold level for consideration of trip hazard for a pedestrian".
If this is done in a bathroom, the toilet flange (and/or other fixtures) will likely have to be raised to compensate for the new floor height.

Tile Over Tile Floors
1 Inspect the tile floor and make sure there are no
loose tiles; the existing tile must be
in good shape for re-tiling.
2 Clean the tile thoroughly to remove
any wax or build-ups on the tile
floor. Scuff or sand the tile to make
the surface a little rough; this helps
the new tile bond to the old tile.
Rinse the floor after it has been
sanded to remove any dusty particles.
3 Apply a floor leveler to the whole
surface of the floor. If you have a
raised area, begin there and work your
way outwards in a circular motion. The
floor leveler will fill in previous
grout lines and make the floor level
for the tile over tile application.
Floor leveler is usually latex-based
cement.
4 Use a screed to level the floor; a
screed is usually a long and very
straight board or level that will move
the excess floor leveler to lower
levels and will help you level the
floor. Allow the floor leveler to cure
according to directions, usually 24
hours.
5 Buy thin-set mortar that has a latex
additive in it or replace the amount
of water with a latex additive. Latex
or epoxy type mortars are best for
installing tile over tile. Mix and
apply according to manufacturer's
directions.
6 Set the new tile in small enough
sections as the thin-set mortar
directions call for. After the whole
floor has been tiled, install the
grout according to instructions. Seal
the grout if directions call for it.
Tile Over Tile Walls
1 Clean the
existing tile thoroughly to remove any
wax or soap build-ups. Sand the
cleaned tiles to rough up the surface
for better adhesion. Rinse the sanded
tiles to remove excess dust from
sanding.
2 Use a latex or epoxy based thin-set
mortar to set tiles into. Apply to the
surface of the existing tiles
according to manufacturer directions,
setting the mortar base at a medium
depth.
3 Install the tile a small section at
a time, according to the thin-set
directions. Apply grout and sealer
according to directions.


Removing Price Pfister widespread bath sink outlet Model WL8-5 (mfg 2005)

That whole tee piece needs to come off, then there is a hex shaped nut under it that holds the spout assembly to the sink. It's often a 2-person job because the force needed to remove the tee piece and nut after its been on there so long can cause the spout itself to turn.
So... someone needs to hold the spout up top while another removes the plug (which looks like it has been wrenched on and drilled into) then the tee piece. Then the nut needs to be removed. It's a tough jog and a variety of tools (Channellocks, pipe wrench, hammer to tap with, plumber's sockets, etc.) are helpful. Also helpful would be to soak it with penetrating oil first. I will warn you that it would not be uncommon if destructive means were necessary...


Yes.

You can protect the downstream receptacles, by supplying them from the LOAD side of a GFCI device.

Or you could install new cable.


Lighting fixture removed, only hot wired to switch

the switch only has the hot wire connected, and the neutral wire from the light fixture is pigtailed in with the neutrals of the canned lights. Any help on why it would be wired this way is greatly appreciated.

Because this is the way normal household switches work.

Normal household switches are single-pole, single-throw switches. That is, they only break one side of the circuit, like this:

------------\ ---------------+
                             B
-----------------------------+

Where the top line represents the hot, switched line, the B is the bulb and the bottom line represents the neutral.

If you have a switch wired like this:

------------\ ---------------+
                             B
------------\ ---------------+

That's a double-pole switch and is unnecessary in residential wiring.

It's common in a double-gang box to bring the power in and send two load lines out, one to each switched device.

One would tie all the neutrals under one wire nut.
Under a second wire nut, you would tie all the grounds, then have 2 pigtails out, one to each switch (to ground the switches)
Under a third wire nut, you would tie the incoming hot and 2 pigtails, one pigtail would go to a screw on each switch. Then, the leads out to the loads would each have one hot wire going to the other screw on the appropriate switch.

It sounds like this is exactly how your switches are wired.


New Backerboard in shower doesnt line up with old cement liner

My best recommendation is to rip out the existing shower floor and the old cement liner and start anew. Then you can rebuild this small "phone booth" sized space to properly work with the new sides and where they join the base. It may be that the use of a cement liner can be completely replaced with a newer technology. After all, if parts of the existing cement liner have basically degraded back to literal sand how sure can you be that that will not continue and have to be replaced in a few more years anyway.


How long should I wait before painting or staining pressure-treated wood?

I am a painter and I build also and I personally will not warranty the work unless it's after 6 months. Pressure treated (PT) lumber takes months to shrink and re-contract on and off so the paint will crack and not adhere correctly. Also, the PT you buy at Lowe's or Home Depot gets moved around a lot so you may have a load of wood with boards that are weeks apart from drying. Personally, and unfortunately, I would wait longer than a month. I live in Vermont and we're known for tearing our decks to hell due to the non-stop rain and snow, but that's what I've heard a lot: 6 months.


Is there a way to adjust this popup drain stopper, or is it defect?

So I took it back to the store I bought it from and told them the pop up doesn't work anymore. They told me that the spring could be defect and he put in a new spring. Now it works! He told me that he's had 2 that were defect and he showed me how I could take out the spring myself.


There are a ton of ways to texture wall surfaces (too many to list here), all require some expertise acquired through trial and error and a perfect match is nearly impossible.

Originally, when a craftsman plastered your wall, he likely used a wet float technique that allows the sandy aggregate in the plaster to rise to the surface. That is not a process you can easily duplicate when patching.

Your best bet would be to experiment (on a separate practice surface) with various combinations of soupy plaster or texture paint using thick nap rollers, stippling rollers, stucco floats, etc. Or hire a reputable plasterer or decorator to redo the whole wall when your repairs are complete. Yours is a common problem with no easy solution.


Can I install a modern light fixture on this box?

I would install a new led flat panel fixture. No new box or patching needed.

Remove the threaded stud so the panel can sit flush to the ceiling.

These lights do not weigh very much and you can attach them to the ceiling instead of the box if you use an appropriate anchor or if you are lucky enough to have some wood structure in the ceiling line up with the mounting holes of the fixture.

I have installed these by myself but having an extra set of hands is very helpful.
On the ones that i have installed the cover comes off, you then hold the main body of the fixture up to the ceiling and use a pencil to mark the location of the mounting holes. If there is structure in ceiling that falls within the parameters of the fixture but is not where the mounting holes are you can drill new holes in the fixture if there is nothing restricting access and the new location does not interfere with the cover seating properly.

Your ceiling seams to have had second layer of drywall added so finding structure may be a challenge but that means that an anchor will possibly have more holding power. Depending of the size of the fixture you may want to secure it with anchors at all four corners but two may be sufficient.


Removal of drain extension pipe at the wall under bathroom sink

Cut the extension pipe off close with a hacksaw.

Then use a regular socket on the brass nut.


Need to run Romex down along support beam into new wall below beam

You need to protect the wire when it comes out of the stud bay.
What I would do would be to drill a hole straight up in the center of the 2x4 go up and over to the joist bay.
Other options would be to notch the top plate and add a nail plate or sleeve the section with conduit.
To me going up through the 2x4 plate of that wall would be the easiest and look the most professional in the long run.  Since we can’t see the beam I may suggest drilling centered and up 1-1/2” into the beam (1-1/2 past the 2x4) then out to the side this will keep the wire out of the nail zone, it looks like you have more room on the left, that or notch the 2x4 and put a nail plate over the wire.


How to bid a job repairing hidden damage in stages to avoid a "time and materials" job

My suggestion should make this a whole lot easier all around. Do the demolition on a DIY basis and clear away all the debris. The demolition phase work requires basic skills and simple tools that are not expensive.

This will open up the structure of the whole room back to framing, subfloor and ceiling joists. I would say that then you would be ready to bring in a contractor to bid on repairs and upgrades to the room and structure. Nothing should be hidden at that point.

As you take on the DIY part of the project you are sure to have some questions about that process. This site can be a big help to get answers to the questions that arise.


Can I put fresh grout over grout that was done less than 48 hours ago?

If you want to be sure, yes, you have to dig all the grout out first.  Grout bonds mostly to the tiles, less so to itself.  If you dig the grout out, try to do it at a 90 degree angle to the "proper height" grout, this will give you the best adhesion for your patch.  Also, if possible try to make those 90 degree joins where there's more tile to adhere to (avoid starting a new grout line at the corners).

However 48 hours is right on the cusp of where I might try to fill it in.  Typically grout takes a few weeks to fully cure, but is ready to seal after 2 or 3 days.  That says to me that you might still get the new grout to bond to the old.  I know there are cases where a homeowner might accidentally scratch the grout, in general, the tile mechanic doesn't always scrape up all the grout, before fixing something like that.

Keep in mind, if the new grout fails, it will be harder to dig everything out later than now.  The grout is softer now, all the materials are at hand, and there's incentive to finish the job.


What's the best fastener for a carpet that won't cause unraveling?

You want to use carpet staples, and if your carpet is heavy you want to use a lot of them.  If it is heavy and permanent then use glue also.


It's a fuzzy picture, but it appears to be the type of moth that is the adult form of a "meal worm", called a "meal moth" or "Indian mealmoth". You likely have some opened bag of wheat or corn meal somewhere that you rarely use and it had meal worm eggs in it, which are almost microscopic and nearly impossible to remove in processing. Those eggs hatched into larvae, the "worm" stage, now those larvae have grown up and into their adult moth phase, where they only live a few days as they look to mate and make more babies.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indianmeal_moth


1) can the metal studs carry the weight of a countertop and the work that happens on there? They're designed to hold up walls after, which creates different forces.

Depending on the material of the countertop and it's span, sure. Metal studs should have no problem supporting a plywood with tile countertop. If your going to go with a stone (granite, marble, etc...) you may want additional cross bracing - again, depending on the span.

  2) how do I handle the drywall to be able to withstand being exposed to outside air? It won't be in direct rain or anything, but temperatures swing from 70-120 (20-50C) with high humidity.

Don't use drywall. Find concrete board or similar. Looks like drywall (in America, it's generally 3 ft x 5ft) and cover the concrete board with your material of choice - tile, some sort of vinyl material, etc... The concrete board will give the metal studs rigidity and stand up to weather better. This is how outdoor kitchens are built in NY where it snows and it stands up just fine.


Are the risks of aluminum wiring reduced with higher-efficiency fixtures?

Focus on what is known to work.
AFCI breakers
What are you concerned about?  Fires.  Why? Because temperature changes, plastic deformation, dissimilar metals corrosion, and oxidation are causing contact surface/pressure to be lost.  How would that start a fire? Arcing.
AFCI breakers are uniquely good at catching that. They are usually easy to install.
If you have a main panel like a Pushmatic that does not support them, then install a subpanel and route your wiring to it.  Possibly one on each side of the main panel so you don't have to extend wires very much.
And when an AFCI breaker trips, treat it seriously.
Metal boxes
Of course a contact can just overheat.  But that is vanishingly unlikely to be a problem in a metal box, becuase the heat has to reach the metal box before it can reach the wood, and metal has such very good thermal conductivity that it will make the entire box warm, rather than a small part of the box hot enough to ignite anything.  And of course if the box is grounded, the arcing will cause an AFCI trip.
I would also recommend metal box covers, same reason, if they're grounded.
But in the aluminum wiring age, metal boxes were pretty common.  I would change out any plastic ones.
Between AFCI and metal boxes, I wouldn't even rush to do the Alumiconns and all that.


Why wouldn't a 130 volt BR 40 bulb work in my recessed light fixture?

I wonder if the bulb is not seating properly in the fixture, possible because of its shape. Are your new 130-volt bulbs wider or shallower than the originals? I've had that problem with some CFL bulbs, where they wouldn't screw in far enough to make electrical contact.

If this is the issue, you might be able to see slight scratching on the sides of the new bulbs where they are rubbing against the edge of the fixture.


If you want to repair the leaking pipe where it enters the foundation, I'd use hydraulic cement to seal it. As for the downspout into the cast iron pipe, there are transition pieces that should tie them together more cleanly and tightly - or you could fashion something from ABS or PVC sewer pipe/fittings and downspout fittings.  Otherwise, my thought on this one is: "If it ain't broke (or not causing any major problems), don't fix it"!

As DaveM stated, it appears that water from your downspouts is flowing into the sewer system. Although generally not allowed today, it was apparently legal when the house was built, so I'd leave it alone - unless you have flooding problems in your basement or crawlspace. Making any changes to this system would typically require you to follow current codes which could end up being very costly - or at the very least, time-consuming.


How to drill to insert rebar into a large rock (5mx5mx5m)

A rotary hammer is the standard tool for a job like this, with a carbide-tipped masonry bit. You can rent a heavy-duty model at your local rental center. They're not difficult to use. Be sure to wear ear, eye, and resipration protection.

As for your question about depth, you haven't provided nearly enough information about your plans for anyone to speculate.


Can I install an air gap faucet instead of a basic air gap with my dishwasher?

The air gap in that faucet is specifically for a RO system and is not meant to replace an air gap for a dish washer.  It does the same job, but it's for the drain on the RO system, and certainly would not be able to handle anything close to a dishwasher drain.


Which type of seal on a French door refrigerator is more reliable?

I have only had experience with the rotating strip on two different brands of French-door refrigerator. On both, the flipping mechanism works well the vast majority of the time.  However, it occasionally will get bumped to the "closed" position while open, preventing the refrigerator from actually closing correctly. It simply must be flipped back to the "open" position and reclosed. The seal works well.

On the first refrigerator, we had it for several years and never had a repair issue. On the second, after about two years, one of the plastic hinges that hold the flipper to its door has cracked. Despite this the mechanism still works but is a bit more prone to the mis-flip issue. Has not been replaced yet, and the service says the whole flipper mechanism needs to be replaced. Cannot speak to whether this is a fluke or a common problem.

Overall I like this type of mechanism, despite the problem, but have nothing to compare it to.


You've touched on the reason why electric utilities use high voltage for their distribution lines and also why you see transformers either on poles at your location or on the ground in a (usually) green box.

They do this to avoid power loss in the wires which increases with the square of the current.  Mathematically, you have:

P = I^2 * R  where P is power in Watts, I is current in Amps and R is resistance in Ohms.

Let's take two hypothetical examples that demonstrate this:

You want to transmit 1800W, which is 15A at 120V through a distance of 500' using a wire which has resistance of 1 Ohm.  The power lost to heat in the wires in this case will be 15^2 * 1 = 225W.  So you put 1800W in at the source but you only get 1575W at the load.

Now say you bump up the voltage to 480V.  Your 1800W only requires 3.75A at that voltage.  So the power lost in the wires in this case is 3.75^2 * 1 = 14W.  You save 211W of power by using the higher voltages.

Usually for consumers this doesn't play out all that often although that is one reason why high power consuming appliances like water heaters, HVAC systems, ovens and ranges almost always use 240V vs. 120V.  The current requirements are 50% by using the higher voltage.

Consider that the power utilities are transporting megaWatts of power and often at very high voltages.  The long distance towers you see may operate at 750K to 1,000,000 volts.

Now there are some other considerations.  Transformers are not lossless, so you lose some power, again due to heat, when you step-up and then step-down the voltage.  But the savings overall due to using smaller and cheaper wire and long term operating costs due to lower power losses may make it worthwhile.

As noted above, 2AWG Cu wire is quite expensive.  Usually for longer distances Al wire is a much better value although you will usually need to go up a gauge or two in order to get the same performance.

By the way, you mentioned "AMP loss" in the wiring.  That's not really a thing.  Amps are not lost, for every Amp you put in one end of the wire, you get a corresponding Amp out the other end.  You do lose Volts and that's where the power loss comes in.


How can I frame around a service panel in the corner of the room and maintain clearance?

Looking at that photo you would need 30 inches measured from the left side of the panel to the right. Your cover door would need to be hinged on the left side of the panel (if allowed) my current area allows decorative covers but a label has to tell what is behind the panel and it can not be locked. With the cover door able to open 90 degrees I would not expect it to get flagged.


Is a tank-style water heater always under pressure?

Yes, the tank is under pressure from the incoming cold water supply. After all, the incoming cold water is what is pushing hot water out of the tank and into your faucet.

However, there are usually two safety valves:

Temperature/pressure relief valve that will let the hot water or steam out, if internal pressure or temperature goes over a certain limit.
A vacuum breaker valve that will let air in if internal pressure is less than external (air) pressure: prevents the tank from collapsing if there is no cold water coming in and you're pumping hot water out.


It's generally not a safety hazard unless there's so much dust that it begins to obstruct the insertion of cord prongs. Use a strong vacuum with a non-metallic nozzle (mostly to avoid scratching the outlet covers), and press it tightly against the outlet face to create a seal.
If you find the the dust is sticky, use a soft bristle brush to agitate the dust, then vacuum.
If the outlets are more than about 20 years old they should be replaced anyway. Over time the electrical contacts wear and weaken, leading to insecure connections, sparking, and eventually failure.


wiring a double light switch in bathroom

First, check out some videos on good wire-on-screw technique.

Look carefully at the wires on the switch and be clear on their position.

Now, flip the switch over.

That should do it!


would a surge protector with an appliance that might be shorting, protect my house circuit?

I believe you have something else, and that something else is SERIOUS, that has nothing to do with your surge protector.

Yes, a surge protector can caused a short circuit if the active portion of it, in almost all cases a device called a MOV or Metal Oxide Varistor.  A MOV is designed to do nothing when the voltage across it is "normal" but to conduct electricity when the voltage is too high.  The problem is that the MOV literally sacrifices itself to protect whatever is plugged into it.  Usually there is a circuit breaker on the surge protector that is designed to trip when the MOV activates.

Over time the MOV wears out from this "abuse" and it may develop a permanent short which renders the entire surge protector useless and it should be replaced.  Note that is may also fail "silently" where the MOV no longer conducts at high voltage and the entire surge suppressor doesn't do what you expect it to do.

This does NOT appear to be what's going on here, however. Even if it were totally shorted out, which is not what you're describing, it would only trip the circuit breaker that it's plugged into, not the entire apartment.  (That is assuming your apt. has more than one circuit in it.)

It sounds like you have a more general wiring problem and you should get your landlord to hire an electrician to investigate it before more of your electronic devices get damaged or someone get injured.


Why does main breaker trips before the smaller one?

Shouldn't the smaller 20A culprit go first?

Imagine you have 15A load on each of your 20A circuits. None of those 20A breakers would trip off because 15 is less than 20.
However the total load is 6x15 = 90A. That would overload your main 63A breaker.
The reason for this discrepancy is that home-owners normally don't run all their circuits at full capacity simultaneously. This is referred to as load diversity. Your local code/regulations will specify the "diversity calculations" (or equivalent) that are used to decide the ratings of the various breakers and the wire sizes etc.

Note that there are several other complications you may need to take into account.
Thermal & Magnetic Overcurrent Protection
Breakers actually have at least two different mechanisms: Firstly a slow "thermal" one that will trip for small overloads (e.g. 40A on a 20A breaker) to prevent wires in the wall overheating. This can take many seconds or minutes to trip-off. Secondly a fast "magnetic" mechanism that quickly trips for short circuits (e.g. preventing 1000A flowing through wires rated 20A). Your main 63A  breaker might be faster than your 20A breaker.
Inrush current, Transient overloads
When you first turn on a large load, some kinds of appliance can draw a very high load for the first few milliseconds. This is sometimes called the "inrush current". It is normal and you don't want your breakers to trip for this. Therefore breakers have ratings that specify how fast they react and how tolerant they are of transient overloads. Your main breaker could have a different rating to your 20A breakers.
Ground leakage detection
Your main panel may also have GFI/RCD protection that trips in case of earth/ground current leakage. If your 20A breakers don't include this feature, they might not trip before the main GFCI/RCD trips. In the UK a normal thermal+magnetic breaker is called an MCB (Miniature Circuit Breaker), a breaker with earth-leakage detection is called an RCBO (Residual Current Breaker with Overload protection). Other countries have other names.
Arc detection
Then there is AFCI - designed to cut off a circuit if an arc-fault is detected. This is where a normal current is flowing but, for example, dirty contacts in a switch or outlet are causing sparking that is eroding the metal contacts and creating heat. The sparks and heat may eventually ignite a fire even though there is no current overload. Again your 20A breakers might not include this feature but some device elsewhere might.

Is it broken and should I replace it?

It might be but that isn't the first thing you should check.
Generally when a breaker trips, you should suspect a fault in an appliance, in an outlet/socket or in some wiring. You need to find out if any of those are the cause.
If you suspect that substantially more than 20A is flowing through a 20A breaker without it tripping, you could use a clamp meter to measure the actual current. You could instead replace the breaker as a diagnostic measure, but don't be surprised if the problem persists.

Useful references

Circuit breaker trip timing


Check this answer.
For computer work you don't want too much light, as that could cause glare on the screen. Say 200-300 lux ; less for gaming or dicking around on social media, more for actual work.
For paperwork you need proper lighting, 300-500 lux.
For electronics, if you want to read the value on a SMD resistor with 50 years old eyes, count 500-1000 lux.

Lux are lumen per square meter, so if you had a fixture that throws all the 1000 lumen of a lightbulb onto one square meter of desk space then you'd get 1000 lux. In practice a significant proportion of the light goes elsewhere, light beams aren't perfect, and the inverse square law says when the light is twice as far, its intensity is spread over 4x the surface, which means 4x less lux.
Inverse square law means you can easily get much higher levels of illumination on a small area with a desk lamp and a spot bulb (because it's close to the desk) than with a powerful ceiling panel. However, a desk lamp will make hard shadows which are annoying when doing electronic work.
Now, since you have several different needs, which require different levels of illumination, it means of you use only one light it has to be dimmable.
If it is dimmable, due to Kruithof curve (see link at beginning of post) it has to be variable CCT or else it will suck.
Also you need high CRI even if you don't know it yet ;)
Simple solution:
This is what I did at home since I couldn't find any LED panels that suited my requirements. They're all either CRI 80 which is garbage, or horrendously expensive.
Aluminium profile like this one which can take 2 LED strips, with clear diffuser that you can frost lightly with steel wool. This is a wide profile, which allows two LED strips mounted on the inside.

24V 4000K CRI95 28.8W/m LED strip ; you can also use 5000K if you want, but their 4000K is really nice.
24V variable CCT 2400K-5500K 28.8W/m LED strip
Dimmer and FUT092 remote (note: this one doesn't flicker, PWM is at 5kHz)
24V supply
A 2m long profile fits nicely above a desk, and these look quite slick. You can suspend this from your ceiling at a height of your choosing. Inside this profile you put 2x 2m LED strips at 28.8W/m each, or 115W. It's important to put the different color strips close together inside the same profile so the variable color temperature light behaves as a single light source; if you use two profiles with different CCTs you'll get colored shadows. If you make two lights, a 24V 10A power supply like Meanwell XLG/ELG-240-24 will work fine.
Use the RGB controller. On the 2400K/5500K strip, connect 2400K to output "RED", 5500K to output "BLUE", and connect the 4000K strip to output "GREEN".
Then you can use the remote to set intensity and color temperature.
Now you might say, "what? you're using the RGB outputs to control color temperature?"
All LED dimmers which control color temperature have the same problem: constant output power. If you set the color temperature to "warm" or "cold" you get 100% power on the "warm" LEDs or the "cold" LEDs. But if you set in the middle of the range, you only get 50% power on "warm" and 50% power on "cold". The sum is always 100%. So you can't turn on both LEDs at full power at the same time, which is annoying. If you use the RGB dimmer instead, you can set both LED channels to full power at the same time. This is purely a software issue, and it is much simpler to do it that way than to reprogram the proprietary dimmer firmware...
Additionally, the dual color temperature LED strips all have the same problem: to respect the Kruithof curve and get a light that feels good at all color temperatures, you need about 3x more "cold white" LEDs than "warm white" LEDs. But these strips have the same number of both. Underpowered "cold" (4000K-5000K) light feels icky, so that's why I'm recommending one color changing strip, and one single color 4000K-5000K strip to boost it.
With this setup, using the RGB wheel:
"Red" gives a 14W, very warm 2400K light which is really cozy. At this CCT it doesn't need much power. 2 meters of the strip I mentioned will be just right.
"Green" gives almost 60W of 4000K LEDs which is great for office and electronics work.
And if you slide your finger a bit more towards "Blue" then the 5000K LEDs in the dual color strip will also turn on, which gives a bit more power.
I really like the result, and the color rendition on these Auxma strips is beautiful. Unlike cheap LEDs there is no ugly greenish tint.


Thickness of Acrylic for shelves with 39" span

Acrylic is not very resistant to bending. It is about 20 times weaker than tempered glass.

0.75 acrylic would be marginal. It would have enough bow to be visible to a sharp eye. And it scratches easily, as Ecnerwal mentioned.

I would recommend 3/8" tempered glass. Definitely tempered, much stronger and safer than plain glass.

And be aware that you cannot cut or drill tempered glass, it will shatter. Get the size right the first time.


What would cause a gas fired, forced water boiler to shut down?

I gave in and had a plumber come this AM. He said it was the control module which was broken, and he replaced it.


How much can concrete form tube protrude above the ground?

What you're really asking is how far your footing can protrude from the ground. Once the concrete is set, the form tube is irrelevant. In fact, you'll probably want to cut it off at ground level so your footing doesn't look like a decomposing cardboard box.

Concrete can protrude any reasonable distance from the ground, as long as it reaches below frost depth (from grade, not from the top of the footing). That said, at some height your concrete footing becomes more of a post, and you'd probably want steel reinforcement (rebar) in case of cracking. I'd consider dropping 2 or 3 bars in each form as cheap insurance.

For example, consider the concrete light post bases you sometimes see in department store parking lots. Those are often poured using form tubes. They protrude several feet, or roughly the same height as their diameter.

In your case I'd probably limit protrusion to 1.5 times the diameter, or about 15". If you need to go higher, use a 12" tube or rebar with a smaller tube.


What moisture content of wood is desirable for building an open veranda?

Relative humidity is different than the humidity present in wood, although it does affect the humidity that is present in the wood.

Since the wood will be outside, the moisture content (MC) of the wood can be around the 15% to 20% range, although the lower the better. 20% MC is getting close to green (fresh cut lumber/timbers). If it is lower than 15%, great. I have measured the MC of wood that was under cover, exposed to the outside humidity and it measured 9% MC, this was in an old storage building with siding. Most framing lumber is considered "kiln dried" (KD) and the MC should be somewhere around 6%-10% MC. This may go even higher if the material is stored for a long time outside. Some timbers, in the US, is sold as green, or seasoned dry and will be in the higher percentages, still good to build an outside structure. If the material will be pressure treated (PT) for longevity, will be VERY wet, more than 20% unless in Europe it is KD.

If the finish product is to be painted, and it is not PT, all cuts are primed to seal against moisture intrusion. The material could be primed before it is cut and used, just prime the ends after they are cut and before it is covered by the next piece or where it joins the next piece.

If the material is PT, the wood needs to have time to loose the excess moisture and have the surface get a chance to leach out the preservative so the paint can bond to the wood, otherwise it will bubble back off. The usual time for PT to "cure" is 6 months before painting, but the ends that get covered do not need to be primed like the standard framing does or should.


dig out and finish my crawl space into a basement

Please use extreme caution if you proceed. This is not a job for an amateur. The back-fill dirt you are standing on in that crawl space is part of the engineered structural integrity of the entire house. If you pull too much of that dirt out of the wrong place, you can compromise the integrity of he foundation.  You don't want to go there.  This project can be done but you need an experienced builder in this type of construction or you need an actual building engineer to do the necessary calculations and provide drawings.


Would an old bad main meter panel wear out a newer panel and breakers in house?

Call your power company and report an outage
There's a logical hazard called "target fixation".  You are focused on panel and breakers, because you have deemed the existing panel to be "old" and have already bet several thousand dollars on a panel replacement.  You haven't identified the panel, but I seriously doubt that's it.
Your symptoms sound like a very classic problem on the supply side, and 95% of the time this is in the power company's wiring between the pole and your weatherhead, which the power company is responsible for and fixes for free. That is a carrier wire which doubles as the neutral supply, and two insulated hot wires. Those whip in the wind for years, and eventually, break.

If a hot wire breaks, power on one half of the circuit will be weak and weird (it's leaking backwards through the water heater, range, etc. The best tests are: a) if you turn on range and dryer, the power improves on the wacky circuits. b) If you shut off all 240V breakers in the panel, the wacky circuits die entirely.

If a neutral wire breaks, then both legs of power will function but with bizarre voltages, and half your circuits will get a voltage well over target 120V. In this case it is urgent you shut off all 120V loads at once - the equipment can take damage if you don't!

The power company will fix both problems for free, PDQ, on a Sunday night.  Call them and report an outage. Do not complicate your story by editorializing about how it "sorta works" or how "you're replacing your panel".  We have had reports of power company phone reps using such admissions to "blame-shift" the problem back onto the consumer to avoid rolling a truck.
... And if the truck roll fixes it, add photos of your panel and we can tell you whether a a panel replacement is a waste of money.  There's nothing wrong with "old" if it's the right "old"....


basically like this, with romex there will be an earth wire replacing the metal conduit so be sure to hook that up at each junction and to each box if metal,


Right tool to drill a 3 to 4" diameter hole approximately 3ft deep through remnants of a ground up tree stump

The amount of torque it would take to auger even a 3 inch hole in a tree root would be way beyond what you could safely do with a hand drill. You might be able to rent a gas powered 2-man well drilling auger with as small of a bit as they have for it, then wedge sticks or something in with your post before pouring epoxy resin in it, otherwise you may end up needing a gallon or more of resin.

But...
Anything you do here is only going to last until the tree root fully rots away, then you will have to replace that entire post setup. Once you drill into it, it may accelerate the process and you could be looking at a couple of years max. The "geometry" option seems better to me; just add a post before and after the stump and angle that corner to go around it.

Another option would be to forestall the fence post installation a bit and either use a chemical stump remover (potassium nitrate) now, or drill a hole in the root and burn it out when the weather is dry.


If the door is centered in a 2X4 wall, approx. 4 1/2" thick, Fastener length must be carefully watched. Sheetrock screws should be only 1" long, if the typical 1 1/4" screws are used when the screws are set below the surface, the smallest, barely undetectable screw point will stick through and scratch a door. A few can be ground at the opening, but the ones farther in will not be able to be ground at all. They really need to be replaced. Even the nails holding the trim to the face of the wall, needs to be carefully set. If the trim is 11/16" thick and not 3/4" by the time a 2" nail is set below the surface, the point can protrude as much a 1/8" beyond the pocket door framing.
A picture would be helpful, but if the scratches are across the whole width of the door, the nails or screws that are doing the scratching are near the opening. Grinding may fix the problem. If the scratches are at the edge closest to the pocket, the problem is much deeper in the pocket and the fasters in that area needs to be replaced with shorter fasteners.


The "dew point" is that combination of temperature and humidity where dew starts to form.  It does this because the lower the temperature of the air the less humidity is can hold.
In your case you measured a temperature of 17C and 70% RH, as long as your temperature stays above the dew point no liquid will condense out.  You will note that as the temperature decreases the RH will rise until it reaches 100% at the dew point.  Now the air is 100% saturated with water and any additional reduction of temperature will force water out of the air.
The question of where is difficult to predict.  It usually doesn't "rain" in a home or basement so wherever the coldest spot is, like your concrete wall or a metal post is where you will see the water first.  If the temperature continues dropping more and more water will condense out.

Does this mean if I bring in the basement an object which has lower
than 11°C, the condense will start to show up around this object?

Probably.  If the object cools the air around it to below 11C it may condense or even freeze onto the surface of the object.

Does this mean if my walls would have 11°C the water would start to
create on them?

Almost certainly!

I can not understand how we can cool the air temperature to 11°C if we
have 17°C degrees. Then the temperature would no longer be 17°C, but
11C and if it would have 11, then the dew point would have a different
value. I really don't get the concept. Thanks.

The dew point doesn't change until the amount of water in the air changes.  Part of the problem in a home is that the moisture content as well as the temperature are dynamic.  Generally you want to avoid conditions that approach the dew point so that you don't get moisture damage, mildew, mold, etc.


CCTV connection to OTA feeding multiple TV sets

You should search out "channel modulators" this should help you achieve cctv on whatever channel you have available.


Should I run 2 regular circuits or a subpanel to my septic site?

Jay, you have a couple of requirements here.  First is to supply 240VAC to your pump. Since 140 feet is a long run and the pump is rated at 15 amps, it would be wise to oversize the wire gauge to 10/3 UF or DB twisted AWG. This will avoid excessive voltage drop, thus protecting your pump. You must still have it fused at the main box at the recommended amp size breaker. Do not put a higher rated circuit breaker than the pump requires. This would allow pump to overheat before reaching the amps necessary to trip the breaker. The same theory applies to the 120VAC GFIC outlet. Oversize the conductors, but do not overfuse at the panel.

A weather tight subpanel would be a good way to go,  if you can absorb the extra cost. It will allow you to have breakers closer to your pump and outlets. This really would only be for the convenience to not having to walk a distance to reset them if you are working in the pump area. As Niall  already said, you will only save one run of 12/2 or 10/2 and one breaker location in the main with a subpanel, so there is really no financial advantage.

Be sure to pull an extra fish line and leave it in the conduit for future use or maintenance, and don't forget your caution ribbon just below ground grade when you backfill your trench.  Good Luck.


Adding remote to ceiling fan that is not on a switch but the light is

I resolved my issue.  This website was a big help: https://www.do-it-yourself-help.com/ceiling-fan-wiring-diagrams.html.  Turns out the source wire to the ceiling fan was from above at the fixture.  From above the fixture it went through the fan, then down to the switch. So I needed to run it as a switch loop. I didn't have 3-wire cable as shown in the link above, but since the white/neutral at the switch is just capped and performs no function, I used the white as the red and labeled it as hot. Everything is up and running and the remote works great. No more replacing fan parts that break every year or so from pull cord operation.


Central heating/cooling system heating unevenly

The "Registers" on the blowy holes are adjustable down to fully closed. The Grills on the sucky holes are not adjustable. You should find that the middle room's Register can be almost completely closed in order to maintain an even temperature equal to the other rooms.

Unfortunately, this adjustment or setting only applies to heating as you discovered upon switching from cooling. You'd need to either manually set the middle room's Register each heating &/or heating season or have a programmable & motorized External Register or Internal Damper installed to do it for you.


Kohler k620 tank - which Tank-To-Bowl Connector Kit?

It is always a good idea to replace the tank-to-bowl (TTB) gasket along with the three (or two in some brands) bolts. They can dry up, warp and crack over time and reuse is a bad idea as it probably won't fit exactly. It only takes a pinhole for water to leak. Unless your tank has some indents in the porcelain for the bolts, you can use generic bolts. However, the gasket could be unique to that make and model. Take the old one to the store with you for comparison. You might be able to go with a generic TTB gasket. You can find kits with bolts, washers, nuts and even a gasket, either generic or for your brand. Dome kits now have stainless steel carriage bolts, which ensures they won't rust or rust less. The whole enchilada will set you back only $13.


What terminal to use on AC for C wire / nest dual transformer install

This is your common
You connect here and bring it up to the stat with the spare wire from the boiler.

Nest is also capable of power stealing in many cases. Here's a link to check before running a new wire.

https://nest.com/ca/support/article/When-Nest-needs-a-common-C-wire#wire-you-checker


I have a few different staple guns - I don't think any have that handle lock.  One has a metal loop that hooks up to hold the hand down.  I think this is more to keep it in a smaller shape then prevent it from being used.

It wouldn't make sense to have to remove the staples just to lock the handle.

From the image I'd just pull the handle down to what it is level with the rest of the stapler (not fully engaged such that a staple is fired) and then pull away from the nose as indicated.  It is probably just a matter of playing with it until you get the handle into the correct position such that is can move away from the nose and lock.  I have pex crimpers that have a similar feature to open the jaws and it took a while to figure those out.


Only 1/8" of NM cable sheathing in electrical box?

In my state the inspector Shall cite the code to write a violation. Your electrician is correct there needs to be at least 1/4" of sheath left on the cable. This is to protect the wires from the sharp edges on the knock out type boxes and from the clamps on that style. My experience is inspectors don't like DIY home owners and pull all kinds of B.S. I recently moved to a diferent county and pulled some permits as a home owner, after the 3rd BS violation told him he needed to show me the code sections for each violation because the wiring was done by an electrician. He thought he was going to catch someone doing work on the side until I gave him my license number from memory let's just say he got very red in the face and after showing him my license he barely looked at the finish inspecton except for verifying the GFCI outlets functioned correctly.


There's two factors here: 1) Can he fireplace physically handle a wood fire and 2) Does local code allow for it.

Regarding #1, if it's a gas insert...meaning it used to be a wood fireplace and then a gas fireplace was inserted into it, it may physically be able to convert back. If you have a proper masonry chimney and firebox, then it may very well have been originally a wood fireplace. To find out for sure, you need to contact your local fireplace contractor.

Regarding #2, that might be the bigger hurdle--especially if you are in a metropolitan area. Lots of metro areas no longer allow you to 'revert' back to wood for air quality reasons. You may be able to use a high efficiency wood insert, thought. To find out for sure, you need to contact your local building department.


When my primer flakes off easily how will it help hold the paint

You need to make sure whatever you use is a "DTM" primer - direct-to-metal. The instructions on the can are usually awful, so you should check out the manufacturer's website.

If you're using the right primer and having adhesion issues, the most common cause is probably not prepping the surface properly before applying the primer. Usually you need to wash very thoroughly (if you paint dirt, the paint will only be adhered as well as the dirt is), followed by a sanding or scuffing. Again ,the manufacturer's website will give you directions.

If you need to use emery paper to remove it, I'd say you're OK. It it comes off with a wipe down with a cloth I'd say that's a problem. Emery is an abrasive designed to remove material, after all.

As an aside, if you have an iron structure you want to protect from corrosion, I'd look at products from POR-15. They make some very nice corrosion resistant coatings. I'd also have recommended a 2k epoxy primer but it sounds like you're past that point already.

EDIT: Oops, I didn't notice how old this one was. Well, I hope whatever the O Pwould up doing worked out well :)


How to finish tiling an outside edge for a shower?

You should NOT treat the top of the curb as a dry area, prepare it the same way as you prepare the shower floor (and it should be sloped toward the shower). I think you should tile the whole top and front of the curb .

If you cant find a suitable "corner round", you could finish the edge of the tile at the front of the curb, or finish the front edge corner (if you choose to tile the front side of the curb, which I recommend) with grout .

I do not recommend finishing any tile edge with caulking.


Remove, clean, recaulk. Leave a small uncaulked spot on the bottom of the taps. Also, use a wet sponge to wet your finger, then drag along your fresh caulk, rewet, drag another section, etc., this will work caulk into crevice, smooth out the finished surface, and give a professional look. Just rinse your sponge out before caulk dries in it.


Should I insulate my unfinished basement ceiling?

The insulation in the ceiling will have almost no effect on Uncle Bob's living experience, other than he may not hear as much noise from people upstairs.

What you need to do is insulate the perimeter of the basement.  This would be all framing that meets with the outside of the house that is above ground level.  By just stuffing fiberglass or roxul into the joist gaps a good foot thick you will achieve 70-80% of your basement insulation needs for maybe $200 for a large basement.

Also this needs to be done all the way around, not in just the area Bob lives.  I would certainly do his area first but even a small area not done can sabotage the effectiveness of the rest of the basement.  Also note that dirt is a pretty good insulator unless you are in an extremely cold climate so no use in doing the whole wall.

And back to ceiling insulation.  In actuality if the basement does not have zoned heating and air, the insulation will probably make the area cooler in the winter.  The warm air from the first floor will not be able to infiltrate the lower level as well.  So if sound isn't an issue then I would not even think about going there.   (Most people would insulate the ceiling in a cold climate because they do not want the cold air from basement moving to first floor - not because they want to make basement warmer)


If the pilot light keeps going out, the culprit is probably one of two things, with a third being unlikely but possible:

Pilot light line flow set too low, or pilot line dirty or obstructed - The pilot light is just a low-flow branch of the gas line that is always on, maintaining the ignition source for when the burner is turned on. The actual flow of gas to the pilot light can usually be adjusted, to compensate for normal variances in system pressure. In your case, this is probably set too low, which means if the overall system pressure drops (perhaps due to added demand from your furnace or gas stove), the pilot light gets starved. Failing that, the valve or pilot light nozzle may be dirty or clogged, obstructing flow more than you want. This is the most likely cause if you only notice this issue with one appliance, while others with pilot lights are working fine.
Gas Regulator Faulty, Failing or Improperly Adjusted - The meter outside your home has a regulator (the disc part with the cylinder protruding from one side) to "step down" the pressure in the gas main to a proper pressure for your home's appliances. The regulator, like most, basically works by opening and closing very quickly, letting higher-pressure gas into the system until the pressure "downstream" reaches the desired level, before closing off to prevent overpressure. The moving parts in a gas reg see a LOT of use over the reg's rated life, and the one on your meter may be on its last legs. This is normally something that would affect all gas appliances in your home; in addition to the WH pilot going out, you may notice other pilots snuffing, like on your furnace, or you may notice variations in flame height of your stove burners while cooking. In any case, you can call your utility company and ask for a replacement gas regulator; this is a safety feature and part of their service system beyond the gas meter, so maintenance of it is their job.
High NG demand causing system fluctuations - This is winter, mild though it may be in your area. Furnaces are running, HWHs working overtime, and more people will be using their stoves and ovens during this season than in summertime. As a result, NG usage is at its annual peak. Your area's "gas grid" may be nearing its capacity, which may be causing low pressure on the service side intermittently failing to replenish the downstream pressure of your home's gas system. Ask your neighbors if they've had issues with intermittent low gas pressure; it may not be just you. If it's affecting the entire area, there's not a whole lot you can do unless you've experienced actual monetary damage that you can prove was caused by the service failure. So, check everything else first, especially everything within your home's system (which the gas company isn't liable for).


How to protect exposed bathroom fan wiring

If you cant find a replacement cover, you will have to make one. Easiest way is to get a 2x4 or a 4x4 metal cover (preferably with a 1/2" knockout in the middle). Bend it into an "L" shape, and then attach it with short self tapping sheet metal screws.

To attach power, you will need a couple of pieces (links below, you can probably find these at your favorite hardware store):
EMT (existing conduit) to FMC (flexible metal conduit).
A short piece of FMC (hopefully your wire is long enough)
FMC to 1/2" knockout (this will connect to your cover if it has a knockout otherwise you will have to drill a 1/2" hole

Please note that these links may not be the correct size of connector, but represent the type of connector. Please also read  ThreePhaseEel's note below about grounding

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000KKVUUE/ref=crt_ewc_img_dp_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER

https://www.amazon.com/Southwire-55082121-Aluminum-Flexible-Conduit/dp/B002LT0M4W/ref=pd_bxgy_img_2/143-0060259-1607946?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B002LT0M4W&pd_rd_r=8913bc2a-d3d9-4207-bd70-24f159c7959c&pd_rd_w=3Sk1R&pd_rd_wg=lkVjo&pf_rd_p=4e3f7fc3-00c8-46a6-a4db-8457e6319578&pf_rd_r=VNNJ09YK37FJZQ9VQCFV&psc=1&refRID=VNNJ09YK37FJZQ9VQCFV

https://www.amazon.com/Halex-20421-2-Inch-Squeeze-Connector/dp/B006X15ZWS/ref=pd_lpo_60_t_0/143-0060259-1607946?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B006X15ZWS&pd_rd_r=51ae619f-ed25-4856-a7c9-c5cdaee4fd3e&pd_rd_w=qsDiY&pd_rd_wg=Z6IJb&pf_rd_p=7b36d496-f366-4631-94d3-61b87b52511b&pf_rd_r=DTK6KWNNB17N7TBWBJ4D&psc=1&refRID=DTK6KWNNB17N7TBWBJ4D


I have used a Powerful Wet/Dry Vac for loose pieces before, if that is not the case, and the Grout is a solid piece, Go to the hardware shop and buy a small bottle of Hydrochloric acid, it’s also called Muriatic acid in some places.

Dilute the acid with water (2 parts water, 1 part muriatic acid) and pour it down your drain. You may need the repeat the process a couple of times still the grout is dissolved and flushed away.
Make sure you wear eye, skin and breathing protection. Turn the bathroom fan on and open the windows. When you pour it down the drain leave the room straight away and close the door, come back in about 10 minutes and turn the water on the flush the drain.
If you are not confident doing that get someone else who has had experience with this type of acid. Hydrochloric acid is used a lot on building sites the clean and remove grout.
What I would try first is get the contractor back to your place and have him do it for you. That’s the least he can do for you. If he won’t come back I’m afraid you will have to do the job.


Possible to screw machine screw in wall?

Two ideas come to mind.
First You could check your local hardware store for a concrete type anchor that has an internal threaded, You may get lucky and find it has the thread size you need.

Secondly you could drill a hole ~ twice the diameter (or so) of the thread with a masonry drill bit into the brick. Fill the hole with epoxy and place the magnet thread in the hole. A piece of "Duct" tape could hold the magnet in place until the epoxy cures. If you ever need to remove the magnet, it should be able to unscrew from the epoxy "nut".


How can I clean tile debris from the bottom of my pool?

You have two choices:

Drain Pool and it hit with a scooper, shop vac, and broom.  If refilling it isn't a big deal this is definitely the fastest way by far.
Buy something like a pool leaf eater .  You will still have to scoop out the big stuff.  I have used a simple plastic dust pan to do this.  This process will keep you swimming but could take 10 vacuums over the course of a few weeks to get everything out.


How can I determine why my circuit is broken after replacing the switch and light fixture?

If there's no current to the fixture or switch, then the fault is upstream. The fact that it was flickering indicates a failing connection, possibly arcing somewhere, which can be a fire hazard. You should check all the junctions on this circuit from the switch back to the breaker until you locate one with a good hot, neutral, and ground connection. And then somewhere between that junction and the next failing junction is your issue. It may be a bad connection that can be repaired at the end, or it may be a bad line and you'll need to rerun that segment of the circuit.

Over the internet, we have no way to be more specific. It entirely depends on how the home is wired and where the fault is located, which we don't have enough information to determine.


How can I securely hang a hammock on trailer framing?

I am afraid a trailer is not structurally able to support a hammock even for a small person. . Not from the ceiling and not from walls.

The  solution is a hammock stand.

These are readily available online.


What is this plastic tubing and why would water be dripping from it?

It looks to be a saddle valve which is used often because it means that you can add a tap for a fridge's ice maker to an existing water line without cutting into them. However they can start to leak and they don't get a perfect seal into the pipe when turned off either.
If you find it leaking you should be able to replace it with a proper tee and valve to fix the leak.


Does air trapped in water pipe disturb the meter reading?

It is a long time ago since you posted your comment, but I will answer anyway, as I believe it can help many people. I live in Brazil, and here we have had many issues like you described, due to changes in the pressure of water supply company. It makes that much air comes into the piping, and when this trapped air comes to the home meters, it is registered as a normal water flow, and you pay for it.
Some small companies here have developed a kind of a valve that blocks this air, and keeps it trapped before your meter, while permitting the water to pass. This is reducing the water bill for almost 50% in some cases.

Please look for "bloqueador de ar". I did not find nothing like in english language.

Hope it helps, and good look!
Paulo


One drywall crew used 1X4's to back the joints instead of cutting on the framing. They used 4' pieces, after they set the drywall piece in place, they screwed the 1X4 halfway exposed on the end, then set the next sheet to the exposed end.


I only see 1 small divot but some discoloring from the rivets. I might use a tiny amount of joint compound to fill that larger spot, then use a wet sponge and pat the area with a small amount of joint compound on the sponge or wall and pat around until the texture looks good. You will need to paint to hide the line and discoloring, if you have the original color you can fade it in and not have to paint the entire wall.
No brand of joint compound but as a new to diy I would find a pre mixed tub of standard joint compound found an any hardware or big box store I think it may come in a small tub about the size of a butter tub maybe larger but if sealed it last a long time. A standard dish sponge can be used rinsed and tossed in the dishwasher and can be used for dishes nothing hazardous in standard joint compound.


Is it safe to use an old fridge after 14 years of non use?

The only safety concern I'd have would be if it was stored some place where critters could have got in and chewed up the wiring. That doesn't seem to be the case here. Plug it in and see if it works.

From a health point of view you should obviously clean it really well.


Toilet flush button is corroded and gets stuck

I happen to like pure silicone grease for articulating plumbing parts. I keep a jar of food grade silicone grease in the shop. Its usually sold in scuba gear shops, but I see it gaining popularity for other applications.

I'd clean the toilet flush button parts with something like CLR, lube with silicone grease and reassemble. Besides lubricating, the grease should help keep air and water off of the brass to slow down the corrosion. But it's probably time to start looking for some replacement parts.


How can I coat a garage apron slab to make it smoother?

There is a product called "concrete resurfacer" which I would vaguely equate to "the concrete version of asphalt driveway sealer" - don't use asphalt driveway sealer on concrete...

You first patch any actual damage, then mix up the resurfacer into a slurry of specified consistency, and squeegee it onto the dampened slab to fill in the minor imperfections. You can give it a finish from troweled smooth to brushed non-slip.

These products should not be used to fill expansion joints - those can be filled with flexible rubber caulking compounds made for the job, if filling them is required.


Look in the phone book under "Fire Extinguishers" or similar. In the NYC / Jersey area there should be hundreds of companies that service hand-held extinguishers - everything from hand-pump water cans to stuff that puts out exotic metal fires.

Note that if it is a very small domestic unit it may be cheaper to replace it.


How long should I wait between grout application and sealant?

According to the sealant data sheet, you can seal new grout after 48 hours.

For me I would play it safe if I could (do you have to be able to use this bathroom?), if the grout says no water for 7 days I would wait that long before sealing.  That is probably overly cautious but then I don't get much work done during the week anyway so for me waiting until the next weekend is not a big deal.

After sealing I would wait 24 hours before getting it wet.


What's this stud type called and how should I drill for hanging a heavy item?

This is  pretty standard double-stud, used in this case to provide some extra support for the framing around your fireplace.

You should install like with a regular stud, and do not try to guide your screw between the two studs. The two studs are probably just nailed together in a few spots, and a screw driven in between them could spread them apart. You want each screw to go directly into one of the studs, ideally toward the center of one. You can also attach to the central (single) stud for your TV mount.

As @bib and @mikes point out, because your mount moves you will want to make sure it's firmly mounted at multiple points. If it can attach across two or three of these studs (not just the two that are doubled up, but spanning the gaps) great. If not, see if your builder can add some blocking to support the mount.


How to get fresh air to flat without letting noise in

Firstly, it may be good to at least consult an HVAC specialist regarding any code implications to vents and air return modification.

From a logistics standpoint, there are several manufacturers of 'silent' centripetal inline  fans made to mate to 4" round ducting on either side.

Pair this fan with a electronically controlled damper and some exterior access with a baffle/squirrel cage and some 4" round ducting and you should be able to force fresh air into a room, or series of rooms. One might be careful to allow access to fresh air, but without allowing in all of the other elements; Hence my suggestion for an electric controlled baffle that would prevent extremely cold or hot air from passively infiltrating when the system was not on.

Since you aren't necessarily concerned with heating or cooling the room, total CFM requirements may be a lower priority than distance/degrees of separation from inside to outside. If the inline fan was remotely located near the source of the fresh air, and the run was long enough, I would be confident that you could source the air, without all the noise pollution.

TL:DR

Exterior Weather Resistance Inlet -> Electric controlled damper -> Inline Fan -> necessary Ducting -> Interior Vent


Central Air Unit not Sending Enough Power to Thermostat

This is the most common problem with the Nest.  You need to hook up a "C" wire.

Here's the thing. Originally, thermostats were passive devices - nothing more than switches.   And so, controls were wired in a "switch loop" similar to how switches in houses were wired before current electrical code.  Power went in a functional loop: from the 24V transformer, to the thermostat, to the actuator, and back to the transformer.

The R wire is sorta like a "hot" wire, the other wires at the thermostat are sorta like "switched hot". And just like a switch loop doesn't have or need a neutral, neither does the thermostat (the neutral would be the C wire).

Old style dimmers and motion sensors powered themsleves by leaking a bit of power through the incandescent bulb.  That fails with efficient CFLs or LEDs.  Likewise, the Nest tries to power itself without a C wire by leaking a bit of power through the big clunky old relay that switches on the furnace, fan or A/C.  That fails with efficient relays or electronic controls.

In this situation, you need to run a C wire, as the Nest manual discusses.  Tester101 is proposing that you may have spare wires in your thermostat cable.

There are other ways to solve the problem, but they're starting to resemble electrical engineering.


I over-fertilized my lawn. Now what do I do?

If it's not totally dead you can try to water it back to health. You should at the very least try this first. Grass is normally pretty hardy and it might survive if you clear the soil of fertilizer.

If it's dead and gone soak the area a few times to try and wash out most of the fertilizer and put some patch seed down. This is the stuff that has the fibers with it to make sure it's not just barren seed on the ground. You could also just put seed down.

If it's the entire yard, you might look into getting it hydro seeded.

In any event nothing is going to continue to grow if it's overly saturated with fertilizer. Fix this first, and then the grass. Water run-off is bad for the rivers and nearby ponds but nothing much can be done about it at this point.


Why might my water (hot and cold) be discolored/brown

I would install a house water filter before it branches off to any faucets or the water heater.  This should capture any dirt/sand/rust in the water.


Why are some outlets still out after replacing an outlet?

What I'd do is first systematically correct all the receptacles in one circuit, then examine the switches for the light fixtures and insure that the switches are in the hot line and not in the neutral. This means that each 1-pole switch should have an always hot on one contact and switched hot on the other. Note that a white colored wire can be and often is used as a hot or switched hot in a loop for a light.

I hope this won't happen but it could be that if you correct a receptacle and turn the breaker on, it will trip because incorrect wiring in either a remaining receptacle or in a loop for a light makes a short. If that happens you will have to correct all the remaining wiring before proceeding, instead of going receptacle by receptacle, switch by switch, light by light.

Finally, after all the receptacles and switches have been corrected move up to the light fixtures and insure that the switched hot goes to the proper wire lead or contact. In a screw base fixture this means the central contact is switched hot and the neutral. In others generally the switched hot lead will be black. Note that a white wire could be used for a switched hot so you could be connecting a white wire to a black wire (something you would usually not do with receptacles).


Getting at water heater anode AO Smith ECT40-200

The anode rod was under the hot water pipe.  Getting the water heater nipple off was tough (to say the least) I bought some black pipe and a 90.  I drilled a hole through the nipple and the 90 and put a thick (forgot what size) bolt through and used the pipe as a really long breaker bar.  (You're going to need new bits for this. I wasted an absurd amount of time drilling with old ass bits making literally no progress before I bought some new bits which cut through like butter) With that setup I got it about an eighth of a turn which was enough to switch to a pipe wrench and channel locks.  I put the new anode rod where the t&p valve was and put the t&p valve on the front.


Damaged Microwave? Plate with metal ring placed inside for 5 seconds

Nope, everything's fine. I don't know of & haven't heard of any damage nor hazard unless & until there is physical damage to the microwave itself.


Can heat pumps condensation line be run in wall?

Yes you can run them in the wall. Most mini splits installed today have the drains and the high and low pressure refrigerant lines run on the exterior of the home so this is very normal and has been industry standard for decades to run the condensate out an exterior wall or into a drain.
I would want to make sure the run was straight and you have the ability to clean it incase green gunkies grow in the line and creates plugs.


Pressure testing radiator system with expansion tank

Check the rating on the expansion tank, but I'm almost certain it would be able to withstand 15-20 PSI.  But I'd still remove it and here's why.  If you have a slow leak, the expansion tank would act as a buffer (add volume), to your system.  This would make any loss of pressure much slower, perhaps to the point where you didn't realize you have a leak.

Is there a reason you don't want to use water to test?   Water doesn't compress and any leaks would result in rapid pressure drop.   You'd have to control for temperature variations but over a few days, you'd know if you had a leak.


How do I install a receptacle box in lath/plaster wall?

I think you would be  better off using a remodeling box (with the flanges that rotate out to grip the wall) and ignore the stud altogether.  With a remodeling box, you just have to cut a hole big enough for the box, whereas if you use a regular box, you have to cut away more so you have room to nail it into the stud.

The main difficulties you'll face are that you don't know exactly where the lath is placed within the wall, and that the plaster will be brittle with age.

Start by using something sharp to gouge out a small hole in the center of the spot for your new receptacle; I use the pointed tip of a drywall saw.  Once you've exposed the lath, expand the hole up and down until you find the edges of that piece of lath.  The other lath are going to be approximately the same size and spaced up to maybe 1/4" apart.  Adjust your planned spot up or down a little so that at least one edge of the box lines up with a gap in the lath -- it's easier to cut through the plaster on its own.

Expand the hole until it's big enough for the box, then use a jigsaw to cut away the lath.  Vibration from the saw can cause more damage to the wall so take it very slow and easy. (Another reason to avoid the stud: if the lath ends at that stud, you'll only have about 1/2" of it to hold the plaster in place.)


Refinish stucco on exterior with new texture?

Two long for a comment but I think it answers your questions. From how thin that top coat is and colored below that was probably an over coat, my guess that the old surface was not well prepped or the stucco was put on too dry.

The first thing you will need is to get all the loose stuff off. I usually use a industrial pressure washer and target any bubbles or flaking areas; at 5000 psi you can rip off an over-coat that is in ok shape and it will etch even a very solid wall. I like this kind of power because it provides a great base for the new coat to stick to. One advantage to a complete over-coat is you can use tint in the mix for color that lasts decades; for light colors it is best to use white Portland cement instead of gray. Now for a smooth surface once the base is prepped I think it's easier as a heavy texture can be tough to maintain a consistent texture unless sprayed. The next step after prepping the base would be to build up the areas that have failed. After that it is time to fill and build a slightly thicker coating, when I have done this I use a little extra cement and water in the mix (with the sand and lime if hand mixing) the extra water helps the mix to flow and makes it easy to trowel with a larger blade leaving a smoother surface that locks into the base.  The one trick when resurfacing I found helpful is with a loaded trowel work it in moving up then smooth it out pulling down this helps to work it into the wall. Note repair those cracks prior to resurfacing or they will show up again. Where I have cracks like this I will strip several inches on either side and really clean it out even surface grinding on occasion and adding mud and mesh this ends up adding strength and it may not crack as bad or at all if the wall is stable. If there is pest damage or rot that should be repaired first or the new surface will crack as the wall moves.


Why does my fluorescent lighting only work when it's not hot outside?

When florescent tubes get close to the end of their service life, they can behave unpredictably.  Double check for any darkening of the glass near the pins.  If you have a spare bulb that you know is good, try swapping the lamp and see if there is any improved performance.


3 wire 240 double pole breaker to. 110v single pole breaker

You don't need to change the breaker.  Just move the white wire from the breaker to the neutral bar.   The other half of the breaker will be unused.

And change the receptacles to NEMA L5-30 or TT30.

You cannot put normal, common NEMA 5-15 and 5-20 receptacles on a 30A breaker.  In fact, 30A 120V circuits are almost useless, except for small campers using the TT30.

If you need to put common receptacles on this circuit, you must change the breaker to 20A.  (or 15A if there is only one socket and it's 15A).

If you need 30A capacity but need to feed devices with standard 15/20A plugs, then you need to fit a 120V-only subpanel, with all the rules for that (e.g. if it's in an outbuilding you'll need a main shutoff and grounding rods). It can then serve 2 or more 15 or 20A circuits. In fact, that is how my house is wired.


Why does cold water always mix in bathtub mixing valve, even on hottest setting?

Background:

All new valves sold in the USA must meet a Federal anti-scald standard meant to prevent sudden surges of hot water. A typical inexpensive 'cycling' anti-scald cartridge works on pressure only, and does not sense temperature.  For example you're showering and the sprinklers go off, the cold water pressure drops, and the valve will reduce the hot flow to match.  The higher pressure source is throttled prior to the mixing valve.

In addition the valves have an adjustable limit on the mixing valve: usually adjustable with a plastic ring easily accessible after installation.

A great background video on this topic, showing a Delta brand single handle faucet, is at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mI2NZMadb1A .  The video shows the 'cycling' pressure balance mechanism in action.

A cutaway of a typical valve is at http://www.popularmechanics.com/home/improvement/electrical-plumbing/whats-behind-your-shower-walls (Popular Mechanics).

These 'cycling' valves have lots of small parts: periodic cleaning may be required.

For your situation:

Try and rule out a strong pressure difference between hot and cold as it arrives at this fixture.
If you can install a two handle faucet, that obviously would solve
the problem.
If your base rough in unit is a 'Grohe Flex', you can insert
different single handle models in place and try them (without re-plumbing).

A more expensive 'thermostatic' valve would not have the problem you describe: it would keep the hot line fully open until a certain temperature is reached, regardless of the cold line pressure.  Grohe sells such models.


How should I run power to a powered bidet toilet seat?

You're not allowed to use extension cords as a substitute for the fixed wiring of a structure.   NEC 400.6 -> 400.10 in the new Code.
What you want is surface conduit, something like Legrand Wiremold, starting at an existing recep or switch, and running along the wall or baseboard to where you need the power.   There, you install a receptacle box compatible with that conduit system.
The receptacle or switch where you started the conduit, gets moved outward onto the starter box's surface.  From there, you run THHN individual wires (black white green), to the new receptacle.  It's a lot like building LEGO but with some hacksawing on the conduit segments.  If you don't want to do the arcy sparky stuff, you can install the physical conduit (that's most of the work) then call a pro to connect the wires.
Further, you'll really, really want this extension circuit to be GFCI-protected, and the best way to do that is tap an existing GFCI receptacle.