Can I use a stairwell ceiling fan to save energy?

Much like DA01 said, a ceiling fan generally acts to circulate air within a particular space of the home. This evens out the temperature of the air in the room by preventing "stratification" (where the air settles into noticeable "layers" so it's warmer at head height than at the floor), and also provides an illusion that the air is cooler by constantly blowing away the "bubble" of insulating warm air that your warm-blooded body will maintain around itself (also speeding evaporation of sweat).

Unlike your forced-air ventilation, the ability of a ceiling fan, or any non-ducted fan, to "push" a column of air into a different area is limited by the buffering effect that the standing air will have on the air pushed by the fan. A forced-air system uses ducts, within which air ideally only moves in one direction; supply vents carry conditioned (heated/cooled) air out to the home, while one or more returns draw in the air that will be heated/cooled. This generally forces the air to move in a large loop through your home from supply ducts to returns through the rooms.

A ceiling fan or other "open-air" ventilation doesn't have these ducts; the air that is pushed forward by the fan must be replaced by air moving within the same space as the pushed air. This conflicting movement of air creates eddies that reduce the effect of the fan as you move further from it. Within an enclosed space like a room, this effect isn't so bad, but trying to move air through a hallway, or up or down a staircase, will not be effective.

Your dual-zone HVAC is your best tool for achieving the proper temperature on each floor of your home. You'll just have to remember that warm air rises, cool air descends, so in warm weather your upstairs A/C will have to work harder, because it will be losing some of the cool air it produces to the downstairs area and will receive the warm air from both floors. The opposite is true in winter; the downstairs heater will effectively be heating both floors, and will have to work harder to heat the downstairs as all the cool air will work its way down.

Instead of trying to mix the air between floors, you might actually have better luck trying to prevent the two zones from exchanging air, using a door, curtain or other insulating break at the top of the upstairs staircase. By doing this, you reduce the amount of cool air that the upstairs will lose and the amount of warm air it will gain. This will allow the upstairs zone to cool its own space without also having to cool the downstairs, and vice-versa for heating in winter. Of course, this will only work if you have separate air returns for upstairs and down; if you only have one air return, then air will be actively pulled toward that return, wherever it is, and regardless of what's in the way.


Should door jamb be lifted off subfloor or touching?

You can leave it a little off if you want = about 1/4"... You will be cutting the bottoms when install flooring.  If you do carpet a 1/4" is about perfect.


How to even dents and scrape marks over entire wall

I usually lightly sand and use standard Sheetrock mud, after it is dry I sand again if I think this looks good I then use a can of spray texture and blend some new texture with the old, after the spray texture is dry and a fresh coat of paint when we’ll done you really won’t see the repair. Never tape off an area when using spray texture that makes lines that stand out after painting (one of the best DIY repairs I have seen was spoiled because they taped off the area instead of blending.


How much power can a house with 3 x 25amps electricity supply?

230 Volts AC RMS x 3 x 25 Amps = 17.25 kilowatts power.

Your appliances are rated in Watts, add them up and see if the total is more than 17,250.

In most cases the rating is a peak rating (e.g. at start-up after a rural power-cut), the average will be less.


What is this white textured paint-looking stuff on my concrete floor?

Your first picture looks like the concrete floor just had carpet installed on it. The white paint around the edges is where the builders sprayed primer on the walls and baseboard and spilled a few globs in the process. The dirt just looks like construction /drywall dirt along with dirt that fell in the cracks over the years.
Your second picture looks like that part of the floor was definitely covered with vinyl or sheet linoleum and was glued down with a mastic adhesive.


Cost to replace "wall of glass" with sliding doors?

I called a well-regarded Chicago-area window company and gave them the specifics.  From our discussion, it sounds like replacing the hardware might be a possibility depending upon the manufacturer.

Otherwise, the wall from the top two pictures should be about $8,000 to replace just the lower sliding glass doors and the stationary panels to the left and right.  I didn't get the impression that replacing the upper panels would be terribly costly in comparison if we decided to do those.  It sounds like the fact that there's a structural beam in place (above the doors) helps keep cost down.


Calculating flow volume for whole house fan

unless the fan is shrouded or ducted and sealed to your ceiling it will be quite hard to tell how much air is moved because much of the air could just recirculate around the fan.

the simplest way is to

Area = pi * radius^2

B = fan pitch in inches / 12

C = fan rpm

1 rpm = air moved so many feet at 0% slippage or 100% efficiency

max theoretical cubic feet per min = A * B * C

i don't know what % slippage would occur, that would be based on how well the fan blade is designed.  Then account for however much regurgitation of air around the fan due to no shroud gap and not sealed to ceiling.  this also doesn't account for any varying blade pitch (i.e. more pitch near center less near tip).

the easiest and cheapest way might be to build a 1-2 foot duct on output side of fan and grab some cheap wind speed gauge to measure the output air speed from fan.  then math would be Area * speed; with wind speed converted to feet per sec.


Suggestions for finishing off bathtub ledge

Take a piece of corner tile and seal it to the top of your ledge so it overhangs your removable cement board. See picture below.

They come in all sorts of lengths. Tile your removable cement board and fit it  up under the corner overhang.  Think about taking a 2" strip of cement board and screwing it to the framing in contact with the floor and wall so you could caulk it to the floor and wall to prevent water from getting in there. Your removable piece would fit on top of the strip and under the corner piece.


You typically don't use domed head screws to mount the receptacle to the box (they stick out too far).  You can get away with it if the back of the wallplate has a big indentation for those screw heads, but they usually don't.

Those screw heads hold the wallplate away from the surface of the receptacle, so there is a gap between the wallplate and the center of the receptacle.  If you then tighten the wallplate attachment screw to pull the center tight, the wallplate will warp like that.

Options:

Replace the receptacle mounting screws with flathead screws.
Snug the attachment screw just enough to hold the wallplate on.  Don't tighten it until the wallplate bottoms out against the receptacle.

Additional thoughts:

The wallplates were fine for a long time and suddenly bent.

The wallplates in the picture look like plastic. If they were strong enough not to immediately crack, they could have distorted locally, like a dimple under the attachment screw and some stretching around the receptacle mounting screws, and been under stress.  The plastic could gradually degrade and weaken over time through stretching, micro-cracks, etc., adjusting itself for the distortion, until the highest stress area across the middle suddenly failed.

It is the same product installed in the same way at the same time, so failure would be expected to happen in all of them at roughly the same time.  There could have been some other factor  (sunlight, heat, temperature change, whatever), that pushed them all past the final failure point at the same time. That's all speculation, but materials do behave that way, so sudden bending long after installation wouldn't require magic.

Also, consider that the wall plates wouldn't bend that way unless there was some kind of force acting on them in the same way as what I've described here.
The bend looks much greater than the screw head height.

That's partially an optical illusion.  In the picture, the distance between the wall and the wallplate at the middle and at the ends looks like it's in the ballpark of the screw head height, but the difference would be expected to be greater.

In the first picture, look at one of the receptacles, say the top one, and compare where the wallplate comes on the top edge vs. the bottom edge. The difference is only millimeters. That's in the screw head thickness range.

The bend looks exaggerated because you're seeing the effect of the bend on the entire length of the wallplate, which is longer than the screw distances, and possibly even additional warping because of the distortion of the wallplate.

Whether or not the problem is the screws is easy to determine, though. The fixes are trivial. Do either one. If the problem repeats, you will know it was something else.


Bootleg ground is always super bad

Bootlegging ground (faking a ground by attaching it to neutral) is always bad.

The reason is that neutral is not safe!

In a perfect world, neutral is near zero volts.  But lots of perfectly ordinary failures can happen where neutral is hot and dangerous. These ordinary failures should not make your system dangerous.  And that's why we insulate neutral.

A simple neutral break will cause the neutral wire (downline of the break) to become energized. If you  have tied ground to it, now the chassis of the machine is also energized.

So no bootlegging ground!  Try to avoid it even on dryers and ranges where it is legal due to a special exception.  When  you have a 3-prong dryer or range, that is ungrounded (the funny wire is neutral not ground). Use the "GFCI Breaker" or "Retrofit ground" option below.

What can you do instead?

First, you can roll them back to a 2-prong receptacle. I gather that option is not acceptable to you. However, you must, unless you go with another option.

Second option and an easy bolt-up: install GFCI protection, one way or the other:

Fit a GFCI receptacle at this location. Label it "No Equipment Ground".
Place a GFCI device somewhere else, so that this receptacle is fed off that GFCI's "Load" terminals.  Fit a plain 3-prong receptacle, and label it "GFCI Protected / No Equipment Ground".

You're welcome to use a GFCI breaker as the GFCI device. (this is the only viable way to do a 240V load).

Third, an option is to retrofit a ground wire. They greatly liberalized the rules for doing this in 2014.  Run any large enough bare or green copper wire from this location to any other junction box that has a large enough ground wire (or metal conduit) back to the panel, or to the house's Grounding Electrode System wires (i.e. the thick bare copper wires between water pipe and panel), or to the panel itself obviously.  You cannot attach to a water pipe.


Are bumps on the inside of a cast iron drain pipe a sign of a problem?

Yes, that is signs of corrosion and in another 100-150 years, that will result in leaks in that pipe...


Should whole house humidifier leak cold air in the summer?

Leaking duct work regularly costs users 10% when leaking into non conditioned air spaces but if the leak is totally enclosed within the living space envelope it really is not helping much.
Every air leak in an attic for example is saving $ if the leak is in the air handler closet it may save some but is not as effective as the attic.
As for humidifiers I like them to be easy access ultrasonic ones to verify they are working and Venturi ones to verify they have not plugged or are dribbling so for that reason I do not go crazy when sealing these up as I check mine several times a year.


How do I get better looking results with Sandstone texture paint?

All kinds of designers paint require the experience and skill of a professional artist or painter to achieve a faux finish. One unfamiliar with such finishes could waste gallons of paint, tons of nerves and never even get close to the way it's supposed to look.

Adding color to the primer would be helpful, but learning real faux painting techniques; even more so.


I stripped the thermocouple adapter on the gas valve on my hot water heater so I cannot connect the thermocouple.

Safest and easiest repair is to purchase a replacement at the hardware store. It isn't worth trying to repair a part that primarily functions as a safety device.   You may need to replace the valve if your existing thermocouple isn't removable or if the warranty is expired, bite the bullet and replace with a new unit.


Is there a simple way to lower 0.5 square meters of concrete by 2mm?

The easiest way is with an angle grinder and a concrete surfacing disk, these use carbide blocks or diamond impregnated ones that grind the surface.
2mm is not a huge amount but enough at 1/2 meter square that doing it by hand will take a really long time, using a surfacing disk is cleaner and easier than masonry grinding disks
Amazon has one similar to what I have used on small jobs (4-1/2” angle grinder)
Search for grinding wheels for concrete and masonry the more segments the disk has the better the finish and longer it will last.
After surfacing the surface is usually much smoother and looks different I have used a strong muriatic acid wash to “rough up” the surface.


Rain Bird ESP-6 Sprinkler controller buttons no longer functioning—do I need a new controller?

If the membrane buttons are on the circuit board, a new one might fix
it.
On the other hand it's an electronic device that's 19 years old.
Assuming you can even get a replacement part, it will probably cost a
significant percentage of just replacing the whole thing with a new
unit (and typically the new unit will have a warranty period, while a
replacement board may not.) Go shopping for both ways and make up
your mind.
A third possibility would be to see if you see anything that you
might try when you search for "membrane keyboard repair" - I have not
sifted through the results, and I'm not going to link to any, but
there did seem to be a variety of options such as replacing the
unreliable things with reliable types of switches, and various
attempts at opening them up and cleaning them. I'd prefer replacement
(not a fan of the things, longevity-wise), which should be as easy as
wiring 4 switches into the place where the membrane switches connect.


Building a 60x36 Barn/Tractor Garage/Shop - Question about Structural Integrity

If you want actual structural advice, hire an engineer licensed to practice in your location.

For plans that are already engineered for your location, particularly for "agricultural buildings" you might want to consult with your local agricultural extension website, where you might find several hundred choices.

The plans are commonly free (you already paid for them with your taxes) or very inexpensive. They are very likely to include details you have not thought of, and not to waste extra material where it does little or no good (a common failing of amateur building designers, often combined with failing to apply 10 cents worth of material where it will do five dollars worth of good.)

(note - I play amateur building designer, but I also read Dad's civil engineering books for fun, and have a pretty good idea when I should call in the pros, as well as a better than average knowledge of when & where to apply that 10 cents worth of material due to my reading.)


How can I repair the damaged coating in my bathtub?

There are DIY coating kits available and there are companies that will come and do it. I'd personally go with the professional job unless cost is a limiting factor. You'll likely get a tougher and better looking result.


Is it ok to have a 15 amp 240v outlet in close proximity to a sink?

GFCI
If the receptacle was installed many years ago, it might not have GFCI. If so, I highly recommend GFCI protection, even if not strictly required by code. (Code requires GFCI for any receptacles near a sink, but doesn't typically force retrofit if no changes are being made.) GFCI will provide the necessary protection. A weatherproof cover would help, but would not give you the life-safety protection of GFCI.
However, GFCI for 240V is not so easy. Very likely you would have to put GFCI at the panel. As an alternative, you may want to turn this into a generally more useful 120V receptacle (with GFCI). If the existing wiring includes neutral then you could actually turn this into an MWBC and get two separate 120V circuits out of it. If it doesn't have neutral then you can turn it into one 120V circuit.
Plumbing inside the wall and toilet on the other side of the wall should not be an issue at all. The concern about water and electricity isn't that all of a sudden your pipes will leak and get your wires wet. That can happen, but it is relatively rare - and usually part of a much bigger problem. The concern, and the reason for GFCI, is that people using water will touch something electrical and end up (through a combination of events - not every touch of everything electrical when wet is actually a problem) with some electricity flowing through people instead of wires. GFCI detects that very quickly and saves lives.


Can I connect a heater and air conditioner to the same circuit even if the combined loads would be over the breaker rating?

Yes, if you never draw more than the max output of your generator then having an A/C and frost protection heater wired to the same panel would be ok. However, that doesn’t allow for human error. I don’t know what code is for generators, or if they include internal fuses or circuit breakers. (If your crawl space heater is thermostatically controlled then you would have to really TRY in order to run it and the AC at the same time. You’d have to run the heat to warm up the house in sub-freezing temps, and then turn on the AC and lower it’s setting until it switched on, which would be a really dumb thing to do.)
It would be safer if you were to wire a master breaker into the generator that would trip if you attempt to overload it. That way if you screw up and turn on the crawl space heater and the A/C at the same time, you’d just trip the breaker. (Or if you just run the AC, a toaster, and a hair dryer at the same time. It’s not hard to exceed a modest current feed like 50A with resistive loads and/or big motors)
What is the max power of the generator? Max current used by the AC? By the heater?


What glue would you use to glue wood (polyurethane finished) to pvc shower walls for shelving?

Wood and water are a poor mix. There is a really good reason that you do not see show enclosures made out of wood. It is also the reason that you will not find much in the way of wood shelves for use in showers.
When wood is used in showers and steam rooms for benches and shelves the wood of choice is teak.
If you are bound and determined to put maple wood shelves in your shower then make sure that when you apply the polyurethane that you get it applied to all sides, edges, corners, tops and bottoms before you mount the unit.
You will have to experiment but there is a good likelihood that a silicone type adhesive may adhere well to the smooth polyurethane surface and to the smooth shower wall. Before committing it would be well to make a small test wood piece that you finish with polyurethane and then see of the chosen adhesive will stick to it. There are also a family of construction adhesives that will adhere to some types of plastics and finished wood surfaces but again try before committing.


What can I do to further reduce solar heat gain with existing Venetian blinds?

One option that can actually help a lot and can diy done is special window film that is made just for that purpose.  I have no affiliation with this company or its products but it was a first hit in a google search  just to give you an idea of what I am referring to.  It looks like they have some good information on their site. https://www.allwindowfilms.com/products/solar-window-film/reflective-window-film

My experience has been with a 3M product but I can't locate the product name quickly. 3M though charges a premium for their name.  Is it any better or not I can't really say. These types of films do work though. Not as well as a replacement window with low-e color reflective glass multiple panes and inert gas filling.  But that gets a lot more involved.

UPDATE:  I found 3M's info.  https://www.3m.com/3M/en_US/home-window-solutions-us/solutions/  This is the product I would probably suggest, https://www.3m.com/3M/en_US/company-us/all-3m-products/?N=5002385+8709316+8710037+8710654+8710938+8711017+8721691+3292716663&rt=rud


How do I upgrade a conventional switch to a dimmer?

Breaking it down:

The white wires all joined together are the "neutrals". In an AC circuit, the neutral is the "undriven" side of a circuit, which does not have a voltage potential when the circuit is disconnected. You can kind of think of it as the "return path" for current, but as the current changes directions 60 times a second in the U.S., it's not quite so simple.
The bare copper wires, or sometimes green-jacketed, are your "grounds". They are a safety mechanism that provides an easier path to ground for "rogue" electrical current (frayed wires, miswiring, etc etc) than through you, or the flammable structural members of your home.
Black and red wires are "Hot" wires; these wires carry the electrical potential needed to "drive" the electrical circuit. These wires are the ones that will kill you when the power is on, even if the circuit is disconnected. Black is the "Primary" hot wire; red is usually an "auxilliary hot" to separately control two parts of a system, such as the light and fan of a ceiling fan fixture.

To properly answer your question, we need to know if you have two actual wall switches, and are just replacing one, or if you have a single module in the wall box that has two switches on it. If it's the former, then what you have (which sounds like a simple single-pole dimmer switch) is fine to replace one of the switches. If you have a combination unit that takes all these wires and has both fan and light controls, you can still make it work but you will lose control of the fan at the wall.

It sounds like you have a single unit with two switches on it, taking up a single wallbox space, and you are replacing it with a single-pole. Here are the basic steps for this:

Turn off power to this circuit, and any other circuits that may happen to be in this wallbox, at the main breaker panel.
Remove the wallplate but don't unscrew the switch itself yet.
Test all the wires with a non-contact voltage tester (an absolutely essential safety tool for electrical work) to make sure all the wires are "cold". Repeat step 1 if the tester lights up.
Unscrew and pull out the switch. Identify where each wire is currently connected, then disconnect all wires. It will be extremely helpful if the switch is marked to identify which wire is which, but it's not critical.
Identify the "panel hot". In your situation, this should be either the wire connected to a terminal marked as "in" or "from breaker", or if the switch isn't that well-labelled, it is the black wire that does not come from the same outer insulation conduit as the red wire.

If this is difficult to determine, separate all wires and ensure that none of them are touching anything metal, then turn the power to the circuit back on at the panel. Do not touch ANY of the wires with any part of your body and don't allow ANYONE else, especially children, to come anywhere close to the exposed wires. CAREFULLY use your non-contact voltage tester to look for the black wire that carries current. Remember or mark that wire, and cut the power at the panel again.

Look at your new switch. There should be a terminal towards the top of the switch body, a terminal to the bottom of the switch body, and a terminal that screws into the metal chassis of the switch (which is usually anodized green, and is your ground). Connect the "panel hot" to the "bottom" switch body terminal. It USUALLY won't hurt anything if you connect it to the other switch body terminal, but DO NOT, under any circumstances, connect the black wire to the chassis terminal (the "ground"); that will at least cause you not to be able to turn the breaker back on, and at worst will "energize" the switch chassis including the metal wallplate screws; if you touch them you'll get shocked.
Now we need to figure out which of the other two wires goes to the light, and which goes to the fan. If the old switch gave you any clues, great. If not, trial-and-error won't hurt anything.

Pick one of these wires and screw it to the SAME terminal that you screwed the panel hot wire to. The switch will just be a convenient place to join these two wires for now; you won't have to make sure the switch is on or anything. Go turn the panel back on, and see what turns on, either the fan or the light. Turn the power back off at the panel.
If the fan turned on, you guessed right. Leave those two wires connected to that terminal on the switch, and connect the last wire to the other switch body terminal.
If the light turned on, disconnect the wire you chose from the switch terminal (leave the panel hot connected). Instead, connect the wire you didn't pick (which should go to the fan) to that terminal, and connect the wire you picked to the other switch body terminal.

If this switch is in a "wet" area (within 6 feet of a sink, tub, shower, or anywhere you could possibly imagine standing water such as your basement), you are required by code to connect a ground wire to the switch. If this is the case, or you just want to be ABSOLUTELY sure, then head to your hardware store and pick up two additional items; a length of 14AWG bare copper wire (you can also just buy a length of 2-conductor Romex wire and remove the copper element from it), and some wire nuts of the appropriate size for 14AWG wire. They make special "grounding" wire nuts that are green with a hole in the top, that create a "Y-junction" joining several wires to one wire that then connects to a device chassis. These can be useful but shouldn't be necessary. Screw the wire into the grounding terminal, cut to some appropriate length, and twist the other end around the grounding "bundle". Use the wire nut to ensure it stays put.
Wrap the entire switch body with a layer or two of electrical tape, being sure to cover all the electrical terminals on the switch. This is an extra level of insurance to prevent short-circuiting when you put everything back together.
After making sure there are no bare wires showing other than the ground wires, and being careful not to pinch any wires, put the switch back in the wallbox.
Turn the power back on at the panel. The fan should start up; it is now effectively "hard-wired" into the circuit, and you will need to use the pull-string to control it. The switch should control the light; on/off/dim should all work normally. Make sure that the dimmer does not also affect the fan; if it does, turn the panel off, go back to step 7 and swap the wire you identified as going to the fan to the other terminal; it somehow ended up on the opposite side of the switch as the panel hot and is being controlled by the switch.
Once everything's working to your satisfaction, put the wallplate back on and enjoy.


G to C trick not working for cooling. Honeywell RTH9080WF

Your original wiring looked like this, where the top circles represent the thermostat terminals and the bottom the furnace.

To properly pull off the "G wire trick", you have to locate the transformer in the furnace. You then have to determine which leg feeds R, and which does not.  The leg that does not feed R, will be where you connect your new C wire.

Once you have all that hooked up, then you'll install a jumper between the Y and G terminals in the furnace.

Once all that is completed, you'll have to make sure the motor is spinning at the correct speed when in cooling mode. If it's not, you'll end up with inefficient cooling. Which can cause poor performance, and/or damage to the system.


Blowing in insulation would make matters worse along a concrete basement wall.  First, cellulose absorbs moisture and there is probably no moisture barrier in the wall.  Second, I would never put cellulose in a basement wall because of moisture issues.  Third, insulating will prevent enough heat getting inside the wall to keep the pipes warm.

Short of moving the pipes away from the exterior wall (and I mean nowhere near the wall) and reconstructing the wall without the pipes within it, there is not much you can do except remove the drywall and keep the room above freezing temperature.

I lived in a house like this for a while.  Everything was finished except the wall that had the pipes on it.  It got cold in the winter and really wasn't much use.  And on really cold days I couldn't even close it off or for sure the pipes would freeze.  If you could not finish the wall with the pipes and insulate the pipes themselves, that might at least keep the pipes from freezing.

They sell electrical heating cable to keep pipes from freezing, but if someone sells that idea to you make sure your fire insurance is paid up.  Not what you wanted to hear, but that's the best I have.


Do I need to fill in the gap between my wall and the laminate flooring?

To start with, that kind of a gap is common everywhere.

Regarding pests, your dwelling is more permeable than you'd ever think, so closing off this one thing isn't going to solve any problems. If they exist, pests need to be dealt with at their source (ie, nests), not at their symptoms (ie, them walking across your floor).

If you still want to seal, you need something flexible enough to not impair the expansion/contraction of your floor and not interfere with your baseboard. Nothing comes to mind.

Capsule summary: don't worry about this.


How do I clean up a brick chimney running through the inside of my house?

For an initial DIY approach I would plastic off the surrounding area and scrub the heck out of it using a warm water and TSP solution in a bucket, with a stiff scrub brush; you will be surprised how much better it will look.


What to do first in a house with poor thermal performance and high energy bills

Stop the leaks

You're paying good money to heat/cool the air, keep it in your house. Check the exterior for obvious leaks such as air blowing through a door gap or windows that don't close all the way. The less you absolutely need to use that area the easier the solution is. If it is a hole in the wall fill it with some insulation batting, if the window is cockeyed and not sealing cover the gap then seal the window with shrink film for a temporary solution while you're getting the rest of the house under control.

After you have the air contained make sure its going to the right places. Check as much duct work as you're able to get to for leaks, small gaps in joints or corners can leak air that will short cut the system and waste your money. Aluminum tape is recommended here but just simple duct tape would work as well. Might not hurt to throw out the money to have a furnace guy come out to check over the system and make sure the controls are all working properly and you're getting as much air through the vents as you're supposed to.

Insulate

Go through and prioritize what you can afford now and what you need to put off and how much they will effect your heat loss. Your priority #1 better be that sliding glass door, They have a very large surface area with less insulation than walls (in most cases, tbd in yours) and with one pane of a double pane broken its lost a tremendous amount of its insulating factor.

If you do not want to insulate the bottom of your roof in the attic then by all means wrap insulation around all the duct work which is in the attic, I would recommend both. Adding additional cellulose insulation to the attic would not hurt but will likely have less of a benefit as most of the other things listed.

Replacement windows will help but there are uglier things which can be done in the mean time which are much cheaper that could help get the costs and comfort under control such as storm windows.


Brass fitting seized on a nickel-coated pipe

Both times I have encountered hose faucets with devices seemingly fused onto the hose threads were when somebody (not me) assembled them without a hose washer.
Whether or not this is the case in your situation, you will definitely need to back up your attempts to disconnect the fitting with a substantial wrench on the faucet itself, to prevent twisting the supply pipe or breaking something. Depending on how important this is to you, you may even need to purchase a special wrench due to the recessed configuration of your faucet; maybe something like this:

In the end, you may need to use destructive methods to remove it, which hopefully would preserve the hose faucet but sacrifice the controller. You could use a small extending hacksaw to cut the attachment nut...


Bathroom ceiling absorbs moisture and falls apart

I think at this point it's safe to say the drywall above the shower is shot, and now you're going to need to replace it all.  While you're in there, install a proper exhaust fan.  Yes, I know that's exactly what you don't want, and that you're trying to cheap this out, but that hasn't worked, and you've given "cheap" the full tryout.  All "cheap" has done is nickel and dimed you to death.

Working with this bathroom as-it-is would require very different bathroom discipline.  It might work for other people.  It doesn't work for you (or other family members). You just don't have the patience.  Get the exhaust fan.


I would recommend hiring an engineer. There may be issues you aren't seeing, and structural integrity is not something you want to pinch pennies on.


Could this cracked drywall be caused by a shifting house?

I've encountered the same problem in my own home, although the drywall and ceiling seam cracks only showed up one at a time over the course of a few years, and most of them were present when I moved in. If more than one or two seams popped or nail heads started showing within a month, that seems like it could be a rather large settlement in your foundation, or some other structural problem.

I'd highly recommend getting a foundation specialist to your house sooner rather than later to see if your foundation might need piers to support part of it, or if some other repair is required. In my house, a total of 14 piers were needed along the side and front of the house to support one side and prevent further shifting. There were a few hairline cracks (even small cracks can be a bad sign depending on where and how many they are) in the foundation walls, and the corner of the house had settled over 2" before the problem was found.

The problem could also be in load-bearing structures (walls, I-beams in the basement, etc.), especially if it seems the problems are mostly towards the middle of the house.

The sooner you get this fixed (don't just let it go, even if you have to pay a few thousand), the better. You'll avoid more drywall repair later, and prevent further settlement and degradation of your house's structural integrity.


Where can I find replacement covers for these vents from 1969?

That is called a Base Board diffuser.  They come with & without damper. They come in standard lengths, 24" being one of them.  They come in white and brown.  They are available in various styles, heights and depths.  Amazon lists a number of them.  Also Supply House.com stocks several.  The HVAC wholesale houses will stock some and if you can find a salesman who is helpful I'm sure he could round one up for you.  If you go to a wholesale house consider taking the old one with you.  Happy Hunting. P.


How to select (size) a pump for a swimming pool?

You will need to know how many gallons of water are in your pool. The general rule of thumb is your pool pump should be able to clean your pool in 8 hours so you'll divide your total gallons of water by 8 to get gallons filtered per hour. Then divide that number by 60 to get gallons filtered per minute because that's the figure most pool pumps are rated by. Now look for a pump motor that is close to the gallons per minute you figured out for your pool. You have to take into account what your pool filter is rated for too as it has to be very close to the pump output. You'll also need to know the pipe size of your existing pump so you get one similar to it. You also want to get a pump with the same electrical specs.

Often people are inclined to get the same size pump as the one they are replacing. That's not a good idea because efficiencies of motors and pumps have greatly improved over the years.

I've covered a lot and here's a web site I've used often for doing this. Good luck.

http://www.inyopools.com/HowToPage/how_to_size_a_pool_pump_for_your_in_ground_pool_.aspx?CommentPage=1


Are there LED lamps available for ovens?

As already stated, LEDs can't take the heat. In addition:

Many ovens use halogen bulbs instead of "ordinary" incandescent bulbs. These are a type of incandescent light with two key differences: size and heat.
The size is irrelevant for most ordinary lamps but great for an oven, where you want something small so that it won't take away from valuable interior cooking space.
The heat is a huge problem for ordinary lamps, to the extent that there were major recalls/design changes many years ago because of halogen lamps setting curtains and other stuff on fire, resulting in metal grid covers for those lamps and eventually they disappeared altogether in favor of much more efficient CFL and then LED lamps. But heat is perfectly fine in an oven, where you have a high-but-regulated temperature. If you have the light on while cooking and it puts a few extra watts of heat into the oven, the element will turn off a few seconds earlier and the net energy usage is a big fat 0.

In general with any lighting system, the efficiency is a balance between light and heat. All the energy not turned into light becomes heat. In an oven that is perfectly fine and useful instead of wasteful. For an extreme example of this, where the light bulb is the heating element, see the Easy Bake Oven. In fact, for a conventional electric oven, heat generated from a light bulb is essentially the same efficiency as heat generated from heating elements. Where energy usage is a bit different is with microwave ovens and gas ovens.


Should I level my basement floor if installing a subfloor?

How old is the house?

This sounds like an old house given a 1-2" deep puddle and painted concrete.

You should consider that :
 - the slab is probably too thin
 - inadequate drain rock under the slab
 - no insulation under slab
 - lack of radon / vapor barrier under slab
 - the exterior perimeter drain may be clogged
 - sewer service pipes in slab may be close to lifespan
 - consider a backup sump pump on a hydrocheck HC6000v2 (non mechanical float)

How long do you plan to keep the house and how large is your budget and timeline?  Doing this properly can be expensive.

Quick and Dirty would be to level it to within 1/2" over 4'.   Certainly fill any depressions.  Choose a waterproof vinyl plank flooring.  I like the 6mm duraclic from lowes.  You probably want to put down a 6mm poly vapor barrier under the flooring and tape seams to keep out radon.  Having gone down the high end path before quick and dirty appeals more and more to me.

If the house is newish and all the above items to consider are good and you have budget you could take the pro approach and flood the entire floor with self level.  This will yield the best result but is the most expensive option.  Have to worry about door heights, etc.


French doors are falling apart and don't close

Without seeing the doors, this is speculation, but I'd probably want to pin the joints with approximately 12" long 5/8" dowels epoxied in. This assumes that the door is solid wood, not particle core with a veneer skin.

remove doors
square and clamp
drill 2 holes per joint from the stiles with long auger bit. The adventure here is that if you stray off center, you've destroyed your door.
epoxy in dowels, trim, apply protective finish.

This isn't rocket science, but it's high risk. You might consider new doors, as they aren't terribly expensive.


There is a major consideration that must be investigated before this can be answered in the positive. That is - Is the fan / light combo unit designed to support separate wiring feeds for the light and the fan. Many units do support this whilst some may not.

If your unit does support this then there is a second consideration. If the vanity light and the fan combo are on the same power feed from the main breaker panel then it is possible to entertain the idea that that the two lights can be interconnected to the same switches.

Since the two switches are in the same electrical box this is a good start if the prior considerations are met. The last criteria to look at is if there are already separate power feeds from the switch box to the fan/light combo in the ceiling. If not then it will be necessary to either replace the existing 2_wire+ground cable between the boxes with a 3_wire+ground cable OR to add an additional 2_wire+ground cable.

Once all that is in place the process of merging the two lights to one switch becomes one of pig tailing the correct sets of wires together in the switch box so the single switch can operate both of the lights.


I use the extreme cases when preparing footings, the map I looked at showed 36” would be an extreme condition and as such constant frost heave at that depth will not be a problem. As far as your piling I have done quite a few homes and never shaped the bottom other than flat, if using a auger to drill your holes they do end up with a bit of a point.
I usually put a couple shovels full of rock in the hole so the concrete doesn’t mix with dirt as it is pumped/ dumped in the tube, code in my area requires the piling to be 6” above grade, small diameter piling (less than 18”) also require tubes to prevent dirt contamination and a 5000 psi mix .


Green/Yellow is always ground

Green/Yellow so happens to be the international color code for protective earthing (grounding) wires; as thus, the NEC designates it as reserved for that purpose, too, even more so than plain green wire is!

So, connect the green/yellow wire to the ground wire, and cap the red wire off.  Also, make sure there's a wall-switch-controlled light somewhere in the room!


If the top item is near your kitchen sink then this probably an air gap for your dish washer drain system. The purpose of the air gap is to prevent back flow siphoning from the sink drain back into the dish washer.

The lower item is definitely a timer unit. The dark colored thing under the timer dial appears to be a switch that has positions of OFF, FULL ON and TIMER MODE. You should be able to use this switch to determine just what things this timer turns on and off. A common use for a timer like this is to turn certain lights in your dwelling on and off according to a fixed schedule. If it connects to internal lights then the purpose it to make it look like people are home whilst you are away on vacation. It may also be tied into exterior lights such as an entry way light, lights on the front of your garage and/or sidewalk lights. In this case the purpose would be to automatically turn these lights on of a few hours in the early evening and then turn them off automatically when you have gone to bed.

More commonly it is used to control heating or other high-load electricity/gas-powered systems as many tariffs offer cheaper power overnight.


How can I find out where a door is sticking?

I would try rubbing some chalk on the doorframe, and then closing the door. Once you open the door again, the chalk will have rubbed off onto the door where it is sticking, and then you can use a block plane and shave some wood off of those areas.


Size of outlet on my hot water valve for dishwasher supply

I was going to guess the valve outlet is 1/2" compression (if threads are very close together). If not, the it's 1/2" pipe thread. There are no supply lines for 1/2" compression at hardware stores these days. If it is pipe thread, then you're in luck and a different hose can be substituted. Otherwise you'll have to replace the valve. I recommend getting a 1/4 turn valve. They last longer and are more durable, easier and quicker to turn off.
To make your life easiest, I strongly recommend replacing the valve. You will need a 1/4-turn, 1/2-inch pipe inlet and get a 3/8 compression outlet. Most faucets and dishwasher hoses will use 3/8".
Btw, the above brass adapter will not work on your valves if the outlet on the valve is 1/2" compression. You'll have to find a 1/2" female compression yo s 3/8 female compression, which is basically a hose, not an Adapter. You won't find this as an adapter at the hardware store.


What STAINABLE wood fill is best to use on a plywood floor?

There is no good filler for every purpose all wood and all fillers take stain differently. When they say "sands and stains like wood" they are misleading you. Different sections of the same tree stain differently. That's why quarter sawn lumber is desirable. You need to try a swatch in a descret location. Or better on a sample. Finding something to match plywood may be a bit tricky. I'd avoid putty. Try to get a filler of the matches the species of wood, if you are able to identify it. Another method is to make your own filler out of fine sawdust of the same material, if you have a peice available. You make a thick paste of the sawdust and wood glue and apply it as filler. It's very hard to get a seamless finish and the colour of the stain will make a big difference as to how noticeable it is.


Is it dangerous if the ground pin of a 3 prong plug breaks off in the outlet?

It could be bad if other things go wrong as well, or if the circuit/device is miswired. It also prevents you from plugging in other grounded devices, which could be a problem as well. The best thing to do would be to either remove it, or replace the receptacle.

Turn off the power to the circuit at the breaker, and verify power is off. Then using needle nose pliers (or tweezers), try to extract the pin.  If you're unable to remove it, have the receptacle replaced by a professional.


Decrease apartment intercom door buzzer volume

you need to reduce power to the diaphram. A fixed value resistor is a decent way of doing that.

Cut a white speaker wire, patch it with a resistor, which you can get at radio shack or wherever. Start with matching the speaker ohms (likely 4, 8, or 16) to ~half the volume. a pack of 5 5-10ohms would be good because you can connect them in series to get multiples of 5 or 10 to adjust the volume.

you could replace the speaker with a higher-ohm model as well, they make them in all sizes, so i'm sure you could find a drop-in physical replacement.

A potentiometer might work, but has some complications: most are too high resistance (ex 0-100 ohm), most zeros aren't zero, but rather 5-10 ohms, which steps on your adjustment range a lot. Many pots don't handle very much current either, so you could fry a cheap/small potentiometer, although that's probably not likely.

if you don't want to cut wire, you can "short" the speaker with a resistor, instead of wiring it in series. this reduces the amount or power going to the diaphragm, but wastes power. don't put fewer than 10ohm across if you go that route.


How can I prevent/divert rain water from dripping on a flat flashing?

What you need is a set of gargoyles:

  Definition and Origin of Gargoyles and Grotesques
  Gargoyles came into gothic architecture in the early 13th century and are defined as "a waterspout, projecting from an upper part of a building or a roof gutter to throw water clear of walls or foundations." The origins of the word 'gargoyle' are derived from the old French word 'gargouille' meaning throat.

A simple length of wire, extending down and outward from the point where the drop originates, should move the water clear of the brick and flashing.  A few inches should be enough.

More ornate structures

are optional


Electrolux washer- motor pulley rotates but drive belt does not move

This is probably the bearing of the drum wearing out.

As it ages it gets stiffer, requiring more force to rotate the drum.  The whining noise is as the belt and bearing get hot slipping against each other.

Drum bearings aren't easy to replace, and on some machines, impossible.

Try packing some grease into the bearing, trying not to get any on the belt of course.


Best way to splice together 20/22 gauge wiring?

3M Scotchlok's would work for this application.  They too would require a trip to a store, but the nice part is you don't need to strip the wire as they are self-piercing.  They can connect two or three wires, and are filled with a sealant to provide moisture resistance.

They are typically used for Telco wiring, but support wire gauge from 26-19AWG.


You should disassemble the kitchen faucet and inspect the temp/flow control valve assembly for debris/obstructions. It is common for debris to get knocked loose and flow downstream, causing problems like this. Your manipulation of the pressure regulator could have done it.

Another consideration: those bathroom faucets appear to be older and may not be of the "water saving" variety. The kitchen faucet seems new/modern and likely has water saving flow restriction, either the sort described by @Ed Beal or integral to the design of the flow control valve.


Is it possible to use a milling machine *bit* in a drill press?

Mills and drills are not just random chip makers. They are totally different, and for good reason.

End mills are designed to work off the ends of the tool, i.e. they are driven laterally into the work. They are built for this kind of shear stress, and not to be driven axially.

Drill bits are designed for axial forces not lateral ones - they fall to pieces when driven laterally.  And drill bits have a vital feature end mills do not: the ability to cope with the varying tool speeds radially, and particularly the ability to drill in the center where tool speed is zero.  End mills simply are not made for that!

So you say these things are "the reverse of", they are not the reverse at all.  Using an end mill in a drill press is a completely different kind of operation than using a drill in a mill.  An end mill in a drill press doesn't make a whole lot of sense (except in rare cases.  And yes, squaring the bottom of a hole is one of them, because the end mill doesn't have to cut the center of the hole).

Whereas a drill in a mill makes a lot of sense.  Of course you are just drilling holes, but the mill gives you unbelievable ability to position the work precisely (especially with multiple holes that need to have a relationship with each other!) that you just don't have on a drill press.  You can also use the mill's auto-feed to maintain feeds correctly, and it typically has better control of speeds as well.


If the top of the plug is shearing off when you put the bolt in, then this means the bottom of the plug isn't turning (so not a problem of the hole being too large), but the top of the plug is turning (which means the bolt is gripping it rather than turning within it).

Looking at the picture of your bolt in the partially failed plug, and given the above, I believe your plug diameter is too small for your bolt. Your options would therefore be to either get smaller bolts, or to get larger plugs (and drill a larger hole for them).

An alternative would be to get a different sort of plug. There is a product called "grip-it" designed to attach to plasterboard (=drywall) which has been installed dot-and-dab over masonry as per your situation. I've found it to work well, but the diameter of the fixing is very large, so is only suitable when the bolt won't be near to a visible edge. The business started in the UK, I have no idea whether it's available in Australia.


Wood fillers for filling grain are very different from those used for structural repairs.  Grain fillers are diluted and rubbed into the wood grain.  See the attached listing from Constantines, one of the leading woodworking suppliers in the U.S.:

http://www.constantines.com/pastewoodfiller.aspx

They are also a source of components and books on building guitars.

I do not know of a non-U.S. source, but they may ship internationally and their info may help evaluate local resources you find.


If the ground comes from the same service panel you can tap into that ground and it will be code compliant with the 2017 NEC , if it comes from a different source the code compliant method is to attach a sticker that comes with the GFCI , GFCI protected no equipment ground.


If the wires are long enough, just swapping the positions of the switches in the box will work just fine. The wires are all insulated, so there should be no danger if they cross / touch. Turn off the breaker before you do this work.

An alternative method would be to swap the switched-hots of the two switches. If you've got power coming in to your switch box (common nowadays given the requirement for a neutral in the box), this is probably a second black wire connected to the switch, but double check to be sure. On one switch it may be a red wire if the two switches control a light and fan in the same fixture, for instance. Again, turn off the breaker first.

For your 3-way switches, you'd swap the switched-hot and the traveler wires between the two switches.


There is a strong chance that what you see is drywall overlaid a plaster wall. Plaster, does not sag or bow out as it is shown in your picture, not without severe cracking. Plaster is very brittle and does not take well to any movement at all.

Based only on what the picture shows, the plaster did move, or cracked or fell off or something like that. The remedy that somebody thought of, which is done a lot, is overlay the wall with drywall, whether it be 1/4" thick or thicker.

Flat window trim in homes the age your is typically very thick, 3/4"-7/8" thick, unless it was redone with newer stock. Regardless, the trim's edge is covered to a degree by the wall material, suggesting an overlay of drywall over the plaster.

To answer your question, since the base is already off, so it appears, cut the offending section out to the original wall surface, remove whatever is creating the waves in the wall and re-shim if needed and reinstall the same thickness of new drywall that was removed. It will still cover the trim to a degree, but it will be uniform.


How do I remove painted knockdown texture?

I don't know that replacing the drywall for that little a space wouldn't be the best route.  Seems the cleanest.  Removing trim isn't hard.  I don't know about the mirrors, though. Renting a drywall jack is cheap and makes it a ton easier to hang.  A bit of demo and hanging a new ceiling sounds easier than messing around with something that isn't working out.

Beyond that, I don't know about knockdown texture, but sanding down a ceiling without a drywall sander sounds like it sucks and trying to water/scrape it sounds like it sucks and is super messy.  Demoing drywall is quick.

No expert here.  I'd just replace it.  Seems the surest, which is the direction I like to steer.


How to fix black gloss paint bleed on brilliant white eggshell walls + paint stripped from walls

First rule of masking the wall when painting trim - you need to paint the trim like there is no masking at all.  With practice you can learn how to paint a good enough line that you don't need to mask at all but until then the masking is for protection for an "oops" it is not carte-blanch to just slap the paint on the trim plus all over the tape.
I suggest you use a razor to razor the black paint off the wall.  Then mask the black dado and use a artists' paintbrush to cover the areas that you scraped off the white paint.
spackle is for drywall so yes you can use it to fill dents in drywall.


Is schedule 80 electrical conduit appropriate for 4/0 4/0 2/0 wire?

According to table C.9 referenced in this answer, 2-1/2" Schedule 80 can handle up to 5 x 4/0 conductors, so you're fine even for a full hot/hot/neutral/ground (and ground definitely doesn't need to be as big).
Actually, it isn't exactly like that. 4/0-4/0-4/0-2/0 cable probably takes a bit more than the individual wires, but is relatively round (which helps) and I found plenty of references to running it through 2" conduit, so 2-1/2" gives you a little more room to work with.


Carpets usually expand over time.

This is caused by the fabric, under felt and entire carpet construction to stretch, caused by people walking over it over extended periods of time.

It does not usually stretch as much as you show in your pictures. Possibly this happened because the material is sensitive to moisture and caused it to become more elastic. Moisture could be from spillage, leakage or frequent carpet washing.

Tools and techniques

If your carpet has been like that for a long time there could be irreversible damage. You could still see a crease or uneven surface after re stretching it.

Here is a nice tool (maybe you can rent one?) made specially for stretch repair.

But the more common tool is the kick stretcher and requires some elbow great!

How to do it?

You will need to completely undo one side of the carpet. Pick the easiest side to undo.
Make sure it is a side that is parallel with the crease!
In you case it looks like either the side near the tiled floor or the opposite side.
Then depends on the tool you will need to stretch the entire carper, from left to right on the length it needs to be stretched. Otherwise if you do it unevenly other creases will appear.
If possible you should put a new or check if the existing carpet gripper little hooks are still OK! These really help keep the carpet in place.
Keep on stretching and smoothing the carpet until you are satisfied, do this slowly and evenly.

Too much pressure from either tool could tear the carpet. So be careful. If in doubt, call a professional.

In case your carpet is loose

I just had another look at it looks like your carpet is more like a large rug? :)

In that case, where you do not have grippers on one side you could opt into buying  some hard underlay.

Remove the entire carpet aka rug and glue the underlay to the carpet. I would not do it inside the home because it requires a special type of glue that really stinks and needs about 24 hours to bond properly, in a fairly warm and dry environment.

Thanks to the underlay, depending on what you choose your carpet will be warmer to the foot but also help keep it flat.


Fasten a large screw eye to the post:

Then feed the rope through to make a loop and fasten it to itself with a rope clamp:


Should there be bubbles after a new Linoleum installation?

I've never heard or seen this myself.  If it wasn't glued or rolled correctly in the first place, it's not going to glue itself back down, especially not at the seams.  Call the installer back and make them do it right - rip it up and install new. Don't let them try and "fix" it.


I cant get my plugins in my room to work?

Ok, trying to figure this all out.

Is this a rental or do your parents own the home?

Are you saying the outlets are physically or electrically broken?

Do any outlets or lights in the affected areas work?

Now that that is out of the way...Why are these outlets "breaking?" You must have a short in either the house wiring or the device you are plugging in.

Do any of the outlets have test and reset buttons? If so, make sure they are reset.

DO NOT TOUCH ANY OF THE WIRES, THEY CAN KILL YOU WITH THE BREAKER ON
Now, the best thing to do is to take a picture of all the outlets that are "broken" and post those so we can see what is going on and also draw a diagram of all the outlets. If you don't have the proper tools or the house is a rental, don't try to "fix" this issue. Get the tools, help of a friend that knows what to do, or the landlord.

First, to help with the hall outlet, this one with only 2 wires (3? is there a ground? bare copper), after being replaced, for some reason, it has no power. This is probably because it is the end of a chain of outlets. This means that until the outlets before it are fixed, it won't have power.

So, where do you start...well, turn the breaker off at the main panel to the room(s) with issues. Take the covers off the outlets (ALL outlets) and pull them out of the boxes. Turn the breaker back on and test for power at each wire with a non-contact voltage tester.

If there is power, then you can proceed. Turn the breaker back off.

If you have an outlet with 2 wires (3 if you have ground) then save it for last. If you have an outlet with 4 wires (6 if you have ground), is this a GFCI/AFCI? If this is, that must be wired correctly to function and if it is the first in a daisy chain of outlets, no other outlets will function correctly if not wired correctly. If it is a GFCI/AFCI, you need to determine which pair of wires are the line (Hot) and which are the feed (goes to the next outlet.) Hook those up in the correct places on the outlet. If not GFCI/AFCI, then make sure that the wires are hooked and tightened completely. Then move on to the next outlet.

It might be easiest to start with one outlet, replace/rewire, turn the breaker on and test. Then if it works, repeat with the next outlet.


Requirements for Surface mount raceway using THHN

I use raceway quite often.  With a 20% max fill and no need to derate if your current carrying conductors are less than 30 total it is easier to lay cables in than pull in some cases and no derate is the big advantage.
For exterior raceway it will need to be listed for sunlight or UV protected I have used pvc in the past but most of my work is heavy industrial where metal is needed to protect from impacts. Metal holds up better better but in your case a plastic wire way makes sense to me.


Could I simply seal over this toilet leak?

Yes, you could seal between the tank and the nut. You'd have to drain the tank and have both parts dry.  But there's a better solution that isn't any more difficult.

That nut is on the bottom of the fill valve column. Inside the tank there is a rubber washer between the base of the column and the tank.  That's where your leak is. If the rubber washer has deteriorated, replace it.  If you want to use silicone, do it there-- you can coat both sides of the washer to seal with the valve column base and the tank.

I did this before and it worked for me.


Convert Rectangular Electrical Box in Ceiling to Octagon?

Edit: You said "rectangular" and "receptacle" so you probably have one half this size, not a square box...

There is a simple way to hang a light from a square box. You may have to look around a bit, but there is a mud ring/reducer that goes from square to round (and the round has the screw positions/spacing so a light fixture attachment will fit.)

 Image is from Crescent electric supply web site.

I have a couple of these myself. The adapter ring was in stock but not prominently displayed where I bought it, so it took a little hunting. 2-3/4" is the spacing for the inner screws - I think there's also a smaller one (2-23/32") for smaller fixture spacings.


Adding fiberglass batts on top of cellulose; should I remove some cellulose?

I would not sweat it. The amount of compression versus what it would take to remove the 1" of cellulose, with all the wires, unseen framing blocks, and whatever else is concealed, to me is not worth it.

Usually what I am used to seeing in attics is insulation heaped up in places and thinner in others. I would take a push broom and pull or push the high spots and move them into the low spots, then add the fiberglass batts.


Why don't programmable thermostats automatically switch between "Cool" and "Heat"?

The logic involved is much more complex.

Right now the logic is simple:

if AC Mode and it's too hot, turn on AC, else turn off AC
if Furnace mode and its too cold turn on furnace, else turn off furnace

But the determination of when to switch between heating and cooling modes is much more complex - otherwise the ac would kick on, and it would get too cold, so hte furnace would kick on, making it too hot, and a cycle would begin that would never end.

So the logic must be more like:

if the average ambient temperature has remained below a certain threshhold
    for a given period of time
    and the air conditioner hasn't been on in quite a while, change to furnace mode
but if average ambient temperature has remained ABOVE a certain threshhold
    for a given period of time
and the furnace hasn't been on in quite a while, change to a/c,

then if we're in furnace mode and it's cold, turn on the furnace,
but if we're in a/c mode, and it's hot, turn on the a/c.

The circuitry involved is much more complex, so the price is higher and the market share obviously will be smaller.


How to troubleshoot outdoor lamp/electric functionality?

I'm just sharing the answer and outcomes to this question. Hope it helps someone else. Thanks to everyone for the comments especially isherwood and  Ed Beal for leading me in the right direction.

I found additional GFCI switches and outlets in the backyard shed. The original owner apparently wired this in series to the outdoor lamp.

There was a GFCI outlet with a reset button which when reset did not actually reset (the light on the reset tab stayed open):

After that, I found an electrician and pointed them to the problematic outlet. Another hint was that the outdoor light outside the shed had been displaying unusual behavior (it has a motion detector and it started to stay on all night at about the same time our lamp went out.)

Outcomes:

Once the shed condition was repaired, the lamp and electric socket began working again. I sure would like to really understand what the technical fix was (if anyone is inclined to share some insight; it'd be much appreciated). I try to learn from each experience so I'd like to understand what could have caused this and how it was fixed.

I guessed that the original issue might be related to weather and added a flip box over the two outdoor switches.

Just not sure how the electrician resolved the open circuit in the shed.


Does paint peel and crack on drywall "furniture"?

Drywall isn't meant to be handled or bumped a lot. In most builtins like those pictured, the interiors of the boxes and the faces would be made of wood, taped, compounded (often with harder compounds) and painted to match the adjoining walls.

If the surfaces are drywall, they will likely dent or crack.


Yes vapor barriers are to prevent condensation inside of insulation, greatly reducing its efficiency. In your climate, if you use air conditioning and that space has insulated exterior walls, you will want a vapor barrier on the exterior side of the insulation to prevent outside humidity from condensing inside the cooler insulation. If your exterior walls are just solid masonry, no vapor barrier is required.


How to remove chrome sleeve from copper pipe on vanity?

Answered by OP in a comment:

  Thanks to all who presented their ideas and theories. I did the job today . It turned out that they were brass /chrome plated pipes not sleeves at all. They were threaded on the bottom and the joint was between the floors out of sight. They just wound out with vice grips. This would be original plumbing installed in the late 1940s and still going strong. My Mrs just wanted it updated. Methods have sure changed our the last 80 years.Thanks all .Job complete. – jer prime Dec 8 '17 at 21:26


How to remove an old wood stove brick chimney?

A mid size rotary hammer (SDS plus or SDS max) with a point and a chisel will break the bricks out. Have an extra manual chisel, mason's hammer and prybar on hand (to free the rotary hammer, when you get carried away and plunge too deep).  Hand, eye and head (hard hat) protection are advised.  Dust masks, too.


Gas oven lights but turns off after 2-3 seconds

It might be the thermocouple connected to the gas valve.  This is a safety feature that is used to shut off the gas if the flame blows out.  Thermocouple failure is a common occurrence with gas hot water heaters, furnaces and boilers that turn on/off more than stoves/ovens.


How can I transition from baseboard to a flat bathtub?

I created mockups of a few different configurations and decided that I liked the look of the following the best. I created a 45°(an opposite cut of my original example cut; sorry I don't know the correct terminology), and created a "return" that was at the opposite 45° and cut 90° to butt up against the wall. I liked this option because it left no grain exposed and seemed to be fairly clean. I didn't like it because the final piece is so small and was difficult to cut precisely.


Does it make sense power-wise to put a smart plug inline with a laser printer?

This is really a matter of preference and opinion. In my opinion the amount of current being used is not significant enough to warrant turning them off for short periods of time (10 hours or less). It's always a good idea to shut everything down during long periods like when you're gone for the weekend or vacation.

In my opinion it's healthier to leave electronic equipment on since turning them off and on adds stress to the system. Think of an incandescent light. It burns out when changing state, usually off to on because the element is heating up and cooling off. It's not much different with electronic equipment.

By the way I own three printers a laser, an inkjet and a wide carriage and I really don't see appreciable utility usage.

All that being said, if you are traveling or for some reason you need to turn your stuff on/off from a remote location, it's certainly convenient to have the ability.

Hope this helps.


Finding out what light switches turn on or off

Without being able to trace the wiring, you'd need current-detecting equipment, and that would only work if the circuit is in use.

They may be thermostat-controlled fan switches. Have you tried them after a fire has been burning for a while?

Otherwise, they may be for switched outlets, possibly on just one half of the receptacle.


Can I use a 30 amp generator to power some parts of a 60 amp subpanel

Yes, if you make sure to shut down enough things (if not, you'll trip breakers, so you are still good, from the safe and effective front.) I have a 40 amp manual generator interlock installed in a 200 amp panel. I neither need nor want a generator big enough to run everything at once, or automatic switching. I do want (and I have) the ability to power any one thing (or combination of things) that the generator can safely supply, without having to fool around with hack rewiring jobs under poor conditions or absurd extension cord tricks. That panel will eventually have a 100 amp feed to another building, and the generator input will be able to feed it (so long as the actual draw over there is controlled to be below the generator output, of course.)

Exactly what your options are will depend on exactly what your panels are, and what the panel maker has for approved interlock devices, but generically, it is possible. The legal and important safety end of "safe and legal" is having the interlock so you absolutely, positively, cannot backfeed power to the grid. The overcurrent part of safe will be taken care of by the generator output breaker and/or the panel input breaker for the interlock. Obviously the 60 amp breaker will be highly unlikely to trip if a 30 amp generator is feeding it - but if you draw 40 amps for some reason, the generator breaker will trip. The 60 amp rated wiring will of course be just fine with 30 or less amps running on it.


Does "No more nails" grip strongly enough to hold soffit vents in place while it is setting?

Both Liquid Nails and PL make fast set urethane adhesives in a caulking tube. I have used them for various repairs and setting crown moldings. They will hold a fair amount of weight after only 5 to 10 seconds of contact, so I'm sure they would work for your vents.


Code compliance - how do I pass EMT conduit through an interior wall?

There is no magic here

Conduits can simply go through drywall at will, as they're legal to use for both exposed and concealed applications.  If this were a penetration of the house-garage fire barrier, I would firestop it with an appropriate caulking product for the application, but since it's not, simply jabbing the conduit through a saw-cut hole in the drywall will do the trick.  Don't forget to double-check to make sure you aren't about to try to run the EMT through something other than drywall though!


I have an ancient oil-fired steam boiler with a "tankless" hot water heater.  I built an Arduino-based board that connects in parallel to the thermostat wires at the furnace.  It uses a MID400 AC optocoupler to detect when the thermostat is calling for heat (24VAC when not calling for heat, 0VAC when it is), and then sends that to a computer via an XBee module.

From that you can keep track of how long the furnace runs.  It's a very simple system with several shortcomings: It doesn't make a distinction between when the main zone of the house is calling for heat vs when hot water is called for, and can't tell when heat's being called for, but it can tell you when the low water or high temperature cut-outs have kicked in.

Not perfect, but it should give you some idea of your energy consumption.


What can I do to ensure my pool doesn't freeze?

Run the pump. If you have a pool cover, put it on.

The pool itself stores a lot of heat.

Moving water is much harder to freeze than water standing still.


How do you hard wire a garbage disposal?

If this receptacle you are referring to is serving the kitchen counter you CANNOT use that to feed a disposal. Kitchen counter circuits cannot be used to feed fixed appliances.

You will need to run a new feed to the disposal, preferably a dedicated circuit from the panel.


No, you don't want to switch the neutral.

If those light bulb sockets are a fixed installation in your house (such as a ceiling light as opposed to a table lamp), then that's not good and quite likely not to code.  We can't know for sure because you haven't said where this is nor filled in your profile (remember, your profile is a courtesey for us, not really for you).  The wiring in your house not being to code is not only potentially unsafe, but can open you up to various liability issues, especially if you ever sell or rent out your house.

The hot wire is the one with significant potential on it with respect to ground.  Many things are tied to ground, so you can be easily connected to ground depending on what you're touching, like a radiator, water faucet, sink, computer chassis, and other things you might not realize are grounded.  The hot wire is therefore dangerous.

The neutral wire is connected to ground at the breaker box, which is connected to physical ground nearby.  If you switch the hot line and leave the neutral, then the whole device will be at neutral potential.  That's OK.  If you switch the neutral, then the whole device will be at hot potential.  In theory that's OK since all of that is supposed to be insulated.  However, stuff happens, and by switching neutral instead of hot you have removed one layer of safety.  That is not a good idea.


Remove switch from three-way series circuit

How to bypass a plain (1-way) switch

Make sure the switch works now, if not you will lose your mind trying to make it work.   Turn the power off first at breaker or fuse.  Unscrew covers and pull switch out of box.  Photograph everything. Then

Note any ground wires which go to the switch. Grounds are bare, green, or yellow+green stripe.
Ignoring any ground wires, there are now exactly two wires going to the switch.  If there are not, STOP: you will not be bypassing this switch today, and post the photos on SE for advice.
A wire you can't identify is not a ground wire!
Remove the switch and splice together those exactly two wires.
Remove any ground wires still on the switch.
Do Not Touch any other wires which may be in the box.

Push it all back into the box and fit a blank cover.


Is the lack of a vapor barrier in the attic causing my mold issue?

Moist air is condensing (barring any oughtright leaks) It is most likely due to air leakage from house to attic:

Ceiling to attic is leaking moist air, condensing. Solution: air
sealing of all penetrations (light fixtures, ducting, electrical,
gaps in construction)
Insufficient insulation, combined with air leakage allows
condensation to occur.   Vapor barrier (VB) insulation (batt with
paper facing) should NOT be placed OVER any existing insulation,
creating a trap.  If used, the VB is placed against the heated side
in winter.  Do not use poly for a vapor barrier.  The assembly must
be able to dry in either direction, should condensation occur.

Update RE can lights
Recessed cans are notorious for leakage.  If they are IC rated (designed for direct insulation contact) they can be air sealed with a ASTME 136 rated firecaulk directly.  If they are non-IC, a XPS box can be built that meets the clearance requirements of the fixture (insulation must be a minimum of 3" around a non-IC fixture (NEC 410.66))  Many commercial products exist for covering cans.

Video: Airsealing recessed lighting by Green Homes America

I've seen this condition develop when a bath vent fan was dumping air directly into the attic and it saturated the insulation and it grew mold down through the drywall.


From what I see in your pics, you have a plaster ceiling that is failed. Usually water is the culprit for delaminating the scratch from the finish coats.

You have two options to repair this.
First option is to remove all loose plaster down to the lathe and replace it with new plaster. This is not as easy as it may sound. Working with real plaster takes some skill and practice. Matching the original texture of the finish can be tricky.

Second option is to recoat the entire ceiling with a layer of 3/8" drywall. Although this may be a bit larger job, it will secure any loose, soon to fail plaster. The new drywall ceiling will be clean and smooth if taped properly and give many years of service. I have found that once a plaster ceiling starts to fail, it will usually continue to get worse.


You CAN put drywall compound (please, not spackle - different products) over wood, but unless there's some major need to preserve every fractional inch of the room, it's generally much easier and better results to put drywall (you can use 1/4 or 3/8 rather than 1/2) over the wood surface first.


Electric stopped working after I moved my microwave?

Sounds to me like an open neutral. This will give you a reading of voltage (to ground or with a pen tester) but the circuit will not work.

You need to check the connections at every device on the circuit.


How should I wire for a security system during construction?

What I have yet to find a solid answer on is what is typically run to the keypads. Do I run cat5/6, or use the same security wire (or both)?

I recommend running 22/4 and cat5e from the security panel to the keypads.  That provides lots of options.

Once I run the wires to each window, where do I leave the wire?

I recommend leaving a coil of wire in the window return.

Should I drill a small hole in the rough window frame, and pull the wire through?

Yes.  Exactly.

If I do drill a hole, where should the hole be positioned?

Somewhere that meets these criteria:

a spot that minimizes the run of exposed cable from the window frame to the contact
in a position that won't interfere with the installation of window coverings
in a position that lends itself to finishing the window frame area (e.g. avoid spots that will become finished vertices)

I guess I'm questioning the workflow more than anything. For instance, do those putting up the sheetrock, installing windows, or those installing the molding around the window typically know how to deal with these wire?

In general, the other trades will make sure your wire doesn't get buried, but where it ends up and in what condition it will be in is uncertain.
I recommend installing the windows before wiring.  If the returns are drywall, I recommend one of the following:

install your own peice of Sheetrock on the part of the return where the wire is run
have your contractor board the drywall returns but not the walls or ceilings before you wire

If your returns are wood, I recommend coiling wire on the studs inside the window frames, and working out a specific plan for how the wires will be handled with your carpenter just before he starts work.

I will not be installing the system for months after we move in, so would prefer not to have cables sticking out of the window frame until the install is complete. Do I have any chance of fishing the wire out if I drill a small hole in a window frame?

Not likely.  If you are concerned about aesthetics, just finish the contact install for those windows that matter.
Motion Sensors and Keypads
Unlike window contacts, these are mounted to the walls like any other electrical device.  I recommend using open-backed electrical boxes rather than just a hole in the sheetrock.  There is some more information about them in this question.
Hidden Door Contacts
I recommend this type of door contact for doors that open inward.  It fits right in the top of the door frame.  The contact itself will need to be installed when you rough-in.


More than likely, your loft lights will be on a 5A ring, totally unsuitable for a socket. The hair-dryer & hoover are probably drawing too much and tripping it.

Get your money back from this cowboy and get a competent electrician to do the work.


Yes, in all likelihood this can be repaired fairly easily. It is a good possibility that these holes are due to poor quality work where the original grout was not fully squeezed down into the joints. You may find other areas that are not yet broken open but also just a partial penetration into the joint.

You will have to work carefully to replace with like style grout material to minimize color differences of the repair.

If I was repairing this I would dig out around these breakout areas back to where the adjacent grout is sound and well penetrated into the joint. Also clean the edges of the tiles in the opened out areas too. Since there is also the possibility that water and soap scum have entered these holes you would want to take steps to clean away that as well before attempting to re-grout the repair areas.


How do I stop my under cabinet light plastic covers from falling down

I guess that some clips or other parts that make this 'click' work are not catching firmly and/or are bending as because of temperature. I would try to adjust them if possible (if these are like metal parts) to grip more firmly.
If that doesn't work You can either remove these light covers and make a complain in a shop You ordered them (as it shouldn't be a proper way of behaviour) or use less elegant ways to make them stay in place (duct tape on other side - not visible to You). Super-glue or something isn't welcome.


You might try something like this: Woodstove Gasket It worked well on my woodstove.


Take it back as defective if it's not to stated specs. Trying to wedge the bottom flush until the floor goes in could crack the finish, if it's just bent out & not actually braced out. If the back wall isn't load bearing, you can plane or cut those studs back, plumbing re-alignment shouldn't be a big deal. Or, add another drywall layer to the foreground wall & make up the remainder with the tile layer. Or. just add tile edging with an ogee type edge.


How bad is it to attach a gas water heater to a gas furnace electrical circuit?

According to the National Electrical Code, a gas furnace (or any other central heating equipment) must be on its own circuit. So connecting a water heater (or anything else), would be a code violation.

  National Electrical Code 2014

  Chapter 4 Equipment for General Use

  Article 422 Appliances

  422.12 Central Heating Equipment. Central heating
  equipment other than fixed electric space-heating equipment
  shall be supplied by an individual branch circuit.

  Exception No. 1: Auxiliary equipment, such as a pump,
  valve, humidifier, or electrostatic air cleaner directly associated
  with the heating equipment, shall be permitted to be
  connected to the same branch circuit.

  Exception No. 2: Permanently connected air-conditioning
  equipment shall be permitted to be connected to the same
  branch circuit.

  Chapter 1 General

  Article 100 Definitions

  Branch Circuit, Individual. A branch circuit that supplies
  only one utilization equipment.


Use a deep well socket and ratcheting set.  Given that this is a 10mm nut, you don't want too much torque.  Assuming you don't crush the surface you are tightening to and have a sufficient washer, you need to be concerned with torquing the bolt off.  In certain cases, I've taken a 1inch diameter by 1.5ft lead pipe and put it on the end to get extra torque, but I advise against this if you don't have a feel for how much torque you are applying.  You can find small scale torque wrenches, but if you are going to do so, I suggest you look up the recommended torques to apply to the bolt you are using (you need to know what type of bolt it is).


I need to get up on roof anyway, so what should I inspect while I'm up there?

On shingles, look for shingles that might be broken, cracked, or missing, that are curled (no longer flat), and any that have lost their stone coating. The last two are important; this is the first sign of an impending roof failure and that your entire roof will shortly need to be replaced.

If you have rubber seals around your vent stacks (between the metal flashing and the stack itself, make sure that the rubber is still pliable. If it is not, it is time to replace either the flashing with a lead one, or replace the flashing and seal unit with a new one.

If you have roof turbines, make sure that they spin easily without noise. The bearings in these are sealed; they will need to be replaced if they do not spin easily.

Look for nails that have popped up through the shingles, or loose nails on flashings. These need to be sealed with either an elastomeric roof sealer or "3 hour" silicone caulk. Don't try to pound them back in.

If you have a chimney, make sure that the cap/spark arrestor is firmly attached and is not rusted out.

Remember that water MUST be able to flow down and out of things, so if you seal anything, seal around the top sides. You cannot seal, for instance, a dormer window where the siding meets the roof deck.


Help understanding how to remove faucet with perpendicular pipe sticking out

I suggest that you should remove the faucet handles and take a look from above. Most likely you remove a small cap at "A" and reveal a screw that when taken out permits the faucet handle to be lifted off.

Once removed there may be a nut or ring clip that is normally covered by the "B" skirt of the faucet handle. Removing that nut or clip ring would allow the rest of the faucet assembly to drop below the sink.

The center water spout part of the faucet assembly most likely does need to be freed from below and then pulled up through the top of the sink. You would would need to take apart that 4 way pipe fitting assembly that all the hoses are attached to and then use a basin wrench (as suggested in another answer) to loosen the large nut up around the center hole part of the sink.

Note that if the faucet units have ring clips it may be necessary to also loosen their large nuts from underneath so that the ring clip can then be removed. Usually when these types of faucets are initially installed the large nut is pre- threaded  down on the unit toward the right angle port where the hose attaches.Then the thing is shoved up through the hole, the clip attached, and then the nut underneath is tightened up to the underside of the sink to secure the valve unit in place.


Drum sander attachment for drill keeps coming loose

Your Drill Chuck is actually the problem here.

You can try a few different things.

Buy a new chuck for that drill.
Buy a new high quality drill.
Since your spindle is damaged already, you might want to put a groove in it for your chuck to bite into it.

I have no relation or affiliation with any of the following - I am supplying the links so you can see some different ways to get new chucks.

In No particular order of quality, usefulness or reputation; Links for Replacement Chucks Follow:

Toolots

Jacobs Chucks

At Amazon

Craftsman


Energy efficient bulb takes a long time to get bright

That type of bulb base is called a GU10 and should be widely available at home improvement stores, lighting stores, etc.

That particular bulb is a CFL (compact fluorescent) and the behavior you describe is pretty typical for these bulbs though some are better than others. An incandescent,  halogen or LED bulb will produce light at full intensity almost immediately.  Incandescent being the cheapest and LED the most expensive.


Yellow poly gas pipe to copper tubing transition

You can certainly use polyethylene pipe. There are some considerations that need to be made

It must be to code.
The branch of pipe you are referring to is called the yard line. It's in between the first stage and second stage regulator. It's often considered the property of the utility unless you own the tank.
For code compliance all polyethylene pipe must be buried as its not uv resistant. My code states a minimum of 18" and a minimum of 24" under driveways and walkways. A trace wire must also be attached.

This is what a complete set looks like

www.rphdistributorsltd.com

The picture shows more than what you would require. I picked this one to give you an idea of what is available. Specifically this riser is what you are looking for. Common brands are

Gastight
Perfection Pipe
Home-Flex


The simplest, and most reliable, method (I think :-) ) is to put a drain tray under the frig, with a float switch tied to an electronic valve. If the tray fills, the switch cuts off the inlet valve.   BTW - whether or not your frig has an internal timeout, that timeout won't prevent a flood, since (1) the leak could be ahead of the timeout valve and (2) once the down-time counter is done, the frig would start up again anyway.

That said, may I suggest that you're in a "once bitten; twice shy" scenario?  Unless you Google your particular model and find many complaints of leak failures, it's highly unlikely this will happen again in your lifetime.


How much NM cable can I fit in a conduit?

For conduit fill calculations you have to treat romex/NM as a ROUND wire of the same size as its largest dimension (ie, the long axis of the oval.) Oddly enough this means that 14-2 is larger than 14-3 for conduit fill. As @SpeedyPetey notes nipple (less than 24") fill is 60%, not 40%, and is a LOT of wire to get into a conduit; but I don't think that's the major issue here if NEC compliance is a desired upgrade. The wire type and location is the main issue.

NM cannot be run in exterior/underground conduit since it is not rated for wet locations. With an outside service box that alone might mean you can't do this and meet code - at which point you'll need a major junction box or a lot of minor junction boxes inside, and some wet-location-rated wire until you are inside.

(And now that I've seen the pictures...)

My understanding of NEC (which does not seem to have been particularly involved in your current service, with exposed NM running outside) is that you would have to run a wet-rated wire (THW, XHHW, etc.) until you get inside the house, where you would connect to the interior type wire you currently have exposed to weather and sunlight. NEC defines (and reality frequently confirms) all exterior conduit as a wet location.


Fill heat tank with glycol in off-grid system?

It's quite common, it can be pumped, it's a bit less efficient to pump particularly when cold and somewhat poorer at heat transfer than pure water.

Primary impact on service life is minimizing oxygen exposure (sealed system) and choosing a PPG product with a suitable pH/corrosion control additive package.


Where should my humidistat on my whole house humidifier be located

Two points. First, be sure you are using a humidistat and not a dehumidistat. With a humidifier you need a control (humidistat) that shuts off the unit when the humidity gets too high. When you have a dehumidifier or HRV you need a control (dehumidistat) that shuts off the unit when the humidity gets too low. From your description your control just keeps the humidifier going and going, like a dehumidistat telling the humidifier to keep running. Second, the humidistat should be in a location that reflects the actual humidity of the dwelling space. An open wall near the return vent would work.


Replacing existing and working 3way with smart switch

I think your wiring situation looks like this

I believe it is a 3-way circuit, and the lack of any red wires, indicates the person used a cheat: using two 14/2 cables paired when he should have used 14/3 (with the red wire).  So this accounts for two cables in both boxes.  This leaves only one cable in the "smart switch" box.  With only one cable remaining, that can only go to the lamp, meaning power is coming into the lamp, not the switch.  The entire 3-way complex is a switch loop.

Since all your wires are black and white, I took the liberty of adding tape to color-code the actual functions. Where a wire is taped, think like the tape color is now the wire color.   Now in any of these cables, it may be used the other way around, e.g. white for switched hot.  In the 2-cable segment, any wire  can be any of the functions.   I am guessing.

I use yellow for both messengers because they both do the same thing, are both interchangeable (you can swap them and it won't do any harm).  However they are not the same, landing both messengers on one screw terminal will not work.

Note that in the first (right) switch box, there is always-hot and switched-hot.
There is no neutral in a switch loop.  Ergo you will not have much luck making that smart-switch work.


Would it be entirely crazy to cover my lawn with solar panels?

I don't know about "Crazy" but there are a few issues you should consider:

Cost

This is obviously going to vary a lot depending on where you live and how big the yard is, but you're probably talking about tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars to cover a yard.

Power Usage

What are you going to do with all that power? Many electric companies in the US allow (or are required to) let you sell back excess power to "the grid", but you usually have to have a special meter installed and often there is a limit on the size of the installation. The terms of this buy-back are unfavorable to the utility so they don't want you running a large power generator and making money at their expense.

Orientation

As has been stated by another user, the best angle for solar panels is south (if you are in the northern hemisphere; otherwise, north). The optimal tilt angle depends somewhat on the purpose of the panels but is approximately the same as your latitude. (E.g. Boston is at about 42º N so if you live in Boston the panels should be tiled at 42º.)


How can I tell where the other end of the conduit is?

Since you're talking about an electrical circuit with a line/load connection in each outlet, you can start disconnecting one side of the connection and then noting all the receptacles and fixtures that lose power, which will be on the load side of where you disconnected. You can go through a process of elimination. Typically, circuits are wired the shortest distance between outlets, so you can make some intelligent guesses at which junction to try disconnecting next. Of course only work on the wiring with the circuit powered off, use non-contact testers, and other appropriate safety procedures.

Another method you can try is sound. Pipe a small speaker into one end of the conduit, and then put a hose from your ear to the other end to see where the sound is loudest.

When trying to label cat5 that had been run around my home, I've shorted two wires together at each location, with a different colored pair at each place. Then from the other end I just checked for continuity between different pairs.


Want to convert a garage 4 wire receptacle to standard 3 prong receptacle

The NEMA 14 series connectors are the correct, legal, safe and state-of-the-art connectors.  It is absolutely correct for the electrician to install NEMA 14 unless you specified NEMA 6.

NEMA 10 is obsolete and dangerous, as it does not have a ground wire, and the usual installation process ties neutral to ground, which is asking for trouble.

You say your plug does have a ground wire, which makes it a NEMA 6.  It is fairly trivial to convert a NEMA 14 receptacle to NEMA 6, since all the needed wires are present.  Or you can change the plug/cord on the appliance, the neutral in NEMA 14 is simply not used.

You will need to change the breaker to whatever size of NEMA 6 you fit.

One NEMA 6-15 socket -- 15A breaker
More than one NEMA 6-15 socket -- 15A or 20A breaker
Any number of NEMA 6-20 receptacles -- 20A breaker
NEMA 6-30 receptacle -- 30A breaker
NEMA 6-50 receptacle -- not allowed on 10 AWG wire


Why is my 12VDC LED flood light flashing when powered by a LED magnetic driver?

If it's a good quality power supply, the pulsing means the power supply is possibly overloaded. It's the power supply's, method of telling you that, which is called "hiccuping." A load of 156W may be too close to 200W. You should allow for load + 20% when choosing a power supply.


Want to install Lutron Occupancy Sensor, but confused on current switch wiring

This looks like a MS-OPS2H-WH.
It doesn't require neutral so the wiring it simple.
For the two back wires that currently go to one terminal on the old switch, use a wire connector and twist those together with one of the black wires from the occupancy sensor (does not matter which one).
Connect the other black wire from the other old switch terminal to the remaining black wire from the new occupancy sensor.
Connect the green wire with the bare copper wire in the box.