What to consider from picking a toolbox?

Some aspects you should consider would be:

Size:

If you're just starting out with your tool collection, you may want to look into a tool set/tool box combo. The one from the link has several drawers with a bigger top compartment. You can also get an expanding tool box which lets you see where all your tools are without having to go through all your drawers.
If you just want somewhere to store a limited amount of tools because you don't use them often, I'd suggest a simple plastic toolbox like this one. My first toolbox was a similar design with a lift-out tray and small hardware storage compartments in the lid. It is a bit of a hassle to go digging around in the one main compartment though.
Do you have a garage full of tools? A rolling tool chest has a high storage capacity with lots of drawers for easy organization. The one here has a big drawer for larger items and several drawers for organization of smaller tools. An easily portable tool bag would be a great addition if you go this route, since a large chest isn't portable.

Portability:

Are you going to be working at other locations than where you store your tools? A truck toolbox might be useful if you're always working at different locations. (I just realized I made the assumption that everyone owns a truck - whoops!) However, if you're mostly doing home improvement jobs at your own house, you probably don't need one of these.

Work Environment:

If you're doing most of your work on your own house, you probably don't need a lockable tool box. However, if you're planning on working in environments where more than close friends have access too, you definitely want to protect your tools from theft.
Are you going to be carrying it around, banging it up? Then you probably want a metal toolbox. Otherwise, if it's just going to sit in the garage, a plastic one might be okay.

Accessibility:

A tool bag or tool bucket organizer is the easiest way to keep tools nearby when you're working (other than a tool belt). I recently purchased a bag with a large center compartment and lots of pockets on the outside. I can see where all my tools are without digging through a toolbox. For home improvement projects, I'd recommend this style. You do have to consider that you can't lock it though.


Looking for Second Opinion on New Insulation in Attic

What he's suggesting would be to make the attic inside the building envelope, therefore you'd be heating and cooling the attic along with the house.

You either need insulation at the attic floor or attic ceiling. One or the other is the building envelope. If you google some of the terms you can learn a lot.

If the house is a standard, single open roof I'd vote for keeping the insulation on the floor.

Maybe get a few more opinions?


What type of wood siding should I use for a shed?

T-111 is pretty much the standard for that kind of stuff.  What kind of a look are you going for?  You could always sheath it with OSB and put anything you want on top of that (vinyl, clapboard, etc.)


GFCI installation in bathroom switch box doesn't work as expected

You just tried to hook up an outlet to an old-style switch loop with no neutral wire.  Right now, your hair dryer is wired in series with the light, and the switch is dangling in the electrical breeze.

(In other words: You'll need to find another place to put the GFCI function, or run a new /3 NM cable to the switch box so you can have a neutral there.)


How do I insulate a neutral bar when installing it in a sub panel?

You should buy an "isolated bar" or an "insulated bar" to install in the box.  This will have insulated mounting hardware of some form (for example, insulated housing for the screw penetrations) which is actually rated for the purpose you intended to put it.

You should probably buy a product from the same manufacturer as the panel you are installing into but here's an example of what you want.


What did cable installer use to tap onto my service ground?

Thanks to the "split" term in ThreePhaseEel's answer, I finally chanced upon a close match via an image search. Apparently these are called "vise connectors".

For example, GMP Tools calls theirs a "Ground Vise Connector" (part number 77966) and MacLean Power Systems sells a "Bronze Vise Connector" under a variety of variants (e.g. catalog numbers BVC-2/4/6 depending on size). Allied Bolt calls them a "Bronze Vise Compression Connector" (e.g. part number 862), and also offers something very similar they call an "H Connector".

I'm not sure how they compare to the split bolt. I suspect they're a little handier for cable techs since the halves don't need to be fully separated to install, and/or are better for bonding two different gages of wire. In my case, it looks like the local home improvement stores tend to carry the split bolts and not these vise connectors.


You'll definitely want to protect the surface of your concrete. I assume that the ground is not frozen. Since the curing process actually generates some heat, only the exposed layer is vulnerable. If it freezes, less water is available to the chemical reaction. This can result in a dry cure, leaving you with a weak, powdery surface.

Cover the pour with poly sheeting and then insulated blankets, straw, or a tent with a small heater inside. You can cause similar problems by overheating, so don't do that. Seek to just maintain temperatures above freezing.


Subpanel has neutral and ground bonded in detached structure - should I isolate?

This is grandfathered in

The NEC, up until reasonably recently, did not require an equipment grounding conductor in a feeder to an outbuilding, treating it by analogy to a service, where the fault path is through the neutral.  This is problematic from a shock risk perspective if the feeder neutral opens, though, which is why the Code was recently changed to require all feeders to carry an equipment grounding conductor with them.

As you are dealing with an existing install though, the NEC explicitly grandfathers the three-wire feeder to an outbuilding in via 250.32(B)(1) Exception 1:

  Exception No.1: For installations made in compliance
  with previous editions of this Code that permitted such connection, the grounded conductor run with the supply to the
  building or structure shall be permitted to serve as the
  ground-fault return path if all of the following requirements
  continue to be met:

  (1) An equipment grounding conductor is not run with the
  supply to the building or structure.

  (2) There are no continuous metallic paths bonded to the
  grounding system in each building or structure involved.

  (3) Ground-fault protection of equipment has not been installed on the supply side of the feeder(s).

  If the grounded conductor is used for grounding in accordance with the provision of this exception, the size of the grounded conductor shall not be smaller than the larger of either of the following:

  (1) That required by 220.61

  (2) That required by 250.122

Changing it would be a good idea, but...

The 2014 NEC introduced a provision in 250.130(C) that allowed branch circuits to be grounded by tapping off of other EGCs.  This is handy for branch circuit retrofits, but sadly, does not apply to feeders; nor can you run the ground wire separately, as it reverts to 250.32(B)(1)'s verbiage which prohibits that.

This leaves you with three options.  The cheapest and simplest one is to install a GFCI breaker in-line with the feeder at the garage end.  This can get tricky though, as many small subpanels rely on a backfed main breaker, and you cannot backfeed GFCI breakers -- you'll fry the GFCI's trip solenoid if you try it.  Your best bet is to mount a unit mount/cable-in cable-out GFCI breaker in a single-breaker disconnect box and wire it up so that the feeder comes into LINE, and a short 4-wire feeder jumper connects LOAD on the breaker to the subpanel's main lugs.

You'll also need to unbond the subpanel, install a ground bar in it, and move the GEC over to be commoned with the LINE-side neutral of the GFCI via the disconnect box's neutral bar, which serves as the neutral/ground bond for the garage.

Making this a real service

An alternative is to snag a dry-type distribution transformer (5 kVA is a common size for this type of application, but might be slightly small for your 40A feeder) and install it at the outbuilding, creating a separately derived system.  The primary needs to be jumpered for 240V and connected to the feeder hots with the feeder neutral capped off as it's useless now, while the secondary is jumpered for 240V as well and feeds the existing garage panel, which is now a main panel from the Code's point of view.

While this sounds costly, transformers sometimes turn up used for reasonable prices -- they are fairly heavy critters though, so it's probably best to check Craigslist to see if one is coming out of a building demolition/remodel job or something like that in your area.

Redoing it

Of course, you can simply re-run the feeder as well, which will let you incorporate an equipment grounding conductor -- this is practical for a short feeder like yours, but can get costly for long feeders.


Is a concrete slab required to support a block wall?

1) Part of the wall will be built on what is currently dirt in a planter area; the rest of the wall will extend onto existing pavers. Do I need to pour concrete in the planter as a foundation, level with the pavers? Or can I get away with compacting crushed gravel as a base in the planter?

You'll need to do 'something' to deal with the overturning and sliding forces on the wall, not just from the soil pressure but also that significant 1,600# surcharge. A 4 feet tall is generally the start of the retaining wall design height and even below that height it's assumed that the wall has a standard footing. You will need to provide a concrete footing and tie it into your wall with rebar (steel reinforcing). A typical footing (for 4' of soil) is 16" wide and 8" deep w/ (2) #4 rebar continuous. You need to have the bottom of the footing below frost depth to avoid issues with frost heave, and for soil in front of the footing to prevent it from sliding along with the entire wall. Provide a footing drain at the back or weep holes at the base of the wall because any water building up creates a lot of additional force that isn't considered

  2) The grade of the pavers angle slightly down, toward a drain. What's the best way to level out the base of the wall that will extend onto those pavers?

The footing should be below the pavers so you can have the pavers butt right up to the finished wall


What is happening is that the folks who designed your fan receiver did a terrible job of it, and you simply didn't notice it before.  Incandescent/halogen bulbs are relatively insensitive to leakage currents because they are so darn inefficient -- you can put several mA through them and nobody will notice.  However, putting that same 5-10mA through a LED light bulb will cause it to turn on dimly or flicker, depending on the bulb's internal circuits.  Whoops!

The answer is to replace the fan receiver with a model that doesn't leak current down the light wire when the light's supposed to be off. (You'll probably have to replace the transmitter remote along with it.)


Carpets and paints can be made from a variety of materials. Water might clean it up. Paint thinners might dissolve the carpet (depending on the carpet). You could try isopropyl alcohol without much risk. But I would start by testing some carpet fibers (cut a few fibers off with some scissors) in a dish of paint thinner before testing thinner on the carpet. And still, even if the fibers look okay, use caution applying thinner to carpet. Apply thinner to a rag instead, and wipe the paint off with the rag.

If thinner dissoves the carpet, then the last resort is to give the carpet a trim. Hopefully the paint is not too deep and you can carefully cut out just the paint.


Covering a 30-in x 7ft space that's suited for a door?

You could mount curtain hardware on the ceiling and use a curtain to close off the opening.


Is it okay to insulate a basement wall when an interior french drain is installed?

Just noticed this question was never answered, but I did wind up closing everything up later that year and never had any issues. I sold the house earlier this summer (2020).
I figured that, if rigid foam insulation was acceptable, then any kind of moisture barrier would be, too. The rough texture of the cinder blocks and mortar joints would allow for at least some air movement, and worst-case, any mold that might happen to form would be trapped behind the moisture barrier.
So I covered the wall in the thickest plastic sheeting I could buy. I stapled it to the sill plate at the top to keep it in place, then tucked the bottom edge into the flashing for the interior French drain. Any water that comes through the brick wall now hits the backside of the plastic sheeting and runs into the interior French drain.
Once that was done, everything else was generally finished as pictured in my question. I used pressure treated lumber, ripped it into furring strips, used concrete anchors to attach them to the wall, removed the vapor barrier from the fiberglass insulation (to allow the wall cavity to breathe into the room, because the plastic sheeting is a vapor barrier to the exterior, insulated the cavities, then drywalled over everything.
I did everything on the up-and-up so, while I'd bet someone has something to say with how this was done, it passed framing, insulation, electrical, and finish inspections, and the house passed the home inspection when I sold it.


Are speaker wire output negative posts on receiver common-grounded?

That Sony does not have a dedicated sub woofer output so you will need a sub-woofer that will pass through the sound to your  left and right speakers. Some subs only except a sub channel input and do not pass through left and right channels, many will except and pass along the right and left channels to the speakers,  meaning it will have inputs for left and right and OUTPUTS for left and right. .

As long as you wire the negative to negative  and positive to positive ( black to black and red to red ) you will be OK.

You did not say what sub-woofer model you are getting, I am not familiar with a subs that  sub that have "negative posts joined" Can you post the model? I found the following quote on crutchfield.com for the polk PSW10 , i assume that is what you are referring to.

  "Speaker Level Input/Output: The sub-woofer has spring clips for the
  speaker level inputs and outputs. The sub woofer's low-pass filter
  sends bass frequencies (based on the setting of the filter) to the
  sub-woofer. The speaker level inputs and outputs are shorted together,
  so the output is not crossed over. You should set you receiver's front
  speaker setting to Large."

Meaning you wire it as i stated and it passes the correct frequencies to the sub and the speakers.

Or you can use RCA cables from the video or md/tape audio out terminals on the receiver and go into the RCA Line in, left and right on the sub-woofer and wire your speaker into the out terminals on the sub.


I've not found any solution. The guards made of mesh, plastic, metal, whatever, tend to get clogged if you have trees that drop small seeds. Cottonwood is a weed around here. In the spring, the cotton goes flying around. It is impossible to get out of the mesh. I tore those style of guards out after a few years. As well, small stuff from the shingles on our house could fall through the mesh. I found a half inch think layer of black gunk lying in the bottoms of our gutters in spots, since the mesh does not stop really small stuff.

The gutter caps have a reputation as hornet hotels. Wasps can build nests underneath them, and I have a known bee sting allergy.

My solution is a simple one. Clean out the gutters twice a year. I blow them out with a leaf blower, standing on the ground. I added a couple of pieces of pvc angle to my leaf blower, with a long extension. Then I put on a hooded jacket when the gutters are dry, and blow the mess out away from me if possible. I usually get a face full or two, but that is what the hooded jacket is for.

Neighbors of ours chose to skip gutters completely when they just built their new home. But that leaves you with a need to deal with water near your foundation.


Can I join different flooring to cover a height gap?

No you can't.   Well you can but you wouldn't be doing anything right.   There isn't a suitable transition piece that would hold up to use for tile to vinyl transition at an angle.   Actually the only way you can do angles is going from carpet to tile or tile to tile and while those work they aren't pretty and could be dangerous.

The easiest way to get with the is to flatten the area by the transition and let the rest of the kitchen run at a gradual angle.   There are a ton of ways you can transition this setup and you will probably just end up with a simple U channel metal strip - where the butt side is against tile and vinyl inserted into U.

The other option is just to tile the who thing and use some kind of border tile to do the transition - again could be a trip hazard and isn't really right.   If you are selling the house soon it seems kind of dumb spending time to do something wrong when others will make you pay for it in the sale price.


Can I substitute diesel for home heating oil?

Yes, no2 heating oil is pretty similar to diesel. Just less clean and usually dyed red.

So yes, it's ok to put diesel in your oil tank.


The screw terminals on standard switches are easy to wire with solid wire, more difficult with stranded.

It's easy to make a loop in solid wire that fits nicely under the screw head.  With stranded you have to wrap the wire around the terminal and tighen it without it coming out from under the screw head.

Me?  I'd hunt up a scrap of solid for the pigtails if at all possible, but I would not make a trip to the store if all I had was stranded.

The push in (aka "backstab") terminals on standard inexpensive switches are for solid wire only, and most agree that they are marginal at best with solid wire.  With stranded wire, totally unacceptable.

However...

This switch does not have the usual terminals

The terminals on this switch accept the wire like a backstab, but they are not a simple push in;  there's a pressure plate inside the switch that applies pressure to the wire when you tighten the screw, similar to the mechanism on most breakers.  It's easier to use and makes a better connection than a regular screw terminal with either solid or stranded wire.

In fact, I'd go as far as to say this type of terminal makes a better connection with stranded wire than with solid.

Now at the other end of the pigtail,

where you're splicing to the existing solid wires - it can be tricky to get a really good splice with a mix of solid and stranded, especially if you try to pre-twist the wires before putting on a wire nut.  With push-in type connectors, it's easy to mix solid and stranded.


What type of product should I use to seal/protect the wood interior of a outdoor office?

Well, there's always "nothing" - very quick, low odor, and no gloss to speak of. About as natural as natural wood can get.

Next up from that would be boiled linseed oil, or paste wax, or boiled linseed oil mixed with paste wax. I prefer "bowling alley wax" as it does not have the abrasives that most "floor wax" does, and clear .vs. amber as I don't want to change the color of the wood.

If you are wanting to "seal" it I suppose there are deck "sealers" that are clear-ish, but they are primarily exterior and may not be particularly low-odor (and at core, I suspect they are silicone & wax in a carrier of some sort.) I'd rather just wax it with paste wax.


Typically, as with new drywall, the drywall is primed before applying texture.  Priming allows for even, proper drying of the texture.  Shellac would do the same thing.  So I would shellac, texture, prime, paint.


How do I check continuity without having a multimeter to see which white wire is my hot?

Go purchase the correct tools to do the jobs safely, rigging up some makeshift test device won't solve your problems and could end up injuring or killing you so please ignore those types of answers.

Get a basic multimeter from the hardware store please, read the instructions, and only work on confirmed dead wiring. It only takes 0.01A to kill someone and you're working with 15A-20A here.


Can I swap parts from a new to old shutoff valve instead of soldering a new sweat valve?

Possibly, but only if the interior mating surfaces are in good condition.


WaterProofing (and WeatherProofing) gaps in roof

The best way to remedy this is to remove the portion of metal over the transition to cement roof, add a transition flashing that goes over the cement roof. It should cover at least the first row of exposed cement tile at the top and the metal is folded so it turns up the higher pitch, but goes under the metal roof at least as high as a few inches above the first row of fasteners at the bottom of the metal. Do not fasten the metal flashing through to the cement tile. The metal needs to be bent so it presses in place onto the cement tile. You may be able to remove just enough metal fasteners, if they are exposed to ease up the metal roof enough to slip the transition flashing under it without removing all of the metal. Your biggest issue will be working off the cement roof without cracking the tiles. A picture of the trouble spot may help fashion a better answer.


How to find out cfm of a kitchen exhaust to be replaced?

I wouldn't bother attempting to determine the existing rating, if for no other reason that it may not have been properly sized to begin with, and / or recommendations may have changed since then. Previous appliances may have been replaced or updated, or additional appliances may have been added. If it's a commercial kitchen there are likely to be applicable codes that may also have been changed since the original installation.
Better to start with the manufacturer(s) of the exhaust fan you are contemplating installing, and use their calculations. Most of them have online calculators that take into account the kitchen's volume, cooking appliance BTU, ducting considerations... etc.


Different appliances for a kitchen in stainless

Different companies and even lines within companies use various grades and finishes of stainless. There aren't so many that you can't get pretty good matches. A lot of appliances these days are white label and will actually be the same unit with different bezels. That is particularly true with front-load washers but is seen across the appliance industry.


Overflooding because the tons of rain? or is the WELL- PUMP broken?

Your well is likely fine just rising with the water table but you might want to check your pressure tank as suggested above. A change in water pressure suggests something is not quite right.


What equipment is required to install a generator?

You need, at minimum, an interlock. That is a device which physically prevents the generator input and the main supply breaker from being on at the same time. Both can be off, but only one can be on. This is important for electrical line-worker safety.

If you buy or feel the need of an autostart generator, you will need to move loads to a sub-panel and have a transfer switch, so that the loads cannot overwhelm the generator when it auto-starts, and the transfer switch will automatically switch over (and serve the interlock function of keeping the generator off the main power lines.)

With a manual start generator and an interlock, you switch off most loads, start the generator, switch off the main, switch on the generator input, and can power anything on the main panel, but unless you have an absurdly large generator, not all at once.

Which suits you better depends on both your mindset and cost-sensitivity. Even without the cost differential I prefer the flexibility of having any circuit available. Other people may prefer a fully-automatic switchover more.


Stripping the sheath is prohibited

The wires you use have to be identified, i.e. have markings on them.  Interior wire in NM cable is not marked.

You have to pig-wrestle the entire NM cable through, sheath and all.  Good luck.

The correct wires are THWN or XHHW

If you want the flexibility of individual wires, you want THWN or XHHW type. You need a #10Cu green or bare ground and three #6Cu wires, one neutral white or gray, and two hots any other color.  They can be the same color.

If you don't like the price of #6Cu try #4Al.

If you run #3Cu instead, you can run 100A on that wire.  You will need to bump the ground wire to #8Cu and it will need to be bare. This will be a harder pull, though.


I would insulate the outside walls with the rigid foam board insulation like you described first, but do not do the floor at this point in time. Then see what kind of improvement that provides.

I'm not sure what I would do about the existing vapor barrier that's on the walls.  If you leave it in place and put the foam board on top of it, then it's possible that the moisture in the air in the crawl space will permeate through the foam board and condense on the vapor barrier that's against the cold, outside wall.  So you might want to consider putting the foam board behind the vapor barrier, right against the wall, then the vapor barrier.

When insulating walls to crawlspace and/or basement, I have not found a definitive answer as to where a vapor barrier should go.  I have even read some recommendations as to not use a vapor barrier at all; use foam board insulation that has some amount of permeability and just let the wall breath.

I would like to hear from others what their thought are and experiences have been.


Mansfield 4000 series outdoor frost-free faucet leaking from inside the stem tube

It turns out that an o-ring (400/500 Stem End O-Ring in the diagram below) is completely absent. Since there is no leak when water is turned off, the washers should have been fine. When water is turned on, the stem end will be pushed against the thick copper part, thus closing the holes. With the o-ring missing, water drips through the seam, into the holes, and out from the handle thread.


How to cut copper pipes quickly (and cleanly)

A compact miter saw with an appropriate blade would make quick work of things. You'd still have to clean up the cuts to eliminate burrs.

You could also use a circular saw, but you'd want to take care to keep your cuts square.

Most plumbers don't want to lug that stuff around the jobsite, though.  (Even compact cordless circular saws are not something that fits in a tool belt). Once you get skilled with a tubing cutter it's a matter of about 10 seconds, even with 3/4" or larger pipe. You aren't going to reduce that enough with power tools to net much time savings.


I've made the following decisions:

Around the sides of the corner, I removed an extra inch of wallboard so that I can now affix a more sturdy 2" section.
For the face of the archway (the section that walk through), I have purchased 1/4" drywall which opens the space as I need.  Around this 1/4" section, I will use two plastic corner beads, one on each corner.
My joint will indeed be at eyelevel as I don't want to mess with the actual curve of my archway.  I am quite proficient at making joints disappear so I have no worries for that.

Thanks again for your input.


Adding a C wire to a new Honeywell WIfi Thermostat

There should be no problem connecting the C wire from your thermostat to the C terminal in the furnace. Take a look at this diagram, which is a rough approximation of your system.

Notice the cable going to the condensing unit has a red wire connected to the Y terminal in the furnace, and a white wire attached to the C terminal.  When the thermostat calls for COOL, it does so by energizing the Y terminal (connecting R to Y). This provides power to the coil of the contactor, which allows it to close the contacts and turn the condensing unit on. The other side of the contactor coil is connected to the C terminal, as to provide a complete circuit.

You'll notice in the first image that two relays in the furnace, the thermostat, and the contactor coil all connect to the same leg of the transformer. This is because the thermostat basically works like a switch, connecting the R wire to the C wire through control circuitry. Anything that needs 24VAC power, will be connected to both legs of the transformer.


How many amps can 240v handle-tied breakers provide?

Your calculations look correct, indicating that the circuit is currently oversubscribed. The best solution would be if you could put in separate breakers (and wire to match) for some of the heating units. However, you have to be careful as (a) you already have some double-stuff breakers, so you likely will need to turn more regular breakers into double-stuff to be able to fit in another circuit, (b) once you start adding more circuits, other rules such as AFCI may come into play.

As far as the number of circuits. It is typical (though not the only way to do things) to wire things up Panel -> A -> B -> C. In that case, you would see two sets of wires ("in" and "out" or "line" and "load") on A & B as each one connects one direction to get power and another direction to provide power to the next unit. The simple way to tell (provided nothing is really strange) is to turn off the breaker. If all the units you think are connected to that circuit switch off when you turn off the breaker then they are sharing the circuit.


Re-framing basement walls after flooding. Drain tile with no concrete?

My first concern would be why is the wall or slab leaking?  I would start there.  Make sure your foundation is sealed from the outside with a waterproof substance first.  As for the inside, if water get's in and runs down the wall you must have a gap between the framing and the wall to let it run into the drain tile.  I would not put my bottom plate on top of the gravel of the french drain.  You can bump the framing out in front of the drain but you will lose a lot of space that way. You could also mount brackets on the foundation to attach to the studs so it does not rest on the floor.  Or you can use wood spacers.  Your plan for pressure treated wood and wonder board is good but a bit over kill.  The key is to solve your water problem first.


Plumber's putty is usually soft. If it is hard (you mentioned chiseling it off), it's more likely some sort of epoxy putty that someone used to try to repair a broken pipe, and those things rarely work for long. I would expect to find a broken drain line that was too far into the wall to fix easily, or an old pipe that was cut off too close to a fitting to be able to glue a new piece onto it, meaning you may have to open up this wall to get to it and fix it right. That patch job just delayed the inevitable, and that has now fallen on you...


How to plumb aquaponics systems that are far apart?

Augmented siphon:  one pump and a perforated pipe.
For this scheme you need a serious pump and a perforated pipe on the plant side.

Your pump pulls water from the fish tank into the plant tank.  The water is pushed into a PVC pipe along the side of the plant tank near the top.  The PVC pipe is perforated such that some of the pressurized water leaves the pipe.  Some water from the plant tank enters the pipe.  I considered also using a drip hose for this but I think the inside of the drip hose would eventually get clogged with particulate waste from the fish side.
Water entering the pump side of the pipe will be under a lot of pressure and much will escape thru the holes of the pipe.
Farther down the pipe the perforations end.  There is a second smaller pipe joining the formerly perforated pipe at a steep angle.  The idea is that flow in the large pipe produces a Bernoulli effect and low pressure where the pipes join, causing water to flow in from the plant tank.
At the end of the large pipe is a hose leading back to the fish tank.  Pressure in the perforated pipe is lower now but still higher than the outside water, and so enough to push water up and over the top.  Once it has made that little climb the water will go downhill back to the fish tank.
This has one pump which is nice.  Some water from the fish tank will make it thru the perforated pipe and be returned to the fish tank which is not a tragedy.  If the pump stops, nothing will flood.  If the water level rises in the plant tank there will be more pressure assisting the siphon effect on the return circuit.
Obviously with too many perforations all the pressure will be lost in transit of the pipe and there will not be enough left to get over the top.  Too few and you will just be circulating water from and back to the fish tank.
I have this idea that more is better: as pump strength increases you will push more water out the perforations and also have enough residual rapid flow to maximize the Bernoulli effect and intake thru the angled intake pipe.
Ultimately the outflow thru the perforations needs to match inflow via Bernoulli effect.  This is the point where the architect hands the plans over to the engineer.


You have several issues: 1) seismic or high wind area where you live, 2) loads on wall, 3) wall finish

1) If you live in a seismically active area or a high wind area you’ll want to take special care by using steel clips like a Simpson A34 clip top and bottom. (However, your house has been there long enough without damage, it probably doesn’t matter.)

2) To me, a king stud runs from sole plate up to top plate. A trimmer runs from sole plate up to header. So, there are two kinds of loads in your wall: vertical and lateral. All the studs need to work together to resist these loads.

The trimmer, whether turned sideways or not, will support the header and loads based on its area and length. If the header is strong enough with one 2x member, then your trimmer is sufficient too. However, if it’s more than 10’ or so, it could buckle without being braced mid span. Bracing can be by toenailing to the king stud.

The king stud is also holding up vertical loads, but is also resisting lateral loads. One way we insure walls act “together” is by fastening them together with clips or plywood or OSB board. Your house is too old to have these, but could have boards nailed to the wall. If so, keep them.

3) The wall finish can also tie the studs together. Often they used lath and plaster, so the lath acted as the tie.

One interesting thing about your house is that interior load bearing walls support more load than exterior walls, because the floor loads come from both directions resting on the wall. Whereas the exterior walls have load from one direction.  (Even roof loads on exterior walls are less because older homes are “stick built” so roof loads transfer down through interior walls too.)

I’d toenail the studs together AND insure the wall finish extends onto the new king stud and jack stud WITHOUT a nearby joint. (If your ceilings are more than 10’ high or the span onto the wall is more than the rest of the house, I’d see an architect or structural engineer.)


The deck isn't pulling away from the house so much as leaning away from the house.  It's tight at the bottom and separating at the top.

It looks like the reason for that is the outside posts rest on a patio that is settling.  If you look at the third picture, you can see a wedge-shaped gap between the concrete patio and the step at the patio door.  It also looks like an additional gap under the slab at the lawn in that area.

Any fix you do to just the deck support will need to be redone when the slab settles more.  You need to fix that problem first.

There are two downspouts visible.  One dumps water right at the slab's edge, which is a problem.  The other goes into a pipe and where that pipe discharges isn't clear.  However, the picture makes it look like the worst settlement is in that area.  If that pipe actually discharges far away, then the issue may be that the pipe or downspout is full of debris and water is leaking out of the downspout higher up.

The downspout issues need to be fixed before you tackle anything else.  Water dumped next to the slab soaks into the ground and softens the soil under the slab.  You need to get that water far away from the house.  Even after you stop the water problem, there may continue to be some settling for awhile.

If there is also a grading problem, you need to fix that so rain water runs away from the house, and rain falling elsewhere doesn't run toward the house.

Once you stop the erosion, soil softening, and settlement, you can decide whether to jack the patio.  A single slab that size will be tough to jack, especially in a way that supports it evenly it's entire depth toward the house.  You could end up breaking it if you can even lift it.

You would likely need to excavate much of the edge, support broad areas of the slab with timbers, and use a series of bottle jacks to apply pressure across a large area at once.  But even if you lift it, I wouldn't want to support a slab that size by just slipping foam boards under the edge; that creates a lot of stress on the slab and it may crack.  There isn't really a good way to support it from the edge.

I've seen mud jacking and foam jacking used for big slabs.  That would provide support under the entire slab.  However, it can also settle after a few years, especially if there is still active settling of the soil underneath.

If it were me, I'd be inclined to leave the slab alone unless there is future evidence that it is still settling after you solve the water problems.  The slope isn't so much that it affects it's use.  The gaps, like below the patio doors, can be filled to keep the step supported and improve the appearance.

I would try to fill the gap under the slab edge at the lawn.  You can pack material under it by pounding it in.  It won't do much for support, but it will at least help keep stuff out of the gap, and maybe slow further erosion.

That leaves the deck.  You may want to do a potentially temporary fix until you can assess what's going on with slab settlement.  It looks like the support posts aren't actually secured to the slab, just resting on it.  If that's the case, I'm not sure it meets code and isn't very safe.  Someone more fluent in the code can get into that issue more, but without knowing code requirements, I can suggest what would at least be an improvement.

Use timbers and jacks to raise the side of the deck away from the house until it's level again.  Measure the gap you need to fill between the bottoms of the support posts and the slab.  Use squares of cement board (green board), the dimensions of the post, to fill big gaps.  Use plastic shims (back to back in opposite directions to create adjustable parallel surfaces), for small gaps, with enough shims side by side so the entire end of the post is supported.

Once the post is supported at the correct height, trim away any of the support material extending beyond the face of the post.  Then install brackets on the slab to constrain the post so it can't move laterally.


Remodeling a pre-1920's home with planks on the interior walls

Most likely it is shiplap. We just remodeled our kitchen in our 1935 house and underneath the drywall and paperboard, we had something similar. Actually the order was: shiplap, cheesecloth, several layers of wallpaper, then either paperboard (lower half) or drywall (upper half).

As far as whether or not it is structural, we went with the assumption that it was. I'm sure the vertical spacing of the studs in approach does not meet current building standards. However, I am not an architect either. At the very least, having it behind the drywall makes it incredibly easy to hang the drywall and anything else for that matter.


Well, if you do normal house/building wiring, you don't crimp plugs on anything, you just punch-down into jacks (one wire at a time) and buy patch cables pre-terminated. That's what a professional job looks like, and there are good reasons for it - one of which is that getting wires into plugs is fiddly, even with experience. Another is that building wiring is solid and not meant to flex, while patch cables are stranded and survive flexing much better, so using patch cables plugged into wall jacks rather than plug-terminated building wires sticking out of the wall leads to a plant that survives longer.
The type of plug you use, if using a plug, can make a large difference - some are much easier to get the wires into, and some have cute tricks such as being able to feed the wires all the way through the plug and beyond, and then having a crimp tool that cuts off the excess, so that you can have minimal untwisted wires without having to get everything trimmed perfectly before shoving it in.
The main trick with lining up the wires for a plug is to get the twist out as far as needed (but no further), and everything lined up, and trimmed evenly if not using one of those cute trick systems with the post-trimming. This usually involves using pliers on the individual strands to remove the curl, and several insertions in the the plug to verify where a straight cut across the end should be located, and that all strands are in proper position - by which point you would have been done with punching down a jack and moved on (speed, another advantage of using jacks to terminate.) Often a certain wire will decide that it wants to hold back and not shove in even with everybody else, and you have to sort that out.
As for holding them while inserting, pretty much just pinch between thumb and finger after having got the curl out and the wires lined up correctly. Then visually inspect to be sure they are still in the right order and fully inserted.


How can I floor my loft without compressing the insulation?

The UK DIY store B&Q used to sell 'Loft Storage Stilts' for this purpose.

Image courtesy of http://loftstoragestilts.com/ used without permission, but hopefully attribution is enough

Alas they no longer seem to be selling these, so you may now need to contact the the original manufacturer or seek out alternatives.

A google shopping search found another similar product.


Is it okay not to use a hammer drill with tapcon screws?

A regular drill with a good masonry bit will be fine on soft brick.
If the brick is hard like engineering or blue bricks then you will need a hammer drill.


If I've found the right documentation for your opener, it says the lights should be red for a good beam.  You should also get a set of flashes that indicate the fault after you press the button.  Three flashes are for a sensor fault.

https://www.linearproaccess.com/wp-content/uploads/LDO_user.pdf

Follow the troubleshooting steps in the doc to see if they help.


How can I ensure portable generator success during a long natural disaster?

I live in southern New England, where we can usually see our natural disasters coming a few days in advance (snowstorms, hurricanes, etc.), so your considerations will be different, but I'll share what I do and what I've learned in three 5+ day outages over the past two years; it may give you some reference points.

Fuel reserves

I have a gasoline-powered generator, rated for 7000 watts, enough to run our well pump, two furnaces, refrigeration and some convenience items (not all at once, we have to manage around the well load if the furnaces are being run).  I test-run the generator about once a month, running it for about ten minutes.   I keep the tank nearly empty so that when I add fresh gas there won't be a lot of old gas mixed with it.  I add preservative to all my gas when I buy it.

I adjust my fuel reserves by season -- more in the winter when an outage could turn from an inconvenience and spoiled food to property damage from frozen pipes.   When an event is predicted, I max out my portable containers (about 12 gallons) and top off my truck (23 gallon tank).  I have a siphon hose that can reach the bottom of the truck's tank, and have tested using it.   Depending on the season, we can burn 3-6 gallons a day, so this sets us up for 4-5 days (assuming that I can get half the fuel from the truck tank).  If the event doesn't materialize, I burn the gas off in the truck before it sits too long.

I built a rain cover for our generator so that it can be run in rain or snow.   It takes a few minutes to install, I sometimes do this pre-event so we can roll it out and fire it up on short notice.  I also test run right before a possible event.

Spare parts

I keep oil, a spark plug, and some fuel line handy, the plug is clearly marked "Generator".   I had a leaky fuel line once when I needed the generator, thus the spare fuel line on hand.

Other

Make sure you know how to start the generator manually; electric start systems may or may not be there when you need them.  I use a battery maintainer (a trickle charger with intelligence to prevent overcharging) and I make sure the battery is fully charged after each test run.

Use

Plan for what you will want to use, and make sure you have a way to get power from the generator to the loads you want to power.   We have a transfer panel that supplies the well, furnaces, fridge, freezer, convenience outlets in the kitchen, and lights in the powder room and central stairway (this turned out to be genius, as the stairway lights cover a large part of our open floor plan house).   I relocated the power supply for our alarm system to the same circuit as the freezer after killing off the system's battery during our first extended outage.  I also put put a table lamp on the freezer circuit so there's light in the garage (no windows) when the generator is running.

We've run extension cords for the TV & Satellite dish from the nearby kitchen, to the basement for the DSL modem and router (amazingly, we had internet through most of our outages).   We charge phones, laptops, etc., in the kitchen when the generator is running.

We have a pond with fish in it; I put a 15-watt aerator in with an extension cord in warm weather instead of running the 600 watt pump that normally power its waterfall.

We have a rechargeable lantern that we use for bedtime, trips outside, etc. and recharge it during the day; a gas grill and coleman stove cover our cooking (we can relocate our microwave near a generator outlet if needed, but haven't done that yet).   The coleman stove is great for heating water (we have electric hot water and range) as well as general cooking.

We do not run the generator full time; typically run it about 1/3 time (typically running it until the refrigerator compressor cycles off), but it varies based on our expectation for length of outage/fuel reserves, desire to have the TV, etc.

Our generator doesn't automatically charge its own battery; rather than using the unregulated (I think) battery charging cable provided with it, I use the battery maintainer plugged into one of the outlets on the generator.

After the last long outage, I bought a 150 watt inverter with the idea that it could be used to power some LED lights and a radio when we have the generator off, using a battery borrowed from a golf bag cart; this hasn't been tried yet, though.


My kitchen faucet jumps, sputters and stops and squeals when water temperature reaches straight hot

Sounds like the anti-scald feature is working as designed. i.e. it's not SUPPOSED to let you burn yourself with excessively hot water, and the operation is as designed.

Dishwashers are not intended to operate with hands in them, so they normally have no anti-scald feature, and indeed may have a supplementary heater to raise the temperature even more for sanitizing.

Perhaps your hot water temperature has changed slightly, if this "just started happening" after 17 months.


Why is my electric water heater making an intermittent groaning noise?

Groaning, rumbling, or other low-pitched noises from a hot water heater are typical symptoms of excessive sediment buildup in the heater; normally, flushing it via the bottom drain valve is recommended to clean out the sediment buildup.  If not cleaned out, eventually the heater's lower element will burn out due to being buried in insulating sediment (calcium carbonate).


Grounding branch circuits in gutter instead of in panel

The equipment grounding conductors can join together in the gutter...
The overall thrust of your plan, where you bring a bunch of branch circuits into a gutter then send their hots and neutrals to the panel via a short conduit nipple, falls under NEC 250.122(C):

(C) Multiple Circuits. Where a single equipment grounding
conductor is run with multiple circuits in the same raceway,
cable, or cable tray, it shall be sized for the largest overcurrent
device protecting conductors in the raceway, cable, or cable
tray. Equipment grounding conductors installed in cable trays
shall meet the minimum requirements of 392.10(B)(1)(c).

Since we're dealing with 120/240V branch circuits here, this requirement can trivially be met by using a metal nipple with double locknuts (one inside, one outside) at each end to join the gutter to the loadcenter.  Note that since the Wiegmann gutters/troughs do not ship with a grounding terminal bar fitted, you'll have to fit a UL467 listed one yourself.  If you have a drill/tap (or combination drilltap) in either 10-32 or 1/4-28 handy, you can drill & tap a couple of appropriately spaced holes then fit a matching bar using suitable machine screws:

For the 10-32 case, you'll want to use an Ilsco NBAE series bar of the appropriate size with two mounting holes drilled 2.344" apart and 10-32x1" machine screws to mount the bar to the holes
For the 1/4-28 case, you'll want to use an Ilsco NBAS or Penn-Union NA-400 series bar instead, using 1/4-20x3/4" screws (mounting hole spacing varies in this case)

However, not everyone is equipped to tap holes in sheet metal.  For those who aren't, an alternative is to use an Ilsco NBAE series bar, but mount it using 10-32x1" thread forming screws (Fastite™ or equivalent type) into #21 pilot holes in the gutter drilled on the same spacing as above.
...but that doesn't extend to the grounding electrode conductor
However, since you have a legacy 3-wire feeder to the outbuilding in question, you must land the grounding electrode conductor on the bonded neutral bar of the outbuilding's subpanel.  This is by analogy to a service entrance or separately derived system, since both those points have bonds present and both situations require that the GEC be connected to the neutral (grounded conductor), not to an equipment grounding bar or point.  Furthermore, trying to land the GEC in the gutter would most likely violate NEC 250.121, which prohibits the GEC and EGC from sharing the same conductor/wire except under a few select circumstances (which you are not going to run into here).


I have a pool pump on a 30 amp circuit. Can I add a 20 amp GFCI outlet to that same 30 amp breaker. Pump is on 12 gauge wire

You don't have a 30 amp circuit.  Your wire is 12 gauge, so you have a 20 amp circuit with the wrong breaker.

Replace the breaker with 20A
Feel free to install your 15 or 20 amp GFCI since they are legal on 20A circuits
For that matter, you could just install a GFCI breaker. Price both ways.

Gadgets which run on 120V/30A are almost nonexistent.  Nobody builds devices that way.  If it needs that much power, they kick up to 240V/15A, which permits use of 14 gauge wire instead of 10 gauge.

If this pump really is 120V/30A, you are going to have to run new 10 gauge wire anyway.  Generally things that large are given their own circuit.   Might as well re-task the 20A circuit to the outlets.


Where can I find a replacement for a Sylvania F40CW/SS fluorescent tube?

Any common T12 bulb is what you need.

You surely have the most common 4' T12 bi-pin type.  They are everywhere.

You have a wide choice of color temperature (4100k is standard fluorescent color, 5100k is more LED color, 2700K is incandescent color).

And CRI (color rendering index), nobody will sell you less than 80 anymore, but you can get as high as 98.  Your old tubes were probably 50-60 CRI, the difference will blow you away.

Tube sizes

The 4-foot bi-pin type bulb is far-and-away the most common.  They come in two primary types that you'll spot in an instant:

T12 (literally 12/8 inch or 1.5" diameter) - what you have in your hand.
T8 - notably smaller (8/8" or 1" diam.), will physically fit, but won't work properly.
T5 - a very small Euro bulb which is an inch too short with too-narrow pins. This is definitely the wrong thing.

Base types

It's rare, but on occasion you will run into an oddball base type. The 8-foot fluorescent tubes use different styles of base, and some idiot made a 4‘ long version of that - complicating everything. Most of these critters are T12. Just for the record, here are the three base types that are possible:

normal bi-pin: two plain pins 1/2" apart.  Universal on any tube shorter than 4‘.
monopin: one little nub maybe 1/4” across.  Universal on 8’ style tubes.
High-Output dual-pin: an odd plastic casing about 1/2" wide shielding two little pins. Used on exotic high-output 8' tubes mostly.

Consider LED

You can now get "tubes" which are in fact a row of LED lights.  They come in a variety of color temperatures and CRIs (not as good as you can buy in real fluorescent).  Don't just throw a pair in the cart, they take some wiring.

"Plug-n-Play" types use an existing ballast.  The problem is, it may not be your type of ballast (there are several).  Which will leave you in the painful position of having to change ballasts for a technology that shouldn't even use them.
"Direct wire" definitely require rewiring the fixture.  But then you get the old ballast out of there for good.


Base shoe is more common these days, partly for this reason. It's only about 1/2" deep, and generally fits alongside appliances without a problem. Still, I'd bet 3/4" quarter will fit along and under the fridge body from what I can see here.

Worst case scenario you may need to lift your appliances slightly using a rear wheel shim and the front adjusters.


First you should be aware that "tempered" covers a range of glass properties. Some tempered glass is toughened where the pane is significantly stronger than ordinary annealed glass. However, when it breaks it does so into large, irregular pieces. Other glass is tempered in such a way that if the pane is broken, internal stresses reduce it to tiny pieces. This type is known as safety glass.

Panes that have their edges protected within a frame are typically toughened glass, and the stuff is surprisingly tough. Panes designed with exposed edges (such as shower doors) are typically safety glass. This is because edges are the weak point and a pane with exposed edges is much more likely to break. I recommend you talk with a glass company before proceeding. Broken panes can, and do take lives (usually from people running into closed sliding glass doors and bleeding out).

Concerning option #4 there is a product called Veranda. Home Depot sells it. It is solid vinyl dimension "lumber" that is worked like ordinary lumber. It is durable, easy to clean and 100% waterproof. It will make a good looking frame, and will bond to the glass using silicone caulk. You can securely fasten stainless steel hinges to this frame. The finished look will depend on your caulking skills. Sounds like a fun project. Good luck.


Connecting 3700 Watt induction hob - special wiring?

Yes, if you already have a Schuko socket (and it's the only socket on that circuit), you can just put a plug like that on the cable and plug it in.
16A at 230V is 3680W, which is probably what the 3700W actually is (rounded up for marketing purposes).
Edit: I noticed in the instructions for the induction hob that it's possible to limit the power used by the hob. If you're worried about your wiring not being good enough, or if the circuit breaker trips when you're using the hob at full capacity, you can limit it to 3.5kW, 3kW, or even less.


Don't put this DC PSU inside the ceiling.  These kinds of adapters are not 100% reliable.  Sometimes they get hot.  Sometimes they fail.  Sometimes the connector for the AC supply fails.
Find a suitable serviceable location for the PSU, near an existing or new power socket where it can be plugged in.   You can run the DC cord into a wall and to the first loudspeaker.
If the location you want the PSU is too far from the speaker for its existing DC cable, my suggestion would be to cut that cable in half, and splice in a length of 16/4 individually shielded pairs (two pairs).  Use one pair to extend the power, and the other pair could be used for the speaker's Aux In connection should you wish to use it in future.  The shielding may not be necessary but it's cheap and might help reduce hum and noise.  Ground the shielding at the PSU end.


It is quite possible to slide off a wet roof even if it's not that steep.

Shingles over shingles are not remotely close to vapor-tight, so they will dry eventually.


What's the best way to seal unused flue?

You didn't mention what the opening was that the smell was entering the house with. If it is a thimble opening, you can block the opening with solid mineral wool insulation, cut to the size of the opening and fit snugly. This will stop the downward drafting. Add a thimble cap over the insulation and it will look fine. It also will stop cold air from entering the house through the flue.

You could also put a flat concrete patio block. cut to just larger that the flue opening, over the unused flue. You can secure it in place with some exterior masonry caulking. This will stop the drafting, but also make it possible to remove the cover if you decide to use the second flue for another purpose.


First off I seriously doubt that the lock cylinder pulling out like that is anything even close to its normal operation. In fact it is an indication that the lock itself is seriously broken.

Normal behavior for a cheap lock like that is to have two positions (locked and unlocked) where the key can pull out of its slot in either position. However the lock cylinder stays in place. The two rotational positions for the lock will generally be either a quarter turn or half turn from each other.

Since you have mentioned that the garage door has an electric opener please be aware that 90% or more of people never use their garage doorlocks due to the inconvenience of having to get out of the vehicle in order to open the garage door. This disuse of the lock over years leads to the thing becoming corroded and sometimes fully freezing up. It does not help that these cheap locks are made of cheap pot metal or poorly plated iron that invites the corrosion.

If you need servicable locks then I would suggest that you will likely want to replace these with some better quality retrofit latch/lock assemblies.

To get working garage door remotes you could do what I did. First I threw away all the old garage door remotes that had quit working. Then I went to eBay and purchased a set of remote controlled relays similar to that shown below. The relay board gets mounted inside the garage on the wall near the manual open/close button. The N.O. and COM terminals of the relay get connected in parallel to the manual switch connections. Then a 12VDC wall power adapter is wired into the relay unit to provide power. The adapter plugs into a nearby AC mains outlet. (I found a suitable 12VDC power adapter on the shelf at my local Goodwill outlet for ~2$US). If you have two garage doors the relay unit shown below can support both door openers separately from one remote fob.

A couple of additional things to be aware of:

If you want more than one fob either purchase two relay kits or look around for a seller that bundles two fobs with the kit.
The fob and relay unit need to be paired with the same code. As shipped the seller normally has arranged for the proper pairing but typically sets all units to the same code. These units support many hundreds of codes and you may elect to change the pairing code before installing the unit. The codes are set inside the fob and on the relay board via simple solder blob connections.


Could a group of lay volunteers build interior office space to code?

You can also do the electrical.  Much of it anyway.

Commercial electrical usually is required to be in conduit, and usually, there's a civil requirement that commercial work be done under the supervision of a real electrician.

You don't need to be an electrician to plan circuits, figure out routes and rough wire lengths, develop a wiring plan and get him to check it over.

You don't need to be an electrician to have all the right parts in all the right places.

EMT conduit is pretty straightforward to lay.  You don't need to be an electrician to lay conduit, since  you're not putting any wires into it.

You also don't need to be an electrician to pre-fish a pulling string through each segment of conduit.

Now the electrician attaches the wires to the pulling string, and that usually tedious job is in his rearview.

Another thing you don't need an electrician for is buying supplies, particularly 11-13 colors of wire.  Electricians are inclined to use a rainbow of colors if they have them, and they always have white, black, green and red.  Buying other colors - brown orange yellow pink blue violet gray (lots of gray) and white-with-red-stripe and white-with-blue-stripe, will allow him to more easily color-code his work for easier maintenance later.


Replacing the remote for an older garage door opener remote?

I purchased a Chamberlain KLIK1U 2 button universal garage door remote a little while back and remember there being a dip switch option. I'm not sure if you can program two dip switch openers to it, but it might be worth a try.

Another option which is the one I had to do is that if you have a button inside the garage that you press to open the door, you can get a pair of Chamberlain 955D receivers. It allows you to use a rolling code remote on the opener. If you used one for each opener, you could get one remote with several buttons and program it.

I hope this helps!


How do I cover nail holes in composite trim in a wet location?

Countersink with a nailset, struck with a hammer.

Fill with painters caulk.


I've never connected a motion switch before but it looks like the two whites neutrals in the wall box stay together, and then just twist one of the two blacks coming out the wall box each and individually with one of the blacks coming off the switch (just pick one from wall to twist with wire nut with one on the switch, and then do the other blacks). The green and the other small wire are ground wires so those will go from a newly connected pigtail to the metal box, and follow instructions from the Important Grounding Note section below for correctly connecting the grounds.

Important Grounding Note: You should use pigtails to connect the two grounding conductors to the circuit grounding conductors, and the box. Putting them all under the same screw, is not the proper way to do it.


The rough cut is not dug out to the exact measurement of the finish patio dimension.  So you would not be laying pavers againt the edge of the roughcut.  You still need the space to make laying the last row easy.  After the pavers are laid, you just backfill the roughcut.

While you do not have to do this. the last row is laid in concrete to lock all the pavers in. Some of the concret is allowed to go up the side of the last row but still beneath the surface.  The other methods is to use commercial paver retainers which uses long spikes to hold the retainer strips in place. This prevents the pavers  over time from creeping outward leaving large gaps.  You would have seen this on older patios where the edge rows become uneven or moved outward where a blocking barrier was not used.


How can I eliminate a gap in a refrigerator door gasket?

Most likely the door is out of alignment, and realigning the door is a required step for many gasket replacements. The screws that hold the gasket in place are also the ones holding the door in alignment. You typically loosen the screws that hold the seal with the exception of the corners, inspect the gap and twist the door until it's properly aligned (by pulling or pushing the top/bottom of the door to close the gap), and then tighten all of the screws, rechecking the alignment as you go.


Are you talking about a retaining wall above the house's ground level, or below?

If above, you will need to provide enough clearance for any emergency exits but other than that I can't think of any limit. As for being built into the house, you could think of a walk-out basement as having a retaining wall on the uphill (non-walkout) side.

If you are talking about a wall below the house, you need to make sure you don't undermine the house's foundation. The distance you need to be away depends partly on the soil so if you are wanting to get close to the house (say, closer than 2 or 3 times the wall height) you would definitely want to talk to an engineer.


What are the pros and cons for covering a steel fence post in wood?

Wood being used to cover or encase a metal post, I would consider a reasonable and acceptable practice.  The wood would need to be protected from the elements as any other application where wood is exposed.  Many paints, stains and wood treatments are used for just such purpose.  Ongoing maintenance will be necessary to ensure proper protection.  Some wood products display a natural ability to stand up well when exposed to the elements, i.e. Redwood and Cedar. Additionally, the newer composite materials stand up very well to wind, rain and sun. Construction with metal and glass is a relatively recent phenomenon. Stone and wood has been use since before recorded history.


Forgot washer when after building a desk

Take out the screws, put the spacers in, replace the screws and tighten snug to firm, but not hard. See how it performs.


Is it possible to recharge a dehumidifier

TLDR: Not just no, but heck no.

Throwing good money after very bad

First, electricity costs: any dehumidifier old enough to use R-22 is also super inefficient as-built: The government's Energy Star program has really pushed/incentivized manufacturers to make appliances more efficient, and wow, have they ever done it!  We constantly have people asking how to connect a 15-20A whole-house air conditioning unit to the old 30A wiring that their obsolete unit required.  You will literally save the cost of the new unit in a few years of use, even if you didn't also have to fix it.

But you also have to fix it.  Here's the thing.  Geordi LaForge didn't "beam" the R-22 out of your unit... it leaked out via a leak you're not even thinking about yet.   The leak is quite likely due to general deterioration of the unit, e.g. corrosion on the aluminum evaporator between the fins, and you will find the unit entirely unfixable in any practical sense. Yes, you can fix the one leak, but right next to it are 8 more places leaks about to occur.

You would have to retrofit a Schrader valve, charge the unit with R-22 and dye markers to even find the leak, so we're talking at least 2 charges of R-22 if you can quickly fix it, and most likely you can't.  Do you have experience fixing refrigerant leaks? Now it's even more R-22 as you learn.  And if you botch the repair in a way that finally kills the unit... then it's all wasted.

Realistically the best you could even hope for is one more season of service. Is that worth the expense, R-22 and risk? Of course it isn't.

I'm a big fan of the thrifty gene, reuse-ability and avoiding the throwaway economy, but there are limits, for Pete's sake!  Obsolescence/efficiency matter.

You cannot legally service this yourself

Because the law restricts freon sales (the existence of a black market does not mean it is legal), and you need licensure, not least because you must (be competent and equipped to) recover any recoverable freon, e.g. the stuff suspended in the oil.

Here's what they don't want (for below reasons):  Cleetus  refills unit.  Cleetus did not understand that missing freon means you have a leak.  Cleetus assumes botched refill, refills again.  That leaks out too.  Cleetus finally gets a clue and adds some dye marker (third refill now), finds leak at freshly installed Shrader valve.  Fixes that.  Refills again.  Finds real leak, makes amateur-hour attempt to fix.  Refills again.  You're getting the picture. The government cares because of the freon, but it's bad for Cleetus too: cumulatively, Cleetus has spent more in cash than buying a brand-new one, not to mention about $1000 worth of Cleetus' time.

The government doesn't allow that, which is why you need to either get the training, licensure, and equipment... or leave it to the pros.

Note that this article is from 2010.

Substitutes available. Asterisk.

The refrigeration cycle works on the principle of the gas laws.  Almost any liquid or gas will work as a refrigerant as long as its vapor temperature and vapor pressure are in a practical range, and the equipment is tuned for that range.  It's also helpful if the refrigerant isn't corrosive, poisonous or flammable, though that last one is negotiable :)   So there are lots of choices.

However, every one will have its tricks and traps. For instance some very good refrigerants are incompatible with the mineral oil used in R-22 units (and they have a solution for that).

Why

R-22 is basically the architectural version of R-12.  And if you followed what happened in the 70s/80s with the R-12 phaseout, that has also been happening with R-22.

Nothing about refrigerant requires freon per se - the refrigerant cycle will work with any gas, but the equipment needs to be tuned for a particular boiling point and vapor pressure. But many are corrosive, toxic, flammable etc. (R290 actually is propane, and foam cups have been blown with pentane since the 50s).

These are extremely simple molecules - a carbon with some fluorines and chlorines tacked on. Atomically, those two bond quite violently, making the molecule rather stable after it is created. That was the idea; have a molecule so tightly bound it won't react with anything, and thus, is non-toxic.  Much like a noble gas (helium, argon, xenon etc.) but that boils at a useful temperature and pressure for air conditioning.  The scientists really patted themselves on the back with these.

The molecules were presumed to be so stable that they couldn't interact with anything. Nobody imagined what would happen in the high atmosphere.  Turns out under those extreme conditions, they do react, and they were tearing part of the atmosphere off the planet. Even worse, the reaction finished with the freon intact, and the destruction would repeat again, and again, and again.  (this is called being a "catalyst").

Rather than go underground and make Kate Beckinsdale our queen, the world decided (in Montreal) it was less destructive to the economy to just phase out those refrigerants and blowing agents.  And it's working... but not fast enough; I'm almost out of sunscreen!

I don't know if you were around for the R-12 phase-out, but they pulled that lickety-split (considering they had to retool a whole supply chain).  R-12 went first becuase it was the most damaging, it went in vehicles which ran in hostile high-vibration environments so they had a lot of leaks, were often wrecked and scrapped, etc. R-22 was also a problem but not as urgent, since residential systems last a lot longer.

Anyway, they did phase out R-22, starting by putting pressure on equipment manufacturers to change to safe refrigerants. They slowed production; for the last 10 years they've only made 10% of the R-22 they used to, and that did drive up prices, but it also reduced demand, since homeowners with older systems were driven into new systems both by freon costs and by efficiency gains, which paid for the conversion in electricity savings!  Around here we see lots of people installing A/C systems needing 15A and 20A breakers - on old wiring with 30A breakers.  Sign of the times!

Production has been suppressed for a decade, but very recently, in Jan 1 2020, production was banned altogether.  All R-22 on the market is either

new old stock
Recycled freon (since servicers are required to "vampire out" remaining freon and send it up the recycling chain to be reused or annihilated, that's part of why you need licensure to handle freon).
Black market stuff from the third world, but in that case more likely:
Fake
A "substitute", that could be viable if the installer knew what it was and how to navigate its tricks and traps (but they aren't saying, and you're proceeding assuming it's real R-22). *

Since the ban, you can expect prices to be a "hockey stick" graph as old/recoverable stock is used up. Since it was only banned Jan 1, we're just rounding the corner, and prices will go ballistic from here.

* There's lots of R-12A on the market; read the fine print, it's not even slightly R-12.


NO, thermocouples may operate at as low as 1-13mv (10-13 mv for operating current, 3-1mv for ECO -emergency cut-out- at low temp.).

Some older appliances used what we call thermopiles or pilot generators (which were actually a bunch of thermocouples bundled together) to supply higher current flow (like 400mv) to operate equipment and/or control circuits (gas control valves, thermostat circuits, fan control relays, etc.)

example:


Why does my shower goes cold when any other faucet is turned on?

When someone turns on another faucet it reduces the flow of water go to the hot water tank so less hot water is available for your shower and then you just get the cold. I suspect if you had the shower set to totally hot, you'd just notice reduced flow.

I believe they make kits for shower values that help prevent this by reducing the cold flow if the hot flow is reduced, I know they make anti-scald ones to prevent the opposite problem. There are also strategies for plumbing to help balance things better so the effect isn't as strong.


Toliet won't stop making a noise from the tank

Your tank water level is too high, you need to adjust it to be lower than the level of your overflow tube (the white tube in the middle of your pic.

You appear to have a fluidmaster toilet valve (the black thing on the left) there should be an adjustment knob sticking out on an arm that can be turned by hand or screwdriver. You need to turn it counter-clockwise a few turns. After turning, test by flushing. Adjust till the water stops at least a half inch below the top of the overflow tube.

Picture pointing out the adjustment screw.


What to consider before removing a drop ceiling?

I think you understand the pros and cons, as you have listed them very well. However, if you’re considering renting the basement space out in the future, your number one complaint will be sound control: in both directions.

Removing the existing ceiling and exposing the joists, wires, etc. is a personal preference , but will allow you to add/move lights, add sound control, etc. in the future when you know more about what spaces are going to be used in the rental.

We just did this for a client, but painted the ceiling white. I think black on a low ceiling could feel “weighty”.


How much does it cost to run 24kWh on my diesel generator?

The generator you linked to claims to need 4 gallons of fuel to produce 9.5 hours of power at 2.5 kW, or 23.75 kWh.  That is about 6 kWh per gallon.  At $ 4 per gallon, your fuel cost is about 67 cents per kWh.

In other words, you would spend about $ 16 per day on fuel to average 1 kW.  That cost does not include lubricants, maintenance, depreciation, nor the hassle of refueling the generator on a daily basis.  In most places, this fuel cost is much more than the retail cost of the electricity produced.


Can I remove just the upper part of my 1 Piece Acrylic Tub (Walls) and leave the tub in place?

If you take a look at the picture in this question you'll see that a "normal" tub has an integrated flange that is meant to go behind the tile.

Your one-piece is not designed with tile in mind, so especially at the corners, you are going to have a gap between the tub and the wall.  Depending on the design of your one piece, cutting off the top might cause it to loose some rigidity and cause the tub to flex.

What you would need to do is cut off the top and leave a flange of sorts that you could use to attach the tub to the wall securely.  Then you're going to need some trim or possibly the "sill" that you referenced to make a good transition between the tub and the wall and tile down to that transitional piece.

It may be possible, but with the work involved and the unknowns - have you priced a basic tub?  Or looked at a building surplus type store?  I'd make sure you don't have any reasonably priced options before resorting to this (you can get a new, retail, enameled steel tub for less than $150).


What is the most important aspect of plumbing door frame

There's a built-in gap in the height and width of the opening. so trimmer/king plumb parallel to the wall's length isn't crucial (to a degree). It's far more critical to get the wall itself plumb perpendicular to the rough opening. Nearly everything else can be shimmed out later, assuming reasonably accurate dimensions.

Using a level of adequate length (to account for curves in the studs--I'd consider 4' to be a minimum), check plumb on the narrow edge of the king studs. How precise you get is up to your personal standards. A centered bubble indicates plumb or level. If it's not centered, it's not plumb or level. Flip the level end-for-end or rotate it 180 degrees and compare readings to gauge level calibration.

If the wall isn't plumb and flat, you have two possible problems:

The door will swing one way or the other due to gravity.
The R.O. will have a twist, requiring some creative jamb mounting and casing installation to allow proper door operation and get it looking right.

If all the walls on the project are reasonably plumb and straight (top and bottom) there's no reason that your openings won't be as well.

You mention king and jack (trimmer) flush. That's important to keep the wall at the correct thickness. A thickened wall makes trim work more challenging, but won't typically affect the installation or operation of the door itself.


As a quick fix, you could get a module that chimes when the gate is not closed or latched.


So let's consider just the junction box for a second

There's 3 wires intersecting here

The hot line from a prior outlet/circuit breaker
The line to your outlet
The line to your attic light

There's room for a fourth wire here so that's what I would suggest. But you'll need to make another store run to do it. Return your 25' 14/2. My local big box sells 15', so if you can buy some 15' 14/2 do it. Then get 25' of 14/3. Now, let's get your light in (be sure to turn the power off first!)

Cut the hole for your fixture and mount the box above it. If I were you, I'd go the extra mile here and mount a box attached to a bracket, just in case you ever want to hang anything significant off it.
Put your 14/2 into the junction box in the picture above (you have an open clamp on the left side). Just attach the wires to the existing nuts as they already are (white to white, etc). Run the other end into your new fixture junction box
Cut a hole for your old work box in the drywall for the switch. Don't mount the box in just yet, just make sure it fits for now and then leave it out
Near where the 14/2 for the outlet goes into the wall, drill another hole (needs to be at least 1/2" or greater). The tricky part is you need to make sure you're in the same cavity as the hole you just cut in step 3. Once you have the hole, fish your 14/3 down here. You'll want a helper down by the hole who can grab the wire and pull it through
Before you go down, put your 14/3 into the box for your fixture (can cut it now or fish and cut below)
Inside the fixture box you'll attach the wires. White to white and bare to bare, but attach the red wire to the black wire in your 14/2 (nut this one off but leave the rest un-nutted). Leave the black from the 14/3 by itself for now.
Put your 14/3 into your switch box and mount it. When you put the switch in, attach the red and black (doesn't matter the order) and your ground. Strip the white and just put a pigtail on it. Mount the switch.
Mount your fixture. White to white and black to the 14/3 black that's by itself. Put nuts on the rest of the wires now. Don't forget to ground it!

You can turn the power back on now and your fixture should work. Why the extra white wire in the switch box? Code now requires a neutral in the box. Some modern switches need one (like wi-fi switches). The cost here isn't that much more, but it will save you a lot of hassle if you do it right now.

There's one thing I did want to note here before closing. Your outlet is a 20A outlet, but your wire is 14/2, which is 15A max. That's not safe. I would buy a 15A outlet and replace it.


Adjusting Air Pressure in Well Pressure tank

With the tank in the basement you will need a few extra psi to fully push all the water out.
Many pressure tanks are on the same level as the faucets. You can do it either way but remember you have 8-10’ column of water of back pressure so where you might be 2 psi below the cut in pressure with the additional water column pressure you may need to be just over the pressure to use the total volume of the pressure tank so 42 psi may be needed to get full draw down. Open the water spigot upstairs and add air , the difference of draining below and above is about 4 psi so take the tank to 42 psi with the upstairs faucet open if it holds your bladder or diaphragm is good. If the faucet starts blowing bubbles and you loose the air pressure at the tank it needs a new bladder or replaced.
In reality it’s not a big deal unless you have a small tank.


Apartment with no grounding/earthing... do I really need it?

It is a question of risk level.

People in the USA have lived with ungrounded circuits for decades. With care and proper maintenance you might reasonably expect to live with them without incident.

In other parts of the world, grounded circuits have been the rule for more than half a century.

There is a reason that grounded circuits are now required. That reason is mostly sufficiently large numbers of dead bodies or badly injured and incapacitated living ones.

An approved work-around in the USA is the fitting of GFCI outlets, which reduce the risk of fatal electric shock. But check local code.


My oven insulation is burning when I bake

you probably have some loose /corroded connections that are arcing and burning some insulation. The rats could have gnawed at some of the wire insulation causing arcing.
You need to get this looked at. Very little you could do safely. It is dangerous.


How to clear a copper water line in the concrete pad?

I would disconnect the supply at that isolation valve and then "backfeed " it to try flushing the scale out the way it came in.

Even feeding both points at the same time may make a difference.

Did this for one of my taps and it worked...

Have you checked for any of those tiny inline scale filters - common before washing machines etc.


Can I splice a main neutral in a new feed thru (meter panel) box?

The code allows you to splice service entrance conductors (230.46) 2011 code book.  But you cannot splice them in the meter can.  You have to use a weatherproof box seperate from the meter can; if installed outside, and weatherproof fittings.  The splice must be made with approved equipment.  Remember a chain is as strong as it's weakest link.  If you ever have a problem with the feed it will be thewre.  Best thing to do is re-run the line if it's economical it would be best.


Why do my upstairs toilets run randomly?

First thing, replace the flapper; it's cheap, easy to install and probably half if not all of your problem. Opening a faucet just triggers the fill-valve sooner than it would normally try to make up for the slow leak.

Next, try tightening the the screw that holds the float at the correct fill level. I like to see at least a 1\4" before it will spill into the over-flow. Yours may have a fill-level line but don't be afraid to short it some. Be aware that messing with the guts might make it worse. Be prepared to replace the fill valve assembly along with the flapper, which will almost certainly solve the problem (for another 10 years).


heating zone stays hot even when the thermostat isn't calling

You need a check valve on all three return lines from the 3rd floor to prevent flow from the second floor loop going through 3rd floor radiators.  Follow your diagram from the circulator through the first 2nd floor radiator to the Tee.  From the tee water can go "north" to feed the third floor radiator and return to the loop through another 3rd floor radiator from the common manifold (path of least resistance).  A check valve is not electric and allows flow in only one direction.


How should I ground a heat pump capacitor?

The metal strap that holds the cap in place is the ground. You have 3 connections so that is a dual element cap it has 2 capacitors internally normal values are like 5uf & 45uf  370-400v .
1 terminal will be common “C” and normally one will have a “S” start and the other “R” run , with a metal can the case is grounded by the strap on every system I have worked on.
Note the strap for your cap is just to the left in the photo.
I did remember some caps are labeled “c”  common and “H” for the compressor “f” fan this is where a dual element cap is used for starting 2 different motors but they can be used interchangeably if the ratings are the same the 45uf element is for starting the compressor and the 5uf element is for the fan or in some cases the run of the compressor.


Is there a way to make my own chalkboard paint without using unsanded grout?

You need unsanded grout, paint, and chalk.

Mix your unsanded grout.

Then add the unsanded grout to your paint.  The ratio is about 1 unsanded grout to 10 paint.

Then you have to mix really well.  If hand mixing this could be a good 10-20 minutes.

Paint section.

Let it dry a day.

Rub chalk all over the paint very thickly.  Let it sit for about a half hour.  Wipe of chalk with rag or eraser - nothing wet.

Should be good to use.


when freezers are not in use fr 2-3 weeks a month, should they be left plugged in?

Freezers have very little "thermal inertia" when empty -- the compressor cycles on and off more often (which can cause more wear) in an empty freezer than one that's full (or partially full) of food, which makes it less efficient:

A full refrigerator retains cold better than an empty one. If your
refrigerator is nearly empty, store water-filled containers inside.
The mass of cold items will enable the refrigerator to recover more
quickly after the door has been opened. On the other hand, don't
overfill it, since that will interfere with the circulation of cold
air inside. The simplest solution is to buy the right size for your
family in the first place.

Full/empty efficiency has also been answered over in Cooking.StackExchange.com:  Does keeping a fridge/freezer full significantly help energy efficiency?
I'd suggest not leaving the freezer empty when not in use, but keeping some frozen jugs of water in the freezer all of the time -- not only does this help reduce compressor cycling, but it also helps chill food faster when you load new food into the freezer.
Freezers in daily use can last decades, so I wouldn't worry about excess wear by keeping your freezers plugged in -- just don't leave them completely empty.
Fridigidaire recommends leaving their refrigerators on for periods of a few weeks, and turning them off for longer periods of time:

Leave the unit operating during vacations of less than three weeks. If the appliance will not be used for several months:

Remove all food and unplug the power cord.
Clean and dry the
interior thoroughly.
Leave the door open slightly, blocking it open
if necessary, to prevent odor and mold growth.

Kenmore has a similar recommendation for their chest freezers.


My inflatable hot tub says "don't use with an extension cord"... but can I?

I think you have likely answered your own question. The use of an extension cord could cause a voltage drop, especially since the factory cord is long already and the spa probably has an electric motor that would be damaged by voltage drop. Also, cord/plug connections are not weatherproof.

This is a CYA (cover-your-arse) by the manufacturer. Your plan of using a short heavy duty cord (same wire gauge as the factory cord) with the connections indoor should be fine.


Why does my generator throws 220 volts to one leg when put under load

Without more information I'm guessing a bit, but I'll bet that you're connecting your generator's 220VAC across your house's two 120VAC phases, with no neutral connection. That will work fine, IF you are drawing equal amounts of power from the two phases.

But what if you aren't? Let's say you plug a 1500W hair drier into one 120VAC outlet, and a 100W lightbulb into another 120VAC outlet, and they're on opposite phases. The only path for the current from the generator goes as follows:

From one generator output into the hair drier
Out of the hair drier into the house neutral
Out of the house neutral into the lightbulb
Out of the lightbulb back into the generator

So, you've basically connected the hair drier and lightbulb in series across the generator. But, since the hair drier's impedance is so much lower than the lightbulb, the lightbulb will bear the brunt of the 220VAC generator output, and will blow before the hair drier even starts to get warm.

(This is a general principle; if you have two devices in electrical series, the one with the greatest resistance will dissipate the greatest amount of power.)

So, as you flick the circuit breakers on, you're inevitably adding unbalanced loads to the two sides of your breaker panel. Bingo: the less-loaded side will see higher voltage, perhaps even a drastically higher voltage.

(Note that even if your generator has a neutral, and you're using it, there's no guarantee that drawing a lot of current from one of the two phases won't mess with the voltage on the other phase.)

For way too much detail, here's a simplistic calculation, based on the standard voltage, current, resistance and wattage calculations:

Current (amps) = Voltage (volts) / Resistance (ohms)
Power (watts) = Voltage * Current = Voltage^2 / Resistance

Based on its wattage, the resistance of the lightbulb is:

100 Watts = 110V^2 / Resistance
100 Watts = 12100 / Resistance
Resistance = 12100 / 100 = 121 ohms

Based on its wattage, the resistance of the hair drier is:

1500 Watts = 110V^2 / Resistance
1500 Watts = 12100 / Resistance
Resistance = 12100 / 1500 = 8 ohms

The total current of the circuit is:

Current = Voltage / Resistance
Current = 220 / (121 + 8) Ohms
Current = 1.7 amps

Voltage across the hair drier is:

Voltage = 1.7 amps * 8 ohms = 13.6 volts

Probably not enough to even spin the blower. But, what's happening to our poor little 100W lightbulb? Let's see:

Voltage = 1.7 amps * 121 ohms = 205 volts.
Power = Voltage * Current = 205 * 1.7 = 350 Watts. (Pop!)

(To check the calculations: if you add the two calculated voltages, you get 205V + 13.6V = 218.6V, which is close enough to 220V for our purposes.)


I don't live in a hot climate, but I do know one thing, heat rises and cold falls. i can't understand the justification of putting AC into a crawl space that is not air tight.  I answered your question a long time ago about insulating and venting the crawl, and I still stand by that advise. I can not believe the air conditioning a dirt floor crawl space is going to positively effect the temp in the house above by any measurable amount. I think it will a waste of energy and money to AC the crawl.  I COULD BE WRONG, but I'd love to hear a compelling argument for doing it.


If the unit was working somewhat fine and you were simply doing much appreciated maintenance to restore its past performance, then you mixed up the wiring during the new thermostat install.

If the unit wasn't cooling and therefore prompted the maintenance, then it would likely be that the TXV (Thermal Expansion Valve) needs to be replaced.

If the unit's inside coil was hot, then the Thermostat wiring is screwy...assuming it's set to Cool and not Heat. If the inside coil wasn't hot, then the Thermostat is still wrong, but you fortunately discovered before heating season that the Reversing Valve needs to be replaced.


Properly waterproofing a shower area sharing a living room wall

The proper installation order: vapor barrier, backer-board, tile.

Secondly, since this isn't a drywall/wood wall, the backer-board would protrude the tiles off the wall about 1/2 an inch, this is easily fixed at the top where there is a tile moulding but was wondering if there were any other elegant solutions?

I'm not sure that I understand this problem, but perhaps you need to run the backerboard to the top and corners of the wall. Use tile trim or bullnosed tile along the edges and in the corners anywhere it's necessary.

Thirdly, wouldn't the backer-board cause something similar to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5tl1-4FaxUU @ 32:32 with the backerboard and the plaster?

That's drywall in the video, not backer board. The difference is like the difference between cement and chalk. Backer board is cement-like. Drywall (gypsum) is more chalk-like.


How can I patch the ceiling and rehang a shower curtain rod?

Realizing none of this is intended to support a person, or animal, or support anything over a person or animal.

Which answer would you like?

In order of suggested preference, and holding strength

Open up the ceiling enough [24" x 8"] to get a piece of lumber screwed between 2 joists - then patch
Open up the ceiling enough [10" x 6"] to get a piece of lumber laying between 2 joists - then patch
Open up the ceiling enough [8" Circle] to get a fan support bracket between the joists then patch
Open up the ceiling enough [6" x 6"] to get a large piece of drywall on top of ceiling, for 2 layer patch


Piping gravity fed condensate line down interior wall into crawlspace then through rim joist to outside

Could you do it sure , but you will need a pump to go horizontal can’t just dump under the house unless you want other problems and it will be found on an inspection if you want to sell.
If you don’t mind a 45 or steeper slope  to an outside wall that could be done also and would be a better option than under the house in my opinion.
Under the house you are really taking a chance of something as simple as a spider building a nest in the drain line. Any obstructions tend to cause the system to back up.
Regarding backups It’s not just 1 brand several brands I have installed and very high end units I have been called to fix, I see no water in the down pipe but a slight plug in the pipe opening and the water is overflowing inside The machine(s) have been level but the tray is over filled and pouring out (ok more like a dribble, Or the safety shut the machine down) the home owner(s) always want to know why/ not happy hot house.
To date I have seen several spiders , grass clippings and earwigs being the cause and 2 or 3 that the hose curled up and the water made a trap once straightened the problem was gone hence my forcing the drain straight below the Chanel covering.
I am not sure if it is the ridges in the pipe or what make them back up so easily. I have seen it quite often to the point I cut the lines several inches above the ground and tape a rod to the pipe so it stays straight and cannot curl.
In the training classes I have asked and so far no one has given a satisfactory answer other than the ribs.


The key questions are:

Is it warranted? For how long? Are you willing to accept liability for failure after that period (or after the company closes its doors)?
Does the warranty cover replacement expenses? I'd wager no. The problem there is apparent.

Don't do it unless you have no practical alternative or are compensated for potential costs in advance.


Why is my 1997 Hot Springs Sovereign hot tub not heating?

Not sure if this helps but I ran in to something similar. If your tub gets too hot, it might go past its heat limit and stop heating all together. There should be a high limit reset switch that you'll need to hit to get it heating again. Just adjust the temperature setting so it doesn't hit the limit. Mine was showing that it was heating on the top panel, but wouldn't start heating until I reset the limit switch. I had prior work done to it and the tech cranked the heat all the way up to test something and I overlooked it once we got it going again.


Are there any caveats or benefits to TPI hacksaw blades?

It's a gimmick.
Since proper tooth size on a hacksaw is directly related to the thickness of the metal you are cutting, you are guaranteed to have 2/3 of the blade be the wrong toothing for whatever you are cutting.
Save your money to buy a better quality hacksaw frame that you can easily and quickly switch blades on, or get additional hacksaw frames and keep different toothed blades mounted in each one.
There is a different product of the same name that has some benefits in some situations - a "Variable Tooth" which is more of a slight variation (like 17-18-19-18-17-18 instead of 18) to reduce problems of harmonic vibrations from an interaction of tooth size and sawing speed. This is not the product you asked about, and it's of limited benefit for hand hack sawing where the user will simply adjust speed to avoid the vibrations.