Can I build a 3 stage whole house water filter myself?

I've installed many filter systems this way, it's very common.

(random from web; not my install)

Installing the filters themselves is pretty straight-forward, with a couple things to note:

Some people (including this picture above) install a bypass to the filters, but I'd actually not recommend that. It's too easy to accidentally open and have mostly unfiltered water coming into the house (water follows the path of least resistance). There's really no reason to have a bypass (you can't live without water for the 10 minutes it takes to replace the filters?).
If you have taps you want to get unfiltered water (eg, outside) then just split those off before the filters.
Installing a pressure gauge before and after the filter chain is a good idea to let you know when to change filters. You can install one between every filter if you want (and are willing to spend the money).
Be sure to test screwing and unscrewing the filter before finalizing everything. In the above picture, for example, the water line below the filters will probably make it a bit of a pain to get the filter housing off.
Install isolation valves before and after the chain. This prevents you from having to drain your entire pressure tank and house to change filters.
If there is no pressure relief button on your filter (the red button on the top), install a sediment tap to relieve pressure (which you must do or you won't get the housing off). Not a bad idea to have one just for convenience anyway.
Be aware each filter will reduce the flow and pressure.

As far as safety of the water, that's a bit outside the bounds of this question, but just to highlight the point: it's a good idea to get your water professionally tested.

Sediment filters are good, but they do not filter everything. Absolute 1 micron (as opposed to just "1 micron") filters are effective at removing some bacteria, but they are not as effective as a UV lamp. There are many other types of contaminates (iron, manganese, pesticides, etc) that are not treated by this type of filtration at all.


How to calibrate continuous water Gas Heater?

Obviously, there is some threshold or setting that needs to be adjusted, as when you go back to full hot it kicks back on. You need to adjust it so that full hot is not required to keep it on. All this you already know. Not being familiar with your particular unit, I don't know exactly what adjustments are available.

As I understand it, when you are on full hot, the water flow through the unit is greater, and the water does not get as hot (maybe, because the flow is greater), but you get more of it. The incoming water supply is cold, and it supplies both the heater and the cold water line, so when you start using both, the flow through the heater decreases. This would be the case even if you still had the shower set for all hot, but the cold water was turned on at the sink (try this - does the heater turn off, as it has before, mid shower?).

Then when you start mixing the hot and cold in the shower to get a pleasant temperature the flow through the heater is reduced again, because you are requiring less hot water. This may result in the heater turning off because the flow is less, or maybe it is turning off because the water is getting too hot. So either there is a low-flow sensor that needs to be adjusted to a much lower setting, or maybe there is an overheating cut off switch that is faulty or needs to be set higher.

You might try your shower again, as normal, but with the hot water on at the sink. Does this make your hot water stay on, as you want it? (Of course this is not a solution, but it might help you find the source of the problem).
Hope this helps.


How do I take down an internal wall tied into a load bearing wall?

I think your plan is correct.

I would speculate that the brick wall was the exterior wall at some point, and that construction is similar to modern veneer brick exteriors, where a freestanding masonry wall is 'tied' into the interior structure, mainly for support (the interior house supports the exterior veneer wall from sway).  Your setup uses bricks for tiebacks; currently, galvanized brick ties are nailed to the structure.  A single wythe of common bricks is rarely structural, being inherently unstable as the wall rises.


Absolutely yes ! you could have as many receptacles fed off this load terminal as you want! (Pig-tailing is the right way to do multiples)
Would you like 1,2,3 branch circuits going in different directions from the load? This is 100% code compliant!
Caution there are internet only electricians that do not understand both code and the use of the load terminals your use of the load for multiple loads , branches is code and device compliant.


Who manufactured this shower diverter valve?

"P-P" is likely Price-Pfister. Since 2010, they have been known simply as Pfister.


Pull power from hard-wired smoke detector?

The National Building Code (NBC) -not the electrical code- requires that smoke alarm be permanently connected to a lighting circuit, or one that supplies both lighting and receptacles.
So if you have a junction box feeding a smoke detector, you can feed an outlet from there too. You will have to add a lighting circuit to it.
AFCI/GFCI circuits are permitted, and the alarm must have a battery backup.
Should you not have a GFCI/AFCI circuit, and should you require or want one, you could always use a GFCI/AFCI receptacle as your first outlet.
You can Leave the smoke alarm and the new lighting wired to the line side of the GFI outlet (e.g. branched off in a junction box leading to the outlet) and feed other receptacles from the protected side. Thus if you have a ground fault, you trip the outlets, but not the lighting and not the alarm.
It's wise to use lighting that will be used a lot, for instance main lighting for the new space. Often the master bedroom or kitchen is used (the choice depending on where you spend most of your leisure time). Don't use an obscure lighting spot, e.g. in a closet or a far corner, just to meet code.


How can I stop a porch crack from causing internal cracking?

You have to jack the porch up to get it back to the correct height.  I would suggest using a level to hold at a congruent part of your roofline or front molding.

Take a car jack and a 4x4 and prop the roofline until it is a bit higher (1/8") than level.  Slide under some pressure treated wood or rubber shims under the posts.  Check in local rafters, connecting pieces and make sure that everything is snug, braces are still work, and so on.  You need a really good visual inspection.  This is a bit of an emergency since if you wait you could incur a lot of damage.

Now for the porch... There are a TON of ways to go about this.  You could just leave it alone and hope it doesn't sink anymore.  They won't sink forever even with bad footings.  There comes a point where they pretty much stay.  Just make sure the dirt around it isn't eroding - if it is landscape to protect the area.

You could also have a new porch poured.  They would simply jack up your posts, demo old porch, and pour new.

You could build a wooden porch over old.  This would probably require a little demo for the posts.  This is only feasible if your porch is a bit lower than your step - or you have to do a total demo.  Demo isn't as hard as you think because you can dig a hole and bury most of it in most cases.

People do have their pads injected with concrete to provide makeshift footings.  Concrete company will come out, drill through porch in strategic areas, bore deep enough for footing, and pour.  The good companies that do this have it down to a science and do great long lasting work.  However most never give you a proper footing and it sinks again in 5-10 years.

Really the take away is get it jacked up and then figure it out after.  This happens all the time and isn't the end of the world unless you let it go.


Take an on-line class, read a refrigeration book, take a vo-tech class, but do not try to use plastic lines for the refrigeration cycle. You will be playing with a loaded gun.


is it legal to have the air intake (for heater and ac) coming from outside in CA?

Yes it is actually required for the combustion air. As for as the make up air or fresh air intake most newer homes do need them because the homes are sealed so tight that the build up of Co2 inside (from breathing) can reach unhealthy levels.
As far as the location that is not as tightly regulated so the person installing the system puts them as close to the system as possible to save $.


How can I remove a closet shelf & keep it intact?

Most likely nailed from above into braces.

May be glued and/or caulked, so run a utility knife or window razor (single straight edge razor in a holder).

Then, as suggested by DA01 and Jacob S, wack upwards with a rubber mallet or a regular hammer into a block of wood


What's wrong with my replacement fan motor?

An electric motor in definitely not not just an electric motor.  They are very proprietary. It takes a lot of skill substitute one motor for anything but the OEM part number. There are tens of thousands of different kinds of motors out there.  Almost none of them will substitute one for another.  For example, with the motor you are working with, the stack of the iron laminations determines the torque the motor can deliver.  The torque required is dictated by the size the design of the fan blade; the larger the blade the more torque required.  I can clearly see that the motor you are trying to substitute will not provide the necessary torque to drive that blade, i.e. the original motor stack is so much thicker.  This is just one of many variable that are in play.  If you can clear the following list of variables you may be able to replace this motor successfully.  #1 support/mounting criterion.  #2 direction of rotation.  #3 Torque.  #4 RPM. #5 Shaft length. #6 shaft diameter.  #7 Shaft configuration. #8 clearances.  #9 Voltage requirements. #10 What environment was the motor designed to operate within.

Answer to question #2:If the motor still runs nicely it probably OK.  These motors die because the bearing dry out. The lubrication last only lasts so long.

Answer to question #3.  If you are getting proper voltage to the motor and the shaft doesn't turn the bearing are probably shot. With the lubrication gone you have metal on metal and it's only a mater of time.


According to this document it can sustain 250 degree F with occasional exposure. It will be difficult to determine just how hot it gets at the glue layer, since the stone and backer board act as a heat sink, and what is on the surface of the stone, will not be the same at the glue layer.


The fact that one branch duct is at the end doesn't mean much. You could install a damper there to balance flow a bit.

Of bigger concern is that they used flex duct and bent it severely. If the one in the photo is any indication, they didn't do a great job. You shouldn't see such sharp, tight bends. It also doesn't appear that flex duct was necessary there, but was used to save time (and maybe money).


Water that is good and hot can be your friend for cleaning off some waxy type residue. I would retry cleaning using a good toothbrush that has stiff bristles using very hot soapy water.

You can then try some other cleaners with the hot water and tooth brush. One awesome cleaner that comes to mind is TSP (tri-sodium phosphate) which is really good for removing grease and grime. Before going all in with cleaning using any chemicals though you want to try out in a small area to make sure that the cleaner chemical does not attack the surface of the metal.

If there are any particular grooves that just do not want to brush out you can use the pointed end of a round tooth pick to pick and scrape the groove clean.


Uniform Plumbing Code (UPC) has this to say about horizontal drain lines meeting other horizontal drain lines.

  706.3 Horizontal drainage lines connecting with other horizontal drainage lines shall enter through forty-five (45) degree (0.79 rad) wye branches, combination wye and one-eighth (1/8) bend branches, or other approved fittings of equivalent sweep.

So you'll have to use a 45 wye, or a combination wye & 1/8. This configuration gets the water moving in the proper direction, before it's dumped into the other line.

45 wye

Combination wye & 1/8

You'll also want to avoid trying to make water go up hill.

Go back to the original setup. Then...

Remove the 45° fitting near the wall.
Come straight out of the wall, and install a 45° wye.
Connect the trap on the right of the image, into the straight branch of the wye.
Connect the trap on the left of the image, into the angled branch of the 45° wye.

The red lines represent the 45° wye fitting


Remove Masonry Nails from Concrete floor

Loosen it by tapping it lightly to moderately hard, back and forth--side to side, then when it is sufficiently loose pull it out. Tap parallel to the longer dimension of the rectangular cross section.
AFIK this type of nail (cut nail) is a not a hardened steel nail for driving into concrete. It may be hardly into the concrete and you might be able to pull it out without any tapping. Try a pry bar or channel locks without hammering.


What's the right connector for connecting #12 solid copper to #14 stranded?

That must be one powerful fan to require a dedicated 20 amp line. WOW.  The silver wire you see is probably a tinned copper wire. (solder on the end of a stranded copper wire).  To connect a 12 and 14 AWG set of wires together, you should use a yellow wirenut. If in fact the tinned conductor is smaller than a 14 AWG, you could use an orange wirenut. If you look on the package of wirenuts, it will give you a chart of the number and size of conductors the specific color wirenut will work with.


I find plastic solvents like Weldon 4 work better for plastics the cements take a long time to cure and in my opinion weeken the plastic. On some acrylic work straight methline chloride works the best. Place the 2 pieces together then a few drops at the seams wait a few minutes and make sure the solvent enters the crack all the way around, depending on how tight the pieces fit together it may be usable in 10 minutes. If the pieces do not fit well cement may be needed but in some cases it takes a day or more to fully cure.  Added weldon4 is an acrylic solvent , I have made many plastic projects with this and straight methline chloride.


Should I continue to remove the cement board, or just remove the tiles?

I would probably attempt to just patch the one area and srape the rest off. Touch up with a grinder.

However, that depends on how intact the existing CBU remains after scraping off the tiles and thinset.

I would take the path of least resistance. If you try one way and it is taking way longer than the other way, switch.


Computers use a switching power supply so it is possible the GFCI has grown weak or sensitive with age and now sees the computer as a ground fault problem.

It is also possible the computer power supply is failing and is causing the tripping.

Try running everything but the computer on the circuit for a while and see what happens. If it trips again try replacing the receptacle with a new GFCI.

Good luck!


Modern replacement for in-room electric storage heaters (Stiebel Eltron ETS)

Electric heaters are cheap.

You can get a 2000w electric heater for like $50.  If storage heaters make no sense right now, don't get one, and buy a plain electric heater instead -- it's not like you're making a huge capital investment.

Or consider heat pumps

If you want to make a capital investment, and storage isn't a requirement for you, you can consider heat pumps.  They are much more efficient than thermal heaters, since they are only moving heat, not creating it.   However, they shut down in very cold weather, so heat pumps need auxiliary heaters, usually electric.  If that is a millivolt gas system, the house will heat without electricity.

The usual objection is people don't want to ruin their ceiling with bulky ducts.  The answer to that is the "mini-split" (surely there must be a noun here), which is a heat pump with one outside unit and several "registers" which can be controlled separately.

Storage heat pumps are also possible, but hard

This uses two variations on common heat pumps.  The idea is that if the heat is being interchanged with media that is closer to the desired temperature, the heat pump is vastly more efficient.

First, some heat pumps interchange not with air, but with a fluid of some kind.  Ground-sourced heat pumps interchange their heat with underground coolant loops cooled/warmed with earth deep underground, which tends to be of moderate temperature.  This can also be done with well water.  Large facility heat pumps interchange heat with facility service water, which is pumped around the facility.  The service water is cooled or warmed at a central boiler room.

With a storage heat pump system, you have a storage tank of a good thermal storage fluid (like water) which you preheat or pre-chill using cheap evening power.  Then by day, your heat pump draws efficiently from this tank.

These systems are not common, or not cheap.


Fascia, drip edge, starter shingle, code, in Texas

Laying down a roof starts from the bottom and goes toward the peak. Trying to repair something like the drip edge or lowest run of shingles is almost never going to give a good result without starting over.

If you need to replace the fascia board, you mentioned rotting, usually also involves stripping the roof, especially when there is an existing metal edging installed over it and maybe even nailed into it.

In my experience in working on roofs hanging the shingles a small amount over the drip edge does not significantly increase the ability of wind to rip the shingles off the roof. Of course it is best if the roof is laid down with the very first course using a starter roll instead of shingles. Good quality starter roll has a row of tar strips a short distance up from its lower edge to which the tabs of the first row of shingles are meant to bond.


Hotpoint 9 cycle washer won't finish draining after agitate cycle

Water pressure level switch. The knob automatically turns based on inputs from various sensors and switches. It seems your pressure switch gets stuck in a high pressure reading with the model of your unit I can be more specific, here's a link of what the problem likely is. https://www.thespruce.com/repair-washing-machine-water-level-fill-switch-1824607
This is possibly what you are looking for.


Range Vent Hood Ducting - Can two 5" ducts work in place of one 10" for a range vent hood?

Here are the numbers and you can see what your options are.

The numbers are as follows:

On the left: CFM (Cubic Feet per Minute, cfm)

On the right: Equivalent Diameter Round Duct Sizes

200 : 4.9

300 : 5.7

400 : 6.6

750 : 8.3

1000 : 9.1

1250 : 9.8

1500 : 10.7

1750 : 11.5


Adding more floor joists in a crawlspace. Originals are 5' OC and need more support

What you are calling a floor joist, appears to be much thicker than a 2x floor joist.   Maybe like a 4x8 or something.  So it's probably a "bearer" resting on the piers, which would explain why they are far apart.   Typically you would then rest floor joists across those beams, (or use Simpson hangers if the floor needs to be nearly flush to the beams -- which is your situation).

This is typical ...

This is where you need to be with Simpson joist hangers:

Can you measure the thickness of the wood that you are calling a floor joist (which is really a bearer)?   Also, that beam that is notched badly is not good (most likely).   This would be the time to address that notch, which is fortunately very close to the wall.   Can you measure the depth of the cut on that notch?

An easy way to do that would be to set a pier underneath the bearer so that no notched portion of the bearer is under stress.

Once you have addressed making sure that the bearer is properly supported, you can then hang joists between the two bearers you showed with joist hangers.  Then you would put the subfloor and whatever choice of flooring you want on the joists.


How can I complete these repairs to my sprinkler system?

Well, I think you have some remodeling of your sprinkler system to do. Here are some things that you need to think about.

There needs to be an anti-siphon type valve on each controlled sprinkler circuit.
These anti-siphon valves need to be mounted at an elevation that is 6 to 12 inches above the highest level of the sprinkler heads on each circuit. Not in a box buried under the ground.
Since all of the controlled valves will feed off of the same pressurized main water line it is convenient to install all of the valves at the same elevation.
If you want to hide the valves then build a wood cover that is above grade to hide then and blend in with the side of the building structure.

So if you understand the above most of your questions become moot. Pull that box of the ground and toss it away. Then re-pipe the main water feed line to above grade and create a manifold arrangement that can feed to the number of anti-siphon valves that you need (number of controlled sprinkler circuits). The manifold is best placed closer toward the building foundation. Then re-pipe the various sprinkler circuit pipes so that come up right in front of the manifold connections. The valves will affix above. When it is completed it can look something like this:

or like this:

The advantages are many. It is much easier to repair and replace things that you can get to. The anti-siphon type valve, properly deployed, is the tried and true method to provide the isolation between the pressurized potable water service and sprinker circuits. Placing your control valves high like this is also an advantage if you live in a freeze climate zone where it becomes necessary to use pressurized air purging of the lines to clear out all the water before winter. The air can be applied to each circuit at the control valve. Lastly your low voltage control wiring is above grade where is stays much dryer and less chance of wiring corrosion.


How should I clean and repaint a painted wooden deck?

Painting a pressure treated wood deck is always tricky. Pressure treated wood does not seem to hold paint well, even with a good primer. Stain is usually a better alternative, but since your deck already has paint, it would have to be stripped completely before using stain.

In order for the paint to stick fairly well, the surface needs to be as clean and dry as possible. Looking at your pictures, I see a fair amount of algae in the grain of the wood. This is a very normal condition. You should however, use the pressure washer and bleach/water/TSP shrub down method to clean it up. I'd wait until April or May when temps are up in the 60's to 70's to help dry the deck and open the grain.

Select a high grip primer rather than a stain blocking type. Many manufactures have come out with new formulas that are designed to bond better. When you apply the primer, don't rush. Simply rolling on primer too quickly is not good. The primer needs to be brushed into the grain as deeply as possible.  Let it dry completely.  Now you can apply your deck paint as normal.


Where can I find central heating system with radiators?

You should be able to find them in any of the original colonies in colder climates, as they're needed for restoration work in older homes.  (so, eastern seaboard, from Maryland to the north)

American radiators tend to be heavy steel or iron and gravity fed, with larger pipes that I don't believe are as efficient as those found in areas like Germany.  My neighbors are currently going through a remodel of their home (1940s construction, in Maryland) got theirs from an architectural salvage place.  The burners (oil in their case, and in my home), you can still get new so are easier to replace.

Contact your local plumbing supply store; if they can't tell you where to find radiators, their customers (plumbers & pipe fitters) might be able to.

You might also find the 'baseboard heating' where there's a copper pipe with fins attached that run along the whole wall of a room.  If you just want the non-drying qualities of radiator heat but can't find radiators in your area, this might be an alternative.  (I've never seen fan-assisted models in the US, either, but I'm guessing if they have them, it'd be in the northeast.


Our water heater blew a leak. What should I do now?

I would file a claim with your homeowner's insurance agency; you may be looking at a lot more than $1,500 worth of damage if you pay it out-of-pocket. That water-damaged drywall can grow mold with its paper facings. So can the MDF core of the laminate flooring if you don't dry it out and remove it ASAP. Same with the plywood and the (presumably but hopefully not) wood sill plates and studs that comprise the walls that the water infiltrated to get into the living room, bedroom, and garage.

Even if you don't file a claim, I would take potential mold problems very, very seriously. Same with termites. Pooled water + construction lumber = terrible terrible badness.

When you say a "concrete slab home," does that mean slab-on-grade foundation or monolithic concrete construction, i.e. with ICFs? If the latter, then first of all congratulations, and second of all, your home's structure is probably okay. But you will still need to replace anything cellulose-based, including drywall due to its paper facings. The laminate padding is probably some type of foam so that may be salvageable.


Buying a house that has a natural spring flowing through the basement out to a pond. What to do?

Would not (in concept) be a deal-breaker for me. Specific case might vary with detailed examination.
If you want to go high-falutin' Frank Lloyd Wright's Fallingwater had a spring in the entryway as well as being built over a stream (can't do that in new construction...)
The one you are looking at probably served as basic refrigeration and drinking water supply when built - stick the milk cans in the trough of cool water.
Critter control would normally be (this era) by having stainless steel screen that the water flows out through, but critters don't come upstream through.
I would not "vent" the covering to the house - that would defeat the point of having the covering.


What could have caused the burnt electronics smell in my Kenmore washer and dryer?

I have had a few control boards from assorted appliances burn to some degree, but continue to function.

Those pc boards tend to be made from bakelite, the brown color boards you see in less expensive items. Bakelite is a paper based product.

And it smells 'that' way.

If there is loss of heat from the dryer, it is likely the board that controls the temperature. The boards are behind the control section of the appliance, and the ones I have worked on have always been easy to replace.

Buying appliances that are sold by Sears, is great because they stock parts from many years back.


Can I rewire my ceiling fan to make it move faster?

If the fan has a pull chain as well as the remote the pullchain MUST be on high speed. The remote control only slows the fan down.

Bottom line is no, you cannot re-wire a ceiling fan like this to make it go faster.


What size and type of wire should I use for a 1000 ft run to create an standard outdoor 120 volt outlet?

The part of the question about the dequipment "pulling" 80V doesn't quite fit, what you really need to know is it's utilization of the 120V supply - how many amps does it from the 120V receptacle.  If this equipment converts it to 80V internally, that's not really relevant.
Assuming the device uses 3A at 120V, you could use #6 aluminum with less than 5% voltage drop at 1000'.  Direct burial cable will probably be your best bet.  However voltage drop is load-dependent;  if someone plugs in something that draws more power, it would see more voltage drop.
That is an expensive wire purchase but it would be even more for copper.  You'll have to plan to splice the aluminum to more normal sized copper at the end.  You can do things a little more complicated, like supply a transformer at the receptacle with a 240V, which will allow a smaller wire, or step up to an even higher voltage and back down at the receptacle, but at these distances and loads it's not likely to be worth the trouble.


How to remove a single remote from liftwaster garage door opener

They all have to be reprogrammed.
When you teach the system you add remotes 1 by 1.
To remove 1, all remotes are erased from memory.
they have to be taught 1 by 1 again sorry.


Light switch with five wires controlled by two circuit breakers: What is this?

It looks like you have an improperly wired accidental ring circuit.

One of those switch terminals, the hot one,  has two wires on it because it is part of a daisy chain of such loads. (The other terminal has two load wires because they each run to several lamps, probably arranged in two daisy chains.)

A daisy chain of loads is acceptable practice, but your chain is improperly connected at both ends, to separate breakers. This violates code and common sense, and makes the wiring easily overloaded and unsafe to work on.

The fix is mechanically simple -- you just disconnect a hot wire from a terminal screw and cap it off with a wire nut -- but you should first decide where to divide the chain. This means identifying everything on the chain, so you can split it roughly in the middle leaving similar loads on each breaker.

EDIT: Well, almost that simple. As @Harper points out, the neutral half of the ring must also be disconnected at the same place where the hot wire is disconnected. So you have two wires to cap off with wire nuts. Just make sure that all the loads powered by one breaker share the same neutral.


In-floor radiant heating hooked up to hot water tank in new home - questions about how it works and operating it

Here is the way a system like yours should work. The heating tank, tank #2, is set to maintain a set water temp. That temp is determined by how the water temp is maintained. It could have a programming sensor that adjusts the temp up or down depending on the outdoor temp or could have a manual set point usually around 125 degree F max. Now to answer your questions:  Q #1,the pipe at arrow #2 should be the same temp as the pipe at arrow #3 unless it's pump is running. Q #2 I have to surmise that the "flow control valve" that prevents gravity flow is not working as it should be. Those 2 red colored devices after the green expansion tank have levers located on the top. They both need to be closed. Turn the lever on each CW to close or look on the device to see if any instructions are printed on it to show the direction of closed. This will or should stop the gravity flow you have from question #1.  Question #3 depends on the : code " in your area. Yes, it is a closed loop and should not need any make-up water. The part I do not like is that there is no "back flow preventer" installed on the make-up line to prevent the water in the heating system from contaminating the domestic water in the other tank. Sometimes, we would have a special fitting that we could isolate both tanks by removing the connecting line between them and reconnect in the event we had to add water to the heating system. For Q #4 "A" is yes or no, I prefer NO; B is yes; C is yes or no, refer to Q #3; D is NO; Q #5 is never;  Q #6 should be NO, since each thermostat should control it's own zone. Hope this helps


How should I install a hoist given that the walls and ceiling are made of concrete?

My vote is for option 3.  I've never seen angled pipe flanges either, but you could make a couple for this purpose out of 1-ft lengths of pressure-treated 2x6 with a pipe-sized 45-degree hole drilled in each.  Then anchor those to the walls vertically.  That would give you the added advantage of spreading your anchors out a bit in the cinderblock, rather than having 3 or 4 smallish anchors on a 2" radius or whatever.

I don't like option 1 just because you probably don't accurately know the strength of the concrete ceiling either locally or across its span, and that option's failure mode could be disastrous.  Not to mention the likelihood (as you mentioned) of hitting steel and needing to rent a core drill and use it upside down on the ceiling.  Not fun at all.

My main concern with option 2 is the tension load the bracket anchors are going to see.  These blocks are very strong in compression (and by extension any anchors used in them are strong in shear), but not strong at all in tension (and by extension anchors don't resist pullout forces).


patching a hole in the ceiling is the same as patching one in the wall (only your arms usually get more tired from being above your head), see this question:

What is the best method to patch a large hole (2-3 inches) in drywall?

Excerpt:

  Correct way to do it is as instructed on 'Canada's worst Handyman'


Should crown molding go over stone fireplace?

Personally, I'd stop the crown molding at each end of the fireplace with some compound miter end caps unless you're really good with a coping saw. If you run it a couple inches off the ceiling , your recessed lights will leave a shadow at the top of the fireplace. Just my humble opinion.


I think that you'd  probably have to ask your Pex manufacturer to get an official answer as to whether or not this is recommended.  But I can say based on personal experience that I've occasionally done what you propose without issue. And if you try it and it turns out not to work because the connection leaks, it will only have cost you a ~$0.50 crimp ring, plus however long it took you to cut off the original ring.


just looking at the surface and general look and fit and finish, it looks like a made in china junk faucet.  these types of faucets are essentially disposable.  even if you can get it apart (which may not be the case), you will never get parts for it.

if you do want to try it, try removing the supply line and nut from the bottom (under the counter) and lift the handle assembly out.  there may be a set screw or something under the escutcheon.  i have seen enough of these to not offer much hope though.  get yourself a moen faucet as a replacement.  good pricing, lots of choice, and free parts for life.


How can I remove this piece of metal from my garbage disposal?

(newbie, so can't comment)

It is unclear whether you can turn the "tooth" with respect to the rotor--it seems like you can turn the rotor around with the hex nut on the bottom.  Instead of whacking them with a hammer, I'd try holding the rotor with a wrench on the hex bolt and trying to rotate the 'tooth' with respect to the rotor with a wooden bar or something that can fit between the wings of the tooth. Think of holding the hex bolt in a vice while using a crowbar-end as an extra-big screwdriver to rotate the tooth. On my old disposal we used to use an old 4' long broom handle chunk to pry things around in situ.

Silicone should be OK, but if you are worried, normal cooking oil should do the same job and be compatible with anything in the garbage disposal can normally choke down.


Can blue painter's tape turn glass blue if left on too long?

Glass is inert and impermeable, so no merit to the yokel's claim that it turned the glass blue.

That said, like most tape, it can dry out and leave a residue over time. Which can typically be easily scraped off.


If you are using it in outdoor conduit, it needs to be wet rated. Shielding is not required, and may offer little if any benefit, or detriment, for that matter. NEC says little indeed as it it is considered "Low Voltage" communications cable, but there are requirements for minimum burial depth to the top of the conduit, for instance. That is assuming you are using a conduit dedicated to communications/network wiring. There are also things related to the insulation type (outdoor-only insulation can only be routed a maximum of 50 feet inside a building, while "indoor/outdoor" insulation removes that limit (related to smoke and fumes in a burning situation.)
My professional advice as a low-voltage / network / telephone professional is to use fiber optics (also wet rated) when running between buildings, as it solves many repetitive problems that wired networking between buildings is prone to. One of the problems it can solve (if using "all dielectric" cable with no conductive members) is cohabitation with power wiring, but that is a poor idea from a "physical abuse of the fiber" point of view in any case.
When fiber is not an option, I frequently use "direct burial" Cat5e in conduit, since it's a conveniently available form of outdoor-rated cable, but I don't believe in direct burying anything I might want to work for more than a month or two (conduit resists rodent teeth and rocks much better than cable sheaths do.)


How can I know if a self-designed structure I build will be structurally sound?

Safe loads are determined through engineering and experimentation. The experimentation is used to gather real-world data, which then is used as input to engineering processes, which then result in guidelines and building codes.

This is all updated over time as new materials are introduced and new experience is gained.

When there's a situation that is non-standard, there are two common approaches to dealing with the situation. The first is to pay an engineer to provide guidance on an appropriate approach. The second is to simply overbuild. An experienced builder will know when it's okay to overbuild, and when you need an engineer.

To get back to your original question, it has no simple answers. It involves the materials used, how they are assembled, and what sort of forces they are going to be asked to deal with. If you can post more detail on your design, I can advise you on any deficiencies that I see, but I'm not a professional.


It sounds like you have or had knob and tube wiring that might have been converted,
 which consists on a Hot and a Neutral With no Ground (which is needed for GFCI, but

sometimes use the Neutral pigtail to mickey mouse false ground,).

*You can add a ground with a wire to copper pipe from sink’s water supply or run to basement)

14-2 wire is rated at 15 amps MAX

12-2 wire is rated 20 amps MAX

If you splice or run off a 14 Gauge to a 12 Gauge you must treat it as a 14 gauge

The higher the gauge the smaller the wire weakest link being 14 while using 14 to 12

If you are rewiring the whole bath and rooms then 12 gauge is the sanest answer

12 Gauge handles 15 or 20 amperes 14 should not be more than 15 for safety reasons

(When using 12 on 20A breaker use screw terminal as opposed to tension insert)

Testing for a hot wire when there is no labeling on wire casing (sheath) use a meter on
 ~ AC

And use a ground from ground cold water pipe and then touch pos lead on each wire (they
do sell polarity test tools also don’t always work with conversion wiring)

The 110 – 120V reading wire is the hot

Hope that answers your question.

Sincerely BEAR


New breaker and panel: What's the brown goo where they connect?

Leave it there. It's a dielectric grease that prevents corrosion on the metal contacts. It probably does also act as a lubricant for easier installation.


1916 bungalow - Removing cigarette and animal odors

Replacing dry wall will help, remove all carpets and padding , painting your walls and refinishing the floor will help.

When you pull the old dry wall and sand the floor - a stripped house..

Then rent the OZONE Generator - seal off the house, stay OUT of the house for several days. The Ozone can kill you.

Have a method to turn off the generator with out going inside.

After you have done this open windows and doors for several days at a time, do not go back into the house for long periods while you open windows and doors - let it 'air out'. After 3 days you should be able to enter wiht out issue.

Install your dry wall, paint them and refinish your floors.


How do I reduce noise from the bolt hitting the strike plate on a door with an automatic closer?

One of the adjustment screws is for the swing speed, and one is for the latch speed. It sounds like the latch speed is too high.

Adjust the latch speed until the door is just moving fast enough that it closes. You'll also want to be sure to test it by opening the door the minimum amount someone would open it.

If it doesn't shut if you slow it down at all, it may be the door arm is installed incorrectly.

If it doesn't really slow down when you adjust it, then it could be the closer is broken (lost fluid or broken valve seal) and easiest thing to do is replace the entire closer.


What is the difference between 'planed square edge' timber and 'planed all round'?

Planed all round means all flat surfaces have been planed.

Planed square edge means you have one edge planed straight and can measure from there. It's one step up from rough sawn.

Timber finish terms for reference

PAR - Planed all round (both edges and sides)
PBS - Planed both sides
PSE - Planed single edge (gives you one straight edge to work from)
Rough Sawn - raw milled stock

Further designations used in wood grading:

S4S - Surfaced four sides
S3S - Surfaced three sides
S2S - Surfaced two sides
S1S - Surfaced one side
Rough

Note that PSE is not necessarily the same as S1S. The board edge (narrowest dimension) is planed straight and true with PSE. For Cedar trim, for example, you have a wide dimension planed smooth.

The Red Oak I used for window trim was S3S, made for nice top and sides, would have been pretty rustic for the rough side to show.


What masonry anchor should I use to install both window boxes and shutters into brick?

Tapcons <(Stack Exchange discussion) will do the trick. Just use enough of the right ones and some washers. Do not use plastic anything. Personally, they're my favorite and I dread making the holes for these, wedge anchors, when I need something to be structural.

Recently I've begun using these, Wedge Bolts instead, where something better than a Tapcon is necessary: (all fasteners shown require a hammer-drill and a masonry bit to drill the hole, and I highly recommend using an impact gun to drive them)


What size beam do I need, and can I build one from lumber and steel?

You need an engineer's advice on what the load is and what is required to support it.

And no, you really can't make a mixed materials i-beam.


It appears  Circuit B powers nothing but heaters 3 and 4, so consult with the factory. It may be possible for the unit to happily run with circuit A only, at the 60A power setting.

Other than that, you will have to find 2 spaces for another 60A breaker.  This appears to be a GE Qline which supports their advanced design for "double-stuff" breakers, including 2-pole double-stuffs that straddle 2 spaces (as in right above the 60A). Convert 4 spaces worth of breakers to double-stuffs and you'll have the room.

Now the bad news.  The wires seem to be run in 1/2" EMT conduit, with individual THHN wires, presumably 6 AWG.  They didn't need a ground wire, but they ran one, so the wire count would be 3 instead of 2 - it's a conduit fill rules thing.  Regardless, this 1/2" conduit cannot hold four #6 wires.  For that, you'll need 3/4" conduit, and will just fit with that one #10 ground.   So you will have to re-run all this conduit.

When you buy wire, use two black and two red.  The blacks are circuit 1, and the reds are circuit 2.  For each circuit, the two hots are interchangable - no value in phasing them - but you certainly do need to tell the circuits apart!

Now if you run 1" or 1-1/4" conduit, you can run #4 aluminum wire.  No idea if that's any kind of savings for you.  Whether the tankless can accept #4 or aluminum is a factor; otherwise you'd have to pigtail with expensive Polaris connectors.

Given that, you might as well rethink the location of the heater. Very often, these on-demand heaters are slapped down exactly where the tanked heater had been. That location wasn't optimal at all. It was put there because tanked heaters are huge and ugly, and often because a gas vent is possible there.  It's usually not the ideal location for a small tankless.  You want that as close as possible to the most important point(s) of use, e.g. the place you least want to wait, wait, wait for hot water.  For me, that's the shower.


Trying to install 2 smart switches but neutral wires in box are not connected

Some locations (switches) may have a neutral, others may not. Depends on the previous electrical installations, electrician/installator...with smart switches is exactly the same, depends on the model of the smart switch. Some need that neutral wire, others not. But the vast majority of smart switches require that neutral wire.  I'd connect the dining room neutral wire to the smart switch (let's just say A) and then other 2 together under one cap plus a white wire which goes to the other smart switch B. Remember all the neutral wires that are connected should belong to a single circuit.


its called a z clip usually, but the socket side is a little different


Air conditioner works in an outlet but not a timer

It sounds like your air conditioner plug has a built in circuit breaker. If so, the breaker probably needs constant current to remain set, even when the unit is nominally off (a small trickle current is being used by the breaker and its light).

If that is so, the timer would prevent the breaker plug from getting current for its standby state. It then might have to be reset  before the unit could start.

You can confirm this by plugging the unit into the wall outlet and getting it to start. Then turn off the circuit breaker at your main panel. The unit will, of course go off. When you turn the breaker back on, if the unit does not start up, you probably need to reset the plug breaker. This will mean the timer system will not work.

If a timer is critical to you, many newer AC units have a built in timer setup.

ADDENDUM As I think about it, the culprit is probably the ON/OFF switch circuitry in the unit itself. Once power is removed by the timer, the circuit goes off and will not restart until the ON/OFF button is pressed. Unlike a mechanical switch (which retains electrical contact whether or not power is present), an electronic switch is really a momentary contact switch that sends a pulse of power to the circuit that then locks itself on. It always has to be reset after loss of power. If so, the timer simply will not work.

Newer units with built in timers always have power to their timer circuits and that circuit then turns on the AC circuit at the designated time. External timers shut the whole system down, and it can't restart itself.


A lot of ceiling fan boxes are wired with two switches so that one switch can control the lights and the other can control the fan motor.  Of course, when someone replaces a fan, or even when it's initially installed, it's not hooked up that way so one switch controls everything.

After you check all the other outlets in the room (both sides like Chris said), you can pull the canopy trim off the fan and look at the wires.  See if there is an extra wire capped off in the box.


Install a hardened glass in front of chimney

There is standard hardware for the job, from things like glass inserts in stair/deck railings and glass signage.

Try "glass standoff bolt" in a search engine. You'd put an anchor and stud (or screw, depending on the standoff design) into the masonry and attach that hardware to/with the stud/screw. Looks decent, easy to unscrew when needed.


No, there's no way to do that with those cheapies.  Use of the remote is vital to reducing the cost.

Literally no way.  I do some exotic things with electrical, but nope.

You bought it for the savings, enjoy them, don't look back.  No regrets!


You check the pressure with a pressure gauge which should be attached (permanently) to your system near the pressure tank. If you need a quick and dirty check, you can get a pressure gauge attached to a garden hose fitting and attach it to a hose fitting, but the standard pressure tank Tee has a port for the pressure switch and a port for the pressure gauge, right there, and one should be there at all times.

There is no single "correct pressure" - there are some standard or typical pressure ranges for well-pump systems, and since the usual non-adjutable differential is 20 PSI, those are 20-40, 30-50, 40-60 and 60-80 (no reason you could not use 50-70 or 35-55, just not typical enough to see numbers quoted for them.) Many folks consider 20 PSI rather low, and many fixtures don't like an inlet pressure above 80 PSI.

Without knowing what your pressures are, it's hard to say if the well or pump is failed and the pump can't get to shutoff pressure, or if the pressure switch is failed and not cutting off.


How to remove and replace kitchen tile backsplash?

This is one of those jobs it could go either way. You could get lucky the tile will come off the wall easy or it will just be easier to remove and replace the wall board. If this was my job I would first tape around the cabinets and the countertop using painters tape and craft paper to protect the surfaces. Next I would start in an open space with a hammer and chisel to test how difficult they are to remove and how much damage the removal does to the wall.  I would most likely try my oscillating multi-tool with a flat blade running it behind the tile.  You will likely have some gouges in the wall board and some small humps were all the thinset was not removed.  If you have bad damaged areas repair these. I would then put a skim coat of thinset to smooth the surface and let dry before installing the new tile.  If you do have to remove the wall board you can just cut it around the cabinets.  You will have to install some deadwood in places before you replace the wall board.


How can I determine if metal parts are stainless steel?

The term "stainless steel" is a very broad term.  There are many types of stainless steel, and on top of that there are more than 150 grades of steel (i.e. each "type" of stainless steel can fall within 150+ "grades" of steel).  If you want the gory details check out the wikipedia page on stainless steel.
Personally, when a manufacturer claims they are selling "stainless steel" widgets I view that claim as somewhat deceptive.  Sure, the metal really is stainless steel, but when people think of stainless they have something very specific in mind (i.e. it won't rust...but in reality stainless steel rusts all the time).
You can test whether the metal is stainless steel or not by putting it in phosphoric acid or nitric acid.  Stainless should not react with either at room temperature.  On the other hand, stainless will react with hydrochloric acid...so don't use that.
Here's my recommendation.  Do not test with acid.  You probably have stainless steel, but it's probably just not a high quality stainless.  You already verified that they are not magnetic, which supports the claim that they are made of stainless.  The smelly film that is on them is probably an oil/grease of some sort that was added to prevent them from rusting (hence, this is not a high-quality steel).
I have never seen any version of stainless steel rust as fast, or faster, than pure iron or various other iron-based steels.  Here is my prediction: if you keeps these things outside you will probably notice some rust within a month or two depending on how wet they get.  Within a couple years they may get rusty enough that you will want to replace them...but they will never be as bad as regular old iron.  If you want stainless steel that does not rust (it does exist) then you will pay significantly more for it.
If you want to prevent rust just add a thin layer of oil to keep them dry...which is what the manufacturer did already.


For a house built in 1949 it would be amazing if original paint did not contain lead. The color has nothing to do with it. Most lead containing paint was white ; in the atmospheric  sulfur of an urban environment it would slightly yellow. Zinc and calcium were also used and offset the yellowing . Then when titanium came along , bright white paint with high hiding power was possible without lead.  A little lead was used but I forget the advantage it gave the paints. I would say if you don't eat the paint there is no problem , assuming you are not going to grind on the paint for hours and make fine dust. I painted the exterior of my house with a lead containing paint in 1968 and have not died yet.


I had a similar problem in which the furnace would start its pre-purge cycle, and then shut off.  The root cause was a broken solder joint on the controller circuit board, which I was able to see with strong reading glasses, and later repair by myself.
Try wiggling the low voltage electrical cables when your furnace acts up.  If you find an intermittent contact, it could be due to one or more broken solder joints.


Sounds like you have to redo the whole thing.

You are a brave soul for admitting what you did.  I think I would have just redone it before anyone found out, especially my wife.

You might try just getting a new brush and doing your second coat.  It could cover up the chunks, or you could end up with two coats to sand back off.  If the latter, I would keep it silent.


Would an opening to the outside help me dry out a basement?

The floor and walls will not dry out until the ground outside absorbs the water. I would avoid making an opening in a perfectly good wall. Once the outside ground water is gone, you should start to see some improvement.
Is it possible to dig a hole where the water is bad and pump the water to a different spot far away from you house?? Just a thought.


For German code, what is the correct fuse amperage, per phase, for a 3-phase service line?

I suggest you not to use fuses on 3-phase, just go for a magnato-termic breaker (L1,L2,L3 + N). Fuses have to be in fixture that if a single phase breaks, all 4 wires have to go out of power (if you have PE separated from neutral = both green-yellow and blue), or onlt 2 wires if you have a single PEN conductor.

Note that in tables usually they consider only 'active' conductors -> 5 wire cable is '4 poles' wire as PE isn't an 'active' conductor

PE = green yellow
N = blue
PEN = usually blue marked with green-yellow tape at ends and in accessible boxes


How to shape the zone a radar motion sensor detects?

I know that that's an old thread but you can use the anti-static bag used in electronic: works like a charm for me.

Regards


No problem with how the main shingle run is cut back. I think his idea is that it make 3 places that ease the cap over the ridge rather that trying to do a "hard" corner. If the temps are cooler where you are the ridge cap shingles may crack over a corner that is abrupt.

You are correct about the chalk line, use blue chalk or another non-permanent color, that washes off with the next rain. Do not take for granted that a 12" wide cap will finish off so a chalk line at the 6" mark will be even. It most likely will not. Try 2 shingles with no nails in place to get where the chalk line really needs to be. I ask you use 2 shingles because 1 shingle all by itself with no line to go by can go crooked without realizing it and if you set your line by that, the caps may be off centered. Two shingles help to square each other in a little easier.

When cutting the cap pieces unless you have specified cap shingles already on hand, (some makers provide precut cap shingles) and this also depends on if you have 3 tab or archtectural shingles, the kind that have extra pieces added to them to make them look ore rustic. The latter shingle I think hast the precut caps. If you have 3 tab shingles, typically the caps are cut from scraps and left over shingles. The trick I do with this type of shingle is angle the top part of the shingle that is covered by the next shingle to be laid about 1" or so back at an angle so the upper edge of the shingle is hidden by the next one. It makes a cleaner install.


According to user LCD, from How do I find out the cause of a low frequency hum in my house?, you can detect the source of the hum with a variety of methods:

  Check that others can hear the noise. Other family members, neighbors, etc.
  Make a cone listening device with something like a sheet of paper that you can hold up to your ear. This will help you to better narrow down the location that the sound is coming from.
  Use a stethoscope (you can find one pretty cheap at a drugstore), preferably with a metal head. Use this to try to further locate the source of the sound. Place the stethescope on pipes, walls, floors, radiators, vents, etc. Be careful not to come into contact with electricity as you're doing this.
  Turn off circuit breakers (individual, or the master). If the master breaker stops the hum, then use the individual breakers, one-by-one until the hum returns. If you find the circuit that the hum is on, start tracing that circuit.
  Turn off water supply (individual, or the master).

You might also consider using an app on your phone meant for monitoring audio or showing "spectrograms". This might help you to visualize the frequency of the hum.

The above listed reference also includes a variety of potential sources that are worth checking to help identify the potential source.


First determine if it is water coming in through the "weep" holes, or it is a roof leak running down the inside of the wall. If there is a plumbing vent in this outside wall, then that could be the source of a leak.

If you determine that surface drainage is allowing water in through the weep holes, then you should regrade around the house to establish swales which drain water away from the house.

I live in a neighborhood of 50-year-old tract houses on 10,000 sq ft lots in which the original swales have pretty much filled in. Our streets run E-W and the ground slopes down to the W from a N-S ridge on the E to a creek on the W. I personally know of 3 houses which have had water ingress in recent heavy rains.

Our lot (87' wide) has an elevation change of 2.5' down from E to W. When we bought our house in 1978 the swale on the E side (our house faces N) was 90% filled in. I used a tiller to loosen the soil and reestablished the swale. It needs it again. This time I will use a mattock, a shovel and a wheelbarrow to transfer soil to the W side of our lot. We have a sunken living room, but it is on the W side (downhill).

A year ago a neighbor had water coming into her house on the E side due to the swale being filled in. Her house has a sunken living room on the E (uphill side of her S facing house); she asked my wife to have me take a look. In 6 to 9 hr of work with a mattock, shovel and wheelbarrow in 3 sessions I was able to redirect water away from the house, and that house has stayed dry in the year since, despite heavy rains. The swales need further deepening. I did this as proof of concept, and I may do more on that drainage. The clay soil is easily workable at the correct moisture content. If dry it is like concrete.

Some people in the neighborhood have had underground "French" drains professionally installed on the uphill side. Re-establishing surface drainage is much cheaper and I believe works better.


How can I finish the edges of recessed boxes in a drywall stair wall?

I think you are spot on. You'd cut out the drywall, insert and attach the box with the front flush to the wall, and then cover with trim/molding.


Where do I begin finding estimates for problems with my potential first home?

Take a walk through with the home inspector and see what he says.  If you are still interested in the house, find a good general contractor (that you trust) and take him on a walk through.  The contractor should be able to give you a good estimate on what it will cost to fix any issues, he may also give you some price breaks if you are willing to let him handle all the work.

Just make sure you are comfortable with the contractor before you ask them to go on the walk through, they might be upset if they take time to walk through with you and then you find a new contractor to do the work.  Keep in mind, however, that if the contractor starts work and does a sub-par job, you can always fire him and find a new contractor.


Better yet, you could replace the wire entirely and avoid splices but splicing it is an option as long as you have a junction box to make the joints in. Wire nutting and taping the conductors is not acceptable to the Code.

14 AWG wire is rated for 15 amp circuits so it has the ampacity to supply your hot tub pump. The heater on the hot tub is going to have to be on a separate circuit from the pump.


If you can't straighten the pillars by mud jacking as Sherwood suggested, I'd suggest embedding rods into the pillars, then attaching the jambs (your 2x2 posts) to those and getting them nice and vertical.
Once the jambs are vertical, it should be a piece of cake to attach the hinges and strike plate so your gate is centered, vertical, and balanced.
Trim out between the jambs and pillars to hide the angle. You don't indicate the height of the posts/gate, but 7/8" split evenly (7/16" per side) should be reasonably easy to hide if the gate is door height (7' or so). If it's shorter, it will be more obvious, but there's only so much you can do.


Wood burning stove pipe through the ceiling and roof

Yes you will compromise the truss.

Each pipe supplier, if not, the stove supplier should have the allowable amount of elbows and the distance it can be offset with the elbows. Although I have only seen this with the insulated pipe behind walls and with additional supports. What you need may not look the best, but if it is allowed, it will keep your truss from failing should it be cut.


Can I upgrade my hardwired smoke detector in apartment without triggering central alarm?

There is unfortunately only one right answer to this question: don't mess with the landlord's property.  In the USA at least the landlord is responsible for the alarm, and your touching it creates liability problems all around.

Beyond that, a typical central alarm for commercial properties uses a completely different signaling mechanism (you want to alert the central station but NOT the other apartments).  The nest simply does not play in that world, yet.


Is it safe to run multiple (four) mains electric cables in a conduit together (heat considerations)

therobyouknow...  If you google search something like " conductor size allowed in what size conduit "  Like I did just now...You will come up with several charts to look at.. like this one.. https://www.constructionmonkey.com/calculations/electrical/tables/wireconduit

I'm in the United States, (and a Trump supporter so you may or may not like my answer, Joking..).. but for example if your main conductor size is #2 gauge,(and the wire size and insulation type are printed on the wire itself to out dummies like me figure this out)...then reading across the chart you would need 1 1/4" conduit for all 4 wires to be run inside safely. This assumes you know what type (copper or aluminium) wire you have and what degrees' in Celsius the wire will be operating at. Also what type of conduit your using and what type of insulation is on the wires, (see boxes above with drop down menu choices)..  in the UK you should be able to find on line similar helpful charts.. Good Luck.. (BTW.. it's NEVER a bad idea to go up one size in conduit sizing.. just to be extra safe and in case you need to run an extra conductor in the future).. .


If you pilot the ledger piece, when you add the screws to hold it down the shelf should draw down to meet it.


From what I can see the 2 corners are the only thing that need to hold the force. Each would hold half the 125 lbs. Not only that but the corners would have to handle the side strain, so to speak, that would be applied as the bed is turned from vertical to horizontal. Any springs you may have in the middle will still transfer their pulling force to the corners too. Maybe even bow out the side a little. I myself would not use springs in the center, just 2-75 lb. springs in the corner if available. Since the ends are really the area where all the force will be applied anyway (the corner joinery after all is what holds it all together, the bottom serves its own purpose). To contain the force needed to hold it together e.g., keep the springs from ripping the wood apart from the force exerted at the corners, I would incorporate metal to hold the spring in place and maybe even include the pivot in it. It can be installed on the inside the box frame and hole or slot in the wood frame will allow installation of the spring on the metal ring or whatever you decide to protrude through the hole or slot to connect the spring to.

I ran on a few times, I hope I got the idea across.


Is it necessary to ground a metal Knock Out Box used solely for POE Ethernet wire?

No, they do not need to be grounded.

If the box contained household voltages, then yes, it would need to be grounded.


Additives don't help much, if at all.

Check gaskets and seals, as you've stated. Also check the stack vent: The ejector pump tank must be properly vented. This is true of all waste plumbing, to prevent buildup of gases.

For some other tips on reducing odor, see InspectAPedia.


Do you need primer between layers of paint?

The answer is "It Depends" ...

You generally need to prime if you're painting dissimilar paints, or if you're not sure what the previous paint was, or if you have sanded to bare wood or bare drywall, if you have patched with anything that does not specifically say it's paintable, or if you want to ensure a uniform finish.

For instance, if you were to paint oil paint over bare wood, you would get bad results. Same as if you tried to paint latex over oil since oil paint is hydrophobic. Oil primer is typically formulated to allow application of latex over it, but not always. Shellac-based primer is the best choice if you want to paint over ANYTHING and know that your primer and finish coats will stick.

If you're applying latex paint to a clean latex surface, go ahead, paint away. If there's dirt, grime, grease, or topping out my list of "unusual reasons the finish coat didn't stick", hair spray, you probably want to prime first.


Is there a downside to using epoxy grout?

I use epoxy grout all the time.  There are good and bad manufacturers for every type of product.  So if someone tells you that epoxy grout discolors or has this issue or that... that is really on the manufacturer not the type of grout it is.

The epoxy I buy is from HD or Lowes.    Each has one main brand.  You have to buy the coloring and the additive separate.  The mixing of this grout is a lot harder and a lot more important.  The temperature of your mix is highly important since a hot epoxy mix will start setting in 10 mins.

The reason why most things aren't epoxied is completely because of the installation.  The mixing has gotchas, then you have 30 mins before it starts setting (I rarely use an entire batch before it turns into silly putty), the clean up is harder, and the amount of pressure you have to apply to get it fully into the cracks is harder.

The outcome is superior though.  It can give a very smooth finish.  In my opinion the colors are brighter.  And you don't have upkeep, waterproofing and maintenance.  If using epoxy was just as easy I probably would use it for everything (I am sure there are specific use cases tradition sand based is better but talking about residential use).

My grouting cycle... OK lets grout this shower, OK lets use epoxy, dammit I hate mixing this epoxy grout, ohhh it looks good going on, (10 mins later) damn it is already getting thick, holy crap my arms hurt, what the F*%@ it is only 30 minutes and its done, I am never using epoxy again, I can't believe I used epoxy again after I promised never again, clean up mess, wipe down tiles, realize I have nothing else to do, come back next day, wow that looks really good, might use epoxy on the next job...


Can I install a backflow preventer for a frostless hydrant on well?

I will potentially be drinking the same water that flows back in the well after the frostless hydrant is shut off - yes?

No.  Freezeless faucets drain their water back into the ground at their base below the frost line when turned off, NOT IN TO THE SUPPLY.  The freezeless facuet drains this water so the pipes above the frost line have no water to freeze in them; hence a freezeless faucet.

  Will a simple $5 plastic backflow preventer be all I need?

You get what you pay for.  Will a 5$ part function as well as a 125$?  Of course not!  Will it work well out of the box? probably yes and probably fairly well.  But it will not be as effective at stopping backflow, it will probably not work for as many years to come as a true backflow preventer, it probably cannot be tested, and it probably cannot be repaired.

  ...or is there a certain product meant just for this?

There are true backflow preveters for this that are designed to effectively stop backflor that are able to be checked and tested for reliability and repaired.  These typically installed run 200-300 in parts alone for the backflow, fittings, boxes, etc.  Labor can easily double or triple this in many cases.


Risk of fire due to wiring a new light fixture

Just a preliminary note for all diy-ers, the first thing I teach beginning electricians is the basic skill of properly splicing (wire-nutting) wires. A loose connection may seem to work for a while but it creates a lot of heat and may start a fire without ever tripping a breaker or blowing a fuse. The most important thing you should remember when you're doing your own wiring is to test all your splices. Grab each wire independently and tug on it to see if it will slip out of the wire nut newly twisted onto it. And before splicing make sure there will be plenty of copper to copper connection underneath those wire nuts between all the wires to be spliced. Do not allow any of them to back out while you are twisting.

From your description of everything (I am answering this before any pictures have been shared), it sounds like your installation is probably safe. I say that with some reservations, of course. One thing I couldn't tell from your description is where the green ground screw is located and what you tied to it. Another question I would have for you, are the exposed copper wires at the top of the box coming from the house-wiring cables where the rest of the wires enter the box, or are they completely separate from them? If they are part of the cable assembly, they are your equipment grounding conductors and you should tie your bare wire from the fixture in with it. Even if they are separate from the other wiring, they are probably your equipment grounding system and could be tied in with the bare copper from the light fixture, but this is only a precaution to prevent shock hazards and fire if something else went wrong first.

As for stuffing all the extra wire back into the box, don't be afraid to cut some of the extra stuff you don't need off. But I would say if you got it to all go back in there and you are certain you've made tight connections it is probably good. Things are working, you don't smell smoke or see it, that's good. Hopefully that helps alleviates any fears you may still have.


What is this purpose of this access pipe in my bathroom?

It's a cleanout port. Very helpful if you ever have a clog downstream in the pipe. The plumber can stick a snake (not an actual animal, a tool called a snake) down it to loosen the clog.

No maintenance required.

Water coming out of that port means you have a clog and the pipe is backing up. If the seal fails it can allow sewer gasses into your bathroom.


What is causing the last two heads in a sprinkler/irrigation system to have no water pressure?

To answer my own question after solving the issue...

If the problem is only at the last two heads and the first ones are fine, then it is definitely a problem occurring after the first heads and unlikely to be valve-related (though not impossible). A broken line is most likely in this case, since your last two heads are dry in the risers and flex lines (it's not the heads merely being clogged). Broken pipes can usually be revealed by looking for muddy soil after running the zone for several minutes, especially if it's a break so bad it is completely stopping your last two heads from receiving any water pressure at all. If the soil has become impacted inside the broken pipe it may be difficult for the water to escape and reveal the break.

One common method to this problem is to increase the water pressure to the break and force the water out. It will not be so much pressure that damage can be done to the PVC joints and heads (as it will only be for a few minutes nor will the PSI be any higher than the output of your main water line or jet pump). This increase in pressure can be done by capping off all the sprinkler heads in the problematic zone. This will put more force on the possible break and on the soil that may be clogged in the pipe. After several minutes the leak may reveal itself. I'm sure there are several ways to cap off sprinkler heads, but the most common and simplest method is to buy PVC threaded caps (3/4" or 1/2" depending on your risers) that screw right on to the risers.


Two dimmers (for two separate lights) in one junction box where there's only White, Black and Red coming out of the wall

I think you have mis-identified the "hot" wire. Do you have a multimeter? Assuming your box is actually grounded, carefully measure the voltage between the red, black and white wires to the box. If only one has 120 volts on it, then that is your hot wire. If 2 wires have 120 volts, then someone did a bad thing and wired the switches to break the neutral.

Another way to identify which wire is hot is to pull down the light fixtures and examine the wiring. Don't disconnect anything without taking notes about how it was hooked up first!


High humidity in bedroom and condensation

In general, high moisture levels can be reduced by exchanging the room's air only during night, best time in the morning before sun rise.
Best method would be to open 2 windows at 2 different walls of the apartment/building, west and east sides would be the best option.

If there is a noticeable air flow, just 1-3 minutes are enough and should not be exceeded.

That way statistically colder and dryer air is replacing the warmer air without cooling down walls, furnitures etc.

This method is extremely counter-intuitiv since most people do not want to get colder air into their home.

But warming up dry air needs only a fraction of the energy needed to heat up moist air.

Without this air exchange the building's material, furnitures and interior have to be heated up above the dew point what needs much more energy.

Since the humidity level in the mentioned bedroom is reduced during daytime, it could be due to the regime "airing during daytime, reducing temperature during nighttime", which is likely causing high humidity levels in the nighttime.
If the hull is not tight enough, statistically moist air comes into the building, since normally the wind blows stronger during daytime. Could be checked via candles, smoke, thermography or 30cm long hanging strings scotched to door and window frames.


How do I patch a 3'x3' hole in a ceiling made up of plaster, lath, and metal mesh?

The fact that sections are peeling off indicates that there is a structural problem with the overall "sandwich."

In any repair, unless you can overcome the structural deficiencies with an overriding mechanism, you have to strip back the unsound sections until you get to good structure.  With you description , it is hard to see where that is.

You could knock loose all the compromised sections and then try to patch the open areas, but it sounds like the overall lathe-plaster-chicken wire-plaster amalgam may be questionable. You may do this and shortly thereafter find a new section that is failing.

I think that a drywall overlay may be the simplist, fastest and cheapest solution, by far. Whether you strip down to the chicken wire or to the lathe depends on how much of the ceiling is loose/compromised.  If height is not a problem, dislodge whatever is loose, use shim to insure level and then screw up thin drywall over the whole ceiling. DO NOT USE NAILS! If you hit studs, great, but the lathe should be adequate to hold a thin wallboard lamination.


What are the requirements for wiring an unfinished garage with lights and outlets?

That article seems to still be correct.  When running exposed cable, the main concern is protecting the cable from damage.  Which means not running cable on the face of framing members, no horizontal runs below 8' (from the floor), and try to avoid perpendicular runs through rafters.

When running cables between two receptacles, you'll want to run vertically up the wall above the top plate before going horizontally to the next receptacle.  This will protect the wire from folks hanging things on it, storing things behind it (using it to hold things in the voids), and other goofy things people might do to it (as demonstrated in the article).

The article also points out why you want to try avoiding running cables perpendicular through rafters.

The article does not seem to mention that all 125-volt, single-phase, 15 and 20-ampere receptacles installed in garages must be Tamper-Resistant and protected by a Ground Fault Circuit Interrupter (GFCI).

The GFCI protection can be provided via a GFCI breaker in the panel, or as a GFCI receptacle.  If you are installing a GFCI receptacle, you'll want to install one at the beginning of each branch circuit that will contain receptacles.  Connect the feeder cable from the panel to the line side of the GFCI receptacle, and the cable feeding downstream devices to the load side. This will protect all down stream devices, as per code.


As @JimStewart mentioned, in tile showers there is a waterproof "shower pan" usually either rubber, plastic, fiberglass or some other fabric that contains the water that manages its way through the grout joints.  If there is a leak in the pan, any attempt to fix it inside the shower would be futile.

It's hard to see what's going on from the picture, but if you say the water is making its way past the shower curb, you can try to strip all the old calk, re-calk and see if the water still leaks past.  If it does, you may need to tear up some tile for more investigating.


What should the ohm, resistance, reading of a dishwasher thermostat be?

These devices are like switches:  when they are on, the resistance is close to zero.  When they are off, the resistance is close to infinite. They are actually a metal piece that bends as it heats, with contacts welded on it.


What can I use to seal section of concrete roof?

I would suggest a two part epoxy similar to this:

Mult-E-Poxy

This is a two part system and very durable. I have it on my garage floor.

To prep the surface you are going to want to clean the space with muratic acid (it's nasty stuff).  The acid cleans out the pores in the concrete and etches the surface to ensure good adhesion of the paint.

Once the acid does its thing (follow the directions on the bottle) rinse the surface with water to remove the acid and any crud it removes.

Ensure you wait until the concrete is fully dry.

Once dry (a full day in the sun is a safe bet unless you live somewhere super humid) apply the epoxy.


Can I use a two-pole single handle breaker for mwbc?

The 2-pole 20A breaker is correct for an MWBC.

The only difference between a 2-pole breaker and two 1-poles handle-tied is that the 2-pole breaker guarantees common trip, and the handle tie does not.

Yes, a 2-pole breaker will let you flow 18A on one leg and 19A on the other.  The breaker has no connection to neutral and does not know or care what current is flowing on neutral.

MWBC does not require common trip, only common maintenance shutoff.  Nonetheless, we recommend a 2-pole breaker, because they are available everywhere for 2x the cost of a single... rather than 2 breakers with a handle tie, because listed handle ties are often difficult to find and add unnecessary cost, and we don't want you using a nail or nothing at all indefinitely while "get a handle tie" sits on your D-list of priorities.  2-pole is also the only reliable advice when double-stuff breakers  are involved.


Combining 3 wall switches, which are currently in the same box

The only question is what is the load? The wires are they 12 or 14 gauge the reason I ask if this is a 20 amp circuit powering 3 circuits of lighting you may need the heavy duty switch. If it is 14 gauge on a 15 amp circuit a standard switch will be fine and your plan is code compliant.


How can I fix hairline cracks in brand new grout?

Those corners should not be grout, they should be silicone as they are two meeting surfaces.


Hanging 73 lb frameless glass panels on drywall

By far, the best approach is to attach either clips or a frame to studs (either wood or steel, depending on your construction).

If the panels are being arranged at the same level, you could run rails horizontally along the wall at the base and top of the panels. These could be made from two pieces of molding, one slightly thicker than the thickest glass panel (about 3/8 by 3/4) and another thinner wider piece on the face (about 1/4 by 1 to 1 1/4) creating a lip. These could be screwed into the studs and painted to match the wallboard.

In a concrete wall, the strip could be mounted using masonry anchors every 8 to 12 inches.

An alternative is to mount mirror clips at the top and base.

However panels of this weight really need stud mounting, so the clips would have to align with the studs, and that might be a problem with spacing. In a concrete wall, mirror clips could be used, but again, need to be placed at least 4 per panel in the base.

It is theoretically possible to use mirror clips with other mounting devices, such as toggles, but you would need several in the base of each panel, as well as two at the top, and the weight would make this very iffy.


Soldering or welding stainless steel objects together

The major trick with soldering stainless steel is using the correct type of flux, which needs to be very aggressive to remove the oxide layer which is what makes stainless steel "stainless."

You will require a flux specifically made for that, and then you will need to carefully clean the flux residue off when you are done soldering. This can be done with ordinary low temperature solders, no particular need to pull out the oxy-acetylene torch. It may also help to wire-brush with the flux in place, so that the brush mechanically abrades the oxide layer and the flux coating keeps it from re-oxidizing.

If that proves to be too weak, silver brazing (commonly misnomered as silver soldering, which is even more confusing in the era of silver-bearing low-temperature lead-free solders) or "normal" bronze brazing is considerably stronger. Bronze will have a color mis-match, which matters to some folks.

95-5 Tin-Antimony is a low-temperature solder that might be a touch stronger than some others, and which works well on stainless IMPE.


find where the brick is behind plaster before drilling

If you are talking about supporting a bicycle then 100 year old mortar will certainly hold your bike especially with three anchors.

I would just put the anchors where I wanted them and not worry about hitting brick. However, with a running bond pattern, and measuring the brick dimensions from the outside, whether your first anchor hits brick or not you should be able to measure from there to hit brick on the two subsequent anchors.

Good luck!


How do I secure the bottom of vinyl siding before work is complete?

Unless you're expecting storms or high winds, it's not really an issue. Even if it flutters a bit it won't make a lot of noise.

Otherwise, a few strips of scrap plywood screwed gently to the wall sheathing and lapped over the siding panel will do. It doesn't need to be sophisticated.


30A supply split to 2 15A arc fault, then recombined into 30A?

You're barking up the wrong tree.  Fix the sockets. Don't create arcing.
If you have sockets that are arcing while in normal use, then the plug or socket is defective and simply needs to be repaired.  You saw it happen, you know it happen, cash out your 401(K) and head to West Marine and get another socket or plug.
If it arced while you were plugging or unplugging it, well heck - that's normal when the boat is drawing a load when you yank out the plug or plug it in. You shouldn't do that.  Turn off the supply disconnect before messing with the plug, and then, you won't have that problem.  It would also suffice to turn off the boat-side disconnect (or all the breakers if it doesn't have a master disconnect/breaker).
Disconnect switches often look exactly like circuit breakers. They are simply breakers rated for switching duty.
Now, if you want AFCI protection inside the boat, you can feel free to get AFCI circuit breakers on all your 15A or 20A individual circuits.  If you have an obsolete or cheesy 120V distribution board in the boat that does not accommodate AFCI breakers, get one that does.  You may want to think about industrial-grade "bolt-on" (bolt-down) breaker panels and breakers. They're used in factories to keep unauthorized personnel from opening up panels and messing with breakers because the bolt-down bolts are hot... but they also work great when dealing with vibration or shock.
Mind you, AFCI breakers operate by "listening" to the power line and identifying that characteristic crinkle-crunch sound of a bad headphone jack or of connecting speakers with the power on.  They can't help hearing what's on the supply side of the breaker.  So even if the arcing is "before" the AFCI breaker, they will often trip anyway.  E.G. when you unplug the boat hot.
So... don't create arcing.
Why that won't work
As far as combining breakers... 30A is not made up of dual 15A.  OK, imagine you wire two 12V batteries nose to tail, and you call the middle neutral.  You then have +12V and -12V - use them both and you have 24V.  Now if you have a 24V, 30 amp load - is it drawing 15A from each battery?  No. It's drawing 30A from each battery.  Likewise a 240V/30A load.
Regardless, you're not allowed to combine 2 small breakers to substitute for a big one, so you can't use two 15's to get a 30.  Manufacturers will do that for very large breakers (gang four 100A to get a 200A/240V breaker), but they do it under controlled conditions and the whole assembly is tested and UL-Listed.
Even more than that, that doesn't work with AFCI breakers - because they monitor the neutral wire for current imbalance, both of the above cases will trip them.


My Porter-Cable Air Compressor is drawing too many amps

At 15A, that is a 3HP motor (assuming 240V single phase here), the "6HP" is a marketing term that means WHEN the motor is slowed down by a change in the load to it's "Break Down Torque" speed, it will develop 220% of rated torque, VERY briefly, in attempting to get the motor back to speed, so 220% torque at a just slightly lower speed results in 200% HP for that brief moment, and they are allowed to present it that way (which I think is a shame). the operative issue however is that during that moment, which for a compressor will be when the pressure is highest, that motor can actually be pulling 33A, not 15A. Most likely your meter is averaging and/or too slow (not enough samples) to be giving you the correct current at the moment the breaker is tripping, but of course, the thermal element on the breaker is seeing and reacting to it. That would also explain why you can't reset it when the pressure drops, because at that point it has nothing to do with pressure any more, it's a thermal cool-down time frame and thoise are specifically designed around the time it will take the rest of the equipment to cool down too.

Changing the caps will not fix this. You need a bigger circuit. a 20A breaker can only be used at 16A continuously (80%). Upgrade to a 30A breaker and #10 wire.


The part where water is flowing from, should always go into the part where the water is flowing to.

So with a downspout, the the upper tube should go into the lower tube.


How to prevent rebar from rusting in the ground?

Bore a 4" hole and pour it full of concrete, so the rebar has 2" concrete cover.


Sounds like a stuck relay or a bad control board at the furnace end; or a short in your thermostat wiring. You could try disconnecting the thermostat wiring at the furnace end. If it still runs with the thermostat disconnected entirely, you're looking at a stuck relay or bad control board.

If it doesn't run with the thermostat disconnected, check for shorts in the thermostat wiring between the furnace and the thermostat. You could do this with a multimeter. If you don't have a multimeter, try removing the thermostat from the wall and connecting the thermostat to the furnace with short length of wire. If the system behaves properly with the short length of wire, then you've isolated the problem to the thermostat wiring between the furnace and the thermostat installation.


How to determine which of 2 common/neutral wires belong to my hot wire

I turn on every possible load, and put night lights or something into every receptacle.   Then I start back at the panel or wherever I have separated conductors.     I unhook all hots and neutral going into a particular conduit.

Then I measure the resistance of each hot against each neutral.  I aim to see a simple answer.  If I do not, then I troubleshoot the crossed neutrals until it is simple.  Then I tape those pairs together where they enter.  Without this first step, the potential of a crossed neutral will make everything else hard.

If I was at an intermediate point, I then hook up one pair of wires going back to the panel, and go to the panel and test out which pair it is.  Again with the tape.  Rinse wash repeat.

I won't bother marking wires in conduit if it's obvious; like a 12 AWG MWBC blue-blue-white and also a 10 AWG heater run red-red.


Can I use a 2-wire NM cable staple on 3-wire cable?

The problem is that the staples are UL listed for the wire sizes shown on the package. Technically, you'd need the 3/4" staples.


water hammer after a regulator is added to system

You may have air chambers that drained during the meter installation and refilled with water, rather than air.

First, check that any existing air chambers are working. You may need to shut the main valve and completely drain the system for a while to get air back into the chambers. Most are inaccessible, inside walls, so are not easily replaced, but you can add another chamber elsewhere.

Also make sure that pipe brackets (hangers) are firmly mounted, since a loose pipe exacerbates the issue.


Can I use a router on a vertical surface?

Routers are very handy tools and can be used for some amazing things but can also be very dangerous if not operated in a manner where you can easily maintain 100% total control over the tool at all times.

While it may be technically feasible to operate a router on a vertical surface I would be tempted to recommend against it in this case. The reason is that the doors you show will end up being partially open once you try to clamp on the template to one of the doors. This leaves the door in a not so secure and firmly placed position which could lead to disaster (to you and/or the door) should the router grab the material in the cut such as can happen it making a climb cut.

It would be far better to simply remove the screws that hold the doors in place and locate each door in turn to a solid work horizontal work surface. There you can securely clamp the door to the work surface so there is no chance for it to move around during the routing application. In the horizontal work position you also can have both hands on the router to focus the job of moving the router around from a comfortable body position. In the vertical position the cuts most likely are not at an ideal height and you are having to change your body position up or down during the cut whilst at the same time having to control the weight of the router in addition to moving it around.


Will relocating my Central AC intake improve performance?

Most forced-air HVAC systems in Residential are both heating and cooling.

What might be efficient in the summer will not be efficient in the winter.

So, where do you live and which do you use more?

If you live in Arizona you optimize for cooling but if you live in Minnesota you optimize for heating. Then you just deal with a less efficient system in the opposite season.

Re-routing your ductwork may be much less cost efficient than simply buying a newer AC unit with a higher SEER rating.

Make sure you think this all the way through before pulling the trigger on anything.

Good luck!


Do smart or programmable thermostats actually save money?

I only worked in the commercial/industrial field of steam and hot water boilers so take what I say lightly. Here is what the heating engineers told us; if you can set back the thermostat or reduce the buildings temperature for 8 hours or more then there is a cost savings and if you can't it is probably not worth anything. One of the main problems with temperature reduction was that when the room temperature was brought back up to the comfort level, the furniture, desks and everything in the room was still at a reduced temperature. If you were to use the furniture or items in the room, the room still felt cold.
I have a friend that is a lot younger than I am and he changes temperature many times a day. When I go into his home I always take a sweater, In my house I set the temperature to one setting for the winter and one for the summer. We have like houses and heating systems and our heating bills are about the same. My house is always more comfortable than his.  My 2 cents.


Help me identify neutral, hot, traveller wire from 3 way switch

The pair is not compatible with your wiring.

There are a variety of 3-way arrangements, with either a) power, switches and lamp in sequence, b) one switch on a spur, c) both switches on a spur, or d) both switches on separate spurs.  This set is designed only to work in the first case, and you have the second case.

There are plenty of quality 3-way smart switches that will do the job you want done. They will mount in the first location. They will either leave the normal 3-way in the second location, or put a special matching smart switch "remote".

Send it back

This is cheap Chinese junk that has failed to pass any safety testing. As such it violates NEC 110.2, which requires equipment to be approved.  In practice this means approved by a competent, actual testing lab such as UL.  I'm sorry if you paid a lot for it, but they've been preying rather hard of late on the naïve, and they find it easier to fool people if they set prices nearer to proper equipment.

The usual mark of junkery is a very prominent marking which is totally wrong.  Usually this is the CE mark, sometimes CCC, both almost always faked; but here they don't even bother, and lead with an FCC mark. FCC only pertains to the likelihood of its radio emissions, which certainly is not what your inspector is looking for.

Your actual wiring

I see 5 cables in this box. 1-4 across the top left to right, and 5 on the bottom.  Cables are multiple wires inside a sheath.

Cable 1 -> 3-way circuit to remote (spur) 3-way switch.   Wires are

White - Traveler 1 (CCC and SSS)  yellow
Red - Traveler 2 (DDD and HHH)   yellow
Black - switched-hot to lamp  blue

Cable 2 -> Lamp controlled by 3-way switch.

Black - switched-hot to lamp (KKK) blue
White - actual neutral

Cable 3 -> Lamp controlled by other switch

Black - switched-hot to lamp red
White - actual neutral

Cable 4 -> Power (supply or onward, don't care which)

Black - always hot (BBB and AAA)
White - actual neutral

Cable 5 -> Power (supply or onward, don't care which)

Black - always hot (BBB and AAA)
White - actual neutral

The remote switch has exactly the same "Cable 1" with same wire functions.

The italic word is the color I would mark the wire if it were me. I like making my job easy. Marking thusly would cause the cables herein to be actually color-coded to function.


YOU DON'T!!!

Do not put alkyd (oil) paints in a sprayer not made for them.  They will destroy the seals.  The act will be detected.  That is a very expensive way to buy a commercial grade latex paint sprayer that only works on latex paint and is now ruined.

You'll need to buy a proper spray gun made for aklyds, epoxies, LPUs and the like. I have been delighted with this little guy, I run it at 10-20 pounds and it works great.

Honestly unless you are well practiced in the art of spraying, you may be better off sticking to brush.   Google "$50 Rustoleum paint job" for tactics to get near-spray-finish out of common alkyd paints.

P.S. there is nothing lowly or amateur about brushing. I do my best work brushing $300/gal. aircraft grade LPUs (because the stuff is extremely toxic to spray, whereas with brush, you only need gloves).


I've used cedar for a number of years on garden projects with great luck. You can get the fence pickets relatively inexpensively as well. I use them (cut into 1' lengths) to build my above ground planters, and laid out lengthwise to build a box around the garden for mulch/fence supports.


Can I just paint over my existing vinyl wrapped MDF kitchen cabinets?

Realistically, no if the vinyl has held up well so far, but it also shouldn't be too much work to peel off the vinyl to prep for refinishing. That said, depending on the cabinets, you could have particle board or MDF underneath, which you wouldn't want directly exposed for painting due to porosity. In that case, lightly scuffing the vinyl with any abrasive, priming, then painting should suffice to give a good coating.

The only real concern I know of with painting over vinyl is the potential for bubbling or warping issues with the vinyl transferring through the painted surface. Like I said, though, if the vinyl has held up well for a good amount of time, I can't foresee any of those issues happening easily.


How can I repair a section of carpet that a cat scratched up?

Ah, the wonders of carpet ...

The answer is that you would be able to replace the carpet in that area, typically seamlessly, if you have more of the same carpet, such as remnants that the installers left in your attic or garage. If you don't have more of the SAME carpet -- as in, same batch, same manufacturing date, same everything -- then you will end up replacing the carpet, or giving the buyer an allowance to replace carpet as part of the closing/sale costs.