Will I need all seven leads?

Yes, for a three-way setup you need all seven.

  Do I need to open the white wires and bring out a white lead to the new dimmers?

Yes


Low-voltage splices behind Drywall without junction box access?

Low-voltage stuff isn't regulated in that way. Just know that you lose signal quality with a splicer like that, so some means of eliminating it later is a good idea.


Where to pour bleach solution to unclog AC drain

I wonder why you have two drains. My evaporator has two caps on drains but a drain only fitted to the lower one. I thought maybe the 2nd one was for installing the evaporator in the horizontal, rather than the vertical.

Is your drain backing up? If not, maybe you don't need to get bleach into the condensate drain. My installation (done in 1991) does not have a Tee to get bleach into the condensate drain and we have never had a backup of condensate. I do wish I had one though. The same company that installed ours did put a Tee into the condensate line in another house we owned at the time. A stopper is inserted to keep air from flowing out at that point. It is nice to be able to remove the stopper to see if the condensate is flowing. Bleach could poured into the line there but we never did, nor has the new owner of the house.

You could drill 1/2" holes in the horizontal runs and insert stoppers to prevent air escape during operation. With a small funnel you could introduce bleach into the system with the fan off. Most of it would flow downstream but enough of it might flow into the evaporator to kill mold there.


Why would a repairman install a 1/3 HP fan motor into a 1/5 HP unit?

Most likely because he had it on hand. Possibly leftover from an unrelated ordering error, so he was chuffed to use it in a chargeable account. If all the other characteristics were similar, there's nothing wrong using a somewhat oversized motor. It's a big IF though. For instance, the larger motor may have overloaded the starter circuit, frying the capacitor. No accusations here, this is pure conjecture.

No matter what, it should have lasted more than 2 months. It was either defective, or there's something inherently wrong with how it's installed that greatly shortens motor life. Backwards is a rather comical rookie mistake, easily caught if someone bothers to check their own work before leaving.

A pretty flippant comment that some units only last 4 years. He's somewhat correct in that a rare few units fail prematurely due to some defect in manufacture. But expected lifespan is quite a bit longer.

We might write this off as a fluke, but if you have another motor failure, an investigation for a contributory factor would be warranted.


Washing machine cord- only green wire- other wires do not have colors?

First, are you using a heavy enough line cord? Washing machines are fairly high draw appliances owing to the motor (and water heat if equipped) and should have at the very least a 14AWG if not 12AWG cord -- or whatever the previous cord was if you are positive it was the factory cord. In my experience, those cords come with 3-color wires, and usually light 16AWG cords don't color.  Just indulge me and check to be sure.

Granted, I have seen thick extension and appliance cords that are flat.  However I am used to the conductors having colored insulation .

If you have a flat cable such as that, with no markings, look for either ribs on the edge of one side, or the cable lettering  or a stripe on one side.   Follow it down to the plug (the tall pin is the neutral) but typically the neutral is the ribbed, striped or lettered side.   Ground is in the middle.


I want light controlled by one switch, not two

This is what happens when you randomly tear stuff off the wall without taking pix first.  I'm guessing you assume the wire colors are meaningful in some way; colors mean less than than you think, and less than nothing at all in 3-way circuits. That stinks, so get some yellow electrical tape; we need to make colors meaningful.

Looking at the 3-way switch still wired, it appears a black wire is on the black screw (coincidentally).  That means the two brass screws are red and white -- those are travelers and mark them both yellow with tape.

On 3-way switches, travelers go to brass screws. That's what you must remember.  Switch manufacturers randomize the location of black and brass screws on every model of switch.

The other switch, we don't know.  However, 90% of the same time, the travelers here are simply the other end of the same cable, so they'll be the same colors -- red and white in this case.

That's tricky because  there are two reds, but hold on, didja catch that? The travelers are in the same cable.   So follow the white wire back, see which red wire joins it in the same cable, and voila - those two are your travelers.  Mark them yellow.

Whoo! We now have the 2 travelers identified.  Now everything gets easy.

There were 3 wires (besides ground) going to the old switch. Pick one traveler at random and cap it off. You will need tape to hold a wire nut on a single wire.  Join the remaining two wires with a wire nut, but don't tape it - if it won't hold by itself, it's a bad connection and it will arc and start a fire.

At that point, the switch will work in one position.  If it works in the "down" position, flip the switch over when you install it.

A few more matters

You may notice you can go into 99% of rooms and find the light switch immediately.  That works because the Building Codes require you have switches in certain locations.  You are not allowed to have "secret switches" that only you know how to turn on. This protects both your invited guests and first responders: so the EMT can see to save your life, and the cop can see that's a computer mouse not a gun in your son's hand.
Make sure that your switch removal does not violate the building codes or make it hard (for visitors) to get a light switched on in that room.

Also, I must warn you that you cannot bury electrical junction boxes. You currently have a blank cover there; that must stay there forever until you run a new cable which bypasses this box, and remove those cables.  Further, you may want to leave it as a house feature, in case the new owner wants to restore that switch.  (or the pre-sale inspection reveals the switch is mandatory).


What do the numbers on a cordless drill mean?

When the drill is used as a screwdriver, the numbers indicate the torque breaking point. Higher numbers mean more torque. By breaking point, I mean the point at which torque is no longer applied.

This feature is useful because you can limit the amount of torque that is applied to prevent screws, or the materials they are inserted in, from being stripped. When the screw is in all the way, you want the torque to stop.

When you use the drill as a drill, as opposed to a screwdriver, you set the number to the highest setting, In most drills that setting will be indicated by a picture of a drill bit rather than a number. It will be after the highest number. Some drills may also have a picture of a hammer. This indicates it has a percussive hammer action as well as drill mode.


How much weight can an old work box hold?

From what I could find, it doesn't look like these types of boxes are listed for any type of fixture support.
When looking at a box that attaches to a stud/joist using nails (B520P), it states.

Suitable for fixture support up to 50 lbs.

With the the old work version(B618R), it states.

Not listed for fixture support in ceilings.

A box like this (BH614R), states.

Listed for wall fixture support up to 10 lbs.

The last page of this catalog shows some round boxes, and the weight they are rated to hold.
Based on this information, I would say the box you want to use will support less than 10 lbs.
The best options in your situation, would be to move the fixture location to allow you to fasten the box to a structural member,  or add a structural member to mount the box to.

Update:
I contacted a company that manufactures these, and here is their response.

[Link to product omitted]
As shown on the link above this item is not listed for fixture support. We do have several other boxes that are rated for fixture support.
[Link to other product omitted]

The link for boxes rated for fixture support, pointed to boxes that attached to structural members.


How do I calculate brightness of LED strips equivalent to incandescent light bulbs?

You need to know the light output. LED strips (and other LED products) usually give this in lumens

Typical values for incandescent light bulbs are

Watts    Lumens
40       450
60       800
75       1000

Since LED products vary considerably in efficiency, I can't give figures for them.

To do this properly you need to understand the difference between luminous flux, luminous intensity, illuminance and other measurements.


Floor to ceiling bookshelf design: anything missing? okay to use MDF?

Done! Ended up building the base and two verticals with treated 2x4s, and regular 2x4s for cross-support around the fireplace.  Then sandwiched-in the verticals with MDF.
As you can see, I also used big L-brackets to support the long horizontals.  Likely a bit overboard there, but I think they'll look okay once it's filled. Was hoping for a long, open spans aesthetic instead of putting extra verticals in.
The MDF looks nice for now. It does have little dings and nicks. Went with a rustic looking wood pattern, so it doesn't seem to affect the overall look. So far. We'll see how well it holds up over the years.  It was certainly nice to work with, and saved a lot of painting. I think I'd use it again if I were to make another.
I haven't put the baseboard across the bottom yet. Haven't decided if I'm going to use the white baseboard that will be in the room, or more of this wood-looking mdf 3.5" pieces like the verticals.


That is well within ANSI C84.1 North American Utlity Standards.


Can anyone identify this type of shutoff valve?

That is a standard sweated valve, if it is leaking they are easy to repair and much cheaper than a new valve. Most of the time a new seat (rubber seat that stops the water) and a new stem packing under the nut that holds the stem in place is all that is needed to fix a leaking valve , if it is leaking at the hose fitting that was probably over tightened , the plastic ones today break when over tightened those metal ones sometimes held but it looks like it is leaking. , replacing the valve with a 1/4 turn you will probably have to replace the hose also. I have a kit of faucet seats and valve packings / gortex rope that I got many years ago 10$ fixed probably 30 valves I still have the nice little metal box and buy rubber seats to refill you might consider a valve repair kit as looking at the age your home probably has 15+ total valves you could repair for the cost of 1 or possibly 2 new valves.


How much condensation is okay on storm windows?

How much moisture is ok depends on the window frame material and the material that condensation may drip or seep onto. The primary issue is rot. If your storm windows are aluminum or vinyl, some condensation will not likely cause damage. Wood windows will see degradation of their finish and ultimately wood decay.

The only way to completely prevent condensation may be to increase ventilation between the storm windows and the inner windows, but that obviously decreases their thermal effectiveness.

Your best bet, if decay is a concern, might be to forego the old-fashioned storm windows and use plastic sheeting on the inside of your windows. In my experience, you may still see some condensation on your windows in this case, but only as ice when it's extremely cold.


How can I strip our newly-refinished hardwood floor?

It will need to be sanded back down and redone. Find the right contractor, and it may get done in 4 days if they fit you in right away. THAT will be the trick.


Why does this paint (or stain, or whatever) not want to stick to my fence?

Possible issues include, but are not limited to, the fence is not clean, the paint is not stirred well, and/or the paint has expired.

If you are having trouble getting the paint to stick to the fence, the problem is likely due to a dirty/moldy fence. If the paint seems thin, keep stirring the paint (most of the pigment has probably settled to the bottom).


What do the flashing rates on an Elster REX2 electric meter signify?

According to the manual the arrow box arrow are real energy indicators
Of 3.2 Rex meter tech manual
They pulse at a rate proportional to the rate of consumption.
Each square pulse indicates 1kh.  each change of state on to off indicates 1/2kh.
The arrow toggles for each Ke
Left arrow energy received
Right arrow indicates energy delivered.
It said see table 2-1 for ke values per meter form.
Form 1s, 2s, 12s.   ke.1 kh1.0
Form 3s, 4s      ke.  0.01 HK 1.0
So it depends on the meter form
The different forms are the class meter 20, 200, 320 2 wire or 3 wire single phase and if there is a disconnect link.


How can I tell where water is leaking from?

It sounds more like condensation. Warm air is escaping into the attic, where it meets cold air, condenses and forms liquid.

While it could be a leak in your roof, the fact that you're only noticing it at your smoke detector usually points to condensation, otherwise you'd expect to see other signs of water damage (stains on ceiling, spongy feeling drywall, etc.)

You really need to get into your attic to confirm. If it's wet all over, good chance you have a leak, but if there is insulation missing around where your smoke detector is (wires, etc.), then you want to ensure you properly seal the hole and ensure the area is adequately insulated.


Reconnecting the light is just white-to-white and black-to-black.  That's pretty simple, but it never hurts to double check.

As for the second question, it does look like the pull chain switch is riveted to the lamp socket.  Those types of fixtures are cheap these days ($15 for fixture, $5 for just the switch), so you should just replace the whole fixture.  Don't worry about finding a pull chain mechanism and trying to splice the wires, etc.

If you really want to keep that fixture because it has sentimental value, you would want to cut the insulated wire going to the pull chain switch as close to the switch as possible to give you plenty of room for a wire splice.  You won't be able to attach directly to the light socket since its riveted, so a wire splice is the only option.


Can you operate / permanently install an air compressor in freezing temperatures?

Ice in the tank is not going to cause a problem.  The issue is using the air in sub-freezing temps.  Ice can form in the hose or in the tool.  A good solution is to install a water separator that will catch the water before it goes into the hose and freezes.


It sounds like the high heat damaged the wiring in the oven.
The light bulb being removed would indicate that damaged wire is on the neutral side with it out if you try to turn it on and the rcd holds. The elements probably have a similar issue with damaged insulation.
If I was trying to find this wire damage I would look where the lamp and elements might be close to each other coming through a fitting.
I would look for wire that was overheated and you can probably repair it with high temp fixture wire most ovens use 12 gauge wire for each element but it needs to be high temp fixture wire or it will fail when the oven is heated for any length of time.
I have seen some commercial ovens that used 10 awg 1 time I use high temp “spade” style quick disconnects when the elements have those type of connectors if they use bolt connections I still use high temp crimp rings , standard crimp fittings will not hold up to the heat and current and fail in a short amount of time.  But luckily your RCD has prevented massive arcing and possibly a fire.


Why can't the plumber fix my kitchen sink?

Plumbers don't have x-ray eyes, sometimes they need to scope a pipe to find the problem. This does not make him a bad/lazy plumber. It just means he doesn't carry the scope in his truck, or the company has a special technician, who is the only one who runs the camera. Let the company scope the drain so they can see what they are dealing with, at which time they will offer you options on how to correct the problem.

It could be:

A ball of roots, that could not be broken up by the auger.
A collapsed pipe.
A shifted pipe.
A large foreign object that cannot be moved by the auger.


How do I use hidden deck fasteners without compromising the integrity of the flashing?

Aluminum flashing can not be in contact with pressure treated wood(it will eat away over time)  I use ice and water shield or a window wrap in between flashing and PT ledger board  this will seal around screw and not leak.
To be honest though the amount of water that will make its way under the clip and through the hole and back towards the house is soo little,if any, it will not do any damage.


Restrictions on 45 on bottom of vertical Drain Main

2018 IPC states: (assuming you are under IPC code?)

SECTION 704 DRAINAGE PIPING INSTALLATION
704.1   Slope   of   horizontal   drainage   piping.  Horizontal drainage piping shall be installed in uniform alignment at uniform slopes. The slope of a horizontal drainage pipe shall be not less than that indicated in Table 704.1 except that where the  drainage piping is upstream of a  grease  interceptor,  the slope of the piping shall be not less than 1/4 inch per foot (2-percent slope).

TABLE 704.1 SLOPE OF HORIZONTAL DRAINAGE PIPE
(<2.5": 1/4" per foot)
(3-6" pipe: 1/8" per foot)
(>=8": 1/16" per foot)

a.  Slopes  for  piping  draining  to  a  grease  interceptor  shall  comply  with Section 704.1.

704.3 Connections to offsets and bases of stacks. Horizontal branches  shall  connect  to  the  bases  of  stacks  at  a  point located  not  less  than  10  times  the  diameter  of  the  drainage stack  downstream  from  the  stack.  Horizontal  branches  shall connect to horizontal stack offsets at a point located not less than 10 times the diameter of the drainage stack downstream from the upper stack."

You can search the IPC for other details here:
https://www.ci.independence.mo.us/userdocs/ComDev/2018%20INTL%20PLUMBING%20CODE.pdf


Separate or combined boiler and hot water heater

I have always used your item #3 since I believe it would be a lot less expensive to operate and service this arrangement. Why run the large boiler in the summer just to get domestic hot water? my 2 cents.


It sounds like this guy wires 4-wire ovens and ranges all day everyday.  When you do that, you run into a lot of obsolete NEMA 10 wired circuits, hot-hot-neutral no earth.

It also sounds like he wired this range, he saw 3-wire supply and "ran home to mama" as it were and his muscles just wired it NEMA 10 out of habit.

Older ovens want 120V only so customers can use common off the shelf incandescent bulbs for the oven light.  (Incandescents thrive in heat.)  Many of the newest ranges, especially those cross-marketed in Europe or Asia, don't need or want 120V at all. They need a Hot Hot Ground connection, or NEMA 6. (NEMA 14, Hot Hot Neutral Ground, will also do.)

If your wiring is old, then you are mistaken about the third wire.  It is not ground.  It is neutral, and this is a NEMA 10 wiring arrangement.    If the cable is /2 USE type and the third wire is a bunch of strands that wrap around the two hots, that was legal as a neutral prior to 1989. In any other type of cable, use of the bare wire as neutral was always illegal, but widely done because NM is cheaper than USE.  You can correct this flaw by reclassifying that illegal neutral as a ground, and moving it to the ground bar.  If the cable is USE, you can do that too but you are better off enjoying the grandfathered neutral which you are entitled to, and retrofitting a separate ground, which you are also entitled to do.

If the cable was recently installed for the last range whichwas a fancy Eurostyle job that didn't require neutral, they wired it with /2 cable as NEMA 6.  Any modern use of /2 can only be NEMA 6 (Hot Hot Ground). That would be a rather foolish thing to do since it cost only a few dollars more to pull /3 cable instead, allowing modern NEMA 14 (hot hot neutral ground) connections which most modern ranges prefer.  In this case you are married to NEMA 6, which most ranges cannot use.

So either

the neutral-required range must go,
or you must pull new cable,
unless your setup is NEMA 10 with USE cable, in which case your electrician probably installed it "correctly" in the obsolete NEMA 10 manner. Legal but dangerous, so for safety you should retrofit ground, and separate neutral and ground at the range.

Wait.  Did you say two blacks?

Whoa.  All modern cable has differing colors - black and red.  Two blacks means either a) very old cable, or fasten your seat belt b) the wire is individual wires in conduit.

The Conduit wiring method allows you to add individual wires.  If you need a neutral, just get a long enough white #6 THWN-2 wire, and fish it on down the conduit, you're all set!  If indeed it is in conduit, then failing to include the white neutral wire was a perfectly reasonable thing to do, since it's so easy to add later.


How to remove downlight with mouse trap clips

I believe you just need to pull harder - mouse trap implies spring loaded, and you need to pull until they fold back up into the position they would have been in to be installed.


How to remove handle from faucet without screw

I suspect your faucet is similar in design to this Glacier Bay faucet. The replacement parts diagram shows a little "cap" (they call it an "Index") on top of the vertical section which covers a screw. Remove the cap and the screw and everything else should be accessible.


Should I remove cold cellar wall insulation below grade to allow ground heat to warm the space in winter?

I think you are safe with the conditions you explain, however if you remain concerned, (you are the one who lives there.  I do not live in your climate), I would start by restricting the size of the air vents. Your goal is to do no more than to keep the air fresh without dropping the temperature below a safe level. You could install a freeze control alarm for the area.  Keep in mind that if the sump is buried in the ground it is a good deal warmer down there, (I would say at least 5*) than the room temperature is. When it is all said and done, it is your house and your concerns. My comments are simply that, comments; from someone who has been in and around this type of business all my working life, 40+ years. P.S. Can you do anything to mitigate the smell. (I remember hearing it said once: In a multitude of counsel there is wisdom.)


Wiring a light fixture when no previous light fixture exists

Typically when you see white and black connected together it is for a switch loop.

Power comes into the light fixture, then another cable runs to the switch. The cable going to/from the switch will use one wire for hot, and one for switched hot.  There is no neutral at the switch.

The proper thing to do is to mark the end of the white wire with black marker or electrical tape so future people (you) know what it is used for.

Without being there and knowing the quality of the work done before I cant say for sure this is the case, but its very typical.


Imperial hasn't been around since the late 1970s, so finding a replacement panel cover is likely going to be either very difficult or impossible.  You could check to see if a Siemens distributor can source them (they ended up with Imperial's assets through a series of acquisitions), but that would be a long shot.  The best option is likely going to be replacing the panel.


How do I Secure the Vent Stack to Replace a Section of the Waste Vent Pipe?

You should be able to hack together something to secure it, and you could probably do it from directly above your work area there in the basement, rather than having to climb up into the attic.

An initial thought would be to utilize a "band coupling" the size of the vent pipe, pushed tight against the subfloor.

Fasion some flat steel strap or angle-iron into brackets that get clamped tightly to the pipe and screw to the subfloor from below. Use several (see lame picture that shows just one strap).


How can you rid your house of 'Sick Building Syndrome'?

Sorry there is no such thing as 'Sick Building Syndrome', it is just a lazy way to label a problem that is not understood.

So you first need to find out in detail what is causing the problem.

Given that your wife is expecting, it may have nothing to do with the building at all…..

A doctor may be able to do tests and give you a list of the things she is sensitive to, so you have somewhere to start – it could just be something as simple as dust you liberated while clearing the room to paint it and nothing to do with the paint.


10/3 Aluminum 20A with multiple electrical circuits? What is correct wiring?

The red alert here isn't actually the aluminum wire.  It's the multi-wire branch circuits particularly when combined with double-stuff breakers, with that stacked on top of a 1970 era panel.

Aside from the usual horror-shows like Zinsco, FPE, Challenger (that one's fixable) etc., there's also the inherent fact that 1970s era panels are much too small. That tends to trigger the use of double-stuff breakers, and that introduces a catastrophic failure mode with multi-wire branch circuits.

A multi-wire branch circuit is the thing where  you have a /3 cable and split the hots and share the neutral.  You seem to have a good grasp of the basics, however your breakering is wrong and unsafe.

You must wire the feed breakers correctly

This applies regardless of copper or aluminum.

We're going to hit the first rule of multi-wire branch circuits: They must be fed by a 2-pole 240V breaker which is handle-tied and has common maintenance shutoff.  We strongly advise full-size (normal) 2-pole breakers that take 2 full spaces, because they prevent a common mistake, and they have the option to be AFCI or GFCI.

However if you have to settle for a quadplex breaker, you can attach the MWBC to the  two inner terminals with fair confidence, because those are always handle-tied. While they do make quadplex with the outer handles also tied, you have to be careful and make sure they really have common maintenance shutoff. Try it in the shop; if you can shutoff one outer switch while holding the other one on, you can't use it.   For MWBCs, don't worry about common trip; you don't need that ability.  Even so, hook up outer quadplexes carefully: The first circuit must go on both inners, the second on both outers, like

 R2 - R1 -- B1 - B2
         or
 R2 - B1 -- R1 - B2 (however this can be confused with a dangerous one!)

DO not cross them like this, or you'll defeat common maintenance shutoff (although at least the phasing will be right):

 R2 - R1 -- B2 - B1

Heh heh, see what I mean? Because this is so confusing (especially for "the next guy" who will have no idea what he's looking at), I entirely disrecommend outer terminals on quadplexes.

Aside from assuring the whole circuit is de-energized for maintenance, the much more valuable aspect is that the handle-ties assure the two hots are on opposite poles, as they need to be.  (otherwise the neutral can overload - this is the biggest danger in MWBCs).

So far, one of your MWBCs is wired the dangerous way, and I suspect you got away with it because one leg goes to the garbage disposal. Either you don't run garbage disposal and countertop heat appliances at the same time, or your overloads were very short duration, not long enough for the wires to heat up.  Congratulations on your luck; don't push it.

That aluminum wire

I am very favorable toward aluminum wire because I have done the gory-detail research as to exactly how it fails, and how it does not.  Interesting science fact: aluminum is actually not the bad actor. Copper is.  Aluminum lugs play well with both aluminum and copper wire (which is why panel lugs, Polaris connectors and Alumiconns (basically mini Polaris connectors) are all made of aluminum. It's copper lugs that do not play well with aluminum wire, hence the problem.  Switches and receptacles proven for copper-only were tweaked and hastily cross-rated for aluminum, because of the urgency of the copper shortage... and the testing was inadequate.

Also, the AA-1350 alloy of old wire was simply transmission lines (the ones on huge towers), and was found to feed the problem. A new alloy was developed specifically for in-home wiring applications, and this AA-8000 wire is now mandatory.  Your old wiring is grandfathered IF... we'll come back to that.

Your drawing calls for using wire nuts to splice aluminum.  Nope.  The only thing I can possibly recommend is Alumiconns, which are true lug connectors of the kind which have proven reliable with aluminum wiring, just miniature versions of them.  Alumiconns are designed from scratch to be aluminum splices, not copper splices tweaked, which is what caused the problem in the first place remember.  Yes, I know they sell purple wire-nuts, but they are the "backstabs" of aluminum wiring.

I recommend using 2-void Alumiconns with a copper pigtail in all cases.  Including ground!  That will make it easier for you or the next guy to add additional wires or outlets here.  In some cases that will add an extra splice, but a copper wire-nut splice is no problem if it is competent.  Competent means you crank it down hard, and give it a "pull test" holding the nut and trying to  yank each wire out.  If any fail the test, iterate on your technique.

I'm glad I don't have to convince you to avoid any more aluminum wiring than necessary.  Three reasons I don't use it for 10-30A circuits, #1 I don't want my resale value murdered, #2 can't use wire nuts, have to use $7 Alumiconns, and and #3 it doesn't save enough money (even ignoring the cost of the Alumiconns). Once I am in wire too large for wire nuts, then I start pricing aluminum.

You must, must, must torque the Alumiconns to their specifications using a torque screwdriver.  Which is something I never say normally... But aluminum requires attention to detail like this.

Big Big Box

So you seem to be saying you'll keep aluminum for the "home run" between panel and first box.  OK, you're going to need to make that "first box" Rather Large, because of the practical space needs of what will be at least four Alumiconns, and presumably since this will be the first outlet, these receptacles will need to be GFCI, and they are huge.

If this will merely be a splice box, then you can get-er-dun with a 4x4x2-1/8 deep box, however I don't gather you want an unsightly splice box lid cluttering up your new kitchen.  And you're not allowed to bury boxes.

They do make 6" square boxes, but I'm going to recommend a 4-11/16" "deep" box with a (what would it be, 2-gang?) drywall mud ring. That will give you about 65 cubic inches, which should allow 2 GFCIs, Alumiconns and your four cables to fit without impossible aerobatics to make them all fit.

If you plan to terminate both aluminum cables in the same box, that will  be close to statutory limits on a 4-11/16" box, so go 6".

In all cases I am strongly recommending metal boxes. Why? Because they are much, much better at containing heat - instead of melting through like a blue box, their good thermal conductivity distributes heat all over the box, keeping it cool enough that you'll get a breaker trip or smell it before it starts a fire.  It's a cheap precaution.  However you will need cable clamps on the knockout holes; big boxes don't come with auto-clamps.

If you like saving money, buy big boxes and lids at the electrical supply house, where they'll be about half the price of big-box stores.

Is it really grandfathered?

All this presumes a couple of things.

First, that your local AHJ (inspector/permit issuer) will allow you to continue these old aluminum homeruns in service under the principle of "being grandfathered". Generally, the doctrine is, "If upgrading is readily achievable, then it is mandatory".  And generally, a remodel pushes the reset button on grandfathering.  So it will be challenging to keep it.  If you were only remodeling the kitchen and the cable routing was prohibitive because of the layout of the house, then probably you could keep it.

However, you are remodeling much of the house.  AHJs tend to view a sequence of remodeling projects as a single large project.  If you would ultimately have enough walls exposed to feasibly replace those AA-1350 homeruns with copper, then they will almost certainly require it. Even if some of the work is finished... that's whatcha get for trying to sneak one by. Mind you, the new cables don't have to follow the route of the current cables, any route will do.

Second, your new remodeled kitchen has to meet modern Code, period.  The power requirements for kitchens in modern Code are much greater than in 1970s Code, so it strains belief for me that you can fully serve this new kitchen with the circuits provisioned in the 1970s.  I count four 20A subcircuits, which ain't enough.  That means you will need to run additional cables from the panel to the kitchen, and if you can run 1 cable, you can run 4.

So I don't expect the grandfathering to hold.  If you need to run all new cables anyway, you can avoid multi-wire branch circuits.  However if you are running >4 circuits tightly together, e.g. in conduit, MWBCs can be helpful to avoid 310.15(b)3(a) thermal issues (necessitating a wire size bump if 5-10 cables run together), since an MWBC counts as 1 circuit not 2.

If you are unable to sequence the remodel in a way that will allow you to replace the aluminum wiring in one step, then I advise installing two conduit pipes from panel to kitchen, as you work through each section where you'll have access. Two 1/2" EMT conduits will do, however if you plan to have an electric range, either make one of them 3/4" or add a third 1/2".  If you use PVC, use two 3/4" because we'll need room for ground wires. No more than 4 90 degree bends between access points, 2 is better. You can use a junction box as an access point as long as it only has thru wires and won't contain any splice.   Either do the kitchen last, or do the kitchen in a way that lets you run off the old wire temporarily, and cut over to conduit-fed wire once it's linked up.

AFCI is your friend

Anytime you are continuing aluminum wire in service, your #1 risk is arcing - typically series arcing.  There is now a circuit breaker which detects specifically that, and I consider it a "must-have" for any aluminum wire circuit.  It is called AFCI, or Arc Fault Circuit Interruptor (no relation to GFCI).  It must be in a breaker or deadface quite near the panel, since it protects wiring.  And it requires a full size breaker, so double-stuffs are right out.

AFCIs on multi-wire branch circuits are a thing. Usually they're a 2-pole breaker, but some manufacturers have you use dual 1-poles handle tied.  If it's a 2-pole breaker, for just a few dollars more you can have an AFCI+GFCI dual-mode breaker, and remove the need for GFCI receptacles, so that's a financial win.

Think panel expansion

Double-stuff breakers in an old panel means it's already past full, and you haven't fully provisioned your new kitchen yet. You need more room, and that has to be dealt with.  Replace the panel if it's an FPE or Zinsco, or other known-dangerous panel type. Challengers just need their breakers replaced with BR. Pushmatics are safe.

Fit a large subpanel wherever is practicable.  Feed that with a breaker in your existing main panel.   Add all your new circuits to the subpanel, and feel free to migrate existing circuits there.

You can have as many subpanels as you find convenient.


Why would i have 20 volts a.c.running through my plumbing

Presumably the metal plumbing was your ONLY ground connection (from both the behavior and your description of the ground wire run.) You might want to have an electrician take a look at the system. In any case adding some driven ground rods tied into the grounding system would be a good idea.


Any oil is better than no oil.  We use 3 in 1 oil in our shop daily.  Our grinders hold up very well and are used all day long.


I'm not sure what the first one is, but you're probably right about it being a meter. Around there they're all inside.

The second one is the city's shutoff for the branch to your home. You can see that it has a pentagonal nut, similar to what's on a fire hydrant. If you move out or quit paying your bill they use that to discontinue service. They're usually near the property line, though, so it's odd that yours is so close to the building.


Help with wiring a computer PWM fan to DC voltage

Yes you can just hook up the fan to +12V  (yellow) and Ground (black)  and ignore the control lines of the fan. They are for fan speed control to reduce noise in a computer. If they are not connected, fan runs always at full speed.


I don't think those rafter ties will work for support.  The width of the room isn't what's important so much as the span from support to support.  I can't imagine a garage layout that would have a span short enough to make with 2x4's, even sistered.  You'd also have to have the attachments to the top plate of the walls adequate to support the weight of the floor.  If one end of the span is supported by a beam up the middle of the garage, that probably wasn't sized to support a floor either.

It's doable (almost everything is) but it isn't as simple as doubling up the 2x4's.


I have never used lever connectors but AFIK the WAGO should work great.

They are only approved for copper conductor (not aluminum). With the special WAGO joint compound they would probably work with aluminum. I think they do not accept wires over #12 so this would limit their use with aluminum.

I have heard that there are counterfeit WAGO lever connectors in the market so be sure to get them from a trustworthy source.


How can I cover up wood floor stain spill damage?

When using Oxalic acid, which usually comes in a dry crystal form, mix it with hot water, as hot as you dare, reading the labels for mix ratios. I mix it a bit stronger than they say, but that is me, I do stuff like that. You are new to this I don't recommend you do that, stick to the directions.
While the mix is hot, pour it on the floor the same way the stuff that stained the floor did. Let it set as long as it takes to get into the same places as the fluid did that did the damage. According to the end grain discoloration, it was wet for a long while.

Keep it wet, keep the mix hot if you can, the hotter it is, the easier it works, the faster it will soak into the wood end grain. Do not let it dry out over the time while you are working with it, keep it wet.

If you went really overboard with the acid, I don't think you would ruin the flooring. Yes it will swell a bit, but it will dry back out. Any small gaps created by the flooring swell, will far less noticeable than the gray streaks the stain has.
The trick about keeping it wet is, when oxalic acid dries it forms at the least a white haze. Not dry=no haze. If it does haze add more acid, a simple fix. The important thing is the cleanup. Have a clean 5 gal. bucket of water, a scrub brush and plenty of towels. Use the brush with plenty of water, drying it up with the towels. Do this 3 or more times, 5 is not out of the question, cleaning MUST be thorough. I had done this on wood walls with a hose and brush with constant running water and still had haze here and there.

Let the floor dry out for a couple of weeks before trying to repair the finish.


Main breaker trips when I turn on the welding receptacle breaker

PYou have two big problems.

A squirreley ground

You can't put more than one ground wire in one hole in a ground bus(unless it's labeled to do so), and you probably can't do it with larger wires.  The most important ground** on that entire bus (assuming it is a combo ground+neutral bus) is the bare wire that exits the panel and goes outside**.   That is the grounding protection system.  If it has problems, it will float your grounds, any ground fault will energize all your grounded places (chassis of machines etc.) compared to actual earth.  A serious ground fault will float it a lot.  And you've got a serious ground fault right now.  So it really matters right now.

It sounds like somebody did some shoddy work and just stuffed the wires wherever, cranked down screws (if they did that) and hoped for the best.  Nuh-uh.  Fix all that and fix it right.

If you don't have enough room on your ground bus, you can buy additional ground buses from the panel manufacturer.  Another (temporary) option is to pull several smaller grounds off, four at a time, and wire-nut them together with a pigtail, and put the pigtail on the ground bus. They even make ground wire-nuts that let you continue one wire through the nut.  The pigtail should be the size of the largest wire, ideally do like-size wires together.  Don't do this with neutrals.

A ground fault!

You are lucky that ground worked well enough to trip the breaker.  You have a ground fault, or a "hot" wire coming in contact with ground.  It may be in your wiring or your receptacle.   Or it may be in the welder itself.   Unplug the welder, and light up the circuit one more time.  You better not see any sparks this time from the ground!  If you do, you skipped the above step.

If it doesn't trip, you've now narrowed it down to the welder itself.  I would first check its power cord and plug, and then off to the repair shop it goes.

** actually, as Tester101 mentions, the most important ground is the neutral-ground bond in the main panel.   Since your ground bus is apparently overfull, and that's unlikely for only grounds, I assume this bus is being used for both neutrals and grounds.  That makes the neutral-ground bond inherent, and so I am disregarding it.


What can I replace my generator's starter cord with that will last longer?

If you use stronger cord, you'll just break something harder to replace next time. The cord is a "mechanical fuse" - a "weak link" - if it's breaking, it's either quite old, or you are doing something wrong when starting the generator.

Replace it with the same stuff, don't yank it past the point where it turns the generator, and it should last for many years.


Application of Spar varnish on interior window sills

Spar varnish is optimized for outdoor use. It isn't as tough as indoor varnishes, but it is more flexible so it survives weatherng better, and it generally contains UV blocking additives which (partly) protect it  from chemical breakdown due to sunlight.

If that trade-off is acceptable, there is no reason you can't use it indoors. It may not be the best choice, but depending on your needs it may be more than good enough.

When I redid the trim around one set of windows, I explicitly chose to use spar varnish as the top coats because part of the trim is effectively outdoors and I wanted that weather protection. Then, since I happened to have it on hand, I've used the leftovers on some other projects where I just wanted the look of an oil-based varnish and wasn't especially worried about friction wear.

Tools for tasks... But if the tool works well for the task you need to do, go for it, even if that isn't what someone else uses that tool for.

Note that spar varnish is generally oil based, and will add color that water-based poly does not.


Who would one hire to make a cabinet door that matches existing cabinets?

Carpenters don't usually do custom cabinetry--it requires a special skillset and some specialized tools. Some do, of course, and if you find a high-caliber handyperson he or she could probably get the job done.

A better bet is probably a local custom cabinet shop. They'll have the tooling required to match your design, edge profile, etc., and they'll be more likely to have the products on hand to create the wood finish to match your existing. They're also likely to be more expensive than the handyperson due to overhead costs.

Certainly ask your cabinet seller what they can tell you about finish products. A good cabinet shop won't need it, but it's probably helpful to have anyway. Otherwise just leave one of your doors with the shop while they do your project.


Turns out, it was some sort of safety mechanism (though I'm not sure what it was for). I turned the logs back to off, waited for the pilot to go out, then kept waiting. After a minute or so, there was an audible metallic click/clang, like some sort of spring-loaded mechanism disengaged. I then was able to re-light the pilot, and turn the gas logs on with no trouble.

So, for anybody coming in the future, the procedure for lighting/using this type of gas log unit appears to be:

Turn the knob to "pilot"
Depress the knob, and hit the starter button until the pilot lights
Keep the knob depressed for 30-60 seconds so the pilot can heat the thermocouple
Release the knob
Turn the knob counter-clockwise (without depressing) towards LO, then HI. If the knob won't turn, turn the knob to off, wait 10 minutes, and try again.
To turn the logs off, turn the knob clockwise (without depressing) towards LO, then pilot. You don't actually need to get close to the pilot setting - about halfway between LO and pilot will be sufficient to turn the main part of the logs off, while keeping the pilot lit.

Hope this helps somebody in the future.


What kind of screws in to pressure treated plywood?

They are not actually zinc, but zinc-coated steel, also known as galvanized steel.

The treated-wood industry recommends the use of hot-dip galvanized or stainless steel fasteners for use with treated wood.  Electroplated/electro-galvanized and mechanically-galvanized coatings should not be considered to be hot-dip galvanized. (Class 55, or higher, mechanical galvanizing provides galvanizing equivalent to the hot-dip galvanizing used on connectors and fasteners.)

Source: Strong-Tie's pressure-treated wood FAQ, which has additional information about various kinds of pressure-treated wood, galvanized steel, and stainless steel.


It sounds like there is other equipment on this circuit of which you are unaware.  Perhaps your refrigerator?  It's a common intermittent load in kitchens that could easily pop a breaker in combination with a coffee maker.

Your electrician should have measured amperage draw inside the electrical panel when he swapped out the breaker.

Invite the electrician back over, for some coffee.

You can use a Watts-Up or Kill-a-Watt meter to measure the coffee maker's draw at the outlet:

And the electrician should have an amp clamp to measure at the breaker.


How to determine the type of wall on which I'm putting up a shelf?

There are basically two things you have to determine - what is the supporting structure and what is the surface material.

First the support - in most private homes this is commonly wood frame, such as two by fours (boards, called studs, nominally 2 inches (5 cm) wide by 4 inches (10 cm) thick, but actually about 1.5 inches (3.8 cm) by 3.5 inches (8.9 cm)).  These run floor to ceiling and are most commonly spaced 16 inches (41 cm) apart, but in a few cases, 24 inches (6.1 cm) apart.

In some private homes and in recent apartment construction, the support is sometimes steel studs.  In cross section, these are thin walled boxes of steel that imitate, in size, function and placement, the wooden studs listed above.

In heavier construction, the support may be masonry - brick, poured concrete, concrete block, cinder block or tile blocks. These types of support are usually continuous across the whole wall.

Now the surface - in most recently built homes this is wallboard (also called drywall or plasterboard) ranging from about 3/8 inch (9.5 mm) thick to 3/4 inches (1.9 cm) thick. Most often, this is a layer of plaster with paper surfaces on both sides. Some newer constructions use paperless board.

In some older homes and in large buildings, the surface may be solid plaster that has been applied wet over either thin wooden horizontal slats or metal mesh.

In a few homes, the surface may be panelling of some sort, usually a type of plywood.  Some very old, cheaper construction may use a cardboard-like material that has very little strength (not common).

Determining the type - You can carefully remove the cover at a wall switch or outlet to see if the material is obvious at the edge of the box holding the switch or receptacle. Turn off the power to that outlet (or the whole house, if you are not sure) before removing the cover. If you see a paper surface on front and back, with plaster in between, it is wallboard. If you see an indication of wood strips or metal mesk behind the plaster, it is a solid plaster.  If it is plywood, you have paneling.

Perhaps more important in hanging things is to determine the supporting structure. Again at an outlet or switch, you may be able to see either wood or masonry behind the surface material, but this is often difficult.

An alternate method (that will help you later in hanging) is to see if there are hollows behind most of the surface material, indicating a stud structure.  This can be done by poking a series of small holes horizontally in an inconspicuous area with an awl or small drill (with plaster walls, do not use the awl method).  If you hit something solid after you are through the surface material, move three or four inches to the side and try again.  If it is still solid, you probably have some form of masonry.  If it is hollow, you probably have a stud structure (wood or steel).

If it is a stud structure, you need to find out if it is wood or steel - if the awl or drill can be pushed (with some difficulty) deeper into the stud, it is probably a wooden frame structure.  If it seems very firm, it is probably a steel stud structure.

Once you determine the nature of the wall, you then can make decisions about how to hang (but that is another question).


Can I use foil duct for Kenmore 700 dryer?

Gas driers must use metal vent. I prefer actual metal pipe. Aluminum flex reduces air flow significantly and even if not dangerous will lengthen the time it takes for cloths to dry. Gas driers have carbon monoxide flowing through the vent. Would you want your water heater or furnace vent using foil venting material?  Granted a clothes drier vent doesn’t get as hot but if it rips that would not be good.


Would this type of backsplash tile not require grout?

No you don't grout these period.   I have installed similar 15-20 times.   Impossible.   Grout only effective if it covers, not if it is here and there.

So number 1 you can't grout this type of tile.   They simply don't have big enough gaps.  Even if you tried you would either miss coverage or by putting too much in you will distort the layout of some of the tiles.

Number 2... I really disagree with a lot of the comments.   A kitchen is not a shower.   Unless you are in a commercial kitchen, your personal home kitchen is not really a "wet zone".   Who cares if something spills on it?   You wipe it up.  Oh no the magic tomato soup fairies are going to get underneath the tile and destroy it.   It is absurd.

If anything it may in fact be easier to clean this tile.   Tile does not stain or discolor from a spill easy if at all... what does stain and discolor?   Yes grout.


How do I wire a GE oven that requires 110v + 220v in a 220v-only home?

This sounds like a case of North American appliances being exported to somewhere they do not belong.

All ovens are 230V-ish devices.  The sticking point for ovens is use of local indigenous incandescent bulbs. Incandescents love heat and are happy inside ovens.  LEDs and CFLs cannot abide heat and cannot work as an oven light.  Incandescents burn out, meaning replacement bulbs must be readily available, and they can use the common household light bulb stock.  Generally there are two styles of oven wiring in the world:

European 230V single-phase.  1 hot and neutral only.  Often a range/oven combo will have 3 hot wires to allow even distribution on 3-phase power. But every load in the oven is 230V; there are no 120V loads.
North American 240V split-phase:  2 hots with a neutral in the middle, giving 120V per "leg".  The oven/range doesn't need 120V. But common hardware store light bulbs are 120V, which means the ovens need to tap 120V for the bulb.  Since they're doing that anyway, why not take advantage of it to use readily available clock mechanisms, electronics power supplies, etc.?  Seems logical.
North Ameri-Euro 240V-only fancy dancy certified organic rich people's ovens/ranges: These are set up 240V only to allow one SKU to operate worldwide.  I have no idea what they do with the oven light.
Common/cheap North American ovens/ranges factory-modified for sale in the Philippines: The Philippines are an anchor of East Asia but have lots of weird shadows of North America.  Half their country has Euro-power, but the other half (the USA-developed older areas) have 120/240V split phase with neutral deleted, because Independence(tm).  But the deal in the Philippines is the oven light wants to be 220V, because that's what home stores there sell.  So when they factory configure an oven for Philippines, they will cross-wire the oven light to run on 230V, then install a transformer to power the clock and digital controls.  Once so wired, the oven will work fine on a) real North American power, b) Phillipine no-neutral power, or c) Euro style power.

"Hacking" an oven as you have, is an idea which I am warm to.  However, the oven light is a real "gotcha".  That transformer appears perfectly large enough for electronic controls.  But it looks too small for an oven light.

Remember if the oven light is 60 watts, you don't need a 60 VA transformer. You need a 120 VA  transformer because all the current is flowing through half the transformer.  Or to be more precise you need a 0.5A transformer; a 60 VA transformer @ 230V is only good for 0.25A.  That is my hunch as to what happened.

The better plan is to rewire the oven light to use indigenous voltage.


Planning a new roof for future roof mounted equmpment

"Roof mounted equipment" is very broad. Generally, though, the important characteristics of the equipment are its weight and its cross section. These affect the vertical load-bearing capacity and the lateral wind-resisting capacity demanded of the mount. Since this is residential, I'll make the assumption that you're thinking of small and lightweight devices like the 18" diameter satellite dishes, comparably sized wireless networking equipment, broadcast TV antenna, amateur radio monopole or J-pole, and the like.
As you've probably noticed, equipment like these are most often installed on an "existing" roof, even if the shingles had just been installed yesterday. They frequently use a J-mount like this one (image credit to L-com), with or without the optional struts for stabilization. These mounts work for walls and most pitched roofs.

Another technique I've used when I know I'll be installing several antennas in one location is to mount electrical conduit. I don't have a photo but I'll describe one such installation. I made a hole through the shingles and roof deck with a hole saw, positioned a pipe flashing, and inserted a 2" EMT conduit. Inside the attic I used strut bolted to truss members to support the conduit. The conduit stands about 4 feet above the surface of the roof and has a weather head sitting on top. This provides a great mounting structure for high-gain directional antennas I've oriented various ways. The pipe itself also provides a chase for passing cables, even pre-terminated cables if necessary, through the roof and out to the antennas.
Inside the attic I extended the conduit to an 8x8x4 pull box, then more conduit to make a chase down to the basement room where the associated comms equipment is installed.
This method could easily be installed as a roof is built, but retrofitting it later in the position and time it is needed isn't much harder.
Pipe flashing (Lowe's/Oatey):

Strut (Lowe's/Superstrut):

Weather head, aka service entrance cap (Home Depot/Halex):


Should I install the exhaust hood outlet through the chimney or house wall?

A hole in a wall is less likely to leak than a hole in the roof. Furthermore, when a hole in the wall leaks, it is likely to produce fewer problems than a leaky hole in the roof.

In the future, during reroofing, unused chimneys might be removed, and the associated hole in the roof along with them.


How to find a Water Pressure Release Valve

Your pressure relief valve (let's stop using acronyms) is probably located on your water heater, it is actually a temperature/pressure relief valve. Sometimes a "pressure only" relief valve will be located on supply piping also. They are designed to open up and relieve pressure due to an unplanned temporary high pressure event, they both look something like this:

A pressure regulator is different. It is designed to regulate (control) your water utility company pressure before that pressure can damage your plumbing. This is the device you need go find. It should look something like this:

You will notice by a close look at the pictures that these two valves look very different.


Is an electrical blank (or anything you have to screw off) an acceptable access panel?

Yes, it is acceptable; you just need access. However, you do need to make sure that the thing that it covers is to code as well.

For example, if you have a standard box, you can splice inside of it and put a blank cover on it. You can't, however, just have a splice behind drywall with a hole that is covered by a blank plate.


You should remove the tape and replace it, a small roll at a big box store is less than a dollar.


Is there a smoke alarm which can be hushed in DENSE smoke?

Don’t use a smoke alarm, but do use a temperature alarm known as “rate of rise”, these detect the change in temperature caused by a fire and are used in those possibly smoky areas such as kitchens.
Do check with fire and insurance.


Why does it take a second for water to come out of the kitchen faucet?

Over the weekend I determined what the cause was. Thanks to everyone for the helpful suggestions; the actual problem was slightly different.

The problem was that the sprayer hose was loose on the sprayer end. Since the hose is pressurized when the faucet is on, this meant that the sprayer leaked a little from the bottom while the water was on, and a little bit after turning the faucet off. This meant that the next time you turned the faucet on, the hose was partially empty of water, so it took a second to pressurize the hose before water would come out of the faucet.

Tightening the sprayer hose connection seems to have fixed the problem.


This is one of those places where a little bit of plumber's putty is indicated.

The problem is that there is little friction between the base of the faucet head fixture and the sink to resist the torque.

Roll yourself a pencil of plumber's putty about  1/4" dia and long enough to form a ring around the hole. Add a couple extensions straight out from the sides so it looks like the old US Airforce star and bar insignia. If you did it right you will get little or no squeezeout, the base plate will adhere to the sink and you now have a water dam so no moisture can get through the hole.

Operating the sink handle once you have the faucet assembly tightened down should no longer allow a twisting force against the fastenings.

Don't use silicone caulk to do this if you can help it. The sink outlasts several faucets and having to remove it from the sink is nigh impossible and looks pretty ugly when a new faucet has a footprint that exposes it.


Flexible palm disc sander: Are there any other names?

I think "round hand sanding pad" or "round sanding block" get you there.

Google 1 | Google 2


What type wire to use for 240V, 30amp, 6-30R, with 60' run?

We don't generally worry about upsizing 240V wire until about 180', so 10 AWG will be fine.
You only need 2 hots + ground.  If you use cable, consider using /3 (2 hots + neutral + ground).  That's for 2 reasons: it's round; and it improves ability to reuse the wiring for other purposes later.
You can use any of the following wiring methods:

THWN/THHN wire in conduit - you might as well use stranded wire, which will be an easy pull
Cable in physically protected locations e.g. inside walls
Cable inside conduit provided the conduit is large enough

By "large enough" conduit, I mean the conduit's actual inside diameter must be 138% of the cable's widest width (hence the importance of round cable).  However pulling any cable through conduit is quite hard, and upsizing just to make the pull easier helps a lot.  A novice DIYer can easily wind up in a situation where you run out of swear words, and have to call in a professional :)
Anywhere you transition between THHN and cable, that must happen in a junction box.  I recommend a 4x4 metal junction box so you have enough cubic inches. If you plan to ever use that conduit for other circuits, use THHN - multiple cables requires a HUGE conduit.


Do I need two separate duplex receptacles for dishwasher (GFCI) and garbage disposal?

Yes, you are right.  Current code wants the dishwasher GFCI protected.  However, unlike the dishwasher, there is no specific article that explicitly states a disposal requires one.

A Double pole GFCI 20 Amp breaker can protect two individual appliances. The Wiring is known as a MWBC "multi-wire branch circuit" and uses 12-3 "Black, Red, White, and Ground".

However, current code also wants everything in a kitchen, including dishwashers to be ARC-fault protected.  One solution is to use a Double-Pole Dual GFCI/ARC fault 20 Amp breaker.

But since you ran two separate branch circuits I don't think code allows you to combine the neutrals as one in the panel because the conductors are not in the same sheath/raceway when they leave the panel.  In which case, you would just do as you mentioned using a 2-gang box with one GFCI and one regular outlet, which is probably far way less expensive!


I would replace the ceiling drywall with 5/8" material because it is much better suited for your ceiling joist spacing of 24" than would be 1/2" material.
There is no real reason that the ceiling drywall has to extend out to be over the drywall that is on the walls. The wall material can help support the ceiling material if it does extend out over the wall drywall. But if your ceiling joists have backing lumber between the joists at the ends and there is joist exposure along the walls parallel to the joists that can have screws driven through the 5/8" ceiling drywall into the joists and backing lumber then the only real need is to bring the new drywall up close to the wall material.
New taping joints along the ceiling to wall corners should easily make for a clean finished corner despite not having the ceiling drywall tuck over the wall drywall.


How to attach a wall plate to an old junction box with different screw hole spacing?

What you have there is a 3-1/2" round junction box intended for lamps.  That is a standard size, though largely obsolete today in favor of 4" round.

A 3-1/2" round junction box cover should do the job.  Most well equipped hardware stores and every electrical supply will sell it.

You might also find decorator covers but look for ones that will work with 3-1/2" round boxes.


How do i install a wooden door frame to a brick frame wall?

If you're installing the frame in a new wall, then you should have 'tie-wires' embedded into a groove running up each side of the frame.
These are usually L-shaped lengths of galvanised wire about 4mm thick with the short leg of the L embedded in the groove in frame and the long leg sticking out.
The long leg is then embedded into the mortar between courses of bricks in the wall in at least 3 or 4 locations on each side of the frame.
If this is an exterior door then you should also have a strip of "DPC" (plastic sheeting) in the same groove running all around the frame and this keeps water from getting past the frame into the wall.

If you're replacing an existing frame, then it depends on how you've removed that one.
If you've knocked bricks out (or half-bricks) and will be laying new ones then you can continue as if this was a new wall and embed the tie-wires from the door frame into the new mortar between the bricks.
If you've just knocked an existing frame out, but left the brickwork as-is (still a neat rectangle without bits missing), then you'll probably have to drill through the door frame and mount the frame to the bricks with masonry anchors of some sort (something like the things often called 'rawl bolts' in SA). Choose positions where you would drill through into solid brick and not into the mortar between the bricks - those masonry anchors expand when you tighten them and, depending on the strength of the mortar, can sometimes just crack the mortar out of the joint.


how to patch minor leaks at cast iron sewer pipe's joint

There is no such thing as a "minor" leak in cast iron. If it is leaking, it means major corrosion is occurring. If you were to open the joint and look in, you would see the inside of the pipe is completely rotted.

You could put a liner inside the pipe and pump it full of some kind of sealant, but it would be a lot of work to do that and it would be temporary fix because the rot would continue at the interface between the liner and the pipe.

The correct way to do it is to first remove the short, corroded cast iron piece and then grind/chisel/sand the larger flanged opening. You need at least 1.5 inches depth of clean, smooth cast iron. Then you put in the PVC pipe and caulk it, which means stuff it with oakum and melted lead. You have to have at least 1" depth of lead all around the joint. Doing this requires a plumber who is experienced with caulking. It requires special tools called "caulking irons". You may find some plumbers who recommend using a "donut" adapter. Don't do it. Those cheapo things are worthless garbage used by hack plumbers. If your plumber even mentions the word "donut", fire him and get a plumber who is not a moron. Caulking is the way to go. These are pictures of what it should look like when done:

By the way, that rubber adapter with hose clamps you have on there is a complete POS typical of the worst sort of hack plumber trying to finish a job in 5 minutes. You should get rid of that thing when you do the repair and replace it with proper, solid PVC joints.


Why's my dishwasher making grinding noises during pre-wash?

We have an LG dishwasher as well and it does the same after a few years of operation. Currently its still grinding away but washes well, like you mentioned. I did some research before and it seems that for us its either the:

Circulation Pump
Circulation and Drain Pump Motor

It seems like our source of problem is when water is being circulated and not any drains since towards the end, when the drain is working, little noise is produced.
I have promised myself that I will do some troubleshooting to Identify root cause but haven't done yet.
Source: https://www.repairclinic.com/RepairHelp/How-To-Fix-A-Dishwasher/35-200--/Lg-Dishwasher-Making-Noise


Is there something like a P-clip but with symmetric flanges?

There are 'universal' pipe hangers that you could shape as needed. These are just a strip of malleable metal with a series of holes in it. I'm sure the big box stores have something equivalent.

http://www.mcmaster.com/#perforated-steel-straps/=nrz5k8

Adding some more options:

http://www.mcmaster.com/#pipe-routing-clamps/=nrzgqn


How can I prevent an above-ground pool underlayment from failing due to erosion at one location?

The first issue you need to address is why is the base eroding in the same place time after time? The large majority of above ground pools survive many years with a leveled sand base. The probable reasons for your erosion problem is an unstable base, misguided water runoff or the base is a bit too high in relationship to the surrounding area allowing runoff to seek a path under your pool.

An XPS base may help a lot, but even with a foam board base it needs to be on a stable compacted base. If the foam is installed over an area that is going to erode too deeply, it will collapse into the void created by that erosion. I strongly suggest you analyse the drainage around your pool area and correct or redirect runoff before you destroy another liner.


Can I install a modern furnace without ductwork?

My grand mother had this exact same type heating system in her old farm house. You roasted in the room above the furnace and froze in the others. I would install a better system than the one installed now.


How to install a junction box for a wire splice

It looks like the root problem is that the under-cabinet light was not installed flush to the back of the cabinet-wall corner.  The casing of the light itself is typically meant to be used as a junction box, and it should have enclosed the wires from the light, from the wall, the wire nuts, etc.
You should remove the light, feed the cable from the wall through the existing hole in the light fixture, reinstall the fixture absolutely flush the with cabinet bottom and wall, and then re-attach the wires inside the fixture. You may need to trim the wires a bit, or maybe you can just gently push the extra inches back into the wall (probably better).
If the hole in the fixture doesn't already have a clamp or you will need to add one (secures the cable & protects it from metal edges). Personally I like the the plastic snap-in type (example) since they're easy and fairly flush. But there are others; your local store can advise you what they have.
The reason for insisting on there being no gaps is so that the wall cable is not exposed even a little; I believe if its done that way it will satisfy electrical code. References: just what I recall reading when I was installing similar lights myself.


Take the subpanel back and get another one, with an eye toward two features:

Auxiliary ground bus included, not an extra-cost add-on
lots and lots of spaces.  Right now in your construction, spaces are dirt cheap; regrets are expensive.  Especially if drywall is involved.

Also look for

being bundled with useful "bonus" breakers
being a quality type (Siemens, QO, GE Qline, CH)
having sensibly priced AFCIs ($40ish) and GFCI/AFCI combos ($55ish). Can't use brand X breakers on brand Y panels; that's not brand loyalty but a matter of proper fit.
same type as your main panel (if you care)

It does not matter what the panel ampere rating is, as long as it is >80A because that is the breaker to use with your 75A 2/2/2/4 cable.*  There is nothing wrong with getting a 200A subpanel for instance, as long as it has a plentiful supply of breaker spaces.  Headroom increases safety and also allows for easy upgrades (just replace the cable/breaker).

The subpanel does not need a main breaker, but if it's cheaper (with bonus breakers) to accept a panel with one, that's fine.

* 75A -- yeah, the advice you got was that wrong.  Never take advice from big-box again. In fact let's get you shopping at a proper electrical supply house.  Most are locally owned businesses, and most will be happy to deal with you at sensible prices.  Be honest with them that you're sick of dealing with big-box and their limited selection**, terrible advice and you're heard electrical supply prices are actually better on most things.

** I suspect that's why they put you into 2/2/2/4 Al.


Is there any problem with installing a prehung inswing exterior door backwards as an outswing?

I don't recommend this if the door is exposed to any sort of weather.

The threshold is different. This is the big issue, as you don't want standing water, and an exterior door isn't designed to deal with indoor rain. You'd also end up with rain pooling on the top edge of the door, which might be bad. Make sure all the hinges are rated for outdoor use; you don't want them to rust, and that's something an inswing door doesn't need to deal with.

Code wise, if you're switching from inswing to outswing, make sure there's enough room near the front door. If you have steps up to a small front stoop, an outswing door may not be code compliant, as you'd need to step off the stoop to open it. (And would be generally annoying to deal with.)


The capacitor needs replacement.  While it is possible there is a circuitry problem causing the capacitor to overheat (and thus fail like this), it is also possible it was simply time for this electrolytic capacitor to fail while nothing else is wrong.

See this photo for a similar failure mode.


How is a high altitude natural gas burner different?

The basic chemistry of efficient natural gas burning is about a 10:1 air to fuel ratio.  The air at high altitudes has less oxygen per volume (the air is less dense)

There are a number of ways to compensate.

Derate the burner by decreasing the fuel orifice size.  This returns the burner to the correct air-fuel ratio, but produces less heat.  This method is going out of favor in higher efficiency appliances.
Add air to the natural gas.  You are in effect derating the gas content to get the proper air-fuel ratio.  This is done at the utility, your appliance vendor will know what percentage is added (if any) in your area.


How do I loosen and then re-attach threaded PVC cleanout plug?

It is likely that the "putty" you see is actually pipe thread compound, or pipe dope, which is appropriate for most threaded pipe fittings. You should be able to use an adequately sized pipe wrench to unthread the plug without too much difficulty.

NOTE- there is a chance that someone used the wrong compound, as many are not approved for use on plastic pipe because the solvents in the compound can soften and damage the plastic. There is also a chance that someone used some other stuff (hopefully not glue). The only way to find out is to try to remove the plug.

Consider removing the compound and using teflon thread tape when you reassemble the fitting, or ensure any compound you use is approved for use on that plastic pipe (looks like PVC).


can I turn a spa panel box into a circuit breaker box

Most spa panels have 2 spaces for auxiliary loads, often they are inside the coverage of the built-in GFCI.

However you don't want to run multiple circuits over to the shed, you are only allowed one circuit per voltage.  (One 240, one 120+240, one 120). Any further division of circuits must be in a subpanel in the shed.  Don't get too small a subpanel, go for 3x what you think you need.

The subpanel can be of any current rating >= the supply, e.g. a 30A breaker can feed #10 wire to a 125A subpanel. It needs to have its own "main" breaker but it can be of any size >= supply rating, since it is only a shutoff switch.  This main breaker must bolt down, you can't just backfeed a breaker that only clips in.

If you use rigid conduit, the stuff is hella expensive, but only needs to be buried 6” instead of 12-24”.


How to prepare floor for vinyl plank installation over old sheet vinyl

I would use the Henrys or remove the sheet vinyl.    No problem with your countersunk screwheads.


Im installing hardwood floor, and the mositure level readings are staying divergent between flooring and subfloor, what should i do?

It will take a week at least to get the moisture to move the the direction it needs to go. Be patient it will acclimate.

Some meters have an adjustable scale for hardwoods, softwoods and plywood, etc., make sure the difference is not because of a calibration from one type of wood to another.


7 quick red flashes sequence means "lock out" in this case which is a generic for "it's not going to try to start again for an hour".

"Something else" is initially preventing it from starting, could be the flame isn't igniting (you can tell by watching it, does it ignite to blue flame?) or the flame sensor isn't working, etc.

What you need to do is carefully watch the beeps between starts when it first tries to kick on, it'll give you another code with the "real problem reason" instead of the more generic "3 attempts failed" which 7 beeps mean, which occurs after the 3 attempts.


Whether the fence is deemed a permanent structure suitable for support of electrical conduits is likely in a gray area and subject to the determination your local inspector makes.  You could call in advance and ask.

PVC conduit has to be supported with a maximum distance between supports determined by the size and type of conduit.  For example, 2" schedule 80 PVC supports can be no more than 7 feet apart.  Schedule 40 has to be closer, and smaller conduits have to be closer.  PVC tends to sag and look like hell if you don't support it at the code maximum between supports.

So unless your posts are very close or your conduit is very big, you'd have to fasten to the chain link part of the fence, which may or may not be deemed sufficiently rigid for conduit supports, or run something like unistrut from post to post, and attach to that.

But that would be a big pain and at that point, you might be better off with EMT, which can span 10', or RMC, which with threaded couplings can span 12' between supports.  You might still need to put some strut between some of the posts if there are boxes or etc. that need closer support.


Low AWG in long outdoor run, but with GFCI protection

Voltage drop is additive or you might say cumulative.  If you use a heavy wire for the long portion, and small wire for the short sections, you'd prevent most of the voltage drop.

Your concern about your electronics may be unfounded;  most of your electronics will run off a power supply that handles a wide range of voltages, and voltage drop will be no problem.

As mentioned in @EdBeal 's answer and the comments, the load is the key.

It seems to me that up to 5 amps / 600 watts you don't have any issues at all.  With a total run of 180' and load of 5 amps, you can limit your voltage drop to less than the NEC recommended 3% with 12 AWG wire, which is the minimum for a 20A circuit, which is the maximum for your 12" buried conduit.

The electronics and some LED lights might not add up to much load, so if you don't have much else out there, you might very well stay under the 5 amps and never have any voltage drop issues.

Beyond that it's hard to say just what might happen.  The NEC 3% voltage drop is conservative, most things tolerate significantly more voltage drop than that before you have any serious issues.  (It depends on the utility voltage too - your actual voltage may be a bit over or under the nominal 120 volts.)

If you occasionally run a circular saw or shop vac at the end of the line, the load will be significantly higher, maybe 10 amps.  At 10 amps, you'd want #10 wire to limit voltage drop to 3%.  Now if you run both the shop vac AND the circular saw, you could be up over 15 amps and you'd need that #8 to limit voltage drop to 3%.

But again, 3% is very conservative, you might have no major issues with #12.

If I wanted to be safe, I'd run #8 underground to the disconnects, and #12 within the buildings.  It's not a big bump in cost to run #8 THWN in the underground, it's a pain to terminate / splice compared to #12, but you'd only have to deal with it in the disconnects.


Fuse is "fired"
Uncover black jacket around "fuse" (first pic.)
In my dimmer is fuse represented by resistor.
Resistor values are represented by color stripes

https://www.digikey.com/en/resources/conversion-calculators/conversion-calculator-resistor-color-code-4-band

https://learn.sparkfun.com/tutorials/resistors/decoding-resistor-markings

In my dimmer is
0,29 Ohm +-5% tolerance -> stripes red, white, silver, gold
(or 29G Ohm - 29 000 000 000 Ohm +- 5% tolerance -> red, white, grey, gold - iam not shure in 3rd tripe, but i think that is imposible 29G Ohm in table light dimmer)


How to seal floor under built in closet?

That's a difficult situation. The best bet might be to caulk everything with silicone from the crawl space, then add some fiberglass batt insulation.

Otherwise I think I'll look for a heavy, flexible fabric or membrane and lay it in there under the drawers, lapping up the sides just a bit where you can. You could try applying silicone caulk to all joints and seams, maybe from a small squeeze tube, but it'll be messy. You could use rubber gloves and finger the caulk out to press and finish it.


I tripped a 20amp breaker but didn't feel a shock - why?

Power doesn't usually go through you

Because you're a lousy conductor.  Also if you possess even the slightest amount of fieldcraft, you habitually and perhaps unconsciously position yourself so you are not a current path.

Electricity is not the black oil from X-files.  It doesn't seek out human skin, it will seek out all possible current paths to return at the same time. If you're contacting L1, then neutral, ground or L2 are returns.  L1 is not a return.

Current will take each path in proportion to its conductance (which is 1/resistance, Siemens = 1 / Ohm ).  So typically you have shoes on, and are not leaning on a grounded panel, and have not carefully attached a grounding strap to any fresh piercings, so your conductance is very low (megaohms/microsiemens). Meanwhile those other wires have extremely high conductance (milliohms/kilosiemens).

So one of two things happens, either so little current flows through you (microamps) that you don't feel it, or a dangerous current (milliamps) flows through you.  And then hundreds of amps also flows through the wire (as evidenced by the arc flash) and the breaker magnetic-trips, interrupting the current flow in milliseconds and so you never get to find out if it's lethal.


How to retrofit an impermeabilizant asphalt layer in a roof

I haven’t done hot tar since my dad passed so this is from 40 years back I might be forgetting.  Today I would wear a tyvek suit as every job ruined a pair of pants.

We used to use a weed burner and heat the top layer snow coat or whatever it was  until it could be picked up with a shovel, yes the tar can catch fire if you get it two hot , lay the shovel flat on the flames and it will go out move to a different area until that cools, once you get the hang of it you can really move quickly. We did have an old fashion water based fire extinguisher that you fill with water and compressed air incase the fire gets out of hand but it never did. Once you have the old stuff removed (leave as much of the tar as you can) you will need to rent a tar bitch (as far as I know this is a proper name)  on the one we used it would get to hot and set the tar on fire every now and then you have to close the lid and we had a coke bottle full of water you dumped in the fire would immediately put out, I mention this because you never want to use a tar bitch under a tree or building structure after coating the roof with fresh tar it’s time to paint, the paint silver or white is to keep the roof cool so the tar won’t melt in the summer.

We used an airless sprayer to put the paint down and worked backwards so the paint could dry.

For taking the tar to the roof we used metal 5 gallon buckets but did not fill them all the way 1/2-3/4 . We also attached a tarp to the side of the house to protect from an occasional splatter.

The tar or asphalt came in blocks that some times we would break with a hammer as we got close to the end.

That’s all I remember I know the first time I was constantly catching the tar on fire at the start don’t panic use the shovel to put it out. We used cheap cotton gloves they keep you from getting burned and can be tossed in the trash. WD40 works well for cleaning the first layer off.

Good luck, I was glad when mom sold that thing it is nasty work, but the pay was good.


Residential Air Conditioner Compressor Won't Start

I installed a hard start capacitor alongside the run capacitor and that seemed to give the compressor the boost it needed to get running again. The hard start capacitor I used was a Supco SPP6.


The NEC does not restrict the number of bends on SE cable. Raceway methods restrict bends to limit stress on wire being pulled through  the raceway.


How do I connect underground PVC pipe holding wire to rigid conduit?

First, apologies for leaving this question for so long and thank you for your comments.
In the end, I used flexible PVC conduit. I could have used rigid conduit, which was less expensive, but decided against it as there were too many elbows to glue (and not all the turns were 90 degrees).  With the flexible conduit, there was only one junction to glue in the middle and the elbows at the end.


Should I leave an oil water heater turned on while away on vacation?

Do you have a back-flow prevent valve (aka a check-valve) in the water supply? If the answer is yes and you do not have a hot water expansion tank, then as the tank full of cold water was heated it would have expanded significantly and forced open the PT relief valve. The valve then must have malfunctioned and stayed open so you ended up with a flood rather than a puddle.

You must get a new PT relief valve. I suppose you could try to remove deposits on the PT relief valve, but I doubt this is worth the risk of a repeat flood at an inconvenient time.

In the future, when you come back to a cold tank, as the tank is heating up you should let one faucet drip or run on low until the tank reaches the temperature set-point. This would prevent a pressure build up during heating. The dripping  faucet can be a cold side one if the check-valve is before the branching of the supply to the hot water heater. You could let a hot water faucet drip if you would want to know when the water is hot, but this of course would waste hot water and lengthen the time to a full tank of hot water.


There should be a switch somewhere, possibly by the pumps and filters or by a door going out to the patio. Most pool lights are low voltage, 12 volt AC, and are fed from a transformer either in the control box for the pool or in a separate pedestal located at least 5 feet away from the pool's edge. You're going to have to find this first, then you can check for voltage at that point. If all checks out, then a bad bulb is probably at fault. If possible, try to get back with the previous owners about this or even some of your new neighbors with pools, they might have the same or similar systems.


Does this look like asbestos insulation?

No, that is fiberglass.  When it comes to asbestos insulation, it is found only in loose fill types, and in a solid board configuration.  Asbestos was never used in a batt form of insulation which is what your picture is of.

https://www.thespruce.com/how-to-identify-dangerous-asbestos-insulation-4119906


How can I fit a pipe inside another pipe?

If this is PVC, 3/4' will slip inside 1" Class 200. The class 200 has a thinner wall, so is larger inside.


What should I consider when removing part of the second floor to make higher ceilings?

You need to hire an engineer for this one. They will tell you how it can be done, which may require adding additional beams, and other reinforcements to keep the remaining joist structure intact and to prevent the exposed walls from bowing out.


Breaker trips when turning switch on with no load (No GFCI)

If you didn't test the wiring periodically as you installed it, it is now for you to do.

I would sever off lamps 4-7 at the lamp 3 junction, relight, see if the problem clears.  Then divide the remaining area-of-uncertainty in half and repeat, in half again repeat.  Now you are down to 1 light, it is that light or the one before.

If it helps, get some 3/4" plywood and lay it across the joists so you have a roadway and don't put your foot through the ceiling.


What should I do about water dripping into my smoke detector from the attic after a heavy rain?

I left it off for a time, and did not notice any more water coming from the opening in the ceiling

I'll bet there's cold air from the attic coming through that hole, mixing with warm air in the living areas in your house and causing condensation to build up in the smoke detector.

You should seal that hole (a) to prevent cold air from moving down, and (b) to prevent any smoky air (should you be unfortunate enough to have any) from being pulled up through it (a process known as the Stack Effect , which can reduce the effectiveness of smoke detectors.


Make a weak acid solution using Muriatic Acid (pool acid) and water in a 5 gal. plastic bucket, 1 cup:gallon. Using gauntlet type chem gloves and eye protection, scrub with acid. Use a grout sponge to rinse and wipe clean, using clean water and wringing frequently. Repeat until all excess mortar and haze is gone.

Note: above method is effective for removing dried smears and haze, solid clumps of dried mortar must be mechanically removed (scraped).


Do tub drains of the same diameter ever have different thread-per-inch counts?

I have never come across flanges that weren't compatible, and haven't seen manufacturers specify TPI on their kits or replacement parts.  There are plenty of oddball pieces here and there but upon coming across those (on rare occasions), I'd be replacing the entire assembly.

There is really no way to know the TPI without removing the flange, but chances are you will be dealing with coarse threads.


You can replace the doorknob hardware with a ball latch/strike plate. These can be easily pushed open and are often used for places like pantries where you don't need privacy and may have your hands full when trying to open/close the door. You'll also want to replace the doorknobs with dummy versions that don't swivel.

This is not a recommendation for a specific vendor, sample images only. Click on the images for the original source.


Repairing bubbling (blown) plaster on an interior wall

I suspect that it is caused by moisture migration through the plaster. I would definitely scrape off the damaged paint and sub material first. Check for moisture, better to use a moisture meter if possible. Look for other areas below the floor for any evidence of water infiltration.  May have been a one time thing, but I would be looking for the root cause, which I think may be water. Once you are satisfied the area is dry, remove all loose or crumbly plaster down to a solid base. If the voids are deep, I would use a thinset, setting type filler first, then a Spackle or drywall compound to get a smooth finish.


Do I expand or crimp pex water line, and why?

There are different types of PEX and different types of joining systems.

PEX A is joined by slipping a PEX collar around the PEX tubing, then temporarily expanding the end with the collar. Without delay the fitting is inserted and in a minute or two the PEX relaxes and grips the fitting. This type of fitting has a larger internal diameter than the fittings for the other types of PEX.

The other types of PEX are PEX B and PEX C. These latter two are joined without enlargement--a metal band is crimped in some systems and in other systems a metal band is simply pulled into place to secure the PEX tubing to the fitting. Each type has its strong points and weaker points.

One video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fhzIRHLOQ_E


In floor heating GFCI thermostat failure?

You cannot always interchange the thermostats in this application. As long as your thermostat is a transformer coupled switch (essentially closes the contacts between two wires to call for heat) you can. If it uses live AC voltage, or serial communications, you have to replace it with another suitable replacement.

You will have to identify the make/model of the thermostat, and verify compatibility with what you would like to buy to replace it. Now with that out of the way -

Since you have a zone that is not failing, you can swap the GFCI & Thermostat from that zone to your most suspect zone. This will QUICKLY isolate if the fault is in the gfci or thermostat.

My guess, it is not.

More than likely, you have breakdown in the heating coils, and via environmental moisture (for example), the circuit is leaking power to another path, which is very dangerous both in shock, and fire concerns. This is why you have a GFCI. Given that nuisance trips DO HAPPEN, it is understandable that you'd reset it, but given that it has been 15 years, and it is happening more frequently, your system is likely telling you it is failing.

Get a heat camera (FLIR), and isolate hot spot(s).... once you identify them... and there may be more than one in one circuit, you can decide to repair or replace.


Do I need to plan my framing depending on the position of the wall to glass clamps for a frameless shower?

This blocking to support the glass panels should be 2x6 or 2x8 and should be placed with the wide side facing the room, but in the plane of the studs (interior side).
You should also place 2x8 blocking inside the walls of the shower for later placement of grab bars in the shower. This should definitely be on the long wall and the back wall. There should be grab bars on the control wall, but you have to be carefull placing blocking inside the control wall to insure it does not interfere with the water supply pipes.


I put some pipe sealent on the area pointed in picture plus the area where icemaker and cold water shutoff valves are. No leaks yet.


If the rotator has a separate power injector in addition to the controller, make sure that is unplugged also. If all power to the rotator is cut, and the antenna is still rotating on its own, there are 2 possibilities:

The rotator motor or its gearing could have gone bad. Something could have broken from use over time or some extra strong wind that now causes that much slop to be in the mechanism. Probably the only fix is to replace the rotator. It seems that the recommended course of action would be to try and find a new old stock type model, as they have a much better reputation than the ones made today. I can't vouch for this personally though.
The clamps holding the antenna to its pole or the rotator to its pole could have loosened over time. Just get up on the mast and tighten everything up again.


Refrigerator quits cooling (lights/freezer work) & 24 hr unplugged only fixes it for < 2 weeks

My guess is it is not defrosting properly or a fan has failed. I go with not defrosting because of the 2 week cycle
a failed fan it would probably not cool well at all. If not defrosting it takes time for the frost to build to the point of limiting the air flow. The display not properly functioning may point to some type of control board failure. It may be repairable and if you search online with the model number you will probably find the correct board for your model. Some of the sites that sponsor repair parts can be quite useful I have fixed stoves and dryers many times with parts from these sites.


Heat pumps work by "harvesting" any heat in the outside air to heat your home, but there is a limit to what they can do so they have heat strips for when the outside air drops below 40F. Heat strips do burn out. Whether or not yours is really burned out or this guy is "snookering" you is something we can't help with.


The wire painted red is called the common wire (it's connected to the actual light). The two blue wires are the travellers. The pink wire is not necessary. Use a wire nut to cap it off.

To maintain the 3 way function of the two switches, just make sure the red wire  is identified when you take out the old switch. Be sure to put that common-wire on the black screw of the new switch. The traveller wires go on the brass terminals. You can reverse them or not.

Tip- if the new switch is such that it is down while the other one is up when the light is off, you can either reverse the traveller wires or spin/flip the switch upside-down (there really isn't an up or down on a 3-way switch), so that both switches are pointed down to turn the light off.

If you want to eliminate one of the switches (suppose you just want one switch in the garage- not the laundry room), then, in the laundry room, just connect the common (red) wire to one of the travellers with a wire nut. Use another wire nut to cap off the extra traveller and use a pice of tape to mark it "J-Biden".

Now you should go to the other switch (in the garage) and take the unnecessary traveler wire off the switch. You have a 50/50 chance of removing the correct wire, so just take one off, and try it. If the switch doesn't work, then the traveller wire you took off is the one you need... put it back on the switch and take off the other traveller. Put a wire nut over the unused traveller and use a piece of tape to mark it "B. Obama".

Don't forget to turn off the breaker before you touch it.


Is a distribution panel necessary when pre-wiring for internet and cable TV?

Can't speak as much to the TV part, though an awful lot of TVs now work with internet connections. But as far as the internet connection, my recommendation is to wire up CAT 5e (or better) everywhere. Each cable should have one end in the desired location and the other end on a patch panel like:

Then you use cheap patch cables to connect to your switch or router. You mention DSL - that may be the technology now, but in the future it may fiber or Starlink. But you can change that easily enough.
The "main box", which can be a modem or a router or a combination of the two (typically with residential installations it is a combination modem/router/WiFi access point) may be placed where you put your patch panel but may be someplace else. A lot depends on the particular company, whether they do a professional installation or a "self install", the design of your house and other factors. In particular, if you have WiFi as part of the installation then you don't want the WiFi next to the patch panel in the basement or garage, etc. - you want your WiFi access point in a central location. Sometimes that means putting the router/WiFi in a better location and connecting it through one of your wired access points down to the patch panel and just putting a simple switch next to the patch panel. Sometimes the best solution is to put the router next to the patch panel and install a separate WiFi access point in another room. Sometimes multiple WiFi access points are needed for good coverage.
Speaking of good coverage, the best WiFi coverage is often obtained by putting WiFi access points in the ceiling, using Power over Ethernet to provide power and signal through one cable, so you may want to consider prewiring some ceiling locations as well.
What you can't change easily are the actual cables in the wall. Conduit really is a good idea. Think about all the people who had CAT 3 (or worse) cables and now really need CAT 5 in order to have a fast network. Or all the people who had coax and now want CAT 5 for their TV. Your house will (hopefully) be around for a long time, but nobody knows what will be popular for connections 20 years from now. It could easily be fiber everywhere, or some future CAT 'n' - all easy to install if you have conduit, very hard without.