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What outdoor materials can be damaged by by ice? I'm relatively new to this snow thing. I also have a new vinyl deck and paver stone walkway I'd like to take care of. I have a basic understanding of how water can get into things, freeze, and break them apart. I'd like to prevent this from happening. For what materials should I worry about preventing ice damage? <Q> Ice/water can damage anything and everything. <S> A vinyl deck should be OK. <S> Your pavers might heave a bit if water gets under them and freezes. <S> But that's the great thing about pavers. <S> Easy to fix come spring. <S> (tamp it down or add more sand if it needs to be raised) <A> My vinyl deck was damaged from icicles falling 2 stories off the house and onto the deck. <S> Probably not as much an issue for pavers, but the softer vinyl materal can be damaged. <A> I take the extra precaution of shutting off valves in the house and draining my sillcocks.
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I would say the most important thing to do for ice at your house is to install frost-free sillcocks to prevent the lines from freezing and the pipes from bursting in your house.
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What natural-wood finish should I use to protect a door from pet scratches? I'm installing a new solid-core wood door in one of my bedrooms. I want the door to have a natural wood look. However, I have a dog who will scratch at the door to open it looking for me / squeaky toys / a quiet place to chew said squeaky toys. What type of finish should I use to minimize -- or eliminate, if possible -- the damage from pet scratches? <Q> Hey Niall, Several coats (4-5?) of a good oil based urethane is gonna be the best protection, but even that is gonna show dog scratches eventually and won't protect the raised panel details that will get rounded over by Fido. <S> Short of a protective barrier, like a piece of thin plexi, I don't know of a thing that will hold up to repetitive scratching, sorry. <A> I've had friends who have put up metal kick/decorative plates and their dog/cat has still managed to scratch it up over time. <S> Like shirlock said .... <S> your dog is gonna scratch it .... <S> dogs are persistent (yet lovable) in that way. <A> Finish? <S> You might try stainless steel. <S> There is no paint, varnish, etc., that will stand up to a determined pet, because the wood underneath the surface coating will dent. <S> Once the wood underneath dents/deforms, the surface coating is toast. <S> Better is to teach the pet not to scratch at doors. <S> No, it is not always an easy thing to do. <S> Like a small child, a bored dog looking for attention will even do things it knows to be wrong, as any attention is better than none. <S> My approach was to give our previous dog a spot to curl up under my desk. <S> He would happily fall asleep as long as he was touching my feet. <S> Then later when I did have time, it was walk time or play time, and he knew it. <A> As the other answers have mentioned, I don't think there is a real solution. <S> Our dog would scratch/chew at the bedroom door (solid wood, probably original from 1926) when we are gone and would take chunks out of it along with big scratchs. <S> Luckily it was painted white <S> so we were able to just use wood filler to patch it and repaint <S> and you can't see the damage.
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Sorry, but a wooden door is quite a bit softer than your dog's nails, and if that door is like many, it is made of a relatively soft wood anyway. Your best bet is to do something that is easily replaceable, whether that be painting or a quick changeable kickplate. We have done this a few times, now we just leave the door open and let her go in the room when we are gone.
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How do I refill a fire extinguisher or should I just buy a new one? My fire extinguisher is out of charge and I want to either refill it or buy a new one. Is it better/cheaper to refill it or just buy a new one? (Can I even refill this fire extinguisher?) EDIT: <Q> I used to be a fire extinguisher repair tech. <S> This unit should not be refilled even though it is possible with the right equipment. <S> The plastic/nylon heads will develop cracks and leaks over time. <S> Buy a new unit with a metal head. <S> Those can be refilled and will last you a long time. <S> Amerex, Badger, General, Ansul are all decent brands. <A> This article mentions that refillable fire extinguishers have a metal valve, rather than a plastic one. <S> The cost trade off should be about $15 for a refill, or $60-115 for a new one . <S> (I can't tell if that's a 10 or 20 lb extinguisher in the picture.) <A> From the picture, this appears to be a type ABC dry chem fire extinguisher. <S> This is the most common type for people to have in their homes as it can be used on ordinary combustibles, flammable liquids, and electrical fires. <S> Unfortunately, it is not possible for you to refill this on your own. <S> You could take it to a local fire equipment / service shop and they should be able to service it and refill it. <S> I'm not sure how much that would cost in comparison to just buying a new extinguisher. <S> The size of the one in the picture would cost less than $50 brand new.
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You may also want to check with your local fire department - some of them will refill it for free.
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How can I clean the glass door on my fireplace? I tried crumpled up newspaper but that was a joke. Are there any good techniques for doing this? Mine is totally covered with creosote right now and I can barely see through it. <Q> This is going to sound bogus <S> but I just got this tip the other day from a friend and <S> it worked great on my woodstove. <S> Take a wet paper towel and dip it into some cool ashes from inside the fireplace, just enough to get a thin coating of ashes on the wet towel. <S> Then scrub the glass with the wet towel. <S> Within a few seconds you'll see even the toughest creosote start to disappear. <S> I usually finish with a dry paper towel just to get it really sparkling. <S> I don't know how or why this works, but I suppose it's probably some combination of abrasion and a dissolving action. <S> It really is amazing. <S> Just FYI, if your glass is totally covered in creosote, it probably means your fireplace isn't burning hot enough, and/or you're burning too much sappy wood like pine, and/or you're burning wood that's not properly seasoned. <S> The creosote on your glass is also being deposited on the inside of your chimney, which is bad. <S> Pine can be burned but needs to be well seasoned and ideally should be mixed with seasoned hardwood. <A> <A> I've had success by spraying on Windex(TM)(R), waiting 5 minutes, then rubbing hard with a paper towel. <S> As mentioned by @Mike, there should not be too much build up. <S> Burn different wood or burn hotter.
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Other than the ash trick, the best way to get it clean is a really hot fire.
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Why does my furnace turn off when the thermostat's LCD dims? Recently I replaced an old mercury thermostat with a programmable digital model (a PRO1 T955W ). It is set to operate in Heating mode. The desired temperature is set to 70 and the in-home temperature is in the low 60s. Yet, the oil-burning furnace does not turn on.As soon as I touch the LCD screen, its back-light turns on and shortly afterwards the furnace motor starts running/burning. Then after a few seconds, the LCD dims, and the furnace stops before the desired temperature was reached. I was initially wondering if I might have switched around the R and C connectors. The thermostat only has those two inputs. After switching them again, the same problem persists. Any ideas? EDIT: Here is a picture of the wiring. It shows the R & C wires. The insulation looks a bit worn. I have made sure that both cables are securely screwed into place. Picture of Wiring Here is a picture of the back side of the thermostat: Picture of backside Here is a picture of the thermostat display when connected. Here the display is lit (after I pressed the display), and the furnace immediately turned on. As soon as the display dimmed (after a few seconds of not touching the display), the furnace stopped immediately. Picture of thermostat display <Q> What happens when you short out the two wires? <S> A simple mercury thermostat does that to turn the furnace on, so when you do it the furnace should come on. <S> If that works, then I'd guess that the new thermostat is defective. <A> From what I remember about thermostat wiring, there are a couple different powers available to use. <S> I would suggest investigating the terminals and see if you need to power the thermostat off a different terminal or power the thermostat relays off a different terminal than the actual thermostat. <A> It turns out that with this thermostat model PRO1 T955W, the "master thermostat" (from the above picture links) is not intended to power the furnace. <S> Instead, one has to connect the "base module" to the C and R wires. <S> The "master thermostat" (the one with the display, as in the above picture links), senses the temperature and sends a wireless signal to the "base module". <S> It also controls the temperature programming, "heat swing" and other settings. <S> The "master thermostat" can either be wired, or operated with batteries. <S> In this case, the solution was to wire the "base module" to the old thermostat's wiring, and establish the wireless link between "base module" and "master thermostat". <S> Previously with the "master thermostat" wired to the old thermostat's wiring, the display's back light must have sent a signal to the wire that turned on the furnace for as long as the display was lit.
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It sounds like you could be using the wrong power to supply the thermostat relay which is usually located on the thermostat (one which is only available when the LCD screen is on and whatever micro-controller in thermostat wakes up).
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Should I use foam spray insulation in my crawl space? My crawl space has no insulation. The dirt is wet near one of the walls. There have been termites in the past. I'm thinking of insulating the ceiling (between the joists) and the walls with foam spray. Am I on the right track with this idea? I hear that fiberglass is not a good idea because it can get affected by the moisture. There are these products, such as Sealection500, Icynene, etc. Have people here used them? What's a good DIY product? There's foamitgreen.com and they offer the product and kit directly. I like that they are straight forward about it. Is that a good product though? Is the price good? Edit: According to http://basementsolutions.blogspot.com/2009/11/do-not-spray-foam-your-crawlspace.html the walls should not be sprayed. Guess I can use rigid foam for the walls. Comments on that? How far down do you put the insulation on the walls? Down to the footing? <Q> There are some very good spray foams on the market. <S> Most are a two part system and a starter kit runs around $800.00. <S> This would include the hoses, tanks and spray wands and enough material to do several hundred square feet, depending on thickness. <S> I sub out most of that type of work, so I don't have the brand names on the tip of my tongue, but you should be able to investigate various types of foam and equipment appropriate for your application at your local specialty distributor of insulation products. <A> Use rigid foam insulation for the walls. <S> You may not even need insulation for the ceiling especially if you put vapor barrier on top of the ground. <A> I'd be more concerned with the moisture getting in and the possibility of termites. <S> Where is water coming in and can it be stopped? <S> I'd be more afraid of the insulation getting wet and then moldy causing a much bigger problem in the future. <S> As for the possibility of termites, I'd also get that checked into right quick. <S> You don't want termites eating away at your joists. <S> Get an exterminator in there to check and kill whatever might be in there. <S> I'm not sure of a good sprayform insulation <S> but it sounds like you might have bigger issues with moisture and bugs before needing to spray first.
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There are foams that are completely water and moisture resistant as well as mold and vermin proof.
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How to spread light more Which one is better for light bulbs in home to get more from light. White board behind bulb? White plastic covering the bulb? Mirror behind the bulb? Any other way? How to get more from a light source? <Q> If you want get more light to specific spot - use "Mirror board behind bulb". <S> But if you want to feel that room is more brighten, then you have to add more light sources. <S> Feeling of brightness come from various sources: lamps, walls, objects in room. <S> E.g. if there are lot of shadows, room may not look bright. <S> If walls are black/dark grey, it again may not look bright. <A> If I understand your question correctly, you are trying to get more general illumination in the space from your bulb or bulbs. <S> If this is so, consider this. <S> A bulb has a specific capacity to produce visible light measured in "Lumens" <S> This is the total amount it can produce. <S> It cannot be increased, but can be redirected or reflected. <S> Any type of reflector, mirror, polished metal or white background will reflect some of the light. <S> (angle of incidence equals the angle of reflection) <S> You will not see a huge difference in general illumination from a small source such as a 60 or 100 watt bulb. <S> If the area you are trying to light is too dark with the existing lighting, you will have to add more lights or increase the lumen capacity of the fixture you have by putting in a larger bulb. <S> (higher lumens) <A> If you're just looking to get more light in general, you could probably replace an existing incandescent build with a higher output CFL - <S> a fixture that is rated for 60 watts can easily handle a 26w CFL, which is the equivalent of 100w. <A> If you want light concentrated on a specific spot, get a special type of light or some track lighting . <S> If you don't want that, then mirrors are the second best, but mirrors can mess with your head, and they will do nothing to make the light less harsh. <S> A white surface near the bulb, however, will make the light spread out in a much softer manner and will help illuminate the room more evenly. <S> Another thing that will soften up the light is getting a frosted bulb... or a chandelier that does the same thing on a larger scale, like this one .
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If you're trying to focus light into a particular area, you're better off getting a bulb that already does that - there are many different types of spotlights, with different patterns & beams.
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Why is my furnace blowing cold air? My HEIL 7000 natural gas furnace has stopped working what are the most likely causes, and how to verify faulty parts? Normal operation routine Thermostat sends "need heat" signal. Exhaust blower starts. Electric sparker lights gas. Once operating temperature is reached, circulation blower turns on. Current operation routine Thermostat sends "need heat" signal. circulation blower turns on and blows cold air. Things I have checked. House has gas (hot water tank is working). Followed reset procedure as described in owners manual. Looked for obvious signs of electrical short/arcing (black marks, melted wire sheathing, etc) <Q> Turned out to be the High Limit switch. <S> The switch had burnt out, which caused the burner not to fire. <S> Turns out when the limit switch senses the heat box is too hot, it shuts down the gas and forces the blower to continue so it will clear the excess heat. <S> When the switch failed it always told the system that the furnace was over heated, so the burner would not come on and the blower would run constantly to try and clear the excess heat. <S> To trouble shoot this issue I used an ohm meter to test each sensor, to make sure it was open/closed as it should be. <S> Another way to test would have been to use jumpers to bypass the sensor all together, until the faulty sensor was located. <A> I am no expert on gas furnaces by any stretch, but have had similar problems with units over the years in rental properties. <S> I often shadow my heating subcontractor because I am always curious to learn how these things work and pick up tips. <S> I'm sure there is a control panel or control board that monitors gas flow in, <S> ignition, fan functions etc. <S> This logic control is designed to shut the supply of gas if ignition fails after a predetermined period of time. <S> I can't tell you how to test the specific control board, but I would bet the problem is one of a few things. <S> I know this is very vague and not really helpful. <S> If you have spare parts, you could try the simple substitution routine. <S> I'd start with the igniter, then the controller, last the gas feed. <S> If you need heat now and fast, this might be a situation to call a tech, get it fixed fast and learn from the tech for the next time you have a problem. <A> I just had this problem when I came home from vacation. <S> The heat had been off for almost 2 weeks, and when we turned it on, we got cold air. <S> When I took the panel off the furnace I saw that the ignitor was not heating up. <S> (Ours gets really hot and glows, instead of sparking like the OP's) <S> I "fixed" it by flipping the switch on the furnace control off and then on again. <S> After that it started operating normally. <S> So I don't really know what the root cause was, but resetting the controller may be a good place to start. <S> ( Especially if it's 1 AM and your house is 60 degrees.)
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Bad igniter, faulty gas control valve, or control board failure.
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What are the pros and cons of a vented vs unvented crawl space? I find it very confusing to read and hear conflicting advice on crawl space: vent vs air seal, different ways to do insulation, vapor barriers vs not, etc. Mine currently has some moisture and has a 6" square hole in the exterior wall and 2 large 3' square openings to the basement next to it. What should I do? BuildingScience.com recommends conditioning the crawl space: http://www.buildingscience.com/documents/reports/rr-0401-conditioned-crawl-space-construction-performance-and-codes One concern I have with laying plastic on top of the dirt is creating conditions for mold. I'd like to hear independent opinions from DIYers rather from websites and people in the industry since those usually have an agenda. How did you do your crawl space? Edit: Sounds like the vapor barrier and insulation at the wall would be the better approach. According to this: http://www.energysavers.gov/your_home/insulation_airsealing/index.cfm/mytopic=11810 my zone (anything north of North Carolina) is OK for the vapor barrier. Further questions: Should I have the 2 inch rigid foam at the walls and vapor barrier on top or underneath or...? I cannot find this detail on the Internet. "Conditioning" the crawl space means I have to ensure air intake and outtake for it, doesn't it? I currently don't have AC, BTW, only window units. AskTheBuilder is talking about using high performance vapor barriers here: http://www.askthebuilder.com/B403_High_Performance_Vapor_Barriers.shtml Does anyone have experience with those? Where do I buy that stuff? I only found this: http://www.insulationsolutions.com/products/viper_CS/information.html <Q> Most crawl spaces are vented if they have an earth floor or are prone to moisture. <S> If you insulate between the floor joists with a moisture, mold and vermin resistant insulation (foam as we discussed before) you would still want some ventilation. <S> You would be creating a dry cell and blocking movement of cold air through and under the house. <S> This is typically done with a rubber/neoprene type compound sheet commercially, but can be done effectively with a couple of layers of good 6 mil poly. <S> This poly is avail at Lowe's, HD, etc. <S> in 10 and 20 foot wide rolls, 25 to 100 foot in length. <S> You can use Tyvek tape to seal the seams and around posts etc. <S> Leave yourself a way to enter the space to check humidity levels occasionally for reassurance. <A> See http://www.advancedenergy.org/portal/crawl_spaces/pdfs/ASHRAE%20IAQ%20Paper%20Revised%202008-07-15.pdf <S> And http://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/blogs/dept/musings/building-unvented-crawl-space <S> And especially: http://aceee.org/files/proceedings/2004/data/papers/SS04_Panel1_Paper07.pdf <S> (Moisture Solution Becomes Efficiency Bonanza in Southeastern United States Bruce Davis and Cyrus Dastur,, U.S. Department of Energy, National Energy Technology Laboratory #DE-FC26- 00NT40995) <A> Now, this applies in Canada, where everyone has a foundation of some kind (or a slab, but the under-slab crawlspace would be very shallow, indeed), as opposed to being on stilts, and while I can't find the CMHC reference guide that I remember, from memory, in short: Treat a crawl space like a very shallow basement. <S> This applies for new construction, and I suppose also for upgrades. <S> http://www.cmhc-schl.gc.ca/odpub/pdf/65916.pdf <S> isn't the document I remember, but covers the steps for "Crawl Space Remediation Strategies".
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The only time I would seal the exterior walls would be if I also used a pretty darn water tight moisture barrier over the floor, tuck taped to the knee wall at the bottom of the joists.
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Why isn't my dishwasher cleaning as well as it used to? My dishwasher no longer cleans dishes as well as it did 5 years ago. Some info: It is 10 years old, a low-end Frigidaire we have hard water here (and no water softener) I have cleaned the food trap at the bottom which helped Any suggestions? <Q> Some detergents will build up over time, gumming up the works. <S> Try changing to a different kind. <S> Try vinegar . <S> Pour some in to the dishwasher and run a "rinse and hold" cycle. <S> It can clean out scaling from hard water, and detergent goops. <S> Check that the basin is filling up properly. <S> I read that it's supposed to be just below the heating coil. <S> Check the water temperature . <S> Let the machine run to fill the basin, then measure. <S> If your hot water pipes are not insulated, insulate them. <S> You can run the kitchen faucet for a minute to bring hot water closer, but it doesn't help much. <S> I did this and my dishes came out much cleaner. <A> I guess we usually want the answers right here on the site, but I think this write-up was so detailed and thorough that I think the link is worth it: http://www.wikihow.com/Clean-and-Maintain-a-Dishwasher <A> Another thing you might look into is if your detergent has phosphates in it. <S> Companies are having to put out solutions that no longer contain phosphates to comply with local/state laws that are being passed. <S> You could be in an area that restricts the use of phosphates in detergent. <S> I have not witnessed this myself, but the word is that the new phosphate-free detergents don't work very well. <S> Check out the Dishwasher Detergent Guide for more info: <A> Occasionally, this tube will become blocked and prevent the dishwasher from draining properly. <A> I had this issue with a dishwasher where the gasket/valve (rubber flapper thing) was warped from the heat/dishwasher soap or whatever and thus is was bypassing a cycle on the drain and part of the water was staying in the bottom of the dishwasher and the pump was not properly producing a full stregth of stream/water. <S> Replaced that <S> and it was fine. <A> If you can, take apart the spray arms and other internal parts and soak them in CLR (Calcium, Lime, Rust) remover. <S> This stuff works wonders on anything damaged by hard water. <A> Two things to check: <S> Check the pump and remove any debris. <S> We had about 2 cups worth of debris (broken glass, nut shells, etc.). <S> Check the blade on the grinder. <S> Ours had been worn down and wasn't chopping up the bits fine enough. <S> If you call someone out get them to check both in one visit rather than have to call them out twice. <A> I have found the the jets on the spray arms can also get clogged <A> Change detergents <S> We found changing from liquid to dry dishwashing detergent made a big difference. <S> I suspect it is harder on the glasses and dishware though.
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Inspect the drain line (usually a flexible plastic pipe connected to the trap on your sink or disposal). Consider turning up the water temperature at the water heater. Since you mentioned hard water with no softener, there may just be too much calcium and other deposit buildup on the many internal parts.
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How to fix a leaky flapper valve? I bought a house that had been sitting for some time. One of the the issues that I've discovered is that the flapper valve leaks. I've come to this conclusion by turning off the water to the tank and combing back later to see that the water level is lower. I have already replaced the flapper valve itself, and the leak remains. <Q> This piece/remnant then prevents the new flapper from getting a good seal. <S> You might want to clean out the tank and make sure there are no remnants of the old flapper stuck in there. <A> Over time the surface of the plastic part that joins the tank to the bowl can get tiny defects in it that prevent the flapper from making a good seal. <A> I recently had two toilets begin to leak and had a hard time figuring out exactly where. <S> I hate plumbing but decided to do full replacement of the various parts. <S> I purchased two toilet repair kits for about $18-20 each. <S> Instructions on the package explained what to do. <S> When you are done all parts and gaskets that wear or deteriorate over time are replaced and you essentially have a new toilet. <S> It's fairly easy <S> but it does take some patience and careful work <S> so you don't crack the toilet or tank during disassembly or reassembly. <S> It's also a little messy since you have to get all the water out of the tank. <S> I also replaced the line from the shut-off to the tank so everything is new. <S> It took about an hour for each toilet <S> but now I don't have to deal with something else needing to be replaced next year. <S> Well worth the investment of time and money. <S> And I felt good about doing something successful with plumbing. <S> But I still hate plumbing. <A> You might consider replacing most of the insides of your toilet. <S> A nice kit is Fluidmaster's S2DBL ( $56 on Amazon or about $42 at Home Depot). <S> I used this to replace a low-flow retrofit that a previous owner installed -- the flow was often insufficient. <S> The S2DBL kit includes a replacement ballcock, flush valve, task gasket, and bolts. <S> Because it's a dual-flush kit you can configure it to use less water, without sacrificing the ability to do a full flush when you need it. <S> If you haven't installed a kit like this before it will probably take 1.5-2 hours, but this kit has good visual instructions and Fluidmaster has excellent phone support if you need it. <A> Home Depot sells a toilet flapper that comes with a new piece that the flapper rests on. <S> The new piece isn't a replacement, but actually comes with a tube of silicone and seals on top of the old piece. <S> I can't remember the name of the product, but you'll find it with the other toilet flappers for about $3 to $5. <S> I had this same problem and this particular flapper worked for me.
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Sometimes when a flapper gets old and begins to fail (disintegrate) it can leave a piece behind stuck to the outflow pipe that it covers. As Jeff suggests, you could try cleaning that part, or just replace it.
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Plastic Wall Anchors Without a Collar I have installed some new toilet paper holders in my house. They came with cheap plastic wall anchors without a collar on them. I threw them away and used different anchors, because every time I try to use the ones without a collar I push them into the wall. Is there a trick I am missing for these anchors without the collar? A lot of stuff comes with them now, and apparently I am not smart enough to use them. <Q> I really hate the anchors that come with most wall accessories. <S> I always throw them away and opt for my own anchors. <S> I love the self tapping screw in type. <S> They look like an over sized masonry or self tapping screw. <S> So easy to use, simply insert the sharp point on your mark, no drilling required and use a #2 phillips screwdriver to screw them into your drywall. <S> They come in different weight ratings. <S> I use the 40 pound rated ones for most everything. <S> They tighten snug to the wall and accept a #6 or 8 screw of your choice.(the kit comes with three different color screws) <S> I buy them at Lowes, but unfortunately I don't have any original packaging with the brand name on them, but I will find out and post it in a comment later. <S> They also work great when you have an existing hole from a previous anchor failure, as long as the hole is not much more than 3/8 inch in diameter. <A> You're probably just drilling too big a hole. <S> Use a slightly smaller drill bit, and only push them in flush with the wall. <S> When you're screwing into them, you should also probably watch how much pressure you use to push on the screw (you don't need much), as if you push hard enough, the screw will just pop the anchor through the wall. <S> I've used them a few times when I was too lazy to go downstairs to get something else, and they seem to work just fine. <A> Plastic anchors come in different quality flavors and having the collar or not doesn't correlate with that. <S> They require some force to be driven into the hole - either pushing them with a hard tool or gently hammering with a hammer. <S> My experience with these anchors is very good - they almost never slip given the material is hard and doesn't crumble while drilling. <S> At the same time I saw a lot of anchors both with or without collar that slip in the hole. <S> So I'm pretty sure it's not the collar itself that matters. <S> That said another very important factor is how precise the hole is drilled. <S> It has to be of exactly the required diameter. <S> Drilling must be performed in such manner that the drill bit doesn't exert side load onto the hole walls - otherwise the hole is milled and the anchor won't hold there. <S> Also usual plastic anchors can only be used in strong solid materials that don't crumble while drilling. <S> There're special "hollows anchors" (not sure of the exact term) that can be used for slightly bigger holes and for hollow materials - they tight into a knot when inside a hollow. <S> Finally the anchor diameter must be properly selected depending on the screw diameter. <S> Otherwise you're screwed. <A> I love the collarless wall anchors I've accumulated from all the do-it-yourself <S> furniture my wife has bought. <S> Most of them are nominal 1/4" diameter. <S> So here's how to successfully install them: <S> Drill the hole with a SHARP 15/16 drill. <S> Push the anchor in enough to start it. <S> Start screwing in the fastener gently using the fastener that came with the anchor, it will bite easily so you don't need to risk pushing the anchor through the wall. <S> The nice thing about these anchors is that if you no longer need one you previously installed, just poke it through the hole with a 1/4" flat punch and you have a minimally small hole that is super easy to patch.
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Tap gently with a SMALL hammer to set the anchor flush to the wall. I use a locally manufactured (I'm outside of US) series of anchors without a collar - their diameter is slightly smaller than that of the hole and they have small relief dots extending from the surface so that the outer diameter is slightly bigger that that of the hole.
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Should I rebuild or just replace worn out cordless tool batteries? I have a couple of older Porter Cable 19.2v Ni-Cd batteries which have worn out. In shopping around for replacements, I've noticed there are a number of businesses which offer to rebuild your existing batteries with new cells. One of the claims that some rebuild shops make is that they use high capacity cells (2400mAh) which will give longer run times compared with OEM batteries. Also, since my tools are older, replacements are a bit harder to find. The cost difference doesn't seem that significant (rebuilding seems a bit cheaper). Can anyone give me a rundown of things to consider when deciding to rebuild the batteries as opposed to replacing them? I'd also like to avoid an experience I had about 5 years ago where I purchased a set of 2 "new" Dewalt 18V batteries from an online retailer only to find they did not perform nearly as well as the original batteries that came with the tools. <Q> There are really only a few manufactures of these type of cells, but the quality can differ as the prices may indicate. <S> The majority of the price of a new pack is the pack package itself, which is specific to each tool, even though the cells inside are pretty similar. <S> The amp hour rating and number of recharges it will take are the most important thing. <S> I have noticed that the Porter Cable battery packs are a lot less expensive than most of the other brands. <S> To be honest, I haven't researched the brand of cells they use as an OEM, but you can get info online about cell manufacturers and ratings on the quality levels. <S> I would look closely at the warranty the rebuilder is offering, which cells they are using and avoid a bargain basement price with a poor warranty or hidden costs such as a "recycling fee". <S> A supper low price on a rebuild or a complete replacement may indicate a clearance of old stock. <S> NiCd's hate to sit around for long periods uncharged, which can really affect performance and charging ability. <S> Check the date codes and don't accept any that may be much over 6 to 9 months old. <A> I thought about doing it myself until a) <S> I took apart a battery pack and saw how complicated the array <S> 20 little batteries was and b) I saw the price of 20 little batteries. <S> Since the price of the replacement batteries would cost as much as a new battery pack I opted for a new pack. <S> I thought about going with a different chemistry (like NiMH instead of NiCd) but the thought of the pack exploding because I used the wrong charger scared me. <A> I have seen mixed results with battery re-builds. <S> One guy <S> I knew had one of his re-built and was very happy with the results, and went back to have two more done. <S> Another friend had one re-built and the battery was fine for short charges but wouldn't every charge fully and didn't have the 'power' of the old batteries. <S> So I think this is one of those times it is going to vary wildly depending on a whole host of factors. <S> It may be worth contacting porter cable, to see if they have new batteries that are adaptable to the old tools, or if you can order replacements through them (they may not be advertising old battery styles to encourage people to buy new ones) <A> I just rebuilt 3 battery packs with 2800mAh cells. <S> Cost me <S> $32 and only tools I used were cordless drill with star bit to disassemble, razor to cut back heat shrinked battery leads and a soldering iron. <S> You could also rebuild using Lithium Polymer packs like those used in RC toys. <S> Put two 11.1V packs in series and buy a new charger for $8
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Rebuilding NiCd battery cell packs can be a good alternative to buying new packs.
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Can I vent a microwave vent / range hood through wall? I've got a Whirlpool over-the-range microwave that is currently venting back into the kitchen. I'd like to poke a hole through the wall and vent it directly outside. I've read the instructions and it seems pretty straight forward. I don't know much about this, so my question(s) is: am I going to be "locked in" to this microwave? What happens in three years when I want to replace it with another brand? Is it likely that the exhaust duct will still line up? What if I replace it with a hood? <Q> There is no standard mounting or vent hole dimensions for these type of microwaves. <A> The fact that there is no standard makes this a problem over and over again, which is why most people just let it vent into their kitchen. <S> A solution to this might be to vent up and then out. <S> I'm assuming that this is mounted under a cabinet and over the stove (they generally are). <S> Instead of going straight out the wall go up into the cabinet and then through the wall. <S> this up and then out model might give you some play room if you switch to a different microwave or move up to a hood. <S> you loose some storage space doing this but may be worth it. <A> You can get flexible aluminium hose, which I have used to deal with a situation where the appliance didn't line up with the outlet hole. <S> It is not totally smooth, so there is the potential for a bit of grease build up (you could replace it every now and again, or put it in the dishwasher or something) and it will impair the airflow slightly (run as short a length as you can).
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Although most of them adapt to 4inch vent hose, there is no standard to where on the back of the microwave the vent is attached, and this can effect where you need to cut your hole in the wall, especially in 2X4 walls where you won't have a lot of room to offset the vent.
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What adhesive or glue should I use to attach velcro to PVC pipe? I have some vertical standing pvc pipes that I want to attach velcro to. I wish to hang some fabric from the velcro, and thus there will be some forces pulling the velcro from the pvc. I've already tried using 3M Rubber & Vinyl Spray Adhesive, and it worked for a while, but has since fallen off. Can you suggest a better way to attach the Velcro and PVC? <Q> I don't have an adhesive suggestion for you, but you could use hose clamps . <S> Put one on the top and one on the bottom of a rectangular section of velcro and clamp it onto the pipe. <S> (Make sure to not over-tighten it.) <S> Actually, if you could work up a way to attach the fabric to the hose clamps and skip the velcro altogether, that would cut your hose clamp needs by half. <S> They'd be around a buck at the hardware store. <A> I think you can use either a few daps of a urethane based adhesive such as PL200 or PL400, or if the velcro has a plastic backing, a little PVC pipe glue may work well. <S> Just be sure to clean the surface of the PVC pipe well before using any adhesive. <A> If you really want long-term durability, glues generally aren't going to cut it. <A> You might try using Industrial Strength Velcro . <S> It comes with a very strong adhesive backing. <S> To ensure it doesn't peel over time, consider using cable ties or hose clamps at the ends. <A> PVC pipes are very smooth. <S> I'd rough up the surface with coarse sandpaper before sticking the velcro (or using adhesives). <A> Yes, have it. <S> Use Sikaflex, any grade, I use marine 491 but they are all extremely strong flexible adhesive sealants. <S> If you don't have that trade name in your country look for 3M 5200 or any polyurathande adhesive sealant. <S> Used extensively in the marine and building industries. <S> Its a lot cheaper buying the industrial stuff, which ironically is what the guys in the marine trade often use, saying its almost exactly if not exactly the same stuff. <S> Be careful of fingers, the stuff gets everywhere.
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You could try riveting the velcro in place using pop rivets--put a flexible washer or sew a grommet on the velcro to reinforce it.
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Why would a furnace overheat with a standard density filter? Some time ago I found my furnace (gas, forced air, downdraft) was getting stuck on, blowing cold air. I could reset it, but it would happen again after a while. After calling out a service man, I was informed that the high limit switch was tripping. The furnace had been using a very light-weight filter. With a heavier duty filter, it overheated easily. With extra air-flow (bypassing the filter) it never overheated. We opened more exit vents and even added an intake directly to the return passage of the furnace. This seems rather a drastic hack, and I still can't use standard paper filters, for example. Any ideas? Update: Furnace is ~15 years; I had a service man to check high limit switch etc. <Q> It could be that the air return system is blocked or insufficient, and cannot provide the proper air flow. <S> Make sure your air return vents are not blocked by furniture or rugs, and possibly clean the return air system. <S> You could also check the blower, as it might be getting old and not have the strength to move the correct amount of air. <S> The blower can also become dirty and be blocked with dust and debris, which will cause a decrease in performance. <S> The final thing to check would be the high limit switch itself, as it could be on it's last leg and need to be replaced. <S> Remember to change your filter monthly to prevent it from clogging. <A> It's common for HVAC systems to be improperly designed. <S> It's also a common misconception that it's okay to close vents. <S> If a regular density filter is restricting airflow (and causing the unit to heat up too much and trip a safety switch) <S> then you need to do something about the airflow. <S> In general it's not a good idea to close vents because it changes the "static pressure". <S> I don't know the details but basically you don't want the pressure in your vents to be much higher than the pressure in your house. <S> If so the fan is working too hard and there isn't enough air passing over the heat exchanger. <A> This is extremely easy to test and should have been tested at startup and every time it is serviced. <S> Measure the temperature of the air entering the furnace and measure the temperature exiting the furnace using a probe style thermometer. <S> Subtract the two numbers, this will get you your delta T. <S> Look at the furnace name plate it will have the required delta T usually somewhere around 30-60, 45-75, etc. <S> If you are getting a higher reading than the maximum the furnace allows you have insufficient air flow for that furnace. <S> I find it is usually that the furnace is too large for the duct work, usually requiring a smaller furnace or larger ducts. <S> Sometimes it is a collapsed duct or something stuck in the blower. <S> If this has been an ongoing problem with a brand new furnace I would suspect too large a furnace for the duct work. <S> If it was working fine and suddenly had a problem then something has changed. <A> All furnaces are designed around those cheapblue MERV 4 filters. <S> Using anything higher than that causes restriction which causes overheating of the plenum.1 inch filters are VERY restrictive <S> so you can't use more than a MERV 6 on most systemswithout causing problems. <S> Hitting the high limit repeatedly WILL destroythe heat exchanger. <S> Remember, the ONLY thing a filter needs to do <S> is stop DUST from clogging up the AC "A" coilso a MERV 4 to 6 <S> is all that is needed. <S> Never close registers. <S> The system was designed for all registers to be open. <S> When you close registers, you restrict air flow which causes the plenum temp to get hotter. <S> You also need to inspect the central air "A"coil for dirt build up. <S> No matter how often you change filters, it willeventually get plugged with dust and cause restricted air flow. <A> Have you tested the airflow proofing switch? <S> Typically this will be a differential pressure switch that senses an induced draft before it will allow the ignitor to light or gas valve to open. <S> Furnaces require sensing airflow before they will enable the ignitor/gas valve. <S> Additionally - just read that having gas pressure too high at the furnace will cause high limit trips. <A> Take out the filters and see what happens. <S> If it works properly, you certainly have some air flow issues. <S> Maybe even something else. <S> Open all vents to all rooms. <S> It is common for people to think they are saving energy by closing the vents in unused rooms. <S> What happens is the Furnace and A\C do not work correctly. <S> The system is designed and sized (or should be) for all vents to all rooms to be open. <S> You save little to nothing by not heating / cooling all of your house. <S> Spend some money on insulation if you can. <S> Actually, you cannot afford to not insulate the house. <S> I have 2 1" pleated filters in returns (just switched to a charcoal type of filter to take out paint odors, a 4" pleated filter, an electrostatic filter (Carrier - which I have had to turn off due to the slight amount of ozone that causes my wife's asthma act up), a UltraViolet Light in the Air Handler to kill possible mold and viruses. <S> My air flow is not starved and my system works fine, even with all these filters. <S> Insufficient air flow will cause the over temp sensor to trip out heating elements. <S> You definitely have an air flow problem or a sensor problem. <S> Go look yourself with a good flashlight. <S> If it worked in the beginning, then you might can fix it cheaply yourself by looking. <S> Look at a schematic on the internet if you are technically proficient. <S> Check air flow at all ducts - No air flow, then you can be sure that duct has a problem.
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You will also want to make sure the heat vents are open and clear of obstructions, if the warm air has nowhere to go it will not flow properly.
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How do I replace oven insulation that has been soiled by mice and smells bad? We've had mice work their way into the oven insulation of our standalone range and now it stinks when we turn the oven on. Looking around on the web suggests that replacing the oven is the most common solution, but that seems extreme! Any suggestions? (In this case the oven is a "Viking Professional" (bottom of the line) 4 burner + oven freestanding range. I haven't yet been able to pull it out enough to check if it has removable panels or been able to find a manual online.) I'm guessing the answer will be something like: locate the manual for your appliance remove access panels remove insulation while being careful about ?? remove insulation that is "stuck" by doing ?? replace with new insulation from ?? put it all back together and test as follows in general be careful of ?? And, perhaps this is too specific to the brand of appliance? It would be useful to know which brands are more amenable to DIY repairs of this type than others. <Q> I'm so sorry for your loss. <S> A Viking is a terrible thing to waste. <S> Disassembling a Viking oven/range is not a job for a DIYer. <S> The insulation is not something you can buy at the local Home Depot. <S> It uses a specialty high temp spun fabric insulation . <S> If the job is not done properly, it will be a FIRE HAZARD!!!! <S> This is a safety issue not worth saving a few bucks on. <S> The Viking is worth saving if you can. <A> Sadly enough, I had the exact same thing happen to me in the past. <S> If your mice were anything like mine, they are likely stockpiling food in the nest they have made inside the insulation (which, along with the droppings, is the source of the smell). <S> More likely than not, they have made their home in the space directly underneath the burners, on top of the oven box. <S> When it happened to me, this was how I went about fixing the problem: Shut off the gas line / unplug the unit from the wall. <S> Remove the cooktop portion of the range, exposing the insulated oven box <S> Remove the affected insulation (in my case, only about a fist sized chunk was affected). <S> Replace the cooktop, and hook the gas/electric back up (use a new flexible gas line if applicable). <S> In my case, the affected area was so small that I did not replace the removed insulation. <S> To my knowledge, the only function of the insulation in that portion of the oven is to reduce heat loss. <S> Since the area was so small, I decided that the heat loss would be negligible. <S> If the area is relatively large, or you are paranoid about the exposed area, then you can buy some material online to patch the hole ( here , for example). <S> The bigger issue, however, is dealing with the mice infestation in your house. <S> As long as the mice are there, they will come back and ruin your freshly refurbished oven (trust me, I ended up doing this twice to my oven before getting rid of all the mice for good). <S> Set traps, remove sources of food, and attempt to find and seal the places where the mice are entering the home. <A> Realizing this is very old: I'm going through this with a brand new stove that was kept in storage for a while. <S> I've had to remove all of the insulation and clean all of the sheet metal that had urine on it. <S> Definitely not a 1 hour task, I'm up to 2 days on and off. <S> The insulation I'd recommend is either the OEM (repair clinic or similar) or a ceramic 2400F insulating fireproof. <S> The latter is not likely to be easily eaten and, should you choose to, you could wet it with 'rigidizer' making it practically impossible for the mice to get into. <S> When removing the OLD stove to replace, I found out mice had made a nest on top of the oven insulation- <S> filled it with chocolate and butter scotch chip. <S> They were all intact, never melted, despite loads of high temperature cooking. <S> Take your time, take photos, and keep the screws organized. <S> Modern stoves use pretty much all the same screw both size and length to keep manufacturing costs down, and 'finish' screws are unique to their look/area. <S> Also consider spot-blasting the surface where the urine was; that'll clean it quickly and get rid of any rusting/rusty spots. <S> Use an cheap spot blaster out doors, wear a mask (should be easy now), and use 70 grit (Fast cutting). <S> Hit it with high temp primer/acid etch if you want to protect it, but it should be good. <S> Future Mice Removers, Rejoice!
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Look for a restaurant supplier in your area or a Viking dealer to get a competent tech to do the work and bite the bullet and have it fixed right.
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Can a flat and level roof be waterproof? I would like to build a 6 x 8 ft playhouse with a deck covering the top. Is there a kind of roofing material that can (1) withstand a floating deck, (2) is DIY friendly (no blowtorches, hot asphalt, or custom pouring), (3) is reasonably cheap, and (4) will keep the water out even with a completely flat roof, or with a very minimal slope? Modified bitumen is said to be great for building deck on top of. The GAP SBS Liberty system is DIY-friendly, but the instructions call for a slope of at least 1/2" per ft. If using only the cap sheet, it's about $1/ft² . Building a deck on top of the roof is much easier if the roof is completely flat. Is that asking for trouble, or will it be OK for my application? Are there other roofing materials I should consider? <Q> EPDM rubber roofing might work for you. <S> It can be installed without any heat or fancy tools; I'm planning to use it for my flat-roofed concreted detached garage. <S> It should withstand ponding water, and because your project is small and your playhouse probably doesn't have plumbing, you should be able to avoid seams, complex flashing, and pipe penetrations. <S> You can install the rubber using an adhesive directly over clean plywood. <S> It can accommodate a floating deck. <S> I have the book Roofing, Flashing & Waterproofing (For Pros By Pros) , which includes a nicely illustrated article on installing EPDM with a floating deck. <S> The method they recommend is to use a non-adhered strip of EPDM underneath the decking sleepers, so that any motion in the decking doesn't stress the roof membrane much. <S> You'll still want some slope in the roof for better drainage, but you can compensate for that in the sleepers, allowing you to have a level walking deck. <A> No such thing! <S> All roofs need a slope. <S> What I've seen is that the roof slops the normal rate (1/2 inch per foot or whatever) but then the deck is sloped in the opposite direction so it ends up level. <A> No such thing, not even for a playouse! <S> Even if it's flat the day you install it, it will cup over time. <S> This is why all floating deck systems accommodate slope. <S> Slope your roof, slope your floating deck the other way. <S> No roofing material, not even seamless EPDM survives standing water (even if you can stand the mosquitoes and rotting debris that would collect). <S> If you can build the playhouse to fit a single sheet of locally available EPDM, that would work well. <A> I've walked around on a ton of flat roofs (some with walkways/decks) - but they were all on commercial buildings (or large multi tenant residences). <S> However, they all involved some kind of torch-down install with the roof material being contoured to direct towards roof drains. <S> I don't know how well the material would support a floating deck, but you can use an EPDM liner for a flat roof. <S> EPDM roof installs are common on older motorhomes (thankfully my roof is aluminum) <S> so a roof with minimal penetrations should be a piece of cake! <A> Flat roofs are simpler to build but require a lot of maintenance and inspections to make sure that everything is functioning as it should. <S> One major drawback of flat roofs is ponding of water. <S> Liquid EPDM rubber can withstand continually submerged water year round.
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Liquid EPDM rubber is designed to use on flat roofs.
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How can I prevent an outside lock from freezing? I store a bunch of the "outside stuff" in the shed for the winter. Mainly things that I only use when the weather is warmer. It pretty much remains locked up for the winter. Occasionally though, I have to run out there to get something in mid winter, and the lock is always frozen shut. I can get in by warming the lock up, heating the key, or using that spray deicer stuff. But is there any way to prevent this? Are there locks that would not allow this to happen? The lock is one that is built into the handle, where the handle is vertical with the key in the center. When unlocked, it twists to a horizontal position. It is not a separate lock. <Q> The problem here of course is that snow/freezing rain gets into the lock and freezes. <S> With a house, this isn't normally a problem for a few reasons. <S> First, you use it often enough that it doesn't get that bad, and second the inside of the house is warm, which prevents water from freezing inside the lock (unless it gets really, really cold I suppose). <S> Similar to what you have on a car door lock (and for the same reason). <S> Personally, I've never seen any home locks like that, but that's not to say they don't exist. <S> A simpler option, and the one I would suggest, would be to put a plastic baggie over the doorknob and secure it with a rubberband. <S> Then just take the baggie off when you need to unlock it and put it back on after you are done. <S> It's a bit inconvenient, but if you hardly ever use the shed in the winter anyways, it should keep the water out and is probably the most practical option. <A> you might be able to avoid this with graphite spray. <S> By better lubricating the lock the water might not have time to collect and freeze in the tumblers. <A> To keep water out of the door lock (knob type) in my gagrage, I split open a tennis ball ("x" cut) tied some twine to it, to attach it to the knob shaft, and put it over the knob. <S> Works great. <A> Fill in between the handles with Vaseline to keep moisture from penetrating the lock. <S> This method has worked for me.
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You might want to look for a lock that has a metal shield over the area where you insert the key to prevent water from getting inside.
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How do I avoid stripping paint off of my walls with painters tape? I put that painters tape on the edges by the ceiling and cut in next to it (overlapping the tape with the paint somewhat). A couple of hours later, I pull the tape, and small sections of paint come off with it. How do I avoid this? Is it sufficient to just take a small brush afterward and touch up the area? It always seems to look crappier. <Q> Remove the masking tape immediately after painting so that there's no time for the skin to form over the join between the tape and the painted surface. <S> If the paint has already dried, use a craft knife and a straight edge or ruler to cut it along the edge of the tape. <A> Mistakes are bound to happen, and yes you can touch it up with a very small crafting paintbursh (like the ones kids use for waterpainting). <S> You will probably never notice. <S> The best solution however, is to not use painters tape on corners and ceilings. <S> Typically in professional painting, tape is not used. <S> If you use a small 2" cutting paintbrush, and apply by pulling the paintbursh at an angle toward you, keeping the smallest amount of bristles near the corner / edge, you will be fine. <S> The only time i apply painters tape is around trim - and this is more to prevent drippings and splatter, than to protect a clean edge. <S> If you get paint on the opposite wall using this tapeless method, it is most easily corrected by fixing it immediately when the pain it still wet. <A> I find that using a hairdryer to warm the tape helps it to peel away with very little force and no damage <A> For removing tape without damaging the finish <S> it is stuck to, I've found that if I pull the tape back over itself and run my hand parallel to the surface I get the best results. <S> When removing tape, the natural tendency is to pull it perpendicular to the surface which puts the most stress on the underlying paint. <S> It's also going to save you time. <S> The Purdy paintbrush company has an excellent set of instructional videos with tips on how to cut in by hand. <S> If you search for "purdy cutting in" you should find links to short little videos on the Purdy site as well as on YouTube. <S> One other tip that I learned from my painter is to caulk the corner between the ceiling and the walls to help get a nice crisp line. <S> Depending on what type of texture is on the wall this can really help.
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Simple use a all-in-one paint tool (or a putty knife) with a damp cloth (i use old t-shirts) pulled tight over the edge, then scrape away the paint that got on the opposing wall. This may sound more difficult, but with a little practice it's not hard to master. As already mentioned, most pros don't use tape.
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What's a good cheap sander to sand the ends of wooden blinds? I need to sand down some wooden blinds because they are about a millimeter too wide for the old window frames they are going into. I'm trying to figure out a cheap and easy way to sand down about 6 sets of these blinds. Does anyone know of a good cheap sander I could buy to do this job? Does anyone know the best way to do this? <Q> You can get some decent models for $50-60. <S> I would recommending one of the 1/4 sheet models, where you can use any sand paper that you cut down to size, rather than the fancy shapes that require you to specifically buy sand paper made for that model. <S> (the circular random orbit might be an exception ... <S> the holes help to clear out sawdust faster and keep the paper from getting bogged down as quickly, but if you're going for cheap, 1/4 sheet's still your best bet in the long run). <S> I'd loosely secure the whole bundle with a ratchet strap or something similar, jog the slats <S> so they're well aligned <S> (stand it on end and tap it on the ground), then tighten the strap, and sand the edges down. <S> If the slats are really thin, and you fear them breaking, either add another strap close to the edge, or even just bundle it up with tape. <S> (if you don't want to deal with tape residue, use cling film or similar first, then tape it) <A> You really want cheap? <S> Get one of those rubber disks in a shaft that you can put into an electric drill and fit it with sandpaper, suitable disks of which are usually sold at the same place. <S> It shouldn't cost more than a few dollars all up. <S> Perhaps surprisingly, this is likely to cause less tear-out than things like belt or orbital sanders because it's easier to achieve good control. <A> Your best bet for sanding would be a belt sander. <S> It will take it off in a hurry with agressive belts. <S> You probably want to use something like 80 - 120 grit. <S> An ideal solution would be to get a table mounted belt sander with a fence to rest the wood againt. <S> A radial chop saw with a fine tooth blade would work OK too, but you will probably have to go back and round the corners, at least to take off the point. <S> If you use a chop saw, then you can take off more to give the blinds some comfortable clearance so they won't be jamming when raising and lowering. <S> You didn't say that you were going to take the blinds apart to cut. <S> It might be difficult to cut in a chop saw without dissasembling. <A> I upvoted Joe's answer. <S> However, I thought of an alternative tool to consider: an oscillating multi-tool . <S> They can sand small/narrow areas (just how big are your slats anyway)? <S> They also work well as a little power saw or grinder. <S> If you really only need to shave 1mm off the edge of the blinds, the cutting features may not get much use. <S> However, if you have other DIY projects, you may be able to get better use out of this tool. <S> My mother-in-law got me one of these for Xmas, and I have used it a few times now. <S> Seems to work pretty well, although I've mostly used it for cutting. <S> http://www.craftsman.com/shc/s/p_10155_12602_00923465000P <A> You don't need a sander for this; use elbow grease. <S> Get some sand paper and do it by hand. <S> You have good access to the ends and you don't need precision/smoothness. <S> Gang them all together and have at it. <A> Cheaper than a Dremel and just as versatile, is the 130W Variable Speed Rotary Tool and 172 Piece Accessory Set from Maplins. <S> They even do an add on 400 Part Rotary Tool Accessory Kit , if you think the first kit doesn't have enough tools with it. <S> I own both and use them regularly for all sorts of DIY projects. <S> Enough said, I think!
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A hand held belt sander will work OK, you will just have to clamp the wood down and hold the sander off the edge, it will be harder to keep it square. As 'cheap' is one of the requirements -- I'd probably go with a random orbit or even just a vibrating palm sander.
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How do I lift a fitted carpet without damaging it? We recently bought a house and had a bit of work done rewiring and re-plumbing everywhere. Carpets were fitted around the house before we moved in. However, we have recently noticed in our spare room (after shifting some of the crap sitting there) that not all of the floorboards under the carpet have been properly nailed down (we had a spark in doing some re-wiring, so I'm assuming he didn't secure them after running some cables). So, the question is, can I: a) Lift the carpet on one side of the room without damaging it (I've only ever ripped up carpets before that were going to the dump)? If so, how do I do this? or b) Is it advisable/possible to just nail directly through the carpet to secure the floorboard? <Q> You can pull carpet up off the tacking strip to do some work. <S> It depends on how much of the carpet you're going to pull up. <S> Carpet is stretched over tack strips using a kick stretcher or a power stretcher <S> so if you pull the WHOLE carpet it you risk losing that stretch. <S> I did some work under our carpet and wound up pulling up too much and had to hire a company to come out and re-stretch and tack it back down <S> but if you're just pulling up a small corner you should be ok to just push it back down. <S> If the work is in the middle of the floor I've used a utility knife and made a lengthy slit in the carpet to do what I needed to and then called out a carpet install company to re-seal the carpet with a glue strip. <S> After he re-glued the carpet and ran the seam blending tool over it it looked perfect. <S> I would highly advise against nailing through the carpet, it creates an indent and doesn't look very good. <A> There is a great solution in a related question I asked. <S> They make specialty screws that you can install though the carpet to attach the floor board, and then break off the screw heads above the carpet. <S> They typically are made to stop squeaks, but they will work great for you too! <S> The kit comes with the screws, a jug to hold and break off the screws, and a floor joist finding screw that can also be used to string a line along the joist. <S> Squeeeeek <S> No More Product page - you can search buy them all over the web <A> One other option -- <S> as you said you had access where you could see the floorboards from below, you might be able to suck them down from below -- attach a bracket to the joist, and then a short screw through the bracket to pull down the board. <A> I wouldn't nail through the carpet - you really must check first for two reasons: <S> You need to find the joist to nail into. <S> You need to make sure that you're not going to hit any wiring or pipes that may be sitting just below the floorboard.
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( Word of warning: when pushing the carpet back down on the tack strip, use a board to push it down, the tacks on the strip routinely go through the carpet and it hurts like all get out if it suddenly jams into your fingertip)
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How do you determine how much electricity is used by a device? How does one go about determining how much electricity is used for a particular device? Where can I find the wattage ratings, and how do I calculate the cost based on my current electricity rates found on my monthly bill? Specifically, I have a computer that I am debating how to leave it on a regular basis. I wonder how much it costs in each of the following scenarios: Leave my computer in standby mode. Leave my computer in hibernate mode. Turn off my computer but the cord remains plugged. <Q> Sounds like you could use one of these... <S> http://www.amazon.com/P3-International-P4460-Electricity-Monitor/dp/B000RGF29Q/ref=sr_1_2?s=hi&ie=UTF8&qid=1294406639&sr=1-2 <S> Then you could take this power saving feaver beyond the computer. <A> This will vary depending on the computer in question and your local energy cost. <S> Here is a table listing power consumption of a range of PCs. <S> So, for example, let's take the worst case shown on the table. <S> The IBM ThinkCentre M52 running Folding@Home with the monitor on pulled down an average of around 175 watts. <S> 175 watts * 24 hours * 31 days = <S> 130.2 kWh <S> Assuming a local energy cost of $0.15 / kWh would mean that it costs $19.53 per month to run a relatively inefficient computer at 80% CPU usage with the monitor on for 24 hours a day all month. <S> On the other hand, if the computer is drawing 1 watt while in the "off" state... <S> 1 watt * 24 hours * <S> 31 days = <S> .7 <S> kWh <S> At $0.15 / kWh, it will cost you approximately $0.11 / month to have your computer off (but still plugged in to the wall). <S> Of course, you will likely not find your specific setup in a table of power values (and even if you did, you cannot be sure that it will match your specific setup). <S> That info, along with your cost per kWh, will give you what you are looking for. <S> If you are looking for just a generalized answer, then my speculation would be: Leave my computer in standby mode. <S> - Moderate Leave my computer in hibernate mode. <S> - <S> Very little Turn off my computer but the cord remains unplugged. <S> - <S> Very little <A> I've got a clamp-on Hall Effect Ammeter that I use with an A/C line splitter to do that. <S> If you've got any electrician (or even computer nerd) <S> friends, odds are good that they have one you could borrow. <S> Or, you could pick up one of those "kill-a-watt" type devices at a local store.
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If you want to find out the real numbers for your setup, you can purchase a power usage meter (e.g. Kill-a-watt ).
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What should I do with old furnace filters? I seem to be stock piling used furnace filters, are there any uses for these things once the furnace is done with them? It seems a shame to throw them out; given that I change them once a month, there must be some way to prevent all this waste. This might be a bit off-topic but the filters could be used in some DIY project, which would make it on topic. So slightly off-topic question, looking for on-topic answers. EDIT: Seems to be a lot of talk about changing the filter so often, here is an exert from ehow.com Industry Guidelines The industry standard for any filter is to change once a month for the highest level of maintenance. Of course, this may or may not be necessary for all homes depending on their specific environment and how often homeowners use their furnace. <Q> While I cant think of any DIY project, you may wish to call or research as to whether that particular filter vendor provides recycling. <S> If you have any friends or family with a fireplace or wood stove <S> I bet they burn well. <S> Barring both of those, all I can suggest is to buy washable filters in the future. <S> You will pay a higher premium up front but it should pay off in the log run (and help you keep some junk out of the dump). <S> EDIT: <S> Before burning, you should check that the filter is free of metal frames or added chemicals that could be harmful. <S> If those are not present, the filter could also be shredded and composted (maybe). <A> This does not help you with your stockpile of used filters that you have right now, but for the future you could try switching to a biodegradable furnace filter <S> (there's a few when you search Google) or you could try using a reusable furnace filter so that you do not produce as much waste. <S> Keep in mind if you switch to a reusable filter then you need to maintain it monthly by washing it, therefore using more water and producing more work for your local water treatment plant or septic system while taking more of your own energy each month. <A> If you use 20x20 furnace filters, they work fine in front of 20" box fans (available cheaply) as room and work-area filters. <S> Smaller, larger, and more rectangular filters can also be used, but they don't match the fan quite as well. <S> No need for a frame <S> - the fan's suction will hold the filter to the fan well enough when placed on the floor or another stable object. <S> Beyond that: given that I change them once a month, there must be some way to prevent all this waste. <S> You are perfectly within your rights to change your furnace filter as often as you prefer. <S> However, if they are not coming out obviously soiled, then you are wasting them, and the best way to prevent such waste is to use them in your furnace for more than the 5-10% of their lifetime that you are currently using them for. <S> I understand that the recommendation is to replace monthly, but you'll have to determine whether using them more fully is more important than providing your furnace with the least air resistance possible. <S> It's a balancing act. <S> But no professionals will recommend a longer period changing time due to liability. <S> In some cases dirty filters cause significant problems, and the best way in the industry to avoid becoming liable is by insisting that customers follow an overly aggressive maintenance schedule. <S> It's not bad to replace it monthly, but as you seem to be discovering, it is wasteful unless you've already determined that you actually do have that much air contamination. <A> First I cut off the cardboard edge & separated the cloth part from the chicken wire. <S> Then I cut the cloth in a circle using the old filter cloth as a guide. <S> I tested the strength when wet as we're talking about a wet-dry vac. <S> The new filter I made seems more durable than the original (however it's not 10 years old either) not that I would need one of these each month much less 2 (my house uses 2 filters) <S> but hey it's something. <S> The whole project took maybe 10 min. <S> Additionally, I'm sure you could find a use for that chicken wire; maybe keeping rabbits out of the garden, or for a large stucco patch on the house. <S> The cardboard would be recyclable of course. <A> Let's think about this one Tester. <S> What can we do with a dust, pollen, allergen, mite, dander, pet hair contaminated paper product?????? <S> Recycle it with other paper waste??? <S> Not trying to be mean, actually just a bit tongue in cheek. <S> Maybe a sawdust filter for a shop vac exhaust system??? <A> Back to the question...what to do with the use air filters. <S> I too seem to collect them and <S> each spring when the cars are pulled out of the garage long enough for me to put the sleds away for another year, I lay them on top of drywall in between the rafters in the attic. <S> I have even gone to the extent of stapling them to the ajoining bedroom wall which may or may not have insulation in that very same attic. <S> That room gets cold in the winter and hot in the summer so instead of throw them out I try to save a little on my energy bill. <S> Does it help? <S> I think so. <S> If not, at least I don't have to look at them in the basement! :-) <A> I'm Jean Nichols from Furnace Filters Canada. <S> Let me suggest 2 solutions if you want to reduces waste. <S> Replace your pleated filter by a permanent washable filter. <S> Noveko is selling most standard furnace filter size. <S> When they are dirty, just was them and use it over and over... <S> Last option, Go for LEED! <S> Try to find the Camfil 30/30. <S> The Camfil Farr 30/30 may be used to meet requirements of the U.S. Green Building Council (“LEED®”) in terms of efficiency, energy savings and reduced disposal impact. <S> Good luck.
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I just made a replacement filter for my shop-vac using a 20X20X1 standard furnace filter.
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What should I do with an old, unused septic tank in my yard? I have a septic tank in my yard that is no longer used. Can I leave it there? Should I remove it? Fill it with something? I'm not entirely sure of the building material used to construct it; I assume whatever was the customary materials in the pacific NW in the mid to late 50's. <Q> you had it emptied before leaving it to rot, you probably don't need to clean it, just get it filled. <S> You can NOT just leave it there - eventually it will rot away and collapse, presenting a hazard at some unknown future time. <S> You might call around to the local septic companies and ask them what the usual procedure is in your area, they should know who can handle the fill-in of the tank properly. <A> Standard procedure in this area is to crush steel, wood or plastic ones and fill the hole, and to fill concrete ones with stone. <S> In all cases pumping the waste first. <S> A common reason that has not been mentioned yet is to prevent people from entering the old tank - there are NUMEROUS tales of using the old tank as a place to put grass clippings <S> , kid drops the rake in the hole, goes in after it, asphyxiates, etc... <S> the top search result is this one where the kid lives and 3 rescue workers died, while a 4th was injured. <A> an unwanted unused septic tank can be made into an excellent root cellar. <S> Some people will pay good money for one for this purpose if they have the room on their property.
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You'll have to check codes, but I believe the usual procedure is to fill them with something like sand - since it's a septic tank, and since (I presume)
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How do I find the source of the water leaking through the ceiling? I live in Minnesota in a single story rambler with full basement. In an upstairs corner bedroom I started noticing some water leaking in the closet ceiling a week or two ago (picture is current, it started much smaller). We've had a record amount of snow fall this year. When I first saw the leak, I realized that my roof vents were covered with snow. On Christmas day, I shoveled off the entire roof. Since then we've had a few light snows and warm days too, so there's been some accumulation then melting. Right now there's nearly no snow on the roof, and the gutters still have some ice in them. But the leaking is getting worse. Now has spread across the entire edge of the wall. There's also water dripping into the inside of that window, and there's a stalagmite icicle in one of the windows about 6-8" tall. Today I went into the attic to look for a leak. I was unable to find one, however. There were a couple spots under vents or pipes were a little frost came through and melted, and underneath the insulation was slightly damp (and frozen). But, as best as I could see, near the edge of the house above the ceiling in the pictures, there was no evidence of wetness or frozen water. Not any amount I would expect to see based on the damage. Now, on the roof above there is a thin layer of frost - across much of the length of the house actually. Could that be melting on warm days and dripping down? But yet I don't see any wet spots, if I push the insulation away I can see the wet ceiling board, but the insulation isn't really wet and there's no signs of where it's running down from and dripping from. There were also a a spots where the insulation was contacting the roof at the edge of the house, directly above where the leaks appear. I thought perhaps moisture was being wicked down. I've moved the insulation so that it doesn't contact, but again it wasn't wet indicating that it was the source of the leak. How do I figure out what needs fixing here? <Q> All the advice so far about ice damns is valid. <S> However, if there are no dams or visible water on the roof, then you will need to crawl up in the attic and start looking for the wet areas that are wicking into your ceiling. <S> Obviously if wet insulation is found, it must be removed. <S> Another problem I have come across in a few situations like yours, no dam, but slow moisture stains keep developing, came from improperly installed "proper vent" from the soffit vents to the air space in the attic. <S> In a few cases, the open upper end of the proper vent was blocked or covered with insulation and condensation formed on the top side of the drywall right along the wall. <S> In a couple of cases, no venting was used from the soffit and insulation was packed into this area instead. <S> In either case, you will have to get up there and move the insulation in the affected areas and look for the moisture. <S> Also look for any tell-tale water stains on the rafters or trusses that may have been a leak from above. <A> Is it all along an exterior wall? <S> If so, it might be a sign of ice dams . <S> You won't see obvious signs, other than wet spots if you were to look at the underside of the roof. <S> It's possible that a blocked roof-vent might contribute, if the attic warms up and can't escape. <S> (I'm assuming that you have a cold attic, where the floor of the attic is insulated, not the roof line). <S> You may be able to just pull back the insulation and install an insulation baffle , but you may have to trim back the insulation so you're not compressing it too much. <S> (compressed insulation == <S> no trapped air == <S> bad R factor) <S> You said the roof was cleared off, but take a look right where the exterior wall of the house hits the overhang -- <S> as it's a single story, you might be able to see without a ladder, but I'd take a broom and sweep off the snow, and see if there's ice-buildup. <S> If so, that's likely the culprit. <S> It's also possible that as you went up on the roof on Christmas day that you've damaged the roof, but then it'd most likely be localized in a spot or two, and not as likely to be along a whole external wall. <A> While it's probably much more likely you do have a leak somewhere, you may consider checking the humidity inside your house as well. <S> The corners are going to naturally be those spots. <S> You would certainly have significant condensation (which you also mentioned) on your windows if this is your cause.
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The insulation may have been soaked before you got a chance to clear the roof. If there's significant moisture in the air, it's possible that it's simply condensing on the coldest surfaces it can find. I'd try to get the insulation away from the roof-line, especially if you have soffit vents.
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How do I reconnect a ceiling fan light chain? A recent pull of a ceiling fan light chain caused the chain and its connector to came completely out. Is there an easy way to reconnect the chain? Does the electricity need to be turned off completely to avoid a risk of electrical shock? <Q> If the chain is broken inside the housing where you can't see it, you will have to disassemble the lower light cover on the fan if so equipped(usually 3 small screws). <S> Definitely turn off the power to the fixture and always double check with a voltage tester to confirm power is off. <S> It is not uncommon for the chain to break or actually pull out of the switch assembly. <S> Until you determine the extent of the problem, you can't plan the fix. <S> If the chain is broken at a ball link, a simple snap link my solve your problem. <S> Reassemble, carefully tighten the new wire nuts, a safety wrap of electrical tape around the wire nuts and put cover back on. <S> It is actually a very simple fix if you have any experience with electrical repairs. <S> CAVEAT. <S> Be <S> sure power is off before working with any wires. <S> Good luck. <A> If you can't fix it (or take this as an opportunity), another option is to install a wireless/wired fan controller, so you don't even need to use the pull chains (except for reverse, if you use that, and that is generally only used a couple times a year). <S> There are retrofit options (like this wall-mount one or this handheld one ) where you hardwire the controller into the fan itself <S> (usually mounts inside the top of the fan, or in the junction box), and then you can install the remote anywhere and control the fan. <S> The nice thing is this lets you control the fan speed and lights (if you have them) separately, even if it wasn't wired that way initially. <S> If it's just a fan, you can also just install a cheaper fan speed control switch , which replaces the existing switch. <A> When working on any electrical fitting you should always isolate it from the mains supply. <S> As to your specific question without seeing the connector I can't say how easy it will be to reattach, but as long as nothing's actually broken you might be able to reassemble it.
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If it is pulled completely out of the pull switch, then you will have to remove the wire nuts and switch and get a replacement, usually available at any hardware store.
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What's the best way to terminate plastic water supply pipe? I am removing a bathroom fixture that was attached to this cold water supply line: I need to plug the pipe so it doesn't spray water when I turn it back on. Previously it had this fitting: I tried this cap, but it leaked quite a bit. I searched through many fittings at the hardware store, and finally ended up with this valve: which worked (except when I put it on backwards, then it squirted water out, ack!). It took 4 trips to the hardware store to arrive at this solution, and it's not really ideal, since I never want to turn it on. What would an ace plumber have done instead? <Q> Jay, it looks like you have a typical RV compression fit PVC line there. <S> Looking at your pics, I don't see any pipe threads on the end of the tubing. <S> It is difficult, if not impossible to match a threaded fitting to this type of pipe. <S> You might have to go to a RV supply with the pipe type(usually printed on the pipe) and purchase an end cap for that specific tubing. <S> If you don't have a pex tool or compression plyers to install a collar, there may be a self sealing compression fitting much like a Shark Bite that can be installed with a wrench, or a simple glue on cap fitting. <S> Be sure to remove any scored or damaged tubing end before trying to install a new fitting. <A> I would normally try to go for a pushfit endcap of the right diameter (e.g. you might need 15mm). <S> Something like this: <S> (product description: <S> Conex Push-Fit 301 Stop <S> End Cap 22mm. <S> Joins a wide range of tubes including copper, carbon steel, stainless steel and plastic including PE-X and polybutylene.) <A> I would have thought that there would be an end cap for the system. <S> It would look like the elbow and T-junctions you all ready have and would just fit over the end of the pipe. <S> Have you got any spare pieces you can take to the hardware store to compare to make sure you get the right one? <A> Looks like PE-X to me. <S> and then you will need a crimp tool and a copper ring to put crimp on the outside of the pipe. <S> Warning - those crimp tools can be expensive. <S> I think mine cost around $100.
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Look for a cap that fits inside the pipe
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Why is water leaking near my bathroom's exhaust fan? This weekend when the snow started melting on my roof, I noticed a small water spot developing around all three bathroom exhaust fans in my house. I'm guessing the water leaked in around the exhaust fan flashing on the roof and ran down the pipe. Is there another possibility? What is the best way to fix this? <Q> Are the vent pipes uninsulated and in a cold space? <S> Could condensation have frozen inside of the pipe, and then melted at the same time as the snow? <S> Would the snow have stop the wet air getting out of pipes? <S> If it is condensation then you need to insulate the pipes and/or add a condensation trap just above each fan. <S> Assuming that all 3 exhaust fans vent via different pipes, you are looking for a design fault, as I cannot think of anything else that will be in common between all 3 fans. <A> This is a very common problem. <S> No matter how powerful a fan, how well insulated the duct, you are blowing warm, MOIST, air into cold air which makes that moisture in the air condense into water droplets. <S> A condensation trap, which can be as simple as a bit of a loop in the flexible ducting coming out of your fan, much like the traps under your sinks for plumbing, will collect and contain that moisture, and over time just evaporate. <S> It goes against the conventional wisdom to keep the duct as straight as possible so as not to restrict air flow, but if you just have one small little bend, right near the fan and within the attic insulation, your problem will stop. <S> It might seem as though there is so much damage done to your drywall that this solution won't be helpful, but the amount of condensed moisture at any one time is minimal, but a slow drip over time ends up looking like a massive leak. <A> Ok, if the snow fairy didn't land on every fan individually, then I think we have a common problem between fans. <S> If your roof vent has a common back flow air baffle, I'd check it to see if it is stuck open, allowing snow to blow into the vent pipes. <S> Second and not really likely is a leak around the flashing. <S> A leak around the flashing would appear on the ceilings no in the fans.
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You may have condensation running down the vent pipes into the fans; given how a vent pipe attaches to the back of a fan, the condensation will tend to run to the side(s) of the fan fixtures. The person above who mentioned a condensation trap is right on the money.
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Are new "low noise" whole house fans actually quieter? I've dealt with a number of older whole house fans (10 years and older) and the one thing they all had in common was a ton of noise. Are the new "low noise" fans actually that much quieter than the old fans, and should one expect a premium price for a quiet whole house fan? Are there installation tricks/techniques that will help reduce noise even further? <Q> Noise should be a main concern when shopping for a whole house fan , because the hours while you are sleeping offer the coolest temperatures of the day. <S> More important than simply exchanging the air, the cooling of the thermal mass of the structure down to the core simply takes time. <S> Unfortunately, you can not wring all of the heat out of the thermal mass like a sponge - it just takes time - and a bit of stady, constant airflow. <S> In this way, Running a fan overnight while you are sleeping will take advantage of these cooler temperatures, making your fan more effective on more days of the year, and reducing your need for A/C to a minimum. <S> This not only delivers AMAZING efficiency numbers, but the brushless motor design also offers extremely low noise levels. <S> With older, brushed motors, turning them down to a lower speed using a rheostat can reduce the noise level slightly, but you will notice that the power consumption stays roughly the same. <S> On the other hand, ECM technology allows you to not have to trade efficiency for noise level, and you can actually maximize efficiency while minimizing noise level. <S> Whole house fans + ECM motors = <S> A perfect combination for quiet, effective, efficient natural cooling. <S> They may cost a bit more, but considering the outstanding efficiency numbers and low noise levels, a modern whole house fan (especially those using an ECM motor) is definitely a worthwhile investment. <S> Cheaper whole house fans are too noisy that they in many cases go unused, or they are turned off too early in the evening, before it has really cooled off outside. <A> I finally installed one, and following a tip on a review left on Amazon.com , I built a box larger than the fan, then put pipe insulation around the bottom edge of the fan. <S> Slipping the fan into the box I built causes the fan to rest on the pipe insulation, reducing the vibration transmitted from the fan to the rafters to a minimum. <S> It doesn't reduce the noise of the air flow, but I'm getting 80dB directly below the fan, and 50dB in the bedrooms, which is fantastic compared to other house fans I've known. <S> Still too loud to comfortably talk beneath for extended periods of time, but not a jet engine roar either. <S> If I wanted to reduce the sound further I'd probably use ductwork to move the fan further away in the attic, but I'm satisfied with this. <S> The house is normally 40-45dB during the day, so 50dB in the rest of the house is fine. <S> If you choose to follow this technique, make sure you leave room for your shutters to open when you build your box. <S> I didn't do a fit test before moving everything to the ceiling, and it's significantly harder to rework the box in the ceiling than it would have been on the ground. <S> Also, I highly recommend installing a timer switch for the fan . <S> It was easy to install, and now we don't have to think about turning the fan off, just press one of the buttons for the length of time desired and forget about it. <A> The location of the installation is key here. <S> In my case, the fan is on the second floor at the end of a hallway where all the bedrooms are. <S> While it is loud if you are in that hallway, you can really barely hear it through the rest of the house. <S> So as long as you tuck it into an out-of-the-way corner of the house, the noise isn't really that much of a concern. <A> In the ~7 years since this was asked, an obvious-but-new concept emerged that has made whole-house-fans even quieter. <S> The ECM motors from greenhead's answer are getting more common, but now companies are offering mounts that suspend the actual motor and fan a bit away from the intake like shown: <S> This not only moves the fan several feet away from the intake below, but also reduces much of the vibration to near zero because it's suspended. <S> So yes, new fans have gotten much more efficient and much quieter.
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I can't speak to how much better the "low noise" fans are than the old ones, but I have an old one and really don't notice the noise much. Some manufacturers have incorporated ECM (electronically commutated motor) technology into whole house fans.
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How do I level a pipe with the ground? I have a drain made of PVC pipe on my back porch. The PVC pipe sticks up from the concrete about an inch or so. What is the best way to cut the pipe down so that it will be level with the concrete? What tools do I need? <Q> But before cutting it you might want to figure out what it's for, and if you'll need it in the future. <S> Cutting the pipe should be fairly easy; but if you ever have to, making it longer is more difficult. <A> The blade should be flexible enough for this and will cut as close to the floor as possible. <S> You will want to hold the end of the saw blade with a cloth or gloves to avoid cutting your hand. <A> As tester101 suggests, the best power tool way is probably an oscillating tool. <S> For a cheaper (hand tool) solution, a jamb saw is primarily designed for cutting the bottom of door jambs to install flooring, but in general is for cutting flat against a surface. <A> If you cut it flush, it will be very difficult to extend later, if the need ever arises. <S> An alternative is to protect against tripping by putting a table or an orange cone ( $15 from Amazon ) over it.
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One of those oscillating tools would be perfect for this. Take a 12" hacksaw blade out of the hacksaw itself, press it flat against the floor and start sawing.
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Why is there water in my washing machine barrel some time after a load? I have a frigidaire front load washing machine, and we are finding a few inches of water in the barrel after running a load, but not right away -- it takes at least 1/2 an hour before the water appears in the barrel. I can empty it quickly by running a spin cycle, and notice that the water is foul smelling, which leads me to think that it is drain water, rather than fresh water. Also, the drain pipe runs into a utility sink, rather than a standpipe, so I'm pretty sure that there isn't water backing up into the drain. Any thoughts what could be causing this? <Q> It sounds like you have something causing drain water to backup, and siphon back into the barrel slowly. <S> The drain pipe that runs to the utility sink... does the pipe incline to get to the sink? <S> I had one many years ago <S> and I can see it in my head.. <S> the pipe would hold about 1.5 gallons of water, and would stink quite badly. <S> I never had it run back into my machine, but it would occasionally get knocked off the sink and spill on the basement floor. <A> This happened to us (we have a GE Profile front loader). <S> Most front loading washing machines have a filter that the water passes though before being pumped out to the drainage basin. <S> This filter is designed to catch things so they don't run through the pump and damage it or end up going down the drain. <S> The filters are typically in the bottom front of the washer, as it is common to have to clean this out. <S> It should be easily accessible. <S> It might even be in the manual (it was not for ours though) <S> For ours, you simply remove two screws on the front of the washer at the very bottom to remove part of the front panel. <S> Behind the panel, there was a hose connected to a pump. <S> This was attached via a clamp. <S> We simply removed the clamp, it was the pinch style, and found a baby sock blocking the water from flowing through. <S> One tip, is that the line will probably be full or water when you detach the hose. <S> So have some towels and a tray or pan to catch the water as it drains! <A> You will be able to tell if the solenoid valve that allows water in during certain cyles is leaking. <S> It may be dripping so that over time the tub fills even when it is not in use. <A> It's a little late for the OP, but it is pretty common. <S> Here is a different explanation: <S> Maybe the water was hiding <S> It could be that the machine tried to pump out the water, but did not complete because the drain is blocked somewhere. <S> Even if there was a spinn cycle later, it would not dry anything, leaving it very wet instead. <S> If there is a pile of very wet clothing in the machine, it could look like the normal pile you expect; But over some time, the water of the upper part of the pile drains to the surrounding , filling the water level that remained from the incomplete pumping up until it is visible from the machines window. <S> That would mean the water stayed in the machine , it is not coming back from the outside, which I think is improbable; It just stayed in the machine, but was hidden for a while . <S> Anecdote that inspired this answer <S> I have seen a similar situation where pumping only managed to drain about half of the water; I checked the drain pipes inside the machine, than the drain hose. <S> All clean. <S> The hose was connected to the kitchen sink pipe above the siphon, which was not blocked either. <S> It was clearly behaving like blocked, and clearly free at the same time... <S> very strange. <S> I was very irritated for some minutes - until I finally found that the harmless looking 5 cm connection between hose and siphon was almost fully blocked. <A> How deeply does the drain hose from the washer into the utility sink? <S> Before I switched over to an automatic laundry pump on my utility sink, I thought it was amazing that the basin never overflowed (my sink is below the drains from the house, as there had previously been a septic tank, and the tied through the septic system to connect to the sewer system) <S> I just thought it was a feature ... <S> I'd just do like you, and run to spin the rest of the water out ... until I realized that it filled the water level just to the height of the drain hose. <S> (mind you, the drain pipe had a U-bend in it, but I guess when the water was being ejected, it pushed the air out of the bend, so it could then act as a syphon ... <S> or maybe it was just the difference in height between the full sink and the exit drain on the laundry that gave it enough pressure to backflow) <S> I've now got an automatic pump, but if it starts getting too much lint, down the drain, it'd start to cycle too often which would allow a fair amount of water to build up ... <S> so I'd have to restrict the exit on the laundry pump, <S> until I restricted it far enough that about every year or so I have to take it off and clean it. <S> They have some wire net things that you can attach to the drain hose, but I find they fill up too quickly, and they have large enough openings that they still let a fair bit through. <S> I've switched over to getting knee-high stockings, and using that instead. <S> (finer mesh and holds more <S> so you don't have to change it out as often) ... <S> So anyway, I'd check to see how fast the utility sink is draining. <S> It'd probably be good to check on it a few times while you run a load of laundry. <S> If the water ever gets up to the level of the drain pipe from the washer, there's your problem. <S> If you can't get the sink to drain faster, you can always shorten how far the drain pipe extends into the sink.
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What was actually happening is the water was flowing from the drain hose back into the washer. Shut off the supply valve after the final spin cycle is complete.
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Troubleshooting a garage door/opener that "catches" and re-opens when wet My garage door and opener work reasonably well most of the time -- hot weather or cold. Sometimes when it rains, though, the door "catches" a little bit, at about 2 feet from the ground, and it is enough to cause the opener to stop and re-raise the door. If I stand next to the door and pull down while it is closing, it will close successfully. I can't seem to identify the source of the problem, and am asking for any general tips as to what I might look for or try in order to improve the situation. <Q> Most garage door openers have a feature that when they encounter too much resistance, they will reverse. <S> This is to prevent the door from trapping/crushing something that didn't get out of the way (a car, person, or your dog). <S> It sounds like the door isn't jamming completely, but it is just "rough" in one spot of the travel, which kicks the the opener into reverse. <S> Do you have the option of shutting the door manually? <S> In my garage, there is a latch that lets me disconnect the door from the opener, which allows me to slide it up and down by hand. <S> Try opening/shutting the door hand and see if it feels "tight" at the point where the opener would reverse. <S> If you can identify a spot where this happens, you have something off in your door/track. <S> If not, something is wrong with the garage door opener. <S> If it is the opener, some things to look at: <S> Some openers require periodiclubrication of the screw drivemechanism (not the door track). <S> Findthe manual for it and see if thereare any reccomendations for greasingit. <S> There may also be crud in it,preventing a smooth travel. <S> If so, good luckfinding replacement parts. <S> One other things to note: <S> Did it suddenly get cold out? <S> Thermal expansion properties of the door and track can trigger problems. <A> My garage door had the same issue sometimes. <S> There are a couple things to look at: 1) <S> Make sure the track is still aligned properly. <S> The brackets that attach the track to the door frame sometimes come loose, and then there is too much friction on the door casters. <S> One of the bolts on mine came out and it angled, which made the wheel angle in the door track. <A> I had this exact thing happen, and here is what was wrong: The track for the door, near the floor, was too close to the wall, so that when it closed, the door got jammed between the track and the wall. <S> It only happened one time out of eight or so. <S> It may have been that something had knocked the track, or something else, but loosening it, and pulling it out a ways fixed the problem. <A> I had a similar problem. <S> A few simple steps seemed to help: Be careful working around the springs. <S> These things can deliver a lot of pain if you make a mistake Go over the door and look for warping, dents, or other damage <S> Tighten the bolts/screws on all the hinges. <S> If you tighten a part that moves, make sure it moves freely Grease the moving parts of the door, the rollers, the track, the hinges. <S> Grease the chain. <S> Since you have the ladder out, blow/vacuum any dust and spiders off/out of your opener <S> Change the opener lightbulbs since you have the ladder out <S> already Check the connections from the switches and safety devices <S> Look (but do not touch) the safety devices. <S> If they appear misaligned, read manual and align and calibrate them <S> Read manual for your door/opener. <S> If that has specific directions follow those instead of my generic steps. <S> Garage doors are not terribly complicated, but like all machines with moving parts they loosen up and need lubing once in a while. <S> This process will get your eyes all over the door and opener and will help spot any damage or problems.
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2) Check the bracket that attaches the wheels to the garage door. The electronics inside the openerthat detect a jam may bemalfunctioning.
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How do I cut and cap copper water tubing cheaply and safely? In my basement I have copper water pipes that look like they hooked up to an old shower. Now they don't hook up to anything. I want to prune these pipes where they come off the main water line (so I can put a deep freezer in their place) but I've never done anything like that before. Google tells me I have two options for pipe fittings: sweating or compression fittings.I want something more or less permanent but I don't to buy extra tools I may not need again for a long time, plus if I can avoid open flames I'd like to, etc. Are compression caps available and suitable for this kind of thing? PS Can I cut copper pipe with an angle grinder or should I buy a pipe cutter? Resolution: Thanks for all the advice! In the end I went with a pushfit cap made by SharkBite: I also bought a handheld, handleless pipe cutter for $7. I shut off the water, cut the pipe, popped on the cap, and turned the water back on. Worked like a charm. The whole job took 20 minutes and cost about $11. I'll look forward to learning to sweat connections another time. For a casual plumber like me, pushfit fittings cost about 10 times as much as soldering and so worth it. <Q> I think you should definitily go with sweating. <S> It is very easy(even though open flames from a torch might seem intimidating) and is more reliable than compression fittings. <S> Plus, installing a cap is one of the easiest things to do, so it will be a good practice to learn a new skill. <S> You can also achieve a pretty clean cut with a hacksaw, if you dont want to invest in a pipe cutter. <A> Compression caps are available and suitable, but you do need to be fairly careful when fitting them that you tighten the joint just the right amount. <S> You also need a reasonable amount of room to be able to turn the spanner/wrench. <S> Soldering will give you the most professional result and can be done in a fairly confined space - as long as you take the necessary precautions to avoid scorching/burning the surroundings. <S> You need to make sure you've got a smooth, straight end to get a good fit, so a pipe cutter is the preferred cutting method. <S> You can use a hacksaw, but you will need to then use emery paper on the end to remove the burr. <A> "Copper Tube Glue" works well on both cold and hot water. <S> I used the Glue up against a floor joist where there was just no room for me to sweat solder; it's still leak free 15 years later. <S> Clean everything as you would for soldering, then glue it. <A> A compression fitting "stop end cap" should handle this, just search for it at a decent hardware or plumbing supply store. <S> Just make sure you get the proper size for your pipe. <S> A clean cut is required, so I wouldn't recommend trying the angle grinder. <S> Soldering is probably a more reliable solution, but requires tools, some flame and some practice. <S> If you think you might be doing more plumbing in the future, it's not a bad investment -- <S> a torch, some flux, and solder can be purchased for around $45.
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If you really can't face the thought of soldering the joints then you can get push fit end caps that work very well.
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How do I put up a roof ladder? What is a safe process for getting a roof ladder on and off the roof? <Q> Ok Walker, here's the scoop. <S> beg, borrow or rent two extension ladders, ladder jacks and a walking pick. <S> (wide plank that fits into ladder jacks). <S> This will form a stable staging a few of feet below the roof soffit. <S> Calculate the length of the roof and adjust your roof ladder accordingly. <S> TIE OFF the rungs of the roof ladder, if using an extension ladder, so it cannot disconnect from the adjustable height locking hooks. <S> Lean it up against your pick, climb up on the pick and carefully drag the roof ladder up and over the pick to the roof. <S> The other advantage of using a pick is that you can work along several feet of the roof, moving your roof ladder as you go. <S> Most picks are 10 to 18 feet in length and can be equipped with a safety railing. <S> Check out your local rental center. <S> Be Safe. <S> Pics and procedures for using ladder jacks and staging (picks): <S> http://www.ehow.com/about_5046018_ladder-jack.html <A> Scaffolding + roof brackets ( http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc1v/R-202059624/h_d2/ProductDisplay?langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053 ) are what I use. <S> If you are trying to do serious work, I'd recommend something similar. <S> If you end up getting roof brackets, MAKE SURE there is a bracket within the last 2-ft (preferably within the last 1-ft) of the board that lays across them. <S> You don't want to step near the end of the board, only to have it give way unexpectedly. <S> If you're just trying to install a flashing or something like that, though, then this roof ladder would be fine. <S> I would throw a rope over the roof and attach it to a tree (not a truck that someone can accidentally get in and drive; if you HAVE to use a vehicle, make sure you have the keys in your pocket) -- just make sure it's not at an angle with the roof's ridge... <S> you want it directly across the ridge from where you need to work. <S> If the rope is at an angle, and if you fall, you're going to get dragged sideways. <S> Attaching to a tree isn't OSHA approved -- probably because if you walk around all day using this type of setup, the rope will wear up at the ridge of the roof. <S> If you're just going straight up and down, however, no ladder can beat a harness, whether it's OSHA-approved or not. <S> If you don't have a harness, no biggie... just walk up using the rope to help, using an extension ladder to first get up on the roof. <S> There are various ways to get the roof ladder up at that point. <A> For a 1-story roof, you may be tempted to climb up an 8' step ladder. <S> You'd have to step on the label that says "don't step here". <S> This is pretty risky. <S> If you do this, have 2 adults below to spot you & hold the ladder & call 9-1-1. <S> A safer approach is to use an extension ladder . <S> You want it to be long enough to extend beyond the roof edge, so you can go sideways instead of over. <S> Get stable footing . <S> A flat, paved driveway will hold a ladder better than a wet, muddy or grassy hillside. <S> Don't let the ladder tilt to one side. <S> Do make sure the feet won't slip. <S> Have an assistant to stabilize the ladder as you climb, and help in an emergency. <S> Avoid carrying things up and down the ladder. <S> They keep a hand busy that you want for climbing, and they can fall. <S> Better to attach things to your belt or haul them up in a bucket on a string. <S> Watch out below! <S> Whenever someone is working at elevation, there's a chance of something falling and hurting someone below. <S> Keep kids clear. <S> Hard hats pretty cheap and do a good job. <S> Secure your tools as best you can. <S> If you're going to be up for any length of time, get a safety line . <S> You can use a climbing harness, but a full-body harness is safer because it keeps you upright in a fall. <S> Ideally secure it to the top of the roof. <S> Less-than-ideal is to throw the line over the house and tie to a tree on the other side. <S> If you're going to climb up and down a lot in the same spot, tie the ladder to the house at the top. <S> For larger projects, scaffolding is really nice. <S> It's very strong, very stable, easy to assemble, can hold multiple people and their equipment. <S> It comes in 5' height increments, so you can get it where you need it. <S> It prefers a flat ground, but there are attachments to level them. <S> I rented 2 units for a 10'-high platform for $50 for a week. <A> The way I'd approach this is to tie a rope to the roof ladder and take the free end of the rope with me when I climbed the ladder. <S> Then, at the top, use the rope to pull the roof ladder up. <S> You'd need at least two people on the ground - one to hold the ladder (essential anyway) and a second to help guide the roof ladder as you pull it up. <S> Then using the wheels push the roof ladder up the rood and finally flip it over to secure it.
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If you tie it to the end of your rope, and if someone helps guide it from the extension ladder, you should be able to pull it up with the rope.
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Will an exhaust fan made for ceilings work in a wall instead? Does anyone know whether a bathroom exhaust fan designed to be installed in a ceiling would have any problems if installed in a wall instead? From a mechanical, ball bearings, noise perspective. Not a space perspective. <Q> In my experience, most decent exhaust fans are dual rated, ceiling or wall. <S> If you can easily jiggle the fan blade or squirrel cage axle in it's end bushing mounts, then I probably wouldn't waste my time using it in a wall. <S> If it is a common overall dimension (10"X10") for example and the mechanical connections feel tight and smooth, I might give it a try. <S> Hook some power to it and give it a test run horizontally before you install it. <S> The easy answer is to simply spend 50 or 60 bucks and buy a new fan rated for wall mounting. <S> I almost forgot to mention, the orientation of the air back flow preventer is very important. <S> If this flapper will not close by gravity or spring when wall mounted then don't consider using it. <A> Would it not be better to simply purchase a fan designed to be installed into a wall? <S> It may well vary from fan to fan but all the ceiling exhaust fans <S> I'm familiar with do <S> n't really like being mounted vertically. <S> They are normally designed to correctly load their bearings only when ceiling mounted. <S> If you do mount them vertically you can expect the bearing to wear faster, which means that although they may not sound louder at first, they will get loader as the wear takes place. <S> Those will definitely be louder, even right from the start. <A> The bearing and fan should align and run in the same position irrespective of how the fan is mounted. <S> It will align in the opposite direction to which the air is being pushed. <S> The air is being forced out, the fan is being forced in. <S> Newtons 3rd law.
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In some case the shaft may even rub against the plastic body if gravity is not holding it in the correct running location. If your fan is described as a ceiling mount only, it is probably one of many inexpensive units that use plastic bushings instead of sealed bearings. The worse case scenario is that you may have to replace it with a more expensive unit at some future time, which is a very easy job assuming the hole in the wall is the same or smaller than the one you need for your existing unit.
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Can I build a garbage chute that connects the garage for residential use? My current home has the kitchen adjoining to the garage. Most of the really smelly garbage is generated in the kitchen. The big garbage can and recycling bins live in the garage. Is there an appropriate sealed, insulated chute or hatch that would let me just toss my waste directly into the big can in the garage instead of a small can in the kitchen? It seems like something McMaster-Carr would have. Is this governed by any national (US) or regional codes? Any concerns or code issues with having a flap opening to a garage space instead of a living space (CO, car smells, etc.)? This would free up some kitchen space by not having to have a separate garbage can in the kitchen. It would save time since that can would not have to be emptied. It could save time sorting garbage if multiple chutes are used for recycling. It should make the kitchen more pleasant as the really stinky garbage would be in the garage and not in the house. Any general thoughts on this idea? Any suggestions for alternatives, like maybe an insulated dog door if something like an insulated hatch doesn't exist? <Q> I personally wouldn't do it. <S> Even if you could find a suitable hatch, you'd need a good way to clean it out regularly. <S> When I lived in an apartment complex with a hatch, it was foul; it was bad enough that they'd spray for bugs every 3-4 months, and in the process, drive the bugs into other apartments (and mine was right next to the chute ... <S> so make sure, when renting an apartment, take that into consideration). <S> I'd be afraid that if the chute went straight outside, that bugs would eventually use the route to come up into your home, particularly of any food trimmings <S> were to smear themelves on the chute or hatch. <S> If you were to connect it to a garage, I'd be concerned with fumes coming into the house. <S> At a bare minimum, I'd make sure to have a CO monitor inside the kitchen, but I'd think that car exhaust would get in, too, and might make for a less than pleasant effect on your food. <S> I'd also look to fire codes in your area -- you're not allowed to have open holes between floors in many areas, because it'll allow fire to spread more quickly. <S> (never mind that you have to vent toilets ... <S> but you then have to fill gaps on the holes those vents run through). <S> ... <S> For non-meat or dairy food scraps, you can also get kitchen compost bins which have a charcoal filter on top ... <S> so you can stash your trimmings under the sink, and then empty it less frequently. <S> The only real problem are meat scraps; yes, you can put them down a garbage disposal, but it's not ideal as it puts a greater load on the sewage treatement plant; also, it won't work if you have a septic system, and still won't provide a good solution for bones. <A> A garage will frequently have fire rated drywall, a vapor barrier, and insulation. <S> The fire rated drywall prevents fires in the garage from roasting your home before the fire dept can get there (1 hour). <S> The vapor barrier prevents exhaust fumes (CO) from getting into your home from any cars. <S> And the insulation is because the garage is an unheated space. <S> I'm pretty sure most of this is by code, and <S> even if it isn't, you want to have it. <S> When you put a hole in the wall, all of this is compromised, so the door would need a 1 hour burn time, insulation, and a vapor seal that is continuous with the existing vapor barrier. <S> Anything you can get that would fulfill those requirements is likely to be very unattractive in a kitchen. <S> Not to mention, you'd end up with a smelly open trash can in your garage (rodent attractor), and a trash chute that needs to be cleaned. <A> If the majority of the smell comes from food scraps, have you considered a heavy duty garbage disposal? <S> It would probably be cheaper and still reduce the smell. <A> Just do it!! <S> Don't let the neigh-sayers ruin it. <S> It can be a fun little project. <S> Use a tilting door built into the wall of the kitchen or to replace a cabinet, use a spring loaded hinge so that it closes by itself <S> (it could look like a normal cabinet door). <S> Use a sufficiently large aluminum duct (like for HVAC) to act as the cute and position a bottomless plastic trashcan in the top of the chute so that, from the kitchen, you can insert a bag to accumulate the debris throughout the day (and this keep the chute clean), then when you want to release it just loosen the bag (tie or leave untied) and let it drop. <S> There is no requirement it be hermetically sealed, <S> weatherstripping around the end of the chute around the door would be sufficient (often doors to garages, even fire-rated doors, are not perfectly sealed.) <A> Did you ever do this? <S> I found one manufacturer in my searching so far, but they seem limited to Australia: https://www.recyclit.com.au/
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To address possible fumes and fire rating issues, just use a wooden door at the chute bottom with a couple layers of sheet rock on the inside to increase the fire-rating to 1-hr burn (look up how many sheets, thickness) and again use a spring-loaded hinge that closes it, it will open when a bag of garbage drops onto it (put a handle on the outside of the trap door so you can open easily in case there is something not heavy enough to have triggered it on garbage day). So, if you haven't guessed already, I'd recommend against it.
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Any recommendations for smoke detectors with wireless remote alarms? I would like to put a smoke detector in my attached garage and barn, with a wireless/remote signal with a a receiver inside the house. So far I have found this one I am assuming that with that one, you buy some number of them (maybe 2 or 3 in my case) and they all broadcast to each other? Are there any other similar products that you have experience using? <Q> It has a voice notification that indicates the location of the module activated to all other modules. <S> (I have 4 in my home) <S> There are hard-wired and battery powered units. <S> They also use a photoelectric smoke sensor that reduces nuisance alarms from normal smoke or steam. <S> I personally don't know about the barn issue or the wireless range; but they have quite a few options among the models on the First Alert site. <A> I wired a remote siren to the smoke detector in our attached shed, so that we will be alerted in the house if there is a fire in the shed. <S> Seven dollar basic smoke alarm, $5.00 piezo from radio shack, some wire, a relay, and an extra 9v battery. <S> It's pretty easy to do. <A> I tested the First Alert Onelink and the Kidde Wireless System side by side for range. <S> I was able to get over 300 feet. <S> The Kidde system is older and is a direct radio link. <S> The First Alert system can 'hop' from detector to detector, so you can form a chain of units each 300 feet apart. <S> Just get two or more units and they talk to each other. <S> Or: if you get a hardwire unit, you can use the interconnect wire to trigger just about anything (e.g. a garage door opener, siren, radio, alarm system, etc). <S> Or: get a BRK HD6135FB heat detector (no problem with cold weather or condensation!) <S> and wire it to a OneLink alarm. <S> If the HD6135FB goes off, it activates the OneLink, which relays the message to all linked alarms.
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I have First Alert Onelink in my home.
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How should I go about leveling my basement floor? My house is from the 1920s, with a poured concrete foundation and floor in the basement. The floor dips pretty noticeably downward from the foundation walls towards a drain near one end of the basement. I don't think there's been any significant settling, I think this is just how it was constructed, to direct any sort of spill or leak towards the drain. That's all well and good, except that my office is in the basement. My desk chair likes to roll away on its own, and I need shims to keep shelves and my desk from tipping over. I'm considering building some sort of a subfloor under just this part of my basement to level it. I don't think that options like How can I level my basement floor, which has a 4-inch dip? are really in my budget, or really what I want to get into. I'm basically thinking of building something with 2x4s and plywood that I can shim up enough to be level. Is that the right approach? I'm hoping to be able to get away with only spending about $200 on this. I'm only looking to level about a 12'x12' section of my basement, not the whole thing. Dampness isn't generally a problem in my basement, my main goal is to make my work area level. <Q> I would still recommend going with self leveling concrete. <S> If you only need to level off a small area, then just put some 2x4s around the edge of that area to use as a form so you can get away with using less compound. <A> Use pressure treated wood for anything that will be contacting the slab directly. <S> Use a taper jig and table saw to get the framing close enough to the floor that the shims will be effective. <S> Other than that, you should be able to build it out relatively easily, and wrap the whole thing in plywood. <S> My back-of-the-envelope estimate puts you in the ballpark of your $200 estimate. <S> 11x <S> - 12' <S> PT 2x4 - ~$60 5x - 4x8 <S> Plywood / <S> OSB - ~$100 <S> Shims - ~$5 Ramset/concrete nail <S> /concrete screws - ~$25 <S> Galvanized screws - <S> ~$10 <S> This is assuming that whatever flooring you will put down on the platform will be covered by the insurance settlement from the water damage. <S> This is also assuming that you have the tools on hand to do the job. <A> Cheap? <S> Shims and plywood would probably work. <S> It certainly wouldn't be permanent. <S> Anything permanent is going to take some time and materials. <S> Perhaps just get a chair without wheels?
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You could build out a platform and shim it up as you describe.
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What do I do with a leaky roof in the middle of January? I removed the ceiling Sheetrock and insulation during a bathroom remodel in my master bathroom on the 2nd floor of my house. I have snow on the roof that is melting and I found two small drips coming from the roof. I can see black decayed plywood that is bowed in between rafters. I already have two layers of shingles. I know it's not a great idea to do roof work in the cold, but my bathroom remodel hinges on it. What's my best approach to this dilemma? Should I cut out and replace the roof over this room alone now, and maybe do the rest in the spring? Or tarp it, finish the remodel and wait for spring to repair the roof? Ideas? <Q> If the leak(s) are due to water backing up behind ice dams, you may be able to keep the problem at bay and defer the roof work until summer, by addressing the ice dams and using a roof-rake to remove most of the snow. <S> There are a few approaches to battling ice dams; chipping away, electric heat tape, or ice melt that is safe for your roof/siding/yard/pets... <S> I currently have some ice-melt-filled nylon stockings draped across a problem ice dam, so that it creates a drainage channel for the melting snow <S> I miss or can't quite reach with my roof-rake. <A> Sorry my friend, Bite the bullet and get it done before you have more interior damage. <S> Worst time of year, but roofers aren't real busy right now, but expect a higher cost due to bad conditions. <A> I didn't do the work myself, but last year (2010) in January I had a roof leak, and I called a roofer. <S> Waited for a couple of nice days and they re-did the whole thing (including cutting out bad sections of plywood, etc, and installing all new gutters) in 3 days. <S> You probably can't pull that on your own, but it's something to consider if you need it done right now.
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Don't put off the roof work for a full seasonal cycle tho, or you may find your newly remodeled bathroom drenched next winter. Replace the whole thing at once and do the structural work that is necessary.
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How do I fix a door frame that my dog chewed? My dog chewed the bottom part of the doorframe to my bedroom. I live in a rented apartment, so this is not OK. Is there any way to fix it and make it look somewhat presentable (doesn't have to be perfect)? How do I find a matching frame? How do I match the paint? Update : Just wanted to thank everyone for their help! @XOPJ: Thanks, that is useful to know. Actually, I don't think she actually chewed it, but simply scratched at it when I left her in the room for a while (she's got separation anxiety). So my description was not quite accurate to begin with! Regarding replacing the trim, I think that's just too much work for someone like me who doesn't know much about DIY projects. I considered this initially before coming to this forum, but there doesn't seem to be an easy way to remove the trim, and I'm afraid I'd knock a huge chunk out that I'm not supposed to if I tried to pry it off! My filler experiment has been a half-success: I had one big chunk which I managed to glue back in place, and I filled in the rest with wood filler and painted over it. Since it's near the bottom of the door, you don't notice it unless you're looking for it. However, I think I'll try to touch it up at some point in the future. <Q> You can simply replace the molding. <S> This profile is an inexpensive ranch casing, available from your local home center. <S> You should be able to match it virtually exactly. <S> It will be nailed to the wall. <S> Buy a new piece to fit. <S> You will need to miter the top end to fit with a miter saw, but you can buy an inexpensive miter box to do that task accurately. <S> Once you have cut the new piece to fit, take the old one off and bring it into any good paint store. <S> They can match the paint exactly. <S> A quart of paint will be enough to repaint the molding with lots to spare for touch ups. <S> Install the molding using finish nails, set into place using a nail set. <S> Then fill the heads with putty and paint. <A> Edit: Thanks for posting the photo, answer updated (see below). <S> Here is some general advice. <S> Since larger chunks of wood are missing, use wood filler to fill it in (found at any home improvement store). <S> Use a putty knife to match the shape of the trim as closely as possible. <S> After the filler cures, use sand paper to round it out. <S> You will also need to paint over the filler. <S> Get a chip of the wood trim and take it with you to the home improvement store and get them to color-match the paint (you may also be able to pull a piece of the trim off the wall). <S> Some fancy trims can be tough to match, but what you have looks pretty basic. <S> For what it's worth, in the last place we rented, our rabbit used to gnaw on the door trim in our bedroom. <S> We eventually trained the rabbit not to do that, but it took a while, and the damage got pretty bad. <S> We repaired the trim using the above methods. <S> We got our full security deposit back. <A> It does look like pretty standard moulding, but if you can't match it exactly (the older the house the more likely this will be) <S> and you want to, you may be able to find matching moulding inside a closet. <S> Replace it with the closet moulding, and then replace the closet moulding with anything close - no one will ever notice or care. <A> Its really a quite simple repair as long as you have the right tools and some good instructions. <S> A hammer and a flat screw driver to pry the molding off the wall. <S> A hand saw to cut the a 45 degree angle on the new molding. <S> A few finished nails to attach the new molding. <S> A nail set to conceal the nails and some caulking. <S> And a paint brush to paint the molding. <S> I have included a few links to some photos of a similar project as well as a video that I found on repairing pet damage. <S> I am affiliated with this website as I am the owner but the video below is just a good relevant video that I found on youtube <S> and I have no affiliations with it. <S> I just thought it may be helpful to someone. <S> Photos <S> http://bobbyshandymanservice.com/handyman/ <S> Video <S> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GaJ_um27bJY
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The tools that you would need are a Sheetrock knife to separate the molding from the wall without damaging the existing paint or drywall. The other option would be to find similar trim at the store and replace the damaged piece.
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Rust spots on water heater -- time to replace? So I noticed today there's some rust spots showing up on the outside/bottom on the water heater. No more than a couple specs. Should I be worried? <Q> Most water heaters have an inner tank surrounded by an insulation material surrounded by the outer shell. <S> If it is the outer shell that has some rust spots then there probably is not anything to be worried about. <S> But considering that you are seeing rust spots on your water heater that might mean that it is fairly old. <S> If it is old, then you should think about replacing your water heater... <S> a new water heater will save you a lot of money in energy costs (new ones are much more energy efficient). <A> Water heaters have a sacrificial rod in them -- sometimes two -- and the rod will sacrifice itself to protect the tank. <S> This rod is supposed to be replaced every 6 years or so. <S> If there are two rods, then probably every 10-12 years. <S> If the water heater is under 5 years old, or if you've been replacing the rods, then there shouldn't be any problem unless the water heater is 20+ years old. <A> Sounds like the inner tank is potentially leaking, and leaving the outer jacket wet. <S> Ever see what happens when a hot water heater fails? <S> It can be catastrophic, tearing through walls and floors, or just get your floor wet. <S> Either way, you may want to get it checked out.
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If you haven't been replacing the rods (and are long past-due), or if the water heater is old, replacement might be necessary. So depending on where the rust spots are located you may not need to worry about them at all.
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When would a paint-roller be considered "worn out"? I am in the middle of a lengthy project that involved numerous skills, one of which is painting panels of wood. I've got a roller and tray, but this is the first time I have had my own painting equipment to look after. How do experienced painters tell when the roller is better thrown out than washed? I can still get a nap on the roller, but it's difficult to tell what colour it was as I just can't wash all the paint out. <Q> If you can't get all the paint out then that's a good time to think about replacing it. <S> The problems you might get are some paint flecks from the old paint coming off onto the newly painted surface - which will ruin the finish, or some of the old colour leaking into the new. <S> I wouldn't worry about the colour of the roller material itself and it is a good sign that you can still get a nap on the roller. <A> It may be considered wasteful, but I only use the roller for repeat coats of the same color. <S> If I am applying 2 or 3 coats, I will reuse the same roller. <S> If I am painting a different color, I always use a new roller, so I make sure the color is true. <S> I can never seem to get all the paint out of the roller. <S> I would rather spend the money on a new roller than have the paint messed up. <S> When I reuse the roller, I wrap it in plastic wrap. <S> I have also placed rollers in the freezer after wrapping them, so the paint cannot dry out. <A> The reason for using a new generic roller is if you don't clean it perfectly you'll have remnants that cause patterns to appear in the way it applies paint to the surface. <S> Ideally you would wrap it in some sort of plastic wrap or air tight container to prevent the paint from drying out on it giving you the opportunity to use the same color again the next day for a 2nd coating.
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After using a roller enough times it will start to leave more of a textured look than a smooth clean coating.
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What products should I use to add sound insulation to a party wall? My bedroom shares a wall with my neighbours bathroom and I would like to add some sound proofing to my side of the wall. Can anyone recommend any particular products? The wall is brick and does not have a cavity. Ideally I want to lose as little space as possible from my bedroom so adding a cavity to my side is not an option that I want to consider. <Q> You can get acoustic plasterboard (UK site). <S> It won't block out all the sound (as pointed out on the site) but will reduce it - hopefully to a more tolerable level. <S> Stick this to the wall <S> and then skim/tile on top. <S> You will lose a bit of space from your room, but it's only one wall (the party wall). <A> You are not going to get a significant amount of soundproofing without losing at least some space on your side. <S> From what you have described, it sounds like there is an exposed brick wall. <S> In addition, adding insulation in the cavity will cut the noise even further. <S> All of this material together will only reduce the size of the room by 2 inches. <A> [I am not an acoustic engineer]There's no magic to sound-proofing - you need some "acoustically dense" material between you and sound (absorption), and some way to kill the vibration in the room (dampening). <S> Most of the ideas above are pretty reasonably for DIY. <S> You could build a home studio of acoustic tiles, but it will look funny and cost a lot. <S> Expanding a bit on what was offered: Dampen the noise (stop the vibration): <S> Double your drywall on any of the solutions above. <S> Use silicone (the green glue is a little better) on the studs/framing, and then in between your layers of drywall. <S> Absorb the noise: <S> If you have the space (and to be fair to your question, you probably don't have much), you can put something behind your drywall. <S> A nice product is Roxul . <S> It isn't magic, but it's an improvement (as an added benefit, it's virtually fireproof). <S> If you just want some good talk about soundproofing (grin), Holmes on Homes did an fun episode on this a while back. <S> A quick youtube search turned this up. <A> I've read that a combination of density and elasticity are the best way to cut down sound. <S> It comes in large caulking tubes. <S> It's applied between two layers of material, like drywall or plywood, and its elasticity supposedly helps cut the noise. <S> If you search online for green glue you can find more technical specs and installation instructions.
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Adding some 1x2 or 2x2 framing and a layer of drywall will dramatically decrease the sound transfer. There is a product known as green glue which may help in your situation.
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How can I stop Lego bricks from falling in to a register? My kids like to play with Lego bricks on the floor, and sometimes a small piece will fall in to a heating register. Sometimes I can pull them out, but usually they fall too far, and there are sharp edges that like to draw blood. Is there something I can do to block bricks from falling in, without interfering with air flow? <Q> Cheap, easy and safe. <A> A mesh made of steel wire 2-3 millimeters in diameter with cells about 5 millimeters in size would solve the problem completely. <S> If you can't find it readily available at a store you can spend some time soldering it on your own - will take time, but the result will be sufficient. <A> Get some window screen mesh, you can buy it in rolls at the hardware store. <S> Cut it <S> so it forms a pocket below the register, and attach with velcro tape under the register to the side of the duct. <S> This should trap anything that falls through so you can lift the register and grab it easily. <S> The window screen mesh shouldn't block the airflow in any significant way. <A> An air deflector might make it harder for the Legos to find their way into the vent, just make sure you get one that wraps all the way around the vent to prevent Legos from sliding in along the floor. <A> Growing up, my mom never let us play with Lego on the bare floor -- we had an old queen sized blanket that we spread out, then just grabbed the corners to lift it and store in a box for storage. <S> It was easy to notice when the Lego were getting to the edge, and thus had to be pulled back in to the middle. <S> In this case, if you positioned the sheet so it went over the register, it'd block the register, but nothing would fall in while they were playing. <A> What about cutting the bottom out of a shoe box and then putting it around the register? <S> (Kind of like those dog collars from the vet that prevent the dog from licking a wound/part of their body.) <S> This would protect any pieces from rolling into the register (but also might encourage your kids to put more in). <S> It definitely would not look the prettiest <S> but maybe it would not matter for this room.
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I like the idea of a smaller grate, but make life easy and get some regular fiberglass screen material at the hardware store and wrap the register cover with it and reinstall the cover.
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How can I protect my kids' toes from this evil grating in the floor? The cold air return in this house is in the floor, in the most-trafficked part of the house. It has a heavy grating over it. My kids' toes are small enough to fit in the gaps, which is very painful when it happens. In the summer I cover the grating with a rug, but in the winter we have to keep it clear. This is a rental, so relocating the cold air return isn't an option. <Q> If the grate is easily removable, simply lift it up and wrap it in a thin, loose fiber fabric like a muslin, cheese cloth or nice smooth burlap. <S> (not the rough course kind). <S> Even a piece of regular fiberglass screen would do the same thing. <S> This will look nice <S> , let plenty of air through, keep excessive amounts of dirt out of duct work and help protect little piggies. <A> The problem of that grating is it has cells big enough to accomodate a kid toe. <S> Just replace it with one with smaller cells or find a wire mesh with smaller cells and put it over the grating - something made of 3 millimeters steel wire will do, but you'll have to cut it to size and carefully process the wire endings along the perimeter. <A>
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Check out the fabric dept at Wally World, bet you can find what you need for a couple of bucks. One thought because my 10yo daughter plays outside in the street a lot is the more your kids run around barefoot, the tougher their feet will be and the grating may not bother them as much when they step on it.
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How should I tile under kitchen cabinets? I currently have tile on the floor of the kitchen that just butts up to my cabinets. I plan to change the floors and also change the cabinets. Is is best to rip out all the cabinets and tile, and then tile the entire floor? Afterwards, install the cabinets on top of the tile. Or should retile just butting up to cabinets again? <Q> Why would you want to tile first, then lay cabinets on top of the tile? <S> This ensures two things: <S> The person in the future who wants merely to replace the tile while not touching the cabinets will be cursing your soul to eternity. <S> Remember, this might be you cursing yourself, if for some reason it turns out you need (or merely really want) to replace the tile. <S> That you will spend more money on tile than you need to spend. <S> Tile is expensive, so why throw money away underneath a large block of cabinets? <S> Place the cabinets first, then butt the tile against them. <S> Yes, you will be cutting some tiles to fit. <S> Tile cutters are not difficult to use. <A> We tiled under the cabinets when we remodeled our kitchen. <S> To tile up to the cabinets IMO is to stop short of finishing the floor. <S> A good tile, installed properly, will last a long time; probably longer than the cabinets. <S> The price difference for us between doing under the cabinets and not was negligible; couple hundred dollars. <S> Looking at our kitchen, we would not have known the floor was sagging 1.5 inches from corner to corner. <S> Tiling under the cabinets allowed us to fix the floor and have a level floor across the room (20+ feet in total) <A> It likely depends on what type of cabinets you're planning on installing. <S> And exactly the opposite of what woodchips said; if someone in the future wants to replace the cabinets while not touching the floor will appreciate the fully tiled floor. <S> I'm not sure which is worse, if you tend to be a spill-prone household -- with a fully tiled floor, the water's more likey to damage the kickplate of the cabinets (or legs, in a free-standing style), rather than the subfloor if things aren't sealed well. <S> One other minor consideration is that your cabinet height changes slightly between the two styles of laying tiles, but you can always put something down to make up the tile height if you don't want the full floor of tile. <A> Don't overthink it and worry too much about what you or someone else might want to do in the future. <S> Will you want a new floor? <S> Will you want a new cabinet configuration? <S> You simply don't know. <S> Just worry about what you want right now. <S> Find cabinets you love and find a floor you love. <S> The one pro I can think of for tiling only up to the cabinets <S> is that it will be cheaper. <S> How much depends how expensive your tile is. <S> Unless you have a huge kitchen and a ton of cabinets, I'm guessing it won't be much savings. <S> There are more pros to tiling the entire floor. <S> Tiling the entire floor may actually take less time too. <S> You won't have to worry about super-precise cuts against the walls underneath cabinets, but if you only tile up to the cabinets you have to be very precise, otherwise you will have uneven grout lines along your kickboards. <S> You will also have to make more cuts around your cabinets. <S> Your entire floor is protected from water and spills tiling the entire floor. <S> If you do decide to change cabinet configuration in the future, you don't have to worry about the floor. <S> If you want to change the floor, but not the cabinets, that would be the time to remove the old tile up to the cabinets and lay the new tile up to the cabinets. <S> And if you want to change both, well, it all has to get ripped up anyway <S> , right? <S> I'm tiling my kitchen floor this weekend <S> and it's going wall to wall! <A> In the professional world kitchen cabinets go in first then finish flooring, we do not have trouble cutting flooring. <S> Fact , Homeowners change floor coverings when they get tired of the outdated flooring, or just want something new.... <S> Kitchen cabinetry lasts 3 or 4 floor changes. <S> bathrooms go either way <S> so it is up to you. <A> If you lay the tiles up to the cabinets and in future want to replace the cabinets, all you have to do is cut along the grout lines of the partial tiles and smash them out. <S> If you have saved spare tiles, finish laying the floor up to the wall, and then install your new cabinets. <A> IF you saved ENOUGH spare tile you can do it later.... <S> and if not, you will have a different dye lot at the very least, if it is even still available to purchase. <S> make sure you get a couple boxes extra or ask the tile salesperson to help you figure out how much tile you will need if you want to tile underneath later on! <S> often the same size and style are unavailable years later, but it'll be a hard match even so. <S> preparation, preparation, preparation:)
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If you're going for the 'european style' (what Ikea refers to as a 'free-standing kitchen' , you need to fully tile first, as it'll be visible once the cabinets are installed.
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How should I level (flatten) ceiling joists for drywall? My kitchen ceiling joists are old and at varying heights. I'm trying to make it level, or at least flat, in preparation for drywall installation. Would you suggest installing strips of wood to the side of the joists or stacked to the bottom of the joists in order to even them out? Which is easier and faster? Which is stronger? <Q> The way we do it is to strap the joists perpendicular with 1X3 cheap strapping. <S> Find the lowest point in the existing field of joists and that will be your level reference. <S> We use a laser 360 degree level , but you can get by with a good 6 foot standard bubble level. <S> Mark off the joists in 16" on center with an extra piece of strapping along each wall edge. <S> Then set the first piece of strapping closest to the lowest point of the ceiling. <S> Use simple shims under the strapping as you go to keep each piece of strapping level side to side and row or strapping to row of strapping. <S> Secure the strapping with 4d or 6d ring nails to the joists. <S> It will take a little time, but you should get the hang of it very quickly. <S> The result should be a nice flat and level ceiling. <S> I know this is a quick description, but I will be happy to give you more info and hints if you decide to use this method. <S> BTW, this is definitely a 2 or 3 person job, and an air nailer will really help. <A> Just saw an article on FineHomebuilding about leveling an old ceiling. <S> It sounds similar to what you ended up doing, except they used steel studs. <S> They also give a good description of the installation process using a couple of guide strings to make sure everything ends up level. <A> Seems like measuring from the ceiling to the floor wouldn't be much good if the floor isn't level either. <S> We used a 4' bubble level which was okay <S> but I think I'd want to rent a rotary laser level, about $50 per day. <S> The ceiling turned out flat and level but I ran into problems along the two parallel walls when I went to put up crown moulding because I hadn't considered installing a nailer. <S> I ended up removing the drywall, luckily, I hadn't mudded yet, and added the nailer so that I had something to nail my crown to. <S> Hope the above helps someone. <A> Just find the lowest joist,use a 8 ft.level,slide across room or 6 ft. level, you should bump into a low joist. <S> If it is only,say 1in. <S> low go to your walls and attach backing.2 persons one on each wall. <S> Each backing about 2 ft long ,but first make level marks on walls with string line,using a small hanging bubbled level that hangs on string line. <S> Now nail all 4 backings ,with are four 2 by 4 blocks to each comer of the room,where the marks are,mark under block. <S> Now fill in space between blocks with straight 2 by 4. <S> When you run sringline be sure the line is the touching the bottom of low joist.2 people to pull string line some tight,2 latters one for each. <S> Use 2 ft.level to square coners, bubble center of lines. <S> Run 3 more string lines, one center of room, other 2 center of center line and lines from first 2 by 4 blocks, total of 5 string lines. <S> No fill in gaps from string line to joist,using plywood strips and thin cardborad strips,each 1 and a have each wide. <S> Now you have a square and level room. <S> It's easy.
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We used steel studs which are comprised of two pieces but we just used one piece (half) of the studs and screwed them to the existing joists.
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Is there hard-water deposits inside the pipes in my house? I have a fairly new home, built in 2007, in Arizona. I noticed today that most of the faucets in our house are starting to get hard water deposits on them where the water is coming out. It got me thinking, the pipes must have similar build-ups, and it can't be good for them. Is there hard-water deposits inside the pipes inside my homes, and if so, is there a fairly quick and easy way to clean the hard-water deposits from out of the pipes? Not the easy ones to get to, mind you, but the pipes in the walls and such. I'm pretty sure the pipes are all PVC, if it makes a difference. <Q> Faucets have screens on them. <S> The screens on the faucets are to stop debris that are lighter than water. <S> That's not to say that it's impossible for pipes to get build-up, but you'd have major water heater problems prior to your pipes getting clogged. <S> Clean the screens to see if the flow rate / pressure goes up. <S> If it clears up the problems, no need to mess with the pipes! <S> (Also, another way to test whether it is merely the screens giving you the problems is to test it using the cold water. <S> If the cold water is also slow, it's the screen on the faucet, not scale build-up in your pipes.) <A> No, you need not fear that the insides of your pipes are becoming encrusted with this. <S> The crud is dissolved in your water. <S> It only appears when water evaporates, leaving it behind. <S> Since water will not evaporate inside your pipes, no problem there. <S> It stays dissolved in the water. <S> You can of course get a water softener. <A> Those statements are not correct. <S> I see it all the time where pipes are clogged and need replaced, however this usually takes a very long time.... <S> 10-40 years. <S> One of the first signs you will see when this starts becoming a problem is the pressure from the hot water in your shower will decrease. <S> Sometimes its just the valve but alot of times its scale buildup where the hot water line first enters the valve body.
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Your pipes shouldn't have deposits on them because the sediment will build-up on the bottom of the tank when it is being heated (the change in temperature and stagnation are the main reasons for the sediment falling out of solution -- neither of which happens in pipes,) and it shouldn't go out of the top.
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Where should I start laying nail down hardwood flooring and how do I make it straight? I'm planning to install tongue and groove hardwood flooring in my living room, dining room, kithcen, hallway, and powder room. The longest unbroken length of floor runs from the front bay of the house (living room) all the way through the dining room and kitchen to the back door - about 60 feet. There are archways connecting most rooms with a couple smaller doorways as well. Another consideration is that the house is very old so very little is square. I'm trying to figure out two things: how to make sure the boards look straight from the front of the house to the back, and which run to start with. The first thing that comes to mind to making the runs straight is to make a chaulk line from the bay to the back door then orienting all runs to that line. Regarding which run to start with my understanding is that I would start against some wall, groove side out. If I do this and build out until the runs are far enough out from the wall that I can pass through an archway to the adjoining room, how can I then attach planks in that adjoining room to fill the floor space up to the wall on the same side of the house I originally started on (in the first room)? How would I nail these planks since I wouldn't have access to the grooves for those 20 or so runs to the wall? I'm guessing this is a common issue to deal with when installing in more than one room connected along the same line as the floor runs. Edit: <Q> Laying it parallel can cause a waving effect which is unpleasant. <S> Next, find the longest, longest, straightest wall which is perpendicular to the joists. <S> Measure out two feet from the wall all the way down the wall. <S> Then find the best line down these marks, snap a chalk line, Measure back to the wall about 23 and 5/8 inches. <S> Snap a this line. <S> Line up your first run of floor against this line, tongue side out (nail through the tongue). <S> As for room to room, if they are really out of square with each other, try building a transition between rooms: ----||--------||--------||--------||---- <S> This allows you to lay each room separately, allowing each room to be square. <A> Installed my neighbor's hardwood floors, but don't know anything about them other than that. <S> We started in a corner and made our way from there, doing one row at a time. <S> Worked well, <S> and I don't see the benefit of starting in the middle of the room. <S> I'd check with a professional about how much expansion/contraction will be a problem. <S> With floating hardwood floors, I've been warned that if you install them super tight when it's cold, they'll buckle when it's hot -- and the opposite will make them shrink out form underneath the trim. <S> I suppose it might not be a problem since you're nailing them down, though. <A> I would make the chalk line like you mentioned, and then measure off of the line over to the left side of your living room (looking at your drawing) and make a new chalk line and then start laying from the bottom left corner. <S> When you pass through to the dining room, you have a couple options. <S> You can try measuring off the original chalk line again and then work back to the middle of the room. <S> I wouldn't recommend this because you would have to be VERY precise to get it lined up with the living room flooring <S> you've already laid. <S> Your second option is to do what Joe mentioned in a comment to your question. <S> Use a small strip of wood to create a new tongue so you can turnaround and work your way towards the left wall. <A> Another option is to start at the bottom of the living room. <S> Save a long board to run out the living room door to the dining room once your run is clear of the door. <S> Lightly nail it down so it won't move, but leave the heads clear so you can pull it up. <S> Now you grab a bunch of smaller boards, and build back (without nailing!) <S> to the bottom left corner of the dining room. <S> Once you get to the wall, nail that board in and use it as a starting point. <S> Pull up the boards you've used for measuring and carry on. <S> It's a bit time consuming, and I've only used this technique in closets and shorter spans than you've shown here. <A> I like to suggest dropping a chalk line in the middle of the room on the diagonal and nailing a one by two board following that chalk line. <S> Start with the groove of first board against that one by two and install to the corner. <S> Once you have installed to the corner, remove the one by two and fit a quarter inch by 3/8th inch spline in the groove and nail it like it was a tongue. <S> Install to the opposite corner. <S> This is an awesome way to install a wood floor especially if the walls aren't straight or the joists change directions in the middle if the floor. <S> You span the joists both ways.
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First, remember to lay your wood perpendicular to the floor joists.
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Is there an easy way to make a square hole in plaster/brick to put an electrical outlet box in? I am about to fix a few new sockets, I can run the cables down the back of some built in cupboards, but would rather not use surface mounted sockets. I do not have a SDS drill, just a standard hammer drill. <Q> A Fein Multimaster tool (or some knockoffs) work great for this type of work. <S> You have the ability to use a blade where you can 'stab' the wall and get nice clean lines and corners. <S> I would make sure they can handle brick though. <S> I believe they can with a good blade. <A> Not elegant, but fast and easy. <A> Standard hammer drill here too, and I don't quite understand the fuss about SDS drills: mine already goes into plaster and brick like a knife into butter (not a hot knife, mind you). <S> I just drill a grid of holes - spaced maybe 2cm apart - and then whack out the remainder with chisel and hammer. <S> Since I'm chasing into the wall anyway, I normally also make cuts with my angle grinder, but that's less effective that it might at first sound, because it doesn't help me get the corners out, which I find the hardest part of the job. <S> Perhaps a 115mm grinder would work better (mine's a 230mm model), as it could get closer to the corner. <S> But could it make the depth? <S> When I hit a "hard" brick, sometimes I just give up on that hole and move on to the next - it isn't necessary to drill every single hole, or to drill them in any particular place (except the edges I suppose): the point is just to weaken the material to be removed, relative to the rest of the wall. <S> (I'm pretty sure that hammering too hard can cause nearby plaster to detach, so I try to get through the plaster and the first of the brick with only "light" blows.) <S> In one wall, I took the opportunity to install two outlets in one session: directly opposite each other. <S> That let me just drill as far as the bit would go from each side, and then whack out the middle without mercy. <S> That worked quite well, but depends on wanting an outlet on the other side of the wall. <S> Judging by your pictured outlet box, I would recommend hearty use of the angle grinder trick (4x4 inch boxes are more usual here): make cuts along the length of the box, and then drive the chisel between the remaining slices of wall: one of them will break out. <S> That's if you can stomach the dust, and it assumes you have an angle grinder.
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If you are going to decorate after, it may be easiest to just use a chisel and hammer to cut out a bit more than needed, fit the box, then re-plaster around the outlet box. Some bricks randomly need more persuasion than most. Then clean up the corners.
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How can I protect my hands when using power tools? When doing many DIY projects there's a strong need to protect hands against cutting by sharp part edges. Gloves seem a natural solution. However recently I was mounting a countertop and wearing gloves and I needed to drill a hole in the countertop surface. I held my hand too close to the drill bit, so once I turned the drill on the drill bit somehow captured the glove and started wrapping it onto itself. I was lucky - the drill had a rather weak motor and it was adjusted to not achieve anything close to high torque, so I all got was a glove torn apart, but that could easily be a broken finger or two. If I had no gloves at that moment just nothing would have happened, except I could at most mildly scratch a finger. So it looks like wearing gloves greatly increases risk of injury when using power tools. How to address this? How to protect hands when using power tools? <Q> In fact, it can be quite dangerous for the reasons you describe, although kevlar gloves might be a good idea when you are around a chainsaw. <S> They might even be a good idea if you are working with sharp chisels. <S> Even so, I would suggest that it makes far more sense to begin using good, safe practices. <S> If your fingers are getting too close to a moving powered object, then you are doing it WRONG! <S> If you are taking risks with your fingers, then learn safe working practices! <S> NEVER WEAR LOOSE FITTING CLOTHING OF ANY SORT WHEN WORKING WITH POWER TOOLS. <S> Gloves are part of this. <S> Never get close enough to a blade for there to be a problem. <S> Use hold downs of all sorts. <S> Use a table saw with a saw stop. <S> If you are using a drill, why are your fingers touching the drill bit? <S> If you can't control your fingers and other body parts, then perhaps chess is a better activity for you? <S> There are always people willing to be paid to do your home repair projects for you. <S> Or, learn to do those projects safely. <S> When I go into my wood shop, I wear a short sleeve shirt. <S> No gloves. <S> I am aware of the tools that I use. <S> And when my fingers get near a moving object, I ALWAYS know exactly where they are <S> and I am in complete control of the situation, or I find a different way to do the job. <S> Finally, if you are tired, then stop working. <S> There is always another day to finish the job, but you have only one life, only so many fingers, eyes, etc. <A> The only gloves I ever use are form fitting "mechanix" type gloves. <S> They are no real protection from a powerful saw or drill, but help with sharp edges etc. <S> As woodchips says, there is no substitute for safe practices and knowing how to use your tools properly. <A> Gloves differ. <S> I wouldn't recommend loose-fitting gloves made of wool or something similar. <S> Gloves and clothes in general make life easier 90% of the time. <S> Most of the remaining 10% is simply made of minor nuisances, like being unable to work with extreme precision on small, delicate things. <S> Once in a blue moon, though, they can lead to horrific injury. <S> If you are dealing with a rotating tool, consider taking off the gloves. <S> Cordless drills are almost always fine, so long as you're the one holding the drill. <S> IF YOU ARE WORKING WITH A LATHE, DRILL PRESS, OR OTHER LARGE ROTATING TOOL, LOSE YOUR GLOVES AND LONG-SLEEVE <S> SHIRT IMMEDIATELY. <S> If your glove or shirt gets caught in a lathe, your hand or arm is going to come off. <S> Lathe accidents where clothing gets caught typically end in death or permanent injury. <A> I have been doing a lot if drilling close to a brick wall, so I used tight fixing light weight gloves as I did not wish to grace my hands on the rough bricks. <S> I did not use heavy weight gloves, as that would have reduced the control I had on the drill so lead to more risk. <S> A powerful electric drill often has two hand hold positions for a reason , not just to give you more control, but also if you are holding the body of the drill with two hands, you can’t have a hand close to the drill bit. <S> (It’s a shame that you don’t also have two switches that must be pressed to start the drill) <A> The single most effective way to protect you hands, in any situation, is to think. <S> No amount of protective gear can give the same level of protection. <S> Your example of the glove getting caught is avoidable by consider exactly where both your hand and the drill are in relation to each other. <S> This is the stuff you get taught on the first day of trade school, or at least it was way back when. <S> Make no mistake, I have the scars, some pretty serious, to prove I haven't always thought properly about what I was doing <S> but that doesn't change the fact that the brain is our best protection. <S> In regard to gloves, I don't wear them as a rule. <S> I decide whether or not to wear them based on what I'm doing and what I'm handling. <S> I'm especially careful about gloves near machinery. <S> I personally prefer to risk getting cut than risk having a finger, hand or arm ripped off. <S> As for kevlar gloves, I've always found them far too easily cut to justify the expense.
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Give me a good pair of properly fitting leather rigger's gloves any day. The wearing of gloves can be a terrible idea when using many power tools. Use a push stick or block on table saws. I use proper push blocks and hold downs where appropriate.
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What software should I use to visualize a major renovation? We are going to make major changes in our new apartment (remove walls, construct new walls, new windows, new doors, new kitchen, new bathrooms, paint, fake ceiling, new furniture etc.). Where do I find a good software to visualize the changes, preferable in 3D with possibility to add light. We have the plan in drawing. I had a look at Google sketchup but seems beyond my capabilities - a possibility would be to find someone to create the 3D work and send me the sketchup file. Where do I find someone and what should I expect it to cost. I also looked at floorplanner.com but does not give me a real sense of how changes will look. <Q> There are a lot of great tutorial videos online. <S> Also there are tons of free models available for furniture, fixtures etc. <S> I have tried a few specialized 3D home modeling programs. <S> They all have a learning curve much steeper then sketchup and at the same time often produce inferior results. <A> SketchUp is good, but Blender is also a possibility. <S> As far as getting someone to do it for you, I wouldn't know the best place for that. <S> In terms of cost, it depends on how good the person is and how much detail you want. <S> A rough visualization would take only a little bit of time, but more detailed stuff would take quite a while. <S> A little warning, however. <S> A render -- especially if it is mediocre --probably isn't going to give you a feel for the volume of the space. <S> I haven't done 3d work in quite a while, but I suppose I could do it if you don't have any luck elsewhere. <S> I haven't worked with Blender before, but really the only thing I might have problems with is figuring out the render settings. <A> I tried using Punch Home Design for my renovation. <S> It was ok, but really slow by the time you chucked in a lot of details. <S> My neighbour, who is in the building industry and managing all aspects of her renovation, used Sketchup. <S> Having seen the quality of her drawings I'd definitely go the Sketchup route. <S> As for Blender - not unless you already know it well. <A> I bought an older simpler version at the time and it worked fine to draw my basement when I was finishing it. <A> Try Blophome . <S> I've been using it for years. <S> It's very simple and you can add lights and regulate the ambient light of the project. <S> It has a large amount of furniture. <A> I've had good luck with SweetHome 3D . <S> I like it above Sketchup for this kind of thing because it's much easier to adjust things, say move a wall 2". <S> It's also fast and fairly customizable. <A> If you find the various software intimidating/hard to get started with/has a steep learning curve there is always graph paper (or a scale ruler), cardboard and hot <S> glue to make a physical model (and possibly a camera, if that helps you "see" better than looking at the model directly - people vary.)
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I'd probably try Sketchup, but several years ago, I used 3-D Home Architect. Sketchup might seem a little intimidating at first, but it is very easy to learn and use.
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What kind of bulb should I use for a recessed can? I just installed a Halo 5" IC remodel recessed can with the 5000P open trim. I installed a 15W R30 CFL bulb, and it hangs down about an inch below the trim. Not very recessed! I have the trim configured properly for R30. I'd like a bulb that won't hang down past the trim, but produce the same amount of light. Will a PAR30 50W halogen do the trick? Is there something else I'm missing? <Q> I have those exact cans and they are adjustable. <S> Take out the bulb and remove the trim. <S> Inside you will see two or three wing nuts. <S> Loosen these and raise the level of base to the desired location. <S> If the base is raised all the way up, then indeed your bulbs are too long for the trim you have selected. <S> Also note that every trim adds a different depth as well. <S> Trims like eyeball sockets are much deeper and may solve your problem. <S> I suspect yours is a flush mount one, and thus the distance to the base is shorter. <A> To be truthful, I'm not sure about the exact model you are using, but several of the Halo recessed cans have adjustable sockets. <S> Look up inside and determine if the socket assembly is fixed by a couple of thumb screws on a slide rail. <S> If so you can loosen them and set the bulb socket deeper into the fixture. <S> Usually a Par 30 bulb is perfect for these types of fixtures. <S> I do think however, some of the CFL's are longer than incandescent or halogen <S> bulbs because of the elongated ballast neck, especially on some of the cheaper brands. <S> When you go to the store, take the bulbs out of the package and compare the overall length. <A> They make shorter CFLs . <S> This is one of the down sides of CFLs, that I think a lot of people run into. <S> I know in my house they hang out of many fixtures, and I have some missing globes on ceiling fans because the bulbs just won't allow the globe to be attached. <S> I guess I'll have to wait 7-10 years till the bulbs die to fix the problem. <A> Last time I tried to buy some bulbs for one of my fixtures I noticed the CFL version was too long, and I had to go back and round up incandescent versions. <A> You can go for LED bulbs which have many benefits. <S> LED lights are the best light sources in terms of durability, energy efficiency and color quality. <S> And they are very compact and low profile so they can fit your situation.
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You might look for incandescent bulbs of the proper type.
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How should I add lighting to a low ceiling basement? I have a basement ceiling that's around 6'6" high and currently the lights are standard bulb outlets that are attached to the beams so they sit down at eye level in the room. This means when you're walking around you tend to accidentally back up into exposed lightbulbs often. I'd like to put some sort of recessed lighting between the beams out of the headroom. I can't seem to find a recessed lighting can that fits within a 6inch beam depth and looks appealing (most are supposed to be burred in the ceiling with trim put on after). I'd like to avoid using long florescent bulbs and stick with standard outlets or some sort of LED bulb. I will be using CFL's or LED bulbs so heat isn't going to be an issue next to the wood. *Updated with a picture-As you can see the current light sockets are placed below the beams. My original thought was to just move them higher up, add more, and put in smaller CFL bulbs. I'm trying to find a more aesthetic looking idea for the basement. <Q> Does the lighting have to be on the ceiling? <S> I'm thinking you might want to go with wall sconces. <A> I have fluorescent tube lights in my crawlspace (talk about low headroom..). <S> There's two fixtures each with two bulbs, which adequately light an area about 20' <S> x 10' (and 4' high). <S> They're mounted so they are centered between joists, and the middle of the bulb is right at the bottom of the joist (so the bulb hangs down about 1/2" below). <S> One of these was already there when I bought the place, it is hung using chains from hooks screwed into the subfloor above. <S> I actually just put the other one up on the weekend, and I just cut a couple pieces of 2x4 to span between the joists, mounted them at the correct height, then just screwed the fixture to them (they're placed at both ends). <S> I should also point out, I had an electrical inspection done after I moved in (for insurance because of aluminum wiring). <S> The existing fixture had an extension cord end on it, so it plugged into a socket. <S> The inspector told me that wasn't allowed, as a permanent fixture couldn't have a plug <S> - so I had to hardwire it <S> (there was another switched screw-in type bulb in another part of the crawlspace, so it just went to there). <S> The new one I just put in is obviously also hardwired to that. <A> I don't know if this fits your exact situation. <S> There are many types of wall lighting available. <S> Perhaps indirect lighting bounced off light-colored walls… or maybe lighting placed along the upper-most walls pointing upward to provide diffused, ambient lighting. <A> I'm not sure how big an area you're trying to cover, and how much light you need, but you might look into rope lights or LED ribbon lights to see if they'll do for what you need. <A> You could buy drop ceiling that doesn't stick out into the room. <S> I believe it's called Ceiling Max. <S> It nails to the inside of the ceiling rafters, so its flush and doesnt stick out at all. <S> That's what I'm planning on installing in my basement. <A> I would say pull the fixture off the beam itself and attach it in between the beams. <S> Then you could get some track lighting that would hang down low enough to provide sufficient light, yet not drop below the beam line. <S> Something like the picture here would work: <A> I have a similar situation in my basement, and one of the things that I thought of doing was to install track lighting on the side of the floor joists, close to the bottom so that the lights would be just out of the way, but still low enough that I wouldn't have heavy shadows cast from neighboring joists <S> (I have some fluorescent strip lights mounted between joists; the contrast between the lighted area directly underneath and the shadowed area just a little to either side makes it difficult to see). <S> I've also thought about finishing the ceiling with drywall, or installing a drop ceiling; either of those two ways, I'd be using can lights recessed into the ceiling. <A> I would try to find some recessed can lighting that could fit in the dept between the joices and put a trim ring on the outside. <S> I think that would look OK. <A> If you use track lighting, make sure you cross the beams of light instead of pointing the track to the nearest wall. <S> This way you will get more even lighting across the whole area. <S> It can make a big difference if you are trying to light a larger space.
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The solutions to lighting rooms with low ceilings is often to use indirect lighting around the periphery of the room.
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How do I use 'surface shims' to level out a sloping floor? Asked a question about leveling my floor here earlier this week, and one of the options suggested sounded appealing, but didn't contain enough detail for me (a not-too-handy, not-very-experienced-with-home-repair guy) to move forward on: Assuming jacking is not an option, the next easiest way would be to install "pearlings" or surface shim boards every 12 to 16 inches on center across the floor in decreasing thickness and install a new 3/4 inch subfloor over these, screwing it down all the way into the old floor. Is there another word or phrase than 'pearlings' that is used for this process? Searching specifically on pearlings has gotten me nowhere. Can anyone walk me through the steps of the outlined procedure in more detail, or point me to a walkthrough of the procedure somewhere else on the internet? <Q> I think the word is actually spelled "purlin," and normally refers to framing members bridging laterally across roof trusses, rafters, or wall posts or studs. <S> You say (in the other question) that the slope is consistent, i.e. the floor is still planar, just not a level plane. <S> This means the method suggested by shirlock homes in your other question shouldn't be too difficult; certainly a lot easier than the other options you mentioned. <S> If the slope is across 10 feet, and the outer edge is 1" lower than the inner edge, you'd start by ripping a 1" strip off the edge of a piece of 2-by lumber, so you'll have a strip that's 1" <S> x 1.5". <S> Attach that to the existing subfloor at the outer edge. <S> Now say you've decided to put these shims every 12", that means you'll end up with 10 of them across the 10' dimension of your room, and each one will need to be 1/10" shorter than the last one so that you end up at zero right where the room meets the house. <S> So rip your next one to 0.9" thick, or about 29/32", and attach it parallel to the first one, 12" away from it. <S> Next one will be 0.8" or 13/16", and you'll attach it 24" away from the first one. <S> Then just keep going until your last shim is 0.1" or 3/32" thick, and it will be about 12" from the inner wall of the room. <S> Once you've installed these shims, their top surfaces will form a flat level plane onto which you can attach your new subfloor. <S> Your finished floor will be higher with this method (at the threshold it'll be equal to the thickness of your new subfloor plus the thickness of your new flooring material, and at the outer wall it'll be one inch thicker than that), but if that works in your situation I think this is a great solution. <A> Sorry for the delay. <S> Mike gave you a good explanation on how to use purlins. <S> As a practical matter, once you have calculated the drop at the far end of your floor, rip the first purlin and install it against the lowest wall. <S> (1X3 stock and/or 2X4'stock should work well) <S> I would then use a very straight edged piece of board, cut to the length of the highest level to the lowest level and set it on the floor bridging the entire space. <S> Now you can easily measure the gap to the existing floor at 12 to 16 inch increments in order to give you the thickness of each successive piece of purlin. <S> You will also want to install a perpendicular nailing strip between the purlins at 8 foot on center, alternating as you would when installing the plywood. <S> This is just a little extra support for the butt ends of your new subfloor. <S> So what you will have created is a grid to lay your underlayment on. <S> Speaking of underlayment, I would highly suggest you use a tongue and grove style 3/4 inch underlayment. <S> Do not leave gaps in this underlayment . <S> Snug them together well. <S> This will make the absolute best, stable platform for your new hardwood. <S> Also, to assure a nice solid quiet floor, lay a bead of construction adhesive on each purlin before you install the underlayment. <S> Secure the purlins and underlayment with 2 1/2 to 3 inch ring nails or decking screws. <S> When you install your floating floor, be sure to use a foam backing layer, unless the product you have selected has a backing preinstalled. <S> If you need specific questions answered, see my profile for my e-mail address. <S> As long as you have a decent table saw and a feather board, you can rip out purlins in a snap. <A> What he is describing is to lay shims over your existing floor. <S> You would set shims such that when you level across those shims the tops of all the shims are level. <S> You do want them fairly close together, so <S> yes 12 to 16 inches apart. <S> "On Center" means you measure center to center, not strictly between the shims. <S> 3/4 subfloor is usually just 3/4 inch plywood. <S> Generally you'll want to lay the subfloor with just a bit of gap between each panel of plywood such that any expansion doesn't cause your subfloor to buckle or warp. <S> That being said, this does not sound at all like something I would try with very little skill. <A> Many years ago we had the same exact problem. <S> A 1920's porch that had been enclosed with windows and a shore wall below. <S> Our contractor installed shims on top of each 2X6 sloped rafter with the thickest part at the lowest <S> and it was cut at an angle to match the splope thus making it level. <S> Then plywood and tile on top. <S> It's been great for 20 years. <A> if there's a consistent slope across your floor you may want to examine the members supporting the floor joists, perhaps they are rotting, cracked or otherwise causing the slope to occur. <S> shimming then later discovering and repairing the broken member could result in a new slope in the opposing direction.
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You'll need to secure your shims and make sure they are all level before you try to lay plywood over them. Cut these to the smaller purlin dimension, that will be fine. Leveling individual points across a large area is not something that is easy to do. This process is actually quite easy and doesn't require any advanced skills.
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What is the proper wiring for a NEMA 14-30 240v receptacle? We moved into a resale home, the previous owners had a Gas Dryer, we have an Electric.The laundry room has a NEMA 14-30 receptacle installed. I hooked up our brand new dryer and it didn't get power. Went to the Panel and checked the breaker, 30AMP Double Pole, everything checked out. Dig out my voltage meter and didn't get any reading from the receptacle. Head down to the panel and test there, reads 120V. Do some reading tells me I should have 2 hot wires both 120V to make 240V, head back to the receptacle and removed it from the wall to make sure I am getting good contact, still zero volts. Head back to the panel, this time I realize that there is only one wire going to the breaker and it's not as thick as the 3 wires upstairs, I then see a red and black with marrets on them tucked in the back that look to be the same thickness as upstairs. Hmmm odd, I flip the breaker off and head upstairs to see if I can find out what is connected to the breaker, but I can't see anything that doesn't have power. Head back down to the panel and I removed the single red from the 30AMP Dual breaker and connected the thicker Red to the top and the Black to the lower. Flip the breaker back on and test the voltage, both reading 120V, head back upstairs and test the receptacle, reading 240V. Connect the dryer and viola we have power! So two questions really: Is the wiring of the NEMA 14-30 done correctly? Red/Black went to the 30AMP Dual Pole Breaker, White went to Neutral, and Ground went to ground. How do I find out where the other wire went, I mean it was a single connection to a 30AMP Dual which was marked on the panel as Dryer ? <Q> Yes, you wired the NEMA 14-30 receptacle correctly. <S> That receptacle has two hot connections, each 120V <S> but on different phases, resulting in a 240V potential. <S> So if you take a voltage tester you will find it reads 240V between the two rectangular slots on the outlet, and 120V between either rectangle and the neutral or ground. <S> You can check this using your voltage tester, but it sounds like you did it correctly. <S> Figuring out where that wire went is going to be tricky. <S> If you can't find it visually or by process of elimination, the best tool to help would be a tone & probe kit. <S> You'd hook up the tone generator to your mystery wire (after double-checking that it's not live) and take the probe component with you. <S> When the probe is near the toned wire, it will beep, even if it's a few inches away inside a wall. <A> I bet there's a standard 15- or 20-amp outlet nearby that the previous owners used to power their gas dryer, that, before your fix, was powered by the red wire that had been attached to one pole of the breaker. <A> Sounds in your description the actual recpt is wired properly. <S> If you think the similar wires hanging unconnected in your breaker panel are the ends of said recpt , there is an easy way to test them. <S> First, be absolutely sure there is no voltage on the wires in the panel. <S> Simply short the red and black, then put your ohm meter or continuity checker on the red and black in the recpt. <S> Do the same with the white and bare ground. <S> If they don't, you will have some more investigating to do. <S> Now it is simple to connect the white and bare grounds to the ground buss, and the red and black to the two terminals on the double pole 30 amp breaker. <S> Be sure breaker is turned off or remove it from voltage buss before connecting the wires. <S> After this is done, recheck your voltage at recpt. <S> You must also find out where the wire that is currently connected to one leg of the breaker is going, and relocate it to a separate breaker the corresponds to the wire size and load. <S> If it is less than a size 10 AWG it is not rated for 30 amps and should not be where it is. <S> Also remember, double tapping (putting more than one wire into a breaker lug) is a code violation and a "NO NO". <S> Good luck. <A> This is the least expensive I could find with a quick google. <S> These are easy to use but must !! <S> not!! <S> be connected to a live circuit, since the wire is disconnected at the panel all you would need to do is meter at the panel from wire to ground with a volt meter to be sure it isn't back feeding from somewhere. <S> www.mpja.com/prodinfo.asp?number=6812+TE
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If the ohm meter reads 0 ohms, or the continuity checker beeps, then you have found the correct wires. To find the "loose" wire a tone generator/probe is very handy. As a side benefit to fixing this you've also made your home safer: using a 30-amp breaker to supply current to a 15- or 20-amp circuit is a major fire hazard.
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Is there a wall outlet power meter that I can interface with from a computer? I'm wondering if there is a wall outlet power meter that I can somehow interface with from a computer. I'm aware of all the google power meter products, but those are for an entire house. I'm trying to measure the electricity usage of a single outlet during an experiment without having to physically read the power meter and recording the result. Let me know if I need to explain anything. <Q> Adafruit has a "Tweet-a-Watt" project that interfaces with a Kill-A-Watt and wirelessly sends the power readings to the receiving unit (which they then hooked up to tweet the current readings) <S> In the Adafruit forums, I found a guy who was trying to read the Kill-A-Watt directly with an Arduino , instead of wirelessly sending the readings. <S> You could use an Arduino and read the measurements directly into a serial console on your computer and save the results to a file that way. <A> Equal Networks makes a power strip that relays power consumption through <S> Wi-Fi. <S> It looks like the target customer is commercial use, not residential, since I couldn't find pricing information on their site. <S> Product data sheet . <A> In addition if you spend the extra money on a TED Device <S> you can still use that at the device level doesn't have to be connected to your whole house. <A> I +1 the Kill-a-watt option, however that does require manual reading. <S> But at $20 it's cheap. <S> If you want to go quite high-end, there's the option of a metered PDU. <S> I recently bought a tripplite rackmountable PDU for power control on computers. <S> It also includes quite an array of measurements of power draw and so on. <S> The one I got didn't have a programmable API, but it did have a web interface <S> so I just wrote an expect script to get the data I needed and invoke power cycling operations. <A> You can use Modlet using hacklet to monitor power. <S> Only $50 bucks. <S> http://hackaday.com/2013/07/27/hacklet-adds-linux-control-for-the-modlet-smart-outlet/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+hackaday%2FLgoM+%28Hack+a+Day%29 <A> You might be able to pick up a metered rack pdu off ebay. <S> Normally these are quite expensive but a second hand one may do the job. <S> These often come with web interfaces and provide detailed power consumption per port. <S> You'll need to obtain one that will work with standard electrical outlets though as some of them are 3 phase. <S> e.g. something like: <S> http://www.ebay.com/itm/APC-AP7830-Metered-Rack-PDU-20A-120V-24x-NEMA-5-20R-/281141812282?pt=US_Power_Distribution_Units&hash=item41755b9c3a <A> Reviews on this product sound awful which wireless often is. <S> Appears to be Kill-A-Watt brand. <S> JAYBRAKE P4200 P3 P4200 Kill-A-Watt(R) <S> Wireless Monitor With Carbon Footprint Meter http://amzn.com/B009SDXB7Y <A> I expect this would be a good (and safer) option if wired up to a raspberry Pi or arduino or similar: https://www.sparkfun.com/products/11005
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If you're willing to do a little modification, you can use a Kill-A-Watt and hook it up to your computer.
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How to get sink off of countertop? We are getting new countertops, and we need to remove the sink before they install them. The sink is attached with a hardened glue. We can't seem to get the sink off without bending the metal. How can I get the sink off? <Q> First check and make sure that you have removed any fasteners under the counter top holding the sink in place. <S> Next, you can try wedging a putty knife in between the lip of the sink and the counter and working your way around. <S> Depending on the adhesive used, a solvent like paint thinner may help. <S> If you're still having trouble, you can always take the sink off with the old counter top and work on it later. <A> Depending on what type of adhesive was used when it was attached, it may not be worth your time to salvage the sink. <S> In your situation, here is what I would do: Shut off the water to the faucet, and disconnect the flexible supply lines. <S> Remove the faucet from the sink <S> Disconnect the drain line, and plug the open sewer line with a rag Using a sawzall (or a circular saw), cut the countertop surrounding the sink. <S> Leave a couple of inches of countertop connected. <S> Remove the sink section from the rest of the countertop, and invert it on a work surface <S> Take a small (~2") putty knife, and attempt to slide the knife blade between the sink and the counter. <S> If you can do this, then you may be able to tap the end of the knife with a hammer enough to break the bond. <S> You can work your way all the way around the top (do not twist the knife, <S> just insert it in the gap and drive it through the glue with the hammer) <S> If you can't get the putty knife through, you should be able to break up the bulk of the countertop material (hacksaw, oscillating tool, hammer and chisel, etc.). <S> If the last layer of material is still stubborn, you can try to loosen it up with a hair dryer or heat gun. <S> Failing that, you can get some adhesive solvent from your local home improvement store, and let that work on the joint for a while. <S> You should be able to eventually work all the material and adhesive off of the sink. <S> In any case, this is likely not going to be an easy job. <S> It will be quite time consuming, and you may end up damaging the sink in the process. <S> You should at least consider replacing the sink as part of the project. <A>
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Take Dremel multi tool and run the scrapper attachment around the sink while applying pressur between sink and formica to remove it. A heat gun or hair dryer may also be able to soften the adhesive.
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How should I deal with an animal in the attic? My tenants tell me that they hear an animal (possibly a raccoon) in the attic. This is an old (1880s) three story row house with a flat roof and a pretty low (2 ft average, maybe) attic. The house was totally renovated 10 years ago and I'm not very familiar with the attic situation or where the animal might have entered the attic. I was told it sounds like at least a couple relatively large animals are scampering around the attic and occasionally theymake whimpering growling noises. They seem to be most active in the morningbetween 5 and 7 and I don't usually hear them during the day (maybe they arenocturnal or maybe I'm just not at home during the day). How do I deal with the situation? Edit: Alright, I betrayed the DIY principle and hired a professional. He found squirrel droppings and no proof of raccoons or any other animal. He found two wholes and filled them with metal screens attached with screws and Liquid Nails. He also put a trap and is going to check it in a few days. Cost was rather steep: $395 total. Next time I may do this myself. Although, honestly it was not an easy job for him especially in one of the corners where space was tight. Also, the dust, droppings and fiberglass insulation makes this job unpleasant. <Q> Not knowing where the house is limits the advice. <S> However since it has a flat roof, I'm going to assume it's not anywhere where it snows a lot. <S> You need to get a professional for several reasons. <S> In most states, as a landlord, you're required to do something and the only way you can demonstrate due diligence with something like this is <S> The professional should be up on whatever obscure state and local laws affect removing the animal. <S> Most importantly, if the pro gets rabies, it's not your problem. <S> Edit: <S> Yeah, I know it a Do-It-Yourself site, but sometimes the right advice is "Don't Do-It-Yourself" <A> If they are only getting in from one spot, you can get a one-way door like this: They can get out of the attic, but they won't be able to get back in. <S> Raccoon mating season is roughly Jan-Apr, so there shouldn't be any babies up there yet. <A> I don't know where you are located, but here in Massachusetts it is illegal for anyone to live-trap a problem animal and move it for release on other public or private property. <S> Unless you're able to prevent the raccoons from entering (before they have babies up there, otherwise they will find a way back in), you would have to capture it and either release it on site or have it killed. <S> I think you as the property owner are allowed to do anything <S> a licensed problem animal control (PAC) agent is allowed to do. <A> They'd be able to tell you what's likely to be looking for new homes at this time of year in your area that fits the activity pattern, and what the laws are for trapping/killing/etc. <A> I had this problem in my house in Georgia with a number of animals, to solve I put my cat in the attic for a few hours a day for a week or so <S> (usually when I was up there anyway). <S> The cat never killed anything, (to my knowledge) but the scent of the cat drove the animals out for good. <S> I have found this solution to be simple, cheap, and effective. <S> It also works with dogs. <A> We had a raccoon in the attic and hired a pest company to remove it. <S> He sealed 3 entries and caged the 4th with a one way door. <S> We got lucky the racoon didn't have a family in our attic. <S> What they do in this case is get the adults out with the one way door and then go into the attic to fetch the babies. <S> The important thing is to put the babies at the last exit point used by the racoon, if that means beside the one way door on the roof then that is what must be done.. if the raccoon cannot reunite with its babies it will tear your roof boards off to get back in. <S> When it comes to roof work, I opt for the a pro.
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Also, raccoon hunting season ends January 31, but shooting them inside the attic is perhaps out of the question. :) court is to hire a pro. Animals carry lots and lots of nasty things, not just rabies (as if that isn't bad enough). If you trap it you risk injury, if you poison it then at some point you have to remove the carcass and ... gross. I'd personally start by calling the local animal control office (it might be part of the local health department, depending on how your town/county/city/whatever government is organized)
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Should I agree to have more insulation added to my attic? I have a 6 year old home with about 12 inches (R-30) of blown-in insulation in the attic. Recently door-to-door sales representatives for an insulation company offered a free inspection and quote to add additional insulation. The pitch was that the R-value at the time of construction was sufficient, but that codes have been revised and more insulation is better. I was provided with options for adding 8 or 12 more inches to attain R-49 or R-60 respectively. Sure, insulation materials improve with technology, but should I agree to have additional insulation put in? Will adding more somehow pay for itself? Is there such a thing as too much? I live in a desert climate with temperatures ranging from -20°C (-5°F) in winter to 32°C (90°F) in summer. <Q> Good question. <S> The current standard in new construction is to try to achieve a R-42 in attic spaces. <S> What kind of insulation do you currently have installed there now? <S> What are the dimensions of the space and style of house and source of heat and A/C. <S> Adding more insulation is almost always a good long term investment, but before I would trust a sales pitch from a door to door vendor, I would investigate alternate routes. <S> If a DIY project, costs to simply add a layer of R 13 or R19/23 fiber glass blanket over my existing insulation.(assuming it is also F/G blanket style). <S> A good contractor will ask you the same questions I have, and ask about your energy costs now, then calculate the potential energy reductions in hard numbers or percentages and expected pay back period. <S> Some energy audits are offered at a reasonable fee or even free and address several aspects of comprehensive energy savings in the home. <S> It can be amazing what a little caulking, joist/wrap box insulation, weather stripping, hot water conservation methods and increased attic insulation can make in your total energy picture. <S> Does your state require a professional license or certification for this kind of work? <S> Be cautious and seek a trusted professional opinion. <A> OP, in your case adding insulation to bring the average up to r 38-40 is a good idea. <S> At 1500' feet you will notice a lower energy bill. <S> How much? <S> Tough to say since I'm not there to see it. <S> You will gain a greater improvement in the ceiling then what you would by changing windows even. <S> It's probably the most cost effective way to lower your costs. <S> Over 38 it starts to not do much. <S> Never batt over blow. <S> I prefer batt 19 and blown 19 over the batt myself. <S> Air infiltration around outlets, top and bottom plate penetrations and weather stripping do make a big difference for very little. <S> Radiant barrier is nice if you can get to it with existing construction. <S> If you chose this, obviously do it first before retouching blow. <S> Last, if you have cellulose, fiberglass above is ok, never let anyone blow cellulose over fiberglass. <S> Batts or blown. <A> US Department of Energy recommendations are R-49 to R-60 for 85 percent of the country. <S> The best source of info would be the Department of Energy website. <S> Make sure your contractor air-seals the home too, or else you aren't doing anything.
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Adding more insulation to your R30 is not a bad idea, however I have a few questions for you. I would also seek quotes from a couple of reputable energy conservation/insulation contractors in your area. First off, there is no "code" requirement that would mandate adding insulation to a 6 year old house.
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Should I pursue building my own wind turbine? The area where I live suffers heavy power outages (in fact the whole country does!!) so I am considering building one of those wind turbines (with PVC pipes) but am not sure whether it's windy enough here for it to run (A Google result says its just 1.8m/s). So, is this project worth pursuing? <Q> A generator would probably be a better choice. <S> You haven't given us a lot of details, so I'm going to assume that you live in norther US, Canada, or the UK, that you live in a middle-class detached house with a yard, and that you're faced with winter storms taking out your power for a day or two, and you want to keep the fridge cold and run a few lights until the power comes back on. <S> You will burn something (propane, kerosene, wood) to stay warm, cook food, and make tea. <S> The main problem with wind power is that it's not necessarily available when you want it. <S> During a storm it may be so windy that the turbine shuts down to protect itself. <S> After the storm there may be 0 wind. <S> You'd need a way to store electricity, which means banks of deep-cycle batteries, a charge controller, an inverter. <S> As long as you have the batteries and electronics, you can charge off main power when that's available, and don't need the turbine as much. <S> Batteries are expensive, they go bad after 5-10 years, require good care. <S> A generator provides you with power exactly when you need it. <S> You can store an enormous amount of energy on site in a tank of diesel of gasoline, and you can buy more with a trip to a gas station, for long outages. <S> If you already have propane or natural gas on site, you can get a generator that uses that fuel, which is way less hassle than pouring fuel in to a tank in bad weather. <S> If your loads a small and your expected power outages are long, it might make sense to get a small battery bank + charger + inverter to accompany your generator. <S> Turn on the generator for a couple hours in the evening, so you can check your email and run some lights and charge the batteries, and draw on the batteries for the small loads the rest of the time. <S> So, it goes like this: Identify and minimize loads <S> Install a generator with transfer <S> switch Upgrade with a battery bank, charger, and inverter, if needs dictate Upgrade further with wind or solar power, per budget and interest <A> Assuming you just want to use a router, some light and charge your lap top. <S> Can your router run on DC, most of the DC input? <S> 12v lights are common for caravans and there are some laptop chargers for caravans that run on 12v <S> (I don’t know if there will be one for your laptop) <S> If the above is true, a cheap “low teck” solution will be to use a 12 volt caravan battery that you have on charge at some, or in the boot of your car. <S> (With some DC-DC converters if needed) <S> (Wind turbines have to be very big to work well, and you don’t always have wind, so everyone with wind turbines needs a plan b anyway.) <A> Great idea! <S> It's actually a fairly simple setup and not all that complex. <S> Normally you want to use multiple power sources to attempt to charge your backup battery. <S> Here's a simple diagram that helps explain a solar/wind power system: <S> You'll want something that can run your devices for a while if the generators aren't making any extra power. <S> I've seen a setup using car batteries before which worked as a cost effective way to scale up battery power over time by just adding additional batterys to the circuit's power grid. <S> Keep in mind <S> this can be a very dangerous thing to build and operate. <S> If you're uncertain at anytime of something involving electricity/current/hot wires/etc. <S> make sure you have an electrician present to verify it's setup correctly.
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You can build inexpensive small turbines for the wind portion but the battery tends to be the expensive part of the setup.
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How do you bend a sheet a drywall into a curve? How do you bend a sheet a drywall into a curve? I tried wetting the back surface with a paint roller, letting it soak for 30 minutes, then scoring the back paper in parallel lines about an inch apart where I wanted the curve. When I screwed it to the studs, though, one of the scores turned into a break and the sheet became angled rather than curved. In this specific situation the curve was probably about 10 degrees over the span of 6 inches. Is this too tight a bend for standard drywall? <Q> Dampening and scoring the back paper is the right way to prepare drywall for installation around a curve. <S> A quick back-of-the-envelope calculation says that the radius of curvature was about 30", which should have been OK (my drywall book says 20" minimum for 1/2" panels). <S> You may simply have been unlucky with it breaking. <S> Failing that, you could also try a double thickness of 1/4" panels, which are widely available. <A> If it is too tight to bend the drywall, then you could try our company's products: <S> Fulcrum Composites Website <S> We are a small company who make custom curved sandwich panels. <S> Their primary application is for decorative architectural features in museums, churches and the like. <S> We were recently asked by a local architect to produce panels that could give him radiused corners in drywall. <S> So we produced panels which gave him a 4" inside radius, 8" outside radius, and a wrap-around curve for the end of a stud wall. <A> Instead of sheetrock, you can use thin sheets of fiberboard. <S> Each bends easily, and you stack them to get the right thickness. <S> Then cover with joint compound to match, if you will be using a spray texture.
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You could also do it the old way, with wet plaster. There are flexible drywall panels , though I've never seen them in the stores.
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Why is there so much metal-clad wiring in my house? My house was built in 1893. I was recently doing some electrical work in the attic, adding some light fixtures. While doing that, I noticed that several of the upstairs outlets were wired with old, worn-looking metal clad wiring. Since I wanted to replace the outlets anyway for style reasons, I replaced this old wiring with new 14/2 NM w/G (Romex) wiring. I also used the same romex for the new lights and switches (fished into interior wall cavities). In further exploration, I've found this house has a lot of metal-clad wiring. Not only in places where you might want some extra protection, like a long run alongside the chimney or in a crawlspace, but also in places that seem totally straightforward and safe, like first-floor outlets and light switches. And it seems relatively recent (within the last 30 years). Is there something I'm missing that might require metal-clad wiring in this house? Bonus question: what's a good way to recycle lots of old metal clad cabling? :) <Q> (BX was a brand name like Romex is for NM) <S> Bx was used extensively prior to 1960ish and is still used today. <S> There are no current code requirements that require this kind of cable in residential construction and it has almost all but been replaced with NM. <S> As you have probably already figured out, BX uses different box connectors, and many of the device boxes you have in place were probably made to terminate BX cable. <S> Although it is perfectly legal to use, and actually quite safe, it is rarely used because of it's higher cost and relative difficulty to install and terminate. <S> The only caution I would emphasize is the ground conductor in older BX. <S> it was very common not to use a separate ground conductor when using BX, and often when there was a separate ground wire, it was a smaller AWG that the black/white/red current carrying conductors. <S> this was never a problem if the BX armor was properly attached to the metal junction boxes and again properly connected at the panel, thus making a substantial grounding path. <S> As far as the bonus question. <S> BX is heavy and probably brings a good price at the metal recycling brokers. <S> A couple of years ago when junk metal was really hot, a good load would have been worth hundreds of dollars. <A> For the bonus question, I just remembered something someone told me not that long ago. <S> He said a recycle company told him the scrap value of steel sheathed <S> AC is based on the current value of steel. <S> If that's true for most or all of them, it wouldn't be worth much unless you removed the copper and recycled it separately. <A> Is "modern" romex better - not if you ever have mice. <S> If the wiring is not deteriorating, there's no good reason to replace it, and plenty of good reasons to leave it alone. <S> Why so much - it was probably what was common when the house was wired or re-wired. <S> If it's really less than 30 years old, (may just be in better shape than you expect for its age) <S> perhaps the house was rewired by someone who had had a house fire from mice chewing on plastic insulated wires. <S> Most 1893 houses won't have modern fireblocking, and can't really afford a fire in the walls... <A> I am an inspector for a municipality in Cook County. <S> I have a Chicago electrical license which is the gold standard around here since there is no state license to be had. <S> I've been an electrician for 20 years. <S> At no time during those years has the City of Chicago ever allowed NM cable to be used. <S> Recently, Chicago adopted the 2017 NEC and then amended it to suit their needs. <S> They amended out the requirement for Arc Fault protection as long as the electrical system is all metal piping or MC cable w/ metal boxes. <S> In my municipality we also do not allow NM/Romex. <S> I agree <S> w/ Eric above on both of his stated reasons for this <S> but mainly it's to keep clueless people from doing electrical work. <S> You'd have to drive an hour or more from Chicago to find a place that allows the installation of NM cable. <A> If the wire you have discovered was smooth and not knobby (wound) then it is likely what was called flex or "Greenfield" (after the man the designed it) cable, widely used in the 1920-1940 era. <A> I'm not sure, but there might be other areas in the country that have the same requirement. <S> As an electrician I wired my entire house in conduit and where I was fishing in existing walls, Flexible conduit(Greenfield). <S> For openers if you need to split up or add circuits at a later date you can fish additional wires through the conduit without having to open up walls. <S> A second plus is the fact that rodents can't chew through metal conduit.
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Rodents DO in fact chew through wiring insulation that could either lead to circuit failure or fires. If you live in the Chicago area, "Romex" or nonmetallic cable has never been permitted. The flexible armored wire you are seeing is often referred to as AC or BX cable. While there may well be "no codes requiring it in residential", as is often pointed out, exceeding codes is OK. The metal casing was actually used for grounding. It was a popular find for junk dealers and the target of theft.
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How do I remake my floor using hardwood such that it will not squeak at all? I have carpet in my bedroom that when you walk on certain spots makes lots of noise. I am tossing the carpet and putting down hardwood flooring. I am using 3/4 in prefinished oak in widths of 3 1/4 inch. I dont want my shiny new floor to be squeaky. What should I do to kill any noise in the current floor, sub floor, and new hardwood floor? I have joists at 16" on center with 1/2 plywood layer on top and nailed down. This is my current floor after I got rid of the carpet that used to be there. What do I do now, what steps do I take, what materials/ tools do I need? EDIT: thanks all, i will 100% use screws and drive them in near each nail already in the plywood to hold things together well. then i will go around and knock each nail in good.then add the paper and install hardwood on top. <Q> Use screws instead of nails to hold the plywood down. <S> If you can, screw it into the joists, not just the existing floor. <S> You can also put down some glue betwen the plywood & subfloor to prevent the plywood from moving at all. <S> Use tongue-and-groove plywood if possible. <S> If that doesn't help (and you should be able to do that & check to see if you still have squeaks before putting down the hardwood) <S> you might need to beef up the joists, or add additional bracing, from underneath. <S> Not so hard if the ceiling below is open, a lot of work if it's finished. <A> Squeaky floors are usually caused by loose floorboards. <S> The boards rub against each other when you walk over them, which causes the squeak. <S> To remedy this situation, lift the carpet and locate the loose boards. <S> Then just simply screw or nail the board down (being careful not to hit any pipes/wires that might be threaded through the joists). <S> For your new floor you need to make sure that there's no movement of boards against each other. <A> We have talked about this topic several times. <S> Definitely screw down the existing subfloor and any new underlayment or use coated treaded nails in your air nailer. <S> Hit the joists and keep screws and nails at 10 to 12 inches apart throughout the field, with special attention to joints and corners. <S> I don't recommended glue between subfloor layers as it can cause buckling of dislike materials. <S> Instead of glue, simply add a layer of red rosin paper to keep the woods from rubbing against each other. <S> The same is true before you put down your new hardwood. <S> The most common cause of squeaks are loose nails in old shrunken wood and loose fitting wood on wood. <S> Good luck. <A> I was watching a home show where they fixed a squeeky floor underneath a carpet. <S> They used these screws that had break away heads called Squeeek-No-More . <S> You drive in the screw using a holding fixture and depth stop, and then pop the head off with the provided tool. <S> (source: squeakyfloor.com ) . <S> They break below the carpet so your bare foot would never detect it. <S> Those might work on your floor, carpeted or bare. <A> They won't be able to pull out very easily by themselves since they are in at opposing angles. <S> The squeakiness is usually caused by wood moving on the nails, or the nails moving up and down. <A> You can also put a bit of powdered graphite in the joint between the tongue and groove of adjacent floorboards if they squeak. <S> Works a treat.
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Another way to eliminate the squeaking would be to add screws to the subfloor-to-joist mounting that is already there. Also, adding finish nails at opposing angles (in a "V" shape) over the squeky area can help.
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Why is my Lennox g40uh series furnace not turning on? I have a Lennox g40uh series furnace and it just stopped working today. I can reset the furnace and can see that on the control board both LEDs (green and red) are blinking together which indicates the furnace is operating correctly. I can also hear a small click when I reset it as well. After a minute or so the red LED turns off and the green LED blinks. That's it. Nothing else is happening, no inducer fan, igniter or blower is turning on. The diagnostic sheet gives the following for the blink pattern: (A) Pressure switch open or, (B) Blocked inlet/exhaust vent or, (C) Condensate line blocked or, (D) Pressure switch closed prior to activation of combustion air inducer. The inlet and exhaust vents look good, nothing seems to be blocked. I can take off the small rubber tube going from the inducer to the pressure switch and use a straw by blowing/sucking to open/close the switch manually, that should eliminate (D). Normally the inducer will start up first and will create a negative pressure to close the pressure switch but since this isn't happening I am assuming this is the problem since the control board doesn't detect the pressure switch being closed, the igniter and blower won't turn on. Does anyone have any other ideas I can try? My guess is possibly a bad control board that is not turning the inducer motor on. UPDATE The furnace was off all night but sporadically came on around 6:00 AM this morning. <Q> Sounds like you have most of the common bases covered. <S> This happened to me <S> and it was the blocked inlet valve, a leaf had gotten sucked in. <S> It took me a while to find it, it was not in the visible area of the inlet, it was stuck on a screen to catch debris. <S> I would double check that. <S> Maybe try to blow some air in the inlet from the outside of the house and see if you feel the movement in the furnace. <S> This question is similar and may have some other suggestions. <A> Finally got it fixed, the control board was malfunctioning. <S> After getting that replaced the furnace fired up right away. <S> The most likely culprit for the board going bad was dust and dirt when the basement was finished 3 years ago from all the sheet rock. <S> Take care when putting up sheet rock, it is very hard on the furnace. <A> I have this same furnace, but the attic version. <S> Ours started acting up sporadically - the thermostat would click, the furnace would power on (start the first blower), it would light the pilot light and then shut down. <S> According to the diagnostic LEDs, it was failing in the flame sense step. <S> All I had to do was give it a quick rub with a bit of steel wool, and the furnace was as good as new. <A> My Lennox SL280UHV was coming on slow speed, ignitor and burner would operate and burn gas for about 4 seconds, then shutdown. <S> Orifice on Pressure Switch to Draft Inducer Clogged with carbon, <S> Bored out orifice and Vacuumed up the Carbon.
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What ended up fixing the problem was cleaning off some build up on the flame sensor (for me, a short metal rod that sticks into the middle of the pilot light).
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How do I secure a canvas garage? I picked up one of those cheap canvas garages from Costco, to keep a few things out of the weather. It's 10' wide, 20' long, and maybe 11' high at the peak. Our area is a bit prone to windstorms. I'm in the woods, so it's largely protected from the wind, but I still want to make sure it stays put. It comes with tent stakes, but the ground is too soft for that to be reliable. I thought about trying to attach it to concrete pier blocks, since they are heavy, cheap, and aren't permanent if we want to move the garage later. I'd put one under each leg, and fasten the leg to the block. The blocks are formed with a hole in the top, about 5/8" diameter. The garage comes with some concrete anchors, presumably for use if you put it on a concrete driveway - you'd drill holes and secure it there. The anchors are way too small for these holes, though. Even the biggest anchors at the local hardware store seem too small. I could try to buy larger anchors online. I could epoxy in some inverted screws. I could try to find some old railroad ties and screw in to those, instead. I'm not sure where to find those around here, however. I could pour small concrete footings, although then I'm locked in to an exact setup. What should I do? <Q> You just need bigger anchors ;-) <S> The largest of these is 60" long with a 7" diameter. <A> I'm in the woods, so it's largely protected from the wind, but I still want to make sure it stays put. <S> Tie it to the trees. <S> If you're willing to dig a little find a root, rope under the root, and tie the tarp to that. <S> For a no-cement job try something like a 'snow anchor'. <S> Tie your tarp down to a metal stake or a brick then bury that. <S> The thing you tie to doesn't need to be heavy. <S> The soil holds it down. <S> Steel cable would be better than rope for this. <A> You can get concrete wedge anchors in a 5/8" diameter: <S> To use these anchors, first drive them into the hole (they should be relatively snug to begin with). <S> Then as you tighten the nut around the object you want to secure, the wedge at the bottom expands and holds the bold in place within the concrete. <S> You can get a 5/8" one at home depot for around $4 . <S> You'll want to make sure the anchor can set securely in the concrete piers you've got, so consider bringing one with you and testing in the parking lot before buying a few more. <A> How about putting in a concrete J-bolt into the 5/8" hole, and then filling the rest of the hole with cement? <A> There are different styles of footings; for what you're dealing with, you don't need it to take the weight of the structure, you need it to resist lifting; for that, you can get away with fairly small holes, as you're actually more interested in the friction of the soil against the footing to anchor it down. <S> In my case, I have clay within 9 to 12", so for my greenhouse, I used a auger drillbit meant for planting flower bulbs (maybe 4" across, 24" long), to dig a few holes, then filled 'em with concrete and set the anchors that came with the greenhouse kit in each piling. <S> If I need to move the greenhouse, the pilings are small enough to dig up and move, and thin enough that I could even break 'em up with a sledgehammer and just remove the top so it won't interfere with a lawnmower. <A> I had the same dilemma. <S> The solution I used has proven to be quite simple and effective. <S> I bought 8 rebar from the local rebar plant (total cost $16). <S> They put a hairpin bend at the top of each bar. <S> I used a maul to hammer these bars along the sides of the shelter, four to a side, evenly spaced. <S> Then over the top of the shelter I passed a rope, in between each pair of spikes. <S> I used a truckers hitch to tension and tie them down. <S> There is no way that the shelter could lift up or shift location. <S> And the tie-down method increases the overall stability in wind because it passes strength right down the frame from top to bottom. <A> We use these tents at shows and fairs. <S> We always anchor them with screw in dog spikes just inside the poles, and tied straight down. <S> I was in one during a storm with 60 mph gusts, and the tent only moved over one foot. <A> Fill in the hole in the pier block with concrete, Let it cure, then redrill to the size you need. <A> Why don't you just drill a new hole an inch or two away from the existing hole? <S> No need to fill the old hole. <A> I purchased two very similar shelters with similar site features but decided the shelters would be permanently located. <S> One site had the added benefit of asphalt which made anchoring very easy. <S> The second site was a clearing in woods much the same as the other writer, which we further cleared of all weak/sickly trees in the immediate area. <S> Throwing northern winters into the recipe, we decided on sunken concrete footings. <S> After laser squaring the building footprint we chose to pour three 6" by 48" Sonotube footings per side. <S> Then using four inch galvanized steel deck post mounts, we tied each set of three footings together with beams created by stacking and screwing together two pressure treated 2 X 4 for each side. <S> This gave a flat surface for the building frames feet to bolt down to. <S> Next for support, drainage, elevation and a dry floor, we covered the footprint with three inches of compressed class five and another three inches of driveway rock flush up to the top of the beams.
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After assembling the structure we ran eight lengths of stainless steel cable under the beams and up over the first row frame cross bracing as added wind protection.
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How can I fireproof a room? I have a need to build a room that is resonably fire resistant. I have played around the thought of adding fire resistant panels underneath the dry wall, but if they heat up too much, they themselves with catch anything behind them on fire. The room is in the basement, so the floor is on the foundation but the ceiling and the three internal walls are shared with other rooms. The house is made or brick. I would go as far as to destroying the three walls and putting in concrete with re-bar, but the ceiling is my main concern. I need a room to contain a device that is capable of internally heating itself to 3000 kelvin. I do not expect the room it get that hot, however, if the device malfunctioned it would get pretty hot, as the room is 20x20x12.AND the longest this room would be unchecked during the operation of the device is around 20 min.(this goes without saying that if the fire burned through the room, my home fire alarm would alert the fire dept.) Can this be done, and if so, how?Clarification: I need this to be fire PROOF not super resistant, resistant is not enough. I know it can be done by turning my basement into a furnace, but I was hoping there was a slightly simpler solution. <Q> I personally wouldn't recommend that you put this inside your house. <S> If you really have something that gets that hot, I'd be looking into building a separate structure away from the main building. <S> This was actually pretty typical in early America -- the kitchens of large homes were in an outbuilding, <S> so should there be a fire, it only burned down the kitchen. <S> I'm no expert on fire resistance, but I'd look to instructions on how to build a brick barbeque. <S> (normally, they're made from more than one layer of brick, with a special 'fire brick' on the inside). <S> If you used two walls, and left a void in between, you could fill it with vermiculite or perlite, which are the typical filling for fire safes. <S> I would avoid steel in the construction, especially in the roof, as repeated heating would cause it to sag; I'd probably use wood, with the assumption that if there were a disaster, the roof could be replaced. <A> 1/2" drywall carries a 30 minute fire rating. <S> This can be increased to 1 hour by upgrading to a fire-rated (Type X) 5/8" drywall. <S> For a 2 hour wall, you can stack sheets one over another (stagger the seams). <S> In your situation, I would probably do metal studs (which provide higher fire rating than wood). <S> Be aware that any outlet boxes or other holes you put in the firewall will likely act as an exit point for fire, so try to minimize the number of holes you put in the wall ( more info ). <S> You will also want to think about a smoke detector for your setup. <S> You have not stated what the object that is heating up is, but I suspect that there are some fumes or exhaust gasses which will escape from the object, and may trigger a false alarm. <S> You will likely need to experiment with different smoke detector types to figure out what will work for your setup. <S> You also need to make sure you are able to hear the alarm when it goes off (the fire door and fire rated drywall will be quite soundproof). <S> They sell networked alarms or alarms with relay switches to trigger remote alarms if necessary. <S> Having said all of this, you may want to consider if it would be better to place this item in a small standalone shed away from your house. <S> If you have the space for it, this would likely be a lot safer then having this item indoors. <A> I might add that the primarily "fire rating" of wall and floor/ceiling assemblies is to allow occupants to safely exit the building, not to keep the building from burning down. <S> The Type X gyp board affords some protection because the inherent moisture in the product can slow down the fire through your wall or ceiling. <S> With these assemblies, you are basically looking at a way to escape the situation before your obvious portal to Hades has the structure tumbling upon you. <A> I say that you should wrap the walls of your room in fire brick, like a fireplace, and then let the demon roar free. <S> :) <S> This answer is partly for amusement, but also serious: do you want to slow down a fire, or actually make the room fire proof? <S> How likely is it that things will get out of control? <A> I don't think you're likely to be able to build something practically that will withstand those kinds of temperatures. <S> Perhaps you'd be better off making a sealed area/room that is reasonably fire resistant and installing a sprinkler/inert gas fire supression system? <A> As this is not much hotter then the inside of some halogen light bulbs , it all depends on how much heat <S> you are dealing with as well as the temperature .
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Perhaps you should also look into a fire suppression system--not sure what the initial source of flame is (what might be burning other than building components), but sprinkler heads tied to a detector might be a good idea. Add a double layer of Type X drywall, along with a fire rated door.
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How do I seal my baseboards from drafts? Some rooms in my house have a pretty bad draft along the edge of the floor, where it meets the outside walls. But I am less than thrilled (to put it mildly) about the prospect of ripping out carpeting and moldings just to seal the draft. Is there any simpler solution out there? <Q> Wait a minute... <S> that may be a very, very bad idea. <S> sorry kacalapy. <S> All I can see is messy carpet after that try. <S> If this carpet is laid on concrete, then the tack strip is fastened with masonry nails, and if installed properly is chiseled over the edge. <S> No way caulking is going to seal the gaps causing the air leaks. <S> If your leaks are that bad, then do the right thing. <S> Take off the baseboards, see if you can access the sills, if not, pull back the carpet, and caulk the gap between the sill plate and the slab. <S> Reinstall the baseboards, then re-stretch the carpet to the tack strip. <S> It sounds like no sill seal foam or sealant was installed under the sills. <S> BTW, foam padding and carpet carry and "R" value of about 3 to 5 max. <S> Carpet is never even considered as an insulating material. <A> jam the nozzle of a silicone tube in between the carpet and baseboard and fill the gap with silicone. <S> this is a fast and efficient way to eliminate the drafts. <S> i had the same thing in the room over my garage. <A> Foam backer rod can be a reasonable improvement. <S> Just experiment with various sizes and placement to determine if a solution for your situation. <A> It would serve you much better to tear it out and properly re-seal the bottom plate with fresh acoustical sealant and thicker vapour barrier. <S> Unless you want bigger issues such as mold. <S> You can have insulation slippage etc that can be fixed. <S> I just did the same thing. <S> Other than the time it took it is now properly fixed for a weekends worth of work.
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There is really no quick fix to a problem like this. Installed higher grade insulation as well.
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What are the main options for fastening MDF to MDF? I am interested in building boxes and cabinets from 3/4" MDF (I know, I could buy plywood. Bear with me.) What are the main types of screws and fasteners I can use to do this? I am aware of glue serrated screws drywall screws confirmat screws pocket holes biscuit joints dowels Please explain the pros and cons of each technique. <Q> It sounds like you are trying to build something in one place, pack it up and re-build it in another. <S> If this is the case then screws are the way to go for dry fit, and then glue and screws for the final instal. <S> The only thing here is that there is a limited number of times that you can use the same holes with MDF, the Fiber-board looses a little meterial every time you screw into and out of it. <S> So if you are building in a shop and then transporting onto site and reassembling once you are fine, if you are going to build and then rebuild this many times it will get less stable each time you do it. <S> As a side note, I also like to use pocket-hole jointery a lot because I like that it hides the screws from view. <S> Also, whenever I build boxes to be re-built I always make sure that I have some small square blocks with me. <S> I use these blocks to make sure the inside of the box is square, just screw them in and it helps to keep the box from racking side to side. <A> I've never tried it with MDF, but because you specifically mention the need to disassemble/reassemble it, you might want to look into using something like a T-nut aka tee nut or other types of threaded inserts, so you can attach that to the board, and not have to worry about the screws / bolts slowly wearing away the MDF. <A> Glue is going to work great for any porous material like MDF. <S> You mention biscuit joints, which is really just an avenue for getting the glue in there. <S> With the qualities of glues that are available these days, your joins will be the sturdiest part of the cabinet. <A> For corner connections that are undoable I would recommend Cam Screws or Cam Bolts. <S> These provide easy lock and unlock of connections. <S> Cabinet connecting bolts. <S> (I am not affiliated with this store, just showing an example) <S> Typically, like in Ikea furniture, they should be combined with dowels and a panel across the back etc for rigidity. <S> This will help the 'shaky after a while' issue.
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I generally use Course thread dry-wall screws - because I feel they bite and pull MDF the best.
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How bad is it to have wet insulation? With this recent blizzard we recently saw our ceiling lighting fixture leaking water (slow, about 1 drop every 5 minutes) I got up in the attic and saw that some snow had been apparently blown into the attic through one of the vents. I removed about 2 handfuls of snow from on top of the insulation, but 2 of the pieces were still damp. Should I remove them? Or will they dry up soon enough? Are there any problems with that? Also, should I do something to seal up the electrical box from the attic? <Q> Never a good idea to leave wet material against ceiling drywall. <S> It could dampen and ruin the drywall. <S> If left too long, mold or mildew could result. <S> The snow coming through the vents is probably an isolated event. <S> Don't close the vent. <S> Maybe just lay a sheet of 4 mil plastic over the insulation to keep snow off your insulation. <S> Keep an eye on it. <S> If it happens often, consider a better louvered/screened vent fixture that won't allow snow to blow in as easily. <A> Some types of insulation will not insulate effectively when they are wet. <S> The insulation could grow mould and the water could damage other materials that it comes into contact with such as the the wood fabric of the root, or the ceiling. <S> I would definitely try to dry it out or replace it. <S> Make sure you use appropriate safety equipment (gloves, correctly rated mask) if you touch or move the insulation. <S> I wonder, if snow is able to be blown in through your vent then can rain also get blown in that way? <S> It might be much more difficult to notice the effects of that as it would be more gradual rather than all melting at once and running though the ceiling, but over a long period the dampness could damage the wood in your loft, the insulation or other materials. <S> I would look into having the vent replaced with one that prevents water getting blown in. <A> I think it depends on how wet it is and <S> how long it will take to dry out if you do nothing. <S> We know it is above freezing point in your loft, as otherwise the snow would not have melted. <S> Assuming you have good loft ventilation and hence air movement above the insulation, it will dry out. <S> If the insulation is only damp rather than wet, I would do nothing at present, and then check it in a few weeks’ time to see if it has dried out.
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If your insulation is damp, chances are good it could freeze or stay damp for a while. If not too much is involved, it would be a good idea to remove it to a warm place to dry out, or simply replace it.
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How often would a chest freezer need to be defrosted in a very humid tropical area? Approximately how often would a chest freezer need to be defrosted if I live in an area that has a very high relative humidity and dew point. Relative Humidity: 73%Dew Point: 70 degrees I read on the web that most people need to defrost once a year, however this is with regular humidity levels, does anyone know approximately the frequency of defrosting with the mentioned humidity levels? Regards <Q> In the UK, frost free freezers are now common, they are greate! <A> When I first moved to Hawaii I lived in on base housing that had no AC <S> (thanks US Navy), and we had one of those apartment size "dorm style" refridgerators with the freezer section integrated with the reefer section. <S> Anyway, it seemed like that stupid thing would build up a 2" thick layer of ice around the freezer section every 2-3 months! <S> Having to drag that junk out onto the lanai to defrost it all the time was an epic PITA. <S> I never really thought about the humidity causing that ice to form so quickly though... <A> Walker is right. <S> There is really no pre-set time to defrost a freezer. <S> I would keep an eye on the cooling coils and walls and consider defrosting before the ice becomes much more than 3/8 to 1/2 inch thick. <S> Excessive ice doesn't really hurt the unit, but does make it run less efficiently. <S> Try to keep your door open time to an absolute minimum. <A> Chest freezers are fairly resistant frosting, because the cold air stays settled inside the freezer when the door is opened. <S> I live in an area with high humidity for 2-3 months a year (not quite as high as yours, but close), and went 5 years without needing to defrost my chest freezer. <S> But that was with relatively light usage (probably around 3-5 minutes/week with the door open on average).
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It depends on how often the freezer is opened and if it has any air leaks, you can go forever without having to defrost if the freezer is never opened and does not have any air leaks.
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How do you insulate your pipes to protect against freezing? So, my pipes froze in my house today, and it made me realize that I should better insulate them for the rare days that it gets in the teens here... What should I do to insulate them? <Q> Something like this foam pipe insulation should do the job: Source - UK site, but you should be able to source this in the States. <S> It's split down the length so you can wrap it round existing pipes. <S> It's flexible and easily cut so you can do corners and bends too. <S> You might need to tape it a regular intervals to keep the insulation in place if there's not a lot of room between the pipes and any walls/beams. <A> one advantage is that it can be used to wrap multiple (same temperature) pipes at the same time. <A> If the pipes are not inside of walls, like in an unfinished basement, one option is to use wrap-on pipe heating cables. <S> They're a bit like an extension cord that you wrap around a pipe and plugin. <S> It radiates. <S> It can have a thermostat to turn on at a certain temp.
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As well as straight lengths of pipe insulation, you can also get insulated pipe wrap, which may be easier or harder to use in some situations.
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How many "zones" should my underfloor heating system have? We're putting underfloor heating in our new apartment. On top will be a wooden floor for most of the apartment, stone/tiles in bathrooms and probably also in part of kitchen. The constructor said that three zones would be enough: Red zone (office and dining room) Yellow zone (entrance, kitchen and large bathroom Green zone (bedrooms, hallway and small bathroom) Is this a fair and sufficient distribution of zones? <Q> Usually 3 zones is plenty for a single story structure of this size. <S> The distribution is to like living areas which is good. <S> Obviously, more zones allow more flexibility and control, but the costs of equipment and labor rise as more zones are added. <A> Check that you will have a way <S> (manual or automatic) to balance the heat output that goes into each room in a single zone, otherwise you may get some rooms overheating and other being colder depending on the number of outside walls etc. <S> This can be as simple as a valve on the freed to each room, ideally combined with a thermostatic value in each room. <S> E.g being able to turn off the living areas when you go to bed makes sense, so think about the groups of rooms you may wish to have to their own timer settings. <S> However I don’t think many people will wish to time the entrance hall different from the kitchen. <A> Rooms that have more heat loss (big windows or outside walls) will need more heat than others. <S> There is a case for putting such rooms on one circuit and more insulated rooms on another circuit. <S> There is also a case for putting bedrooms on seperate circuits as people sleep better in cooler rooms (usually). <S> There is also a case for putting bathrooms on seperate circuits as people often like more heat in the bathroom and these want to be hotter (by a degree or two). <S> Any areas that are mostly open plan, or the doors are mostly left open - don't split them up as the thermostats just fight each other and one room goes cold whilst the other's warm air rushes in.....
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In this case I think your contractor has given you good advice. Independently actively controlled zones with their own timers and thermostats are only of value to the extent that you will control them , also the common advice for well insulated (new) homes is that you don’t save much by only heating some rooms.
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How much clearance is required around a kitchen island? How much space should at least be around a kitchen island? <Q> So enough room for two people to stand side by side across the gap or pass comfortably. <S> If you have to cater for people with mobility problems you will probably need to make this gap wider to accommodate the extra width and lack of flexibility of someone using a wheelchair or walking frame. <S> However, depending on your design you might be able to get away with less - especially if there's going to be little to no traffic in that area. <A> A good way to figure out what works for you may be to find a box roughly the same size as the island (or cobble together something out of scrap plywood and 2x4's) and see how it 'feels'. <S> Stand at the 'island' and have someone open the kitchen drawers behind you, walk through the kitchen and notice if you have to slow down because you feel like you're going to clip the island, etc. <S> etc. <S> If you're worried about resale, consider your own body size as well. <S> If you've got a small frame, someone larger may not be comfortable with a space that you feel fine in. <A> Can't comment on hard requirements with code or your municipality. <S> 36" get crowded too fast in my opinion. <S> 48" is great, but few people have room for that. <S> 42" seems to be happy medium. <S> If I had a cooktop on there, i might be leary of the 42 depending on how close the cooktop is to the island edges. <A> Approximately 3 feet on each side is a good place to start. <A> I normally shoot for 36" min and ideally up to 48" if space allows. <S> Disclaimer: I'm a kitchen designer. <A> I had a great kitchen with 32 inches clearance and it was fine for a small kitchen.
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42" is my personal requirement. Ideally, there should be enough room for a person to get by while there is someone standing at the island working.
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Is there such thing as a 4-way dimmer? I have a 4-way switch I want to replace with a dimmer. I understand I can put the dimmer at one of the other 3-way switches, but they're more out of the way. Does such a device exist? If not, what are my other options? <Q> Have a look at some of the remote control systems for lights that can dim. <S> You don't need to limit your options to wired switches. <A> I've used Smart Home's Insteon switches to do this. <S> The switches are a bit pricey, but work well. <S> You don't need to rewire the entire house, just replace individual switches as you need to. <S> One of the additional benefits is that you don't need to constrain yourself to how the original switches were wired up. <S> One thing that I did was add control of the outside lights to a tabletop controller next to my bed. <S> That way I can turn on the spotlights without going downstairs. <A> You would normally need to put the dimmer at the start or end of the multi-way chain where there is one active for the rheostat. <S> Intermediate switches have two actives so for a dimmer to work there, it would need to be dual-gang, which is extremely unusual for a light fitting.
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If you want to control a particular light that wasn't originally wired up as a three-way, its easy to do.
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Is it safe to use heat tape on a drain line (p-trap)? Background/Problem: The p-trap for a drainage line (PVC) from one of my showers happens to be outside the house in an area that isn't protected from the cold/wind (yeah, I know) so when it freezes outside the water in the trap tends to block the drainage and back up water into the shower. I am considering installing thermostatically controlled heat tape to the pipe during the winter to the U part of the pipe to prevent this. My Question: I'm a little concerned about the risk of melting the PVC pipe, especially since it won't typically have running water going through it to dissipate the heat. Also, the shortest heat tape I could find was 3' which is probably going to mean some of the tape is going to run past the part of the trap that will actually have water in it. I'm considering heat tape with a thermostat, so in theory it should cut off before it does any damage, but I just wanted to check with the home improvement experts to see if that application is a good idea, or if you guys have alternate suggestions. So what do you think? Will this work out and do you have any suggestions for how to use heat tape correctly in this scenario? <Q> I would build a small insulated enclosure around the trap and drain. <S> Could easily be constructed with a couple pieces of lumber or some left over log siding. <S> (see you have log siding on the wall) <S> Heat tape could scorch the PVC and be hard to regulate. <A> There are thermostatic ones that are designed for the sole purpose of keeping things from freezing. <S> PVC is rated for a minimum of 140 deg F. and in non-pressure applications like DWV as is your case can probably handle a little higher temperatures than that before they deform. <A> We also have a log home that sits 4' feet off the ground (flooding issues) and had the same problem with the shower drain. <S> We just add a cap full of RV antifreeze after showers when we know it might freeze. <S> This seems to stop the problem (when we remember to add it). <S> Now we have a problem with the drain for the boiler that I believe will be fixed better with the heat tape. <S> Wish me luck! <A> I live in Maine where temps drop -20 during the winter, the trap for the shower was placed under the house in a crawl space, got tired of crawling with my heat gun to thaw the pipe before every shower,I wrapped a heat mat around it connected by a thermostat controlled heavy duty extension cord. <S> solved the problem <A> water softener salt will do the trick but could take a few days, depending on the depth of the ice dam. <S> A more permanent solution is an internal waste line heating cable and transformer. <S> https://hotlineinternalpipeheater.com/HotLine-Internal-Sewer-Pipe-Heater-Installation-Video-Over-30-feet.php
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Heat tape will work fine, it doesn't get hot enough to melt things.
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What is the best way to condition and protect a hardwood floor under heavy use? We rent an old house with hardwood floors and the area under one of our office chairs is now brittle and dull. What are our options for conditioning and/or protecting the wood (especially to prevent splinters)? We would prefer to do this cheap and without having to apply the solution to the entire floor, if possible. However, we would prefer to use the hardwood (as opposed to purchasing a special mat or something). <Q> If the rolling of office chairs is your major concern, consider putting urethane wheels or casters on your chairs. <S> This type of wheel will not scratch or mar the floors further. <S> These can be found at office furniture retailers. <S> There is no way other than using chair mats, carpet etc. <S> that I know of to protect a wood floor if you do not want to apply additional finish coats to entire floor. <A> There are various oils to condition wood (lemon oil, etc), but they're just for keeping wood from drying out, etc. <S> They are not wear protection. <S> There are no surface-patching compounds for wood floors that will tolerate a chair or anything like it from what I've seen. <S> You have 3 choices as I see it. <S> Rug, office mat, sand and refinish the whole floor. <S> I'd also include a non-sanding resurfacing, but it sounds like your floor is way past the requirements for that <S> (it's a maintenance thing to be performed regularly, and you're beyond that if your floor is brittle and pretty much bare wood with no finish on it now). <S> Remember that if you put a rug or office mat down, you must lift it up and clean under it every few weeks where chair is or you will just start sanding your floors with the dust/grit that builds up over time underneath the rug/mat. <A> A good brand that I use and I am very happy with <S> is Katu casters, check them on Google.
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you can use office chair casters for hardwood floors, they are made of a soft Polyurethane material and they protect the wood floors, any ways I recommend to clean them every few weeks because the dust stick to the rubber and that can produce scratches on the floor. Nothing like a conditioning of the wood is going help your situation.
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Contractor suggests caulking cracks in chimney, is that the right solution? The mortar in our 25-year-old chimney is starting to crack and now leaks into our home if it rains hard. I assume we're probably in need of repointing, but a contractor that has done roof work for us before says that caulking in some silicon into those cracks will do the trick. Is that an acceptable solution? Or will we just be dealing with this again in 6 months? Want to make sure they're not just trying to make a quick buck. <Q> This is the same question you asked a couple of days ago. <S> BTW, NEVER use silicone caulk on chimney masonry cracks, especially if the crack passes through. <S> There are special masonry high temp caulks for this purpose. <S> In your case where water is passing completely through the brick joints, you really need to have it repointed. <S> Any competent contractor would not suggest silicone in this case. <S> Find a new contractor. <A> Filling cracks in mortar with silicone sealant won't last very long. <S> It might last longer than 6 months <S> but I wouldn't expect it to last a 2 nd winter. <S> It sounds like they're after charging you twice - once for the caulking and then again for the proper job, for which they will probably charge top price. <S> Get another couple of quotes and take it from there. <A> About one month ago I was replacing silicone sealant on my window and out of curiosity <S> I tested how flame-resistant it is. <S> I cut a small piece about 5 millimeters in diameter and about 100 millimeters in length, brought it into bathroom and tried to set it on fire. <S> Well, it took maybe two seconds of heating it with a match to set it on fire <S> and then it burned as if it was a Bickford fuse, just slower. <S> I couldn't even blow the flame out - I had to flood it. <S> I learned a lot there. <S> You should use some cement-based mortar - either some special variety designed for chimneys, or just general purpose one used for building brick walls.
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You need to get the brickwork properly repointed. Never even think of using silicone-based compounds for anything like a chimney unless they are specifically declared to be fireproof.
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How can I mask water damaged ceiling drywall with faux painting? My tub upstairs leaked a large portion of water directly above the middle of the kitchen ceiling. The ceiling drywall doesn't have a hole in it, and the paint isn't bubbling. However after I fixed the leak and dried the ceiling I noticed the drywall had bulged into a long elliptical shape. So I sanded the ceiling down to what looked like even with the rest of the ceiling, but after painting it the bulge was still noticeable. So I re-sanded, and painted but then noticed I had gone too far with the sanding and had a shallow curve into the ceiling. So I tried to fill it with plaster only to realize it was again bulging. I repeated this a few times and each time I had to increase the outline of the bulge as I needed to smooth the edges of the latest fix attempt. SO... I have given up on trying to hide it( unless you guys have ideas) and wish to do a faux paint paint finish. What is the best way to faux paint a ceiling? <Q> Cut out the bad section, and replace it with a sheet of new drywall. <S> The water has probably damaged the existing drywall, and even if you do manage to hide it temporarily, the damaged area will come back. <A> One or two coats will completely seal the stains, then repaint with your regular paint. <S> When using shellac primer, be sure to have denatured alcohol available for cleaning your stuff. <A> In fact, a faux finish will likely make the problem more noticeable. <S> I would suggest spreading the plaster out over a much larger area, maybe 3x the size, and sanding and feathering from there with a few passes of progressively finer sandpaper, otherwise your eye will always be drawn to the same spot. <S> You could always hire a professional ceiling installer or painter who will be able to properly fix this for you. <S> Or -- you could just live with it.
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To seal water spotting or other stains on drywall, use a pigmented shellac primer such as BINS Bullseye. I'd doubt that any sort of cover-up will be satisfactory.
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Why did my electric bill climb suddenly? So we had a little mishap a couple of months ago involving some flooding. We had some folks come in and "dehydrate" our house. It involved lots of fans running for a couple of weeks. We expected the electric bill to be very high that month. But it has continued to be high ever since (at least double) and I don't know why. An electrician installed an outlet of sorts that hangs out of our fuse box during that whole process that was meant to add another needed outlet to plug in the basement fans to do some drying. I don't know if that has anything to do with it. So I'm looking for some ideas on what I can do to try to track down the problem or, better yet, ideas of what the problem could be based on what little information I've given you (I know it's a long shot). I can update this question with any additional information you might need. <Q> I used to live in a house where they only collected "true meter readings" <S> once a quarter, the other two bills were estimations based on past values. <S> If that high month was the last one they read, that might explain the high values. <A> Try using energy monitors to track the power consumption of all moveable devices. <S> Add that up, and see where you are heading. <S> For lighting, you can guesstimate by looking at the power rating of the bulbs etc. <S> In case of heating, things are more complicated. <S> But then, heating elements probably will have been affected by the flooding. <S> The following requires you to have an accessible power meter that shows current consumption, if only by rotating speed. <S> You can disconnect all electrical devices you have access to. <S> If the mains counter still moves, you have to search where the power is going by selectively disabling the fuses and see if usage stops. <S> If it does stop, search in the apropriate area. <A> If you live in a housing or block of flats and suddenly your electricity either doubles of trebles with no apparent reason <S> , so you check your meter and it's ok. <S> What is happening in many areas around the country is that with the rising cost of electricity and many people on low incomes, someone from your units has probably done a roof cavity wiring job so that they are getting most of their electricity free at the cost to other residents. <S> It may be possible you have been the target of electricity theft.
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So for a small fee get together with your neighbours who are also receiving higher than normal bills, hire a qualified electrician to inspect the ceiling area for illegal wiring jobs. You might ask your electric utility if they have been getting meter readings every month or if they have been estimating.
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What is the difference between an impact driver and an impact wrench? Obviously impact drivers and impact wrenches are designed for different purposes, but since they both work on the same principle is there some overlap? Is a small cordless impact wrench just a slightly scaled-up version of a cordless impact driver, with a 1/4" square drive instead of a 1/4" hex drive, or are there further differences? Could I buy adaptors to use one occasionally in place of the other, and if so what would be the disadvantages? I can guess a few downsides: the wrench would be heavy and large when used as a driver so not convenient at arms length or in tight spaces; the driver would be underpowered for really heavy-duty wrenching; the wrench might need some care to avoid twisting the heads right off your screws. Is there more to it than that? <Q> Most driver bit sets come with a 1/4" square drive adapter (my small Milwaukee set also came with a 3/8" drive as well, though I don't know if that's common). <S> With that one bit, your driver is instantly almost exactly the same as a 1/4" impact wrench. <S> You'd have to look at torque specs to see if the models you're considering are comparable, but I bet they are. <S> Those little impact drivers have come a long way -- battery life is great and the torque is hard to believe. <S> I'd only consider a square drive impact wrench for heavier automotive (or other mechanical) use, and only in a larger size like 1/2" <S> so it can provide some real help in removing tough fasteners. <A> Impact drivers and impact wrenches are quite different. <S> Look at the torque ratings, and you'll see why I say that. <S> 18V impact drivers: 1300-1400 <S> in-lbs of torque18V impact wrenches: 3800-5800 in-lbs of torque <S> I'm just guessing here, but I would say that wrenches have this extra torque because they have lower RPM and IPM <S> (impacts per minute.) <S> By having more time for each impact, they can save up more inertia, delivering about 3.5 times as much torque. <A> Some confusion arising from the term impact driver being used for two different tools. <S> The manual impact drivers are more specialized tools and have a cammed bit holder with a heavy cylinder that's meant to be struck with a hammer, and used for removal of philips screws. <S> The cam action translates the impact motion into a combination of rotary and downward axial motion, to minimize the chance of the bit camming out of the screw head and stripping it. <S> Electric impact drivers are the ones most people are familiar with, and accept small 1/4" inserts intended for driving smaller nut and bolt fasteners.
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There are manual impact drivers and there are electric impact drivers.
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Adding insulation to basement that already has vapor barrier I have leftover insulation from doing my basement, little bits and pieces. In between the joists on my basement ceiling it is insulated with vapour barrier already from when the house was built. Will condensation form if I put all the extra pieces against the vapour barrier on the inside of the wall but do not put a second vapour barrier? Or will it be fine and help my house stay better insulated? Or is it a complete waste of time. It just seems like such a shame for all these smaller pieces to go to waste. <Q> Insulation is always installed as such: Warm side | Vapor/ Moisture barrier | Insulation | Cold side <S> You ONLY want a moisture barrier between the warm side and the insulation, because warm air holds onto more moisture than cold air, and when warm air meets cold (air, wall, whatever), the air has to let go of that moisture as it cools, forming condensation. <S> The moisture barrier prevents that moist air from getting into the insulation where cold and warm meet. <A> Do not sandwich your vapor barrier between layers of insulation, and do not add a second vapor barrier creating a multilayer thing. <S> This will only trap moisture. <S> Not exactly sure where you intended to use the leftover insulation. <A> Rule of thumb in Canada is that insulation can be placed inside the vapour barrier, on the warm side, but it must be 1/3rd or less of the R/RSI value of the cold side insulation. <S> So to extend Evil Greebo's example : Warm side <S> | Insulation | Vapor/ Moisture barrier | Insulation Insulation | Cold side
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If you put insulation on the wrong side of your barrier, the moisture will form in the insulation, and as Shirlock said, if you create TWO layers of barrier, you create a potential moisture trap.
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Gas heater not turn on, but fan-only still works when switched on from thermostat my up-level heating system (gas heater) stopped working if the thermostat is at auto; fan can be on without warm air if switch the thermostat to ON from Aotu. Is this a thermostat problem or heat pump? <Q> My first guess would be that there is a problem with the pilot light (if there is one) or the ignition (if there isn't), not the heat pump. <S> The same thing happened to me about 5 years ago. <A> Most likely you'll need to get someone out to look at it. <S> In the mean time, make sure your thermostat is set to heat and auto. <S> Unless you have one that doesn't let you specify heat/cool, generally On just forces the fan to run constantly, auto will make it turn on when it's heating or cooling but off the rest of the time. <S> You might also switch out the filters or clean them if you haven't lately. <A> Check that the gas valve to the furnace is turned on. <S> It is pretty obvious <S> but it happened to me in the fall... <S> my 2-year just happened to get near the furnace for a couple of seconds and <S> apparently the first thing he did was turn <S> the (very tempting for a 2-year old) green valve and close the gas supply. <S> We didn't realize what he had done until 3AM in the morning when we were all shivering. <S> Most likely this is not the problem since you say that having the thermostat on "Auto" will not even cause the fan to run (with the gas supply off, the furnace should start but then shut off after a couple seconds of it trying to light the burner)... <S> but still, something to check anyway. <A> I had a problem like this, in my case it was bad setting of two thermostats (it was a bit unusual setup, as a gas heater connected as a backup source for the wood burning boiler, but it may still apply to you): <S> external, controlling the temperature in the accumulation tank internal, controlling the working temperature of the heater (controlled by a turning knob on the heather, with one, two and three dots): <S> The problem was the temperature on the external one was set to ~65 °C, while the internal was set to two dots, which corresponds to ~50 °C. <S> As a result, the external thermostat was saying "on" (which made the pump running, and allowed the heater to turn on), but the internal said "off" (the water is still hot enough), preventing the heating. <S> In a more common setup, you may have a room temperature thermostat saying "on" (room is cold), but the heater thermostat will say "off" (water in pipes is still warm enough). <S> Unless the heater thermostat working temperature is set too low, it would still work fine, as the pump running will lead into water cooled down in radiators soon, and the heater should ignite eventually. <S> Therefore my estimate is: you have set working temperature on the heater too low (one dot?) <S> the heater is broken (ignition malfunction, or something like that)
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It may be a problem with the limit switch on the furnace or something like that.
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Is there a way to simply splice in an additional length of 12/2 NM-B cable? Is there a way without using junction boxes to simply splice in additional length of 12/2 NM-B cable? Can I use twist caps? I'm putting in a dog door and as it so happens, there is some 12/2 right in the way of the location I've chosen. There's no additional slack in the cable, and I don't want to rip up more drywall than I have to. I'm tempted to just cut it and splice in an additional foot or two with twist caps to get it out of the way. I don't know if this is safe or legal. Do I need to get junction boxes? Attached some pictures for fun. Also, there is a 1-gang electrical outlet box that is going to the outside. I'm moving that up a bit. <Q> Tyco makes NM splices which are concealable and acceptable under NEC for use for rewiring in an existing building. <S> NM Cable Splices <S> NEC 2008 334.40 Boxes and Fittings. <S> (B) Devices of Insulating Material. <S> Switch, outlet, and tap devices of insulating material shall be permitted to be used without boxes in exposed cable wiring and for rewiring in existing buildings where the cable is concealed and fished. <S> Openings in such devices shall form a close fit around the outer covering of the cable, and the device shall fully enclose the part of the cable from which any part of the covering has been removed. <S> Where connections to conductors are by binding-screw terminals, there shall be available as many terminals as conductors. <A> Probably the easiest route for you would be to install a retrofit gang box to the left of the stud with the other gang box (if there's room, it's hard to tell from the photographs), run the existing wire into it, then run a new, longer, wire from the gang box to the receptacle. <S> Connect the two wires with electrical nuts, and finally, cover the gang box with a blank cover plate. <A> Niall C., above, has it right. <S> While you are at it, buy some plastic staples made for NM-B cable. <S> The metal staple shown in your picture is asking for trouble. <A> I don't know about the legality of not using them where you are, but I'd always use junction boxes for this sort of thing if only for the safety aspect. <A> There are a couple of reasons why electrical codes insist that connections are always inside a box, and that the box is always accessible. <S> 1) <S> The likelihood of a failure inside the cable itself is vanishingly small. <S> Any failures will almost certainly be at connections, and you need access to correct them. <S> 2) <S> Any connection is liable to have more resistance than the cable itself. <S> Arcing is also a possibility. <S> Containing connections in a fire resistant box makes the entire system safer. <S> Splicing wires together and hiding that splice inside a wall is not safe practice and is generally prohibited. <S> Local code always override national codes, and you should check yours. <A> You asked two questions, the first of which has been fully answered (is it acceptable for code). <S> The second question was about safety. <S> Speaking as an electrical engineer, a proper splice is perfectly safe. <S> The problem is too many people don't splice correctly, so code does not allow splicing (proper or otherwise) -- unless it is dummy-proof like the approved devices. <A> Look up 334.40(B).The permission in 2008 version (here copied from upthread) is for "exposed cable wiring and for rewiring in existing buildings where the cable is concealed and fished". <S> The word <S> And before Fished is not a drafting mistake. <S> Changed and clarified in 2014: the word rewire is replaced by repair. <S> Same in 2017.This is discussed at length in an Inspectors Association magazine: https://iaeimagazine.org/magazine/features/enter-the-nonmetallic-sheathed-cable-interconnector/ <A> Tyco and other similar types of the push-together connectors ARE legal to use according to NEC. <S> I’m not saying they are the safest, but they are legal to cover in a wall if you are retrofitting an existing NM cable.
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These aren't dummy-proof enough for concealing except in extremely limited situations, that do not include J-boxless cable extensions. If the connection is poor enough, this could generate enough heat to create a hazard. Splices have to be in a box, and there must be access to the box. The NEC says that all electrical junctions have to be accessible (and your profile indicates that you're either in Nevada or New Mexico, both of which have adopted the NEC), so you can't legally hide a junction behind the wall. Not that I agree, but it’s legal! As far as I know, the exceptions mentioned in kkeilman's answer are not allowed in my jurisdiction. This could be accomplished with soldering and shrink wrap, correct use of twist-on caps with proper strain relief, or a variety of other splicing techniques.
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How can I stop a desk from vibrating when I type? Yesterday I finished building a corner desk for my home office. I have no previous experience with woodworking, but I thought it would be a fun project. The end result is actually pretty good, the desk looks nice and is very close to what I was expecting. Here are a couple pics for reference: The wood is 15mm MDP, and the base is made of five 25mm x 25mm steel bars. It is pretty solid, with no noticeable movement when I try to shake the desk. The problem is that when I type, there's a slight vibration that transfers to the bigger LCD screen, making the screen shake a bit. It's not a huge deal, but it is bothering me. My previous desk did not have this problem - it was made entirely of wood and feels more solid than the one I built. Is there a way I can stop this vibration? Maybe changing something on my design to make the desk more solid... I'm open to suggestions. <Q> Is the ledge that the monitors are sitting on actually attached to the desk? <S> It kind of looks like it's just resting on the speakers (Btw, I swear I had those same speakers like 15 years ago). <S> Since there is some natural bounce in any kind of wooden surface like you have, my guess is it's transferring to the upper support which will naturally be prone to movement due to not being attached. <S> If you add at least 3 supports so it can stay up on its own (not relying on speakers) I would guess most of the movement will go away. <A> The picture helps. <S> I'm guessing that the likely culprit is the slenderness of the legs. <S> I'd probably try to put some sort of bracing across the "rear" three legs, and see if that helps. <S> I'm going to assume that you've verified that you have the feet all in a constant plane-- <S> if you push down on each of the five corners, it doesn't tip slightly, suggesting that one of the other leg's a little too long. <A> You have material flexibility (in the legs and tabletop) that you may not even be able to see or feel, but it's there. <S> You want to damp (lessen or eliminate) <S> the vibration by introducing a thin layer of stiff rubber at every support point. <S> This can be done under the feet, but that's not the good way. <S> When you clean your floor, you can push the rubber out from under the feet. <S> The result you want is not a "more solid" desk, but a more "vibration-tolerant" one. <S> If you use a level and lots of rubber washers, possibly of varying thickness, you will end up with a desk that feels solid but can tolerate induced vibration, either from typing or from small earthquakes, heavy footsteps on the wood floor, traveling vibrations from your hot water heater in the utility closet nearby, an air-conditioning unit that is mounted on the same piece of vibration-vulnerable floor. <S> ,... Thicker wood will not fix the problem. <S> Wood, is organic, water-filled, material that will never be "solid."
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You might also try some diagonal bracing, as a little give in any of the bolted holes will allow some pretty significant movement at the feet. A better way is to deconstruct the desk, and put thin rubber washers at every point where you have joined the steel support frame to the tabletop.
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What to do with an apartment with only 2-pronged outlets I just rented an apartment (Colorado, for what it's worth RE code) that has 2-pronged outlets throughout the place except for two GFCI's, one in the bathroom and one in the kitchen. I bought the $.30 2->3 adapter and screwed that extension piece of metal into the faceplate, and then used a cheap 'tester' to see how the outlet was wired (it has 3 lights, and they come up in combinations to indicate no ground, no hot, no neutral, etc). Each outlet I tested was 'no ground', so the boxes themselves aren't actually grounded. I asked the landlord about this and they said 'we asked at Home Depot, and they said it's no big deal, just use a surge protector'. I don't know much about wiring/circuits etc, but this seems like shady advice given the landlord's interest to not rewire. I am a professional programmer owning a good amount of expensive hardware that 'asks' for 3-prong outlets to be used when plugging it in. My question: What are the potential hazards (to myself and my equipment) of using a 'falsely' grounded 3-prong plug with my equipment? Is this something I should press the landlord on for code issues? (It may have been grandfathered in, the building is old but was recently redone). Thanks for any input and advice. <Q> My primary concern would be for your safety with the circuits with GFCIs. <S> I find it hard to believe that just those two circuits would have been upgraded to grounded cable in a remodel, and I can't see any way that a GFCI could work with ungrounded cable. <S> Test that the GFCIs work correctly on their own. <S> Does your receptacle tester also have a GFCI test function? <S> If so, use it on the GFCIs too. <S> It's OK to have two-prong outlets if they're not grounded: see this answer to <S> this earlier question for more information, but a surge protector simply prevents sudden changes in supply voltage from reaching the equipment it's protecting, be it on live, neutral or ground; it doesn't do anything to provide a good, stable, ground level where one didn't previously exist. <S> Electronic equipment often likes to have a stable ground level as a reference point. <S> Under normal circumstances, the ground conductor in NM cable doesn't carry any current, so it's all at the same electrical potential as the ground spike outside your building. <S> Without that stable level, a piece of equipment's internal "ground" can vary. <S> This usually isn't a problem internally within a single piece of equipment, but can cause problems if electrical signals are shared between two pieces of equipment: mains hum in hi-fi systems would be one example of this. <S> As far as code compliance, permit applications and inspection results may be a matter of public record (they are in my locale), so you could do some research into what was done during this remodel. <A> I'm not a professional electrician and won't ever argue that the third wire is useless or anything like that, but where I live two-pronged outlets are the only choice in houses built before perhaps 1980 <S> and I've been living in such house for many years <S> and I know dozens of people who have been living in such houses too <S> and I've never heard any equipment ever died specifically because of using a two-pronged outlet. <S> Don't forget mind that when something breaks the owner brings that unit to a service shop and the service shop would be glad to say "oh, you used a two-pronged outlet, <S> that voids warranty, goodbye" yet that never happens. <S> Your primary concern should be your own safety - like if insulation gets damaged somewhere and you hold the damaged unit with one hand and touch a steel water pipe with another. <A> There is probably no danger to your equipment, but there is serious personal danger. <S> Without a separate path to ground (the third prong), any equipment malfunction that causes the frame or chassis of the equipment to become energized (live) may represent a lethal shock hazard to anyone who touches the unit. <S> This current leakage may not be enough to trip a breaker, and it may only give you a “tickle” when you touch the equipment when you are dry, wearing rubber-soled shoes, and standing on wood. <S> But touch the same equipment when you just got out of the shower and are in your bare feet, and you could become a statistic. <S> A surge protector has nothing to do with grounding. <S> It merely clamps the line voltage if it rises above a preset level because of power company problems or a lightning strike. <S> You should always have surge protection on all sensitive electronic equipment, such as computers, TVs, etc.
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You can mitigate the effects by keeping related equipment close together to minimize the amount of electrical wire between them (like plugging them into the same duplex receptacle) but, depending on exactly what equipment you have, you may still run into problems.
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Why won't my AC system turn off after I flipped the breaker? We've got a central cooling air conditioner that was installed in 1984 with a thermostat from that same year. We are replacing the thermostat with a new programmable one (which has a 100% compatibility guarantee). Following the instructions from Home Depot I located the circuit breakers for the unit and switched them off (the circuit breakers on the panel inside the house, not the main ones for the entire house). Nothing happened. The AC unit is still running and blowing cold air. Am I missing something here or could the breakers be broken? Or worse, could the unit be installed improperly? Feel free to point out the obvious. :-) More info if it matters: We have a Trane central air unit with a heater pump and an emergency electric heater. We are in Central Florida <Q> You are missing something. <S> Either you have not found the correct breaker yet, or the breaker is not inside the breaker panel for your house. <S> Walk through each breaker in the breaker planel for your house. <S> You could have a mislabled breaker. <S> (The breaker you are looking for is likely a two-pole 240V breaker, maybe 30 amps or better.) <S> Since this is a central cooling unit, it might be powered from its own breaker box. <S> Follow the electrical supply wires (cable) back from the unit. <S> Where does it go? <S> You might find another breaker box dedicated to the cooling unit alone. <A> The two breakers (double pole breaker) labeled "Air Conditioner" are likely protecting some other 240 volt device in your house, such as a hot water heater, dryer, range, baseboard hearters, etc. <S> You should probably find out what that breaker controls and label it correctly. <A> Some AC units have an on-delay timer that prevents the system from turning on until 2 minutes after power is restored.
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There might also be a breaker in your meter box protecting the unit in addition to the main breaker for your house.
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best way to install a flat wall fixture on a sightly curved wall In our rental property, the kitchen walls are all ever so slightly curved (as are a lot of walls in our house) We want to put up a knife magnet. Obviously we are keen for this not to be wobbly in any way as this could lead to the blades falling, not good. Any tips on the best way to achieve this, ruling out re-plastering the room. <Q> Maybe you can fix some adhesive felt pads ( like you would use under furniture legs) to the back outside edges of your rack to compensate for the curve. <S> These would act like wedges to bridge the bow and not scratch the plaster wall. <A> You could use washers or some other variable width spacers to hold the knife board slightly away from the wall. <S> My fear with using felt or other soft material, is that it will compress over time causing the board to become loose. <S> So I would use something more rigid, like metal washers. <S> When you hang the board put the mounting screws/bolts through the board, then the spacers, and then into the wall. <S> You will end up with a gap between the wall and the board in spots, but the board should be solid and you won't have to worry about it dropping knives. <S> This would allow the board to fit snuggly against the wall, but has the down side of extra work, and requires that there is enough wood behind the magnet to allow the proper curve to be formed. <A> If the curve isn't too bad (sounds like it isn't) <S> some stick on rubber feet might help. <S> They will keep the knife bar off the wall, and compress enough to give you some play on how the bar hangs on the wall. <S> Good luck
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A more difficult solution would be to "hollow" out the back side of the board using either sand paper or a saw, to fit the contour of the wall.
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How do I make a fake rock finish for a water feature? I would like to create basin for a water feature. It would look really cool if it can have a fake rock finish. How would I go about creating it? What material would be recommended, I have seen a couple for sale and it seems to be made of fibre glass. I can buy it, but I would prefer to make it myself. <Q> There is a limited selection at the box stores, but you can find lots of different designs online. <S> These are nice because you can use cheap bagged concrete mix, add colored dye if you want or even put in real stones and embed with the concrete. <S> Most of these molds are fairly small, 3 ft by 3ft and make 2 to 4 stones each. <A> If I had to make something, I'd probably go with strofoam, carve it to shape, than coat it in bondo or other automotive body filler. <S> If you need extra durability, you could go with an epoxy & fiberglass layer over the syrofoam, before you applied the auto filler: <S> first, make sure you don't mind ruining whatever you're wearing <S> cover your work surface, as epoxy cleanup sucks. <S> cut strips of fiberglass Mix a batch of slow cure epoxy ( not the 5 minute kind) paint the epoxy on the surface press the fiberglass into the epoxy (wear disposable gloves) <S> paint more epoxy over the top of the fiberglass repeat with the fiberglass going a different direction. <S> end with a layer of epoxy <S> let cure overnight, or however long the epoxy instructions say. <S> cut the item free from whatever surface you left it on. <S> I've never painted something with a rock finish, though. <S> I've seen it done on home decorating shows, generally using sponges or crumpled paper <S> (I admit it ... <S> I used to watch Changing Rooms when it was on ... <S> I wasn't so much a fan of what the Americans did with it ... <S> well, Vern's designs were usually good, the rest all basically had a set style, and kept doing the same thing over and over again) <A> Let's blend Joe and Holmes' answers. <S> Take a hard foam (like the weird green kind used for some packaging/fake flower beds) <S> but i'm not sure the best place to get this. <S> Use this to make the rock shape you are looking for with files and knives. <S> Cover the upward/forward facing surface with a silicone epoxy and let sit to dry overnight. <S> Fill a container with sand, large and deep enough to hold the epoxy form you made. <S> Obviously the sand will help the form keep it's shape. <S> Fill form with concrete or whatever medium you choose and let dry. <S> Place beautiful new rock in rock garden and contemplate life!
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There are several types of silicone molds that can be filled with regular concrete.
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How can I temporarily soundproof my apartment ceiling? Currently I'm living in an apartment that has poor soundproofing. My upstairs neighbors get up at 4:30 am to go to work. They have two dogs. So there's a lot of noise between 4:30 am and 5 am. Like any sane person, I don't want to wake up at 4:30 am. I've had many issues with noise in this apartment so I'd like to solve the issue at the source. Is there an effective way to soundproof a ceiling that's not permanent? Inexpensive would be great too. I'd like to put less than $200 into the whole endeavor if possible. <Q> Ridged foam insulation might work here. <S> It comes in large pieces and is lightweight enough that it won't take many fasteners to hold it up (so you'll have less nail holes to fill when you leave). <S> The downside of course is that it isn't very pretty. <A> You need to put up a layer of sound absorbent material between you and the source of the sound. <S> However, this isn't suitable in this case. <S> The only non-permanent thing I can think of is that you attach some reasonably heavy duty material (curtain or blanket type) to the ceiling. <S> You'd still might need to attach some form of battens to the ceiling to anchor the material though. <A> First find out the areas that are the most noisy, then you can think about investing money on soundproofing. <S> Better solution is, put down area rugs in your highly trafficked surrounding.
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A permanent solution would be to add a false ceiling of "sound proof" plasterboard with possibly additional sound absorbing material between it and the real ceiling.
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What size of ceiling joists should I use We started remodeling the 2nd floor this last fall, starting with a spare bedroom, but between our day jobs and the holidays, we ran out of time, stopping short of dry-walling - the room is sealed and insulated but it's still "open". After we had gutted the room, we noticed that there was a pretty decent amount of space in the attic. It's the style that's all open (no wood supports in the middle). I'd like to use this space to make a small office and provide some additional storage (clothes, toys, etc...) - the only problem is, the ceiling joists / floor of the attic is made of 2x4's. I know this is wrong; it may be ok for storage with some plywood covering it, but I don't think I want to trust it to support a desk and me working up there. Would anyone know the minimum floor joists we would need to install? 2x6? 2x8? 3/4 plywood - I know that - and later we could do a dormer if we feel we need it. Also, any links to how to finish the attic? It's just rafters, plywood and the actual roof up there. Can I insulate the actual rafters and drywall over or should I use that foam channel to allow air to pass through from the soffits that I've seen. <Q> The 2X4's you are looking at are collar ties attached to the end of the rafters and span wall to wall. <S> They are really only strong enough to support ceiling materials, not a live load. <S> The new floor joists will need to rest on the upper wall plate (load bearing) adjacent to a rafter, and cross supported. <S> The items you need to determine are span , joist spacing and material to be used as floor joists. <S> This link shows a chart in feet and inches for you application: http://www.the-house-plans-guide.com/joist-span-tables.html . <S> Even on short spans, I would never go any smaller than 2X8's to assure a flex free floor. <S> The second issue you will face is insulating the roof . <S> The size of your rafters are going to dictate how much insulation you can install. <S> You may have to consider maxing out the cavities with blanket insulation, then also adding some 2 inch rigid foam sheets over the entire field to increase the total R value. <S> You could then install strapping (purlins), with long screws, to mount drywall to. <S> In this kind of roof design, there would be no venting required. <S> Good luck. <A> I've found this page of Common Domestic Floor Joists Sizes . <S> The dimensions of the joist depend on the span as well as the load it's intended to bear. <S> From the table the minimum is 50x97mm which is approximately 2x4 in, but it doesn't give any indication of the load that that will bear. <A> I think that maybe something else you need to consider is the ability of your house to take the additional load of the extra material you are proposing. <S> Whatever you put the joists onto will need to be able to support the extra load from the new floor, floor coverings, furniture, people, new dryall etc. <S> You might need to consider things like how strong any weak parts of the wall are (e.g above the window openings), what materials the walls are made of and how solid the top of the wall is (any damage) and whether the foundation is sufficient for the extra load. <S> I am not a structural engineer. <A> You need to make sure the floor is strong enough (or it could break) and rigid enough (the drywall underneath it could crack). <S> I've seen good descriptions of it in Rob Roy's Timber-Framing for the Rest of Us and Sam Clark's Independent Builder: Designing & Building a House Your Own Way . <S> A funky thing about span loads is that as they get longer, the load increases but the beam strength decreases. <S> A slightly longer span might require doubling the size of a beam. <S> A friend was showing me around a cottage he built. <S> He made a second floor by running heavy timbers as joists, and then laying 2x6 TG planking over. <S> He used construction adhesive between the planks, to stop dirt from working its way through. <S> He said this was the cheapest way to make a second floor. <S> The open spaces between the joists gives you a sense of greater height, and a space to hang small items. <S> It is also quite beautiful. <A> The regs on this will be different in all countries – it will be covered by lots of regs in most countries. <S> (Any planning permission for new windows <S> etc is a separate item) <S> So you need to find a local structure engineer that can draw up a set of plans and specs for you and tell you what approval system you need to go though. <S> Then once you know what is needed you can decide how much to DIY. <S> You can save yourself money by understanding you local regs on stairs cases etc first and working out were <S> you want the stairs,wall and doors – their time is money!
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Also if you add more load to the roof (such as additional insulation, more drywall, etc) you need to know that whatever it is resting on (probably the same walls as the 2x4s) can take the extra load. In the UK you would need to submit your plans to “building reg” to get them approved then pay building regs to make a few visits to check the quality of work etc. If they are less that say, 2X10, you will not be able to get a good R-value. This is a very common type of construction on cathedral type ceilings. This is basic structural engineering.
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How do I prevent ice stalagmites from building up on the furnace exhaust? I have a high efficiency furnace that exhausts via a pvc pipe out the side of the house, the trouble is the moisture from the exhaust forms an ice stalagmite in my driveway in the cold weather. Are there ways to prevent this ice from building up (other than throwing salt on it twice a day)? <Q> Attempt No.1 Acquire small plastic container. <S> Drill small holes around base to allow water to flow out. <S> Fill with salt. <S> Place under exhaust vent. <S> Wait and see what happens. <S> I'm hoping the moisture in the exhaust will drip into the container of salt, and then run out carrying salt with it. <S> This might have the added benefit of dispersing salt to the nearby area, thereby preventing snow and ice from forming in the vicinity. <S> The down side is that instead of an ice stalagmite, I will have a plastic bucket in the driveway which will get in the way while shoveling/snow blowing. <A> btw I have the same issue on my HE home furnace.and just by chance, the billing department manager at thefurnace company I use has the same problem. <S> I did see an online article which mentioned some solutions. <S> NOTE that exhaust pipe condensate drainage is the firstthing I noticed appropriate to my problem. <S> '.... <S> http://bassetheating.com <S> If you experience a shut-down of your high efficiency furnace and suspect it’s related to a venting issue, check for these common venting problems: <S> Manufacturers specify the maximum length and number of elbows that pipe of a given diameter can have. <S> And most high efficiency furnaces require 3″ diameter pipe. <S> If you’re not sure check the furnace’s installation manual (if available) or contact the installing contractor to verify the pipe is sized correctly. <S> Not enough hangers (or straps) to support the exhaust pipe. <S> This is especially true during colder weather, where longer run times produce more condensate moisture. <S> Incorrect slope of the exhaust pipe ; sloping downwards towards the outdoors (on sidewall vented furnaces). <S> This pipe must slope back towards the furnace approximately 1/4″ per foot, allowing condensate to drain freely back into the furnace. <S> Vent terminations positioned too close to the ground. <S> Show drifts or accumulations can block the vent, or ice buildup (see photo) can reach the vent and create a blockage. <S> Having the intake and exhaust vents installed on different sides of the home. <S> The pipes MUST be terminated on the same side of the house, in close proximity to one another, so that the wind pressure is the same on both pipes. <S> Birds, insects or other critters have made their way into the vent. <S> I’ve run across this problem many times. <S> Unfortunately there’s <S> not much that can be done to prevent this from happening, and removing these uninvited guests should be done by a qualified hvac technician....' <A> If the distance isn't too far from a non-driveway patch, you could put a chain from the drip point and anchored somewhere off the driveway. <S> That way, water will run down the chain and either freeze there or freeze where ever it is anchored. <A> If the cool down the exhaust gasses more you will reduce the level on condensation that is build up on the end of the exhaust pipe. <S> The heat exchange in the furnace may not be working as very well as possible due to not having enough air being blown over it. <S> (With water based systems it is often due to have the boiler set to high, so stopping the boiler condensing.) <S> Also consider getting a Gas-Saver fixed, this will preheat the water free for you hot water, so saving gas as well the cooling the exhaust so condensing out more water before it gets to your exhaust pipe. <A> Consider insulating the exhaust pipe. <S> If the exhaust is cooling off before exiting the pipe then water will condense out of it more readily, if the exhaust is still warm as it exits the pipe then any ice that does form will ultimately be melted. <S> It may be that you only need wrap the exterior portion of the exhaust pipe, keeping the last inch or two of pipe free of insulation, but if that doesn't resolve the problem you may consider wrapping some of the interior portion so the exhaust retains its heat all the way to the exit. <S> If that doesn't resolve the problem, then a short length of heating tape wrapped around the exterior of the pipe then insulated <S> should prevent ice formation. <S> Perhaps just a small length wrapped around the very end of the pipe would be sufficient. <A> Attempt No. <S> 2 <S> Acquire womens pantyhose/stocking. <S> Fill partially with salt. <S> Affix salt filled pantyhose/stocking to exhaust pipe using zip-tie. <S> Wait to see what happens. <S> With this attempt the moister in the exhaust should still disperse salt to the nearby area, however, it eliminates the pesky bucket from the driveway. <S> The down side here could be the pantyhose/stocking <S> does not allow the exhaust to escape effectively, causing toxic gases to back up into the house harming and/or killing all occupants (but that's why it's attempt 2 and not attempt 1). <A> Attempt No. <S> 3 (The hybrid) <S> Acquire J hook or eye bolt. <S> Acquire plastic container. <S> Drill small holes around base to allow water to flow out. <S> Affix string/steel cable/bungee to container to create a handle. <S> Hang contraption from J hook/eye bolt. <S> Wait to see what happens. <S> This approach combines both attempts 1 & 2 to create a hybrid system that should alleviate the drawbacks of each system. <S> It eliminates the annoying bucket on the driveway, and should allow exhaust gases to flow normally. <S> It should also have the benefit of the other systems, and disperse salt to the nearby area. <S> Down side unknown.
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If sags develop in the exhaust pipe, condensate moisture will pool in the low spots, creating enough blockage in the vent to trigger a shut-down. Incorrect sizing of the exhaust pipe. Install J hook/eye bolt above exhaust pipe. Fill container with salt.
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How can I keep a rug from moving? Not sure if this is the right place for this question but.... I have a rug that is about 15x20 feet. My problem is that every three weeks or so I need to take everything that is on top of it (coffee table, couch legs, entertainment center etc) off and straighten it out because it either gets tilted in such a way that it doesn't line up with the walls any longer or bunches up in the middle at certain spots. Does anyone know of a way to keep it from moving around? Is there something I could use to attach it to the carpet below (without damaging the carpet)? <Q> They make rug pads just for this: You can find them at any big-box home improvement store. <A> There is double-sided "rug gripper" tape available at Target and Home Depot (probably most other stores, but I know those two carry it). <S> We use it to keep our entry rugs stuck to the tiled floor. <S> It holds well enough that we can vacuum the rugs. <S> Disclaimer: <S> Not sure how well it will stick to a carpet vs a hard floor. <S> Alternatively you could use rug pins/rug anchors to hold the area rugs to your carpet. <A> There is special double-sided tape to help keep your rug from moving. <S> It helps to keep a two-inch gap between the tape and the edge of your carpet. <S> There are also anti-slip pads you can place under strategic areas of your carpet to ensure less bunching up and movement over time. <A> Some fiber options include felt, horsehair, and jute. <S> Felt is a personal favorite. <S> Rubber and foam are the other options, but in my experience they bind and bunch <S> and you can feel it underneath the rug. <S> When using a carpet pad, it is imperative that you pay extra attention to liquid spills as the pad will compound any moisture issues, <S> ie... it will expedite rotting if not taken care of, but this is true with any liner you use. <S> You can details about each here .
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I have used a carpet liner or pad to keep a rug from sliding. There are many types, but I recommend natural fiber that is colored the same color as your carpet underneath.
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What is a good way to cat-proof (or child-proof) kitchen cabinets? Our 6-month-old kitten has figured out how to reliably open kitchen cabinets at floor-level, by standing on his hind legs and grabbing the knob. What are some good ways to make it harder for him to get these doors open wide enough for him to walk in and sit in our cake pans, play with our onions, etc.? I haven't looked into the options for child-proofing much yet, but I am under the impression that many options are a pain to install. I'm particularly looking for: Something that works (of course) Preferably not a huge pain to install Minimal risk of damaging the cabinets during installation If possible, minimal (adult) human annoyance when opening the cabinets. While writing this post, I watched our kitten figure out how to open a cabinet with a kitchen chair blocking it, by prying repeatedly until the chair gets bumped far enough away to open the door a few inches. Then he sat on the chair, opened the cabinet above it, and pulled out a box of envelopes. <Q> There are inexpensive child safety latches that can be placed out of sight in the interior of your cabinet. <S> They are also easy to install and only leave a few small screw holes when removed. <S> Some may use adhesive instead of screws, but they might be less dependable. <S> Such a latch consists of a bendable plastic rod with a blunt hook on one side, and is situated on the inside of the drawer or cabinet. <S> The hook catches on part of the drawer or door and prevents opening unless the rod is bent downward simultaneously to disengage the hook. <S> These latches successfully prevent cats as well as children from opening cabinets more than one or two inches. <S> Links <S> For pictures and advice: <S> Picture / Video / Pictures of installation <S> Some alternatives are discussed here . <A> There are several different types. <S> You leave the existing knobs on the doors which could give you hours of fun as you watch visitors pull at them and wonder why they can't open the door. <S> There are physical catches you can get that require you to reach into the partially opened door - see Graham Sunderland's answer. <A> You may need strong rubber bands, or several of them. <A> It sounds like your cabinet doors are free-swinging and just rest against the cabinet without any type of initial resistance. <S> If you just need some resistance to make it a little harder to open, I would check out cabinet latches , specifically look at the magnetic catch and roller catch options. <S> Those options would be inside the cabinet and don't introduce any significant annoyance when opened by human adults. <S> FYI - I wasn't aware of the correct terms initially and found those examples while looking at a cabinet hardware site. <S> I have no association to the sites in the links I posted. <S> I'm sure there are plenty of other sites that offer the same thing. <A> This may not be the answer you're looking for, but I think it's your best option... <S> Get video of your cat doing things like opening cabinets and pulling out envelopes. <S> Put the video on YouTube. <S> Watch as the view count hits 10,000,000. <S> ??? Profit! <A> Velcro! <S> No weird or awkward latches or tricks to open it but difficult or impossible for kitties and children to open. <S> You can use super glue to attach it and you're done. <S> The longer the piece of Velcro is the harder <S> it is to open. <S> I suggest 2 inches of Velcro to both corners of the cabinet.
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A simple, no-modification approach that may work for you is to put rubber bands on pairs of knobs, thereby holding two doors closed. There are magnetic knobs that require you to place a magnet over the catch before it's released.
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How can I make a bedroom with lots of windows darker? I'm moving into a gorgeous new house with one wrinkle: my bedroom has two full walls of windows, plus skylights. Most of the day, this is great, but at night, I really want it dark where I sleep. I am coming up with a few options, all of them mediocre, and thought the DIYers might have more: Buy a zillion window shades/curtains. Con: with the number of windows I have (plus the skylights) this is pushing into the $2000-3000 range. Curtain off a space with light-blocking curtains and put the bed in there. Con: bad ventilation in the summer. Buy a four-poster bed and hang light-blocking curtains from it. Con: as #2, but much worse. Learn to sleep in a sleep mask. :-/ Any other thoughts from the assembled? Have you done this and had it work out? <Q> I'm not sure how window shades would be costing so much, have you seen blackout curtains ? <S> I have also seen suggested fitting the window with thick styrofoam pieces. <S> This is very cheap and easily removable, but not very pretty. <S> Another option is tinfoil. <S> Over a few years the sun begins to eat at the foil and small holes appear. <A> You could try pricing out some simple vinyl roller shades . <S> They typically come in widths up to 96" and lengths up to 120". <S> You can mount them outside of the window frame, so each shade can span multiple windows. <A> I might not have as many windows as you based on the prices you're mentioning, but I've been just fine with curtains ... <S> My neighbors use blackout curtains where they have a projector set up, so we can watch movies on the big screen during the day, and they can get their room to the point where it's a tripping hazard if the kids haven't cleaned up. <S> Something else to consider would be to add some trees outside to help screen the sun from the windows; if you're sleeping at times when the sun's high, you might also consider awnings. <A> I've been thru this, and option #1 is probably the best way to go. <S> If you go with a company that specializes in blinds, you'll discover that there are many different types - some are translucent, others are designed to keep out all the light. <S> I don't know what you'd do for the skylight, though. <S> Hopefully it's not in a bedroom. <A> Wanting to shade your entire room is a by-product of wanting it to be dark enough to sleep at night, which is your real problem. <S> Have you considered a sleep mask? <S> Seriously . <S> I had the very same problem in an old apartment with stucco ceiling and no curtain rail. <S> In my lazyness, I pulled out a airline sleep mask and slept like a baby…
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Having custom-fitted blackout blinds might be worthwhile, even if it's just for the bedroom. no fancy, automatic opening things, just plain, simple, curtains. It may solve your problem (if you can tolerate it) and is by orders of magnitude the cheapest solution…
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What could cause the water from melting snow off a roof to be yellow? I noticed today that there is a nice long yellow line of snow below my eaves. It stretches for several yards, and seems to have been caused by the melt coming from our roof. Aside from thousands of squirrels having urinated on my roof (doubtful) what could be causing it? <Q> There are lots of things that can cause yellow, discounting flying dogs and squirrel infestations. <S> Are there a lot of trees around? <S> Leaves may have collected in your eaves trough, or in other places on your roof, and seeped in enough water to cause discoloration. <S> It could also be something else on the roof - as Eric mentioned, soot is a possibility, though I don't think that would be yellow. <S> Are there any mines, paper mills, power plants or other sources of airborne contaminants nearby? <A> From here <S> The yellow snow and ice may be due to soot from a wood stove nearby. <S> Had the yellow staining been only in the dripping off the roof, I would suspect it to be from the asphalt from the roof <S> felt leaching out because water backed behind ice dams and got under the roof shingles. <S> But if the snow itself turns yellow, that should not be the case. <S> Sorry I can't be of more help. <A> rust! <S> If snow touches rust it often imparts a yellow or orange color to it. <S> check for rusting metal around where you see your yellow snow.
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So sounds like either leaching from the asphalt under the roof, or could be soot from a wood stove (or fireplace possibly) if you or a neighbor has one.
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How do I smooth out spray paint drips on a metal monitor stand? I purchased this monitor stand . However, I did not like the color. So I sprayed painted it semi-gloss black with this spray paint . Suffice to say, I'm not very handy. It ended up un-smooth on the curved edges because of paint drips. How should I go about smoothing it out? <Q> Unfortunately, there is only one way to fix your boo-boo. <S> Sand it back down to metal or enough to remove the drips. <S> Next time, when using spray paint, remember several very thin coats are much better than one heavy coat. <S> Always start the spray away from the object you want to paint. <S> Let the paint dry a bit before the next coat. <S> Be patient, smooth and quick. <S> Trying to put on too much at one time caused your drips. <S> Good luck. <A> If you don't have heniously large runs/sags and drips you can wet sand that stuff out. <S> Get some 400, 1000, and 2000 grit "wet" sandpaper (the kind used by auto body guys). <S> using 00 to 0000 grade steel wool works about the same... <S> Small container of water and a work area <S> you don't mind getting a little messy. <S> Make sure to keep the area you're sanding wet and rinse the paper in the water constantly . <S> Once you're relatively satisfied with your first pass, move to the higher grit paper and repeat. <S> Have fun! <A> One other option would be to take to to a professional, have it sandblasted and power-coated. <S> Probably way more expensive than doing it yourself, but you'll end up with an attractive, durable finish.
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Once it's smooth enough for you, you can polish with rubbing compound, et al to get the gloss back up. Wet sand the runs w/ 400 to remove as much of the runs and drip accumulation you can. Move smoothly and fairly quickly across the area, then go past the end of the work before stopping the spray.
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Is my shower drain leaking under the slab? My wife & I renovated our master shower a couple years ago. About three months ago, we noticed the baseboards in the guest bathroom (on the other side of the wall from the master bath) were getting water damage (similar to how they were getting damaged a couple years ago, thus the shower remodel). I tore out the baseboards & sure enough, water was showing up just like it did a couple years ago. I called my contractor friend out to look (he had spear-headed the original remodel) & his thoughts were that it wasn't leaking thru the tile/hot-mop since none of our tiles were displaced or coming off. So I tested - I plugged the drain & filled the shower with water. It held water for 6-8 hours without any showing up in the guest bathroom, but as soon as I took a shower, there was the water! This made me think it was the drain under our slab, but how was the water getting up? Here is what I think is happening, but I would like some thoughts on how to remedy it without tearing up my newly-remodeled shower. I think the Fernco adapter mating the original cast iron pipe with the new PVC pipe is leaking. Of all of the pictures I took during the remodel, one of them showed the plumber didn't clean up the cast iron pipe before attaching the Fernco adapter. I believe this joint is leaking, the soil around this joint is now saturated and the water is being forced up thru the slab at the point where the vent pipe goes thru the slab. I called a company that does pipe relining, but they wanted $1800 for this three foot run and wouldn't guarantee a seal since they were getting to the problem area thru the shower trap. I do need to get a couple more estimates, but at this price it might just be cheaper to tear up the shower floor & fix it correctly, thereby confirming the problem & guaranteeing a fix. Does anyone have any other ideas as to how to fix it? I'd appreciate any thoughts. <Q> It's possible the water is getting around your shower, possibly where the tile meets the tub or pan (if you have one), or behind the fixtures, or even around the door (if any). <S> I would check all of these and recaulk where appropriate before going in for wholesale destruction. <S> Try splashing water by hand/bucket on areas you might suspect and see if that leads to leaks. <S> Or maybe you even have leaky plumbing in the wall. <S> Do you have access to see in there? <A> If your shower isn't sealed behind the tiles the water can leak past the tile and grout down into the space. <S> Very common as most builders only use green board and put tile up over the top. <S> This is asking for troubles down the road. <S> The drain could also be leaking as you believe. <S> In that case plug the drain at the surface and take a shower. <S> If you see water then you know it's coming from the walls and tile leaking. <S> May be good to open up the wall so you can see the water seeping. <S> If no leak from the shower - empty the pan by removing the drain plug. <S> If it now leaks you know the source of the water. <A> I say this because I just had this happen to myself, after renovation. <S> I realize your situation is resolved, and you don't need input, but those who still Google this problem may benefit. <S> I discounted a leaky source and drain pipe all in one move. <S> I took the drain cover off, put the garden hose down the pipe past the opening, and no leak. <S> I put the hose outside the drain and there was a leak. <S> Time for a new coupling/grommet. <A> Nice one, Dave! <S> It is good that you detected the leak earlier before it caused more damage. <S> Many homeowners don't realize they have a potential slab leak situation until some major damage occurs to the home, like floor damage and heating problems. <S> One of the causes of slab leak is hard water - a combination of water, lime, calcium and iron in the water and pinhole leak of pipes under the slab. <S> To prevent the leak, fix the pipes under the concrete slab and replace rusting pipes. <S> Seek the help of a professional plumber to assess the gravity of the slab leak. <S> Good luck!
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Obviously it is a leak where the drain opening and tile meet, the seal is somehow bad.
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Why is our brand new dishwasher not draining? So, some background on this issue first... our old dishwasher seemed to work fine when we first moved into this house, but within the last year it started having a drainage issue. Water would be left standing in the bottom of the dishwasher after the cycle finished which was leading to yucky stuff down there as well. My husband pulled the dishwasher out, unplugged the drain hose, made sure the trap was clean, etc. Unfortunately, the problem was not solved. Finally, we just got a brand new dishwasher hoping that our drainage problem was behind us, but sadly the new dishwasher doesn't drain either! HELP! All that I can see is a black drain hose which goes down into our crawl space and then back up and attaches to our sink. The sink has not had any drainage problems. Any ideas? <Q> You say that the drain hose runs down to the crawlspace then back up again. <S> It's winter time (at least in the northern hemisphere); I wonder if the water is freezing in the drain hose at the lowest point, enough that hot water from the dishwasher isn't able to reach it to melt it (there would likely be a layer of cold liquid water between the dishwasher and the bottom of the hose). <S> I think it's odd that the drain hose feeds through the crawlspace; any installations that I can remember seeing have a hose feeding through the cabinet wall to the sink's plumbing. <S> Is the dishwasher adjacent to the sink so that you could redirect the hose like that? <A> Your drain line could be clogged. <S> If you disconnect the drain hose, you should be able to blow into the hose to see if it is clear. <S> If not, you can either manually clean it out, or get a new flexible hose. <S> If you decide to replace it, you might want to consider getting a clear hose. <S> This way, you can see if there is any buildup or obstructions in the hose without having to disconnect the line. <A> Since the drain hose is flexible, it may be kinked - see of you see smooth curves, no sharp bends - it may be restricted at any sharp bend. <S> See if you can connect some kind of container to the hose end such as an old soda bottle (cut off like a funnel) or an actual funnel. <S> Hold the end up above the rest of the hose. <S> Pour water in - it should flow freely and fairly quickly down. <S> If it does not, you have a restriction somewhere, try to isolate that. <S> Check the hose by removing it <S> - take it somewhere (outside?) <S> where you can repeat the process to see if water comes out the other end - if not, a hose is a cheap purchase. <S> If it does flow freely, and did not when connected you have a restriction somewhere further along the drainage system. <S> You can also test the dishwasher pump by attaching the hose to that, then putting the end in the sick (loose) and see if water comes out. <S> (watch for kinks/sharp bends and avoid those). <S> If those both fail, you have a restriction somewhere else. <A> I installed anew dishwasher to replace a unit that never drained properly. <S> The new unit also wouldn’t drain completely. <S> As suggested by Whirlpool, I replaced the drain hose with a Whirlpool approved 12’ hose and, the problem is gone. <S> The original hose was too large, not even a dishwasher drain hose. <S> I’d had this problem for 20 odd years due to an original bad installation! <A> The problem may be in the dishwasher itself. <S> If you don't pre-rinse most of the stuff off your pot/pans/plates etc. <S> that food gets washed down the drain. <S> However sometimes it log-jams itself inside the dishwasher. <S> This has happened to me in the past. <S> Take out the dish-racks in the washer and manually clean everything, you'll probably come up with more junk than you would think.
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The flexible drain hoses tend to collect grease over time, and will eventually cause the hose to become completely blocked.
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