All Questions

Hypothetical question. I won't self-answer. The purpose is to inform potential answers on another person's question. Suppose I have a shed with a 200A subpanel, with 3-wire feed that was installed ...

A tree root has broken through in the corner of my girlfriend's shed slab. It's under a wooden shelving unit from IKEA and one slat if the shelf has been pried loose by the root. What can I do about ...

I have an uncovered side porch attached to the my brick ranch home. I noticed that parts of my roof are sagging and it is getting worse. I also noticed that some flashing around my chimney looks bad ...

I'll admit I don't get how to compute how much my floor can hold, and probably wouldn't trust my own math, even if I came up with the right answer. I'm looking to purchase a recording booth. I do ...

I intend to finish a part of my basement following this guideline from Fine Homebuilding and Building Science. In this configuration, the foam board completely contacts the concrete. My conern is that ...

I am building a light-gauge steel frame workshop that is made from 0.55mm cold-formed 90mm x 45mm (2"x4") light-gauge steel studs. The structure is wrapped in 25mm (1") of extruded ...

I am in the process of installing a whole house humidifier. I am planning to mount it to the supply side and need to connect the bypass to the return. I'm not sure if I should be using a take-off or ...

Can anybody advise how to open this type cistern...? I tried to loosen nut on top but did not want to force it. Thanks

Here is a picture of the top of my uninsulated basement wall. The foundation is poured and from early 1970s. For orientation to the photo: the white in the lower left corner is the vertical face of ...

Our home was built in 1957. We have had problems for years with having a wet drain field and keep having our septic pumped. Today (of course my husband is away), I have done a couple of loads of ...

I have had my crawl space encapsulated. It has made a big difference in the air quality inside the home (80 years old). However, I am now seeing cracks throughout my home in the walls closer to the ...

Due to EU and US regulations, latest models of washing machines are really eco-friendly and use much less water thant their previous models. The problem is, this has to be countered by increasing the ...

Can anyone recommend a better method of affixing UPVC (e.g. Homelux) floor trims to skirting other than the adhesive tape provided? Can you mechanically affix them or is it just down to adhesives?

We have an interior French drain around the complete perimeter of our basement and has been working fine for 18 years until December 2020. I should note the company that put it in is no longer in ...

I'm replacing my rotted out deck that's old tongue and groove fir planks. I'm treating them with Borate mix today and tomorrow and would like a natural finish in the end. It's a covered deck. I've ...

I am finishing my basement and am starting to plan the bathroom, but I do not have plumbing experience. The house was built in the 1980’s and completely torn down to the studs and rebuilt in 2013. ...

I apologize if I don't use the right terminology, please correct me. I have this boiler system called Grohe Red. Here is the manual. The problem I have is that every now and then the "funnel"...

I'm used to the gas furnaces, and I still want to swap out this 4 year old heat pump, but it would be too expensive. I recently bought a smart thermostat to try and help with the utility bills, but it ...

I have the current setup in the basement, as shown in the photos below. I would like to see if any wisdom can be shared here to add a proper drain for the washer, i.e., a 18" standpipe with a p-...

I have a gas fireplace which worked when we bought the house, but after turning off the fireplace for just over 4 years, it does not want to turn back on (the igniter does not glow). From what ...

I am looking to finish my basement and wanted to get validation on my vent tie-in locations. I believe I have correctly identified it in the photo (top right of photo). I believe the builders have it ...

The louvers on my original (20 year old) outdoor dryer vent have practically seized up and I'm in need of a replacement. When I take to places like Lowes or Amazon, I only find the style which ...

I am working on new plumbing for an addition we just built. Does anyone see any issues? Do I need a clean-out at the end of the run? I plan on using a 3" elbow in lieu of a combo to keep ...

On the other side of my mechanical room's wall, we are putting in a small powder room. The sink is going to be on the wall below the boiler valves, which is represented by my awesome graphic. I was ...

I have an old Schlage SecureKey installation. (Yes, I know about Schlage having lost the lawsuit almost a decade ago.) I haven't had any problems with the lock. Recently, a weird thing happened. ...

I picked up a used 10kva (45a) Generac unit and want to get it connected thru the transfer switch. Just looking for some feedback on how to get it connected. I was going to use 1" schedule 40 ...

I recently noticed one connection in my breaker box where 12/2 Romex exits the house in a conduit and enters the breaker box. The breaker box is on the external wall of the house. I thought this was ...

I am the second owner of my home. The original owner had the contractors rough in a bathroom (no copper or anything) in the basement but it was never completed. I am in the process of finishing the ...

Background I have a 2-stage cooling heat pump unit from Bryant, installed ~2006 (central Florida): Condenser model 698BNX048-B Handler model FE4ANB006 Shortly after moving in ~5 years ago, our evap ...

I have a 50 amp circuit wired with 6 Gauge AA-8000 Aluminum SE wire from the panel that goes to my oven/microwave combo, and then continues on to my cooktop. Both the oven/microwave combo as well as ...

I need to run one circuit of 12/2 from the basement (ranch house) up to the attic and then outside via the ledger board of the roof over my deck. Should I screw a short nipple into the back of the ...

We are renovating our century home's kitchen and would like to install windows that go to the ceiling so that our marble backsplash does not have any seams in it. The thing we later realized is, if we ...

Let me start by saying I appreciate any information. Hopefully, Philly is not all that different from anywhere else, but Ideally Philadelphia specific info would be preferred. I'm remodeling a ...

I recently took down an old chandelier that I found was screwed into the metal stem. Stem is hanging about 2.5" below the hole of the medallion, and the threaded nipple at the end of it is 0.5&...

Oven is a Whirlpool Model # WFG371LVB1 Serial # R00415666 and is about 10 years old. When cooking for less than 20 minutes, there is no issue and the oven will stay heating for the entire time. But ...

This is a new world for me, I haven't messed with circuits since physics 101. When I watched a quick youtube tutorial on setting up my Nest E, I thought it'd be a simple "move wire in old C, to new C ...

I have a tiny bathroom for the toilet, perhaps 83 cu ft adjacent to the master bathroom for the shower and tub, perhaps 1266 cu ft. Currently only the toilet has a vent with a fan. It’s being removed ...

I have a Kenmore Coldspot (model 106.57022601) side-by-side refrigerator. About a couple of years ago, we had a problem with the freezer working great, but the refrigerator not working. We called a ...

When I turn sprinklers on, the water pressure is practically zero for sprinklers and also in house. Upon turning sprinklers off, house pressure returns to normal. Leak detection service found no leaks....

From what I understand from the NEC, bending radius for an NM cable must be at least 5x the diameter of the cable bundle (“romex”). But how do you calculate this in a real life scenario. Is the ...

I did NOT change any outlets, just the single pole switch that controlled the top plug of the outlets, and a 3 way switch in the same box that had no control over the outlets. I have a single pole ...

I've been repairing an outlet that's not supposed to be recessed, but is, so I purchased a box extension from the local hardware store. When I tried to put it in, I realized it interferes with the ...

Sometimes, when my toilet is flushed in the middle of the night, it will make a high pitched whining noise for several (5-10 seconds) while refilling. This doesn't happen during the day, and it only ...

More of a general question regarding floor staining. We are removing the carpet to expose and use the hardwood floors. Floor boards are in good condition, and already have a finish. Some old paint ...

I have a solar array with 2 Sunpower/Sunnyboy inverters model SPR-6000m. One of the inverters has an error that from the manual (see pic) is "Inverter Interference". The indicator lights that blink ...

I had a fountain in the middle of my yard. The fountain is now gone but my GFCI Outdoor box is still there and is in a mid-run, as I have another outlet against my far fence. The electrical is buried ...

My Carrier Performance 96 series furnace (similar to the 59TP6 currently shown on Carrier's website, but I don't have the exact model number in front of me) has been showing codes 13 ("Limit Circuit ...

There’s a strange mechanical whirr coming from the building next door. It buzzes every four minutes. Listen here: https://clyp.it/3qwn1qhc We keep the windows open in our bedroom during the winter ...

Does anyone have experience, guidance, tips on what is required for LV wiring at rough-in inspection? I have run a number of speaker wires, coax, ethernet (CL2/CL3) but they do not all terminate in a ...

In an attempt to fix a wiring problem from five years ago, I made a huge error. Here's the scenario: Box 1: Has switch #1 in a four-way set up (it's a 3-way switch) and is where the power comes in. ...