All Questions

I'm looking for the way to make the pressure treated wood in my project last the longest possible. I want to put a piece of plastic (black) sheeting to protect the 2x12s being used for a new retainer ...

I have a light in the bed room controlled by its own switch and one in the closet with its own switch. when turning lights on each switch controls only the light it was intended to control. However ...

I have a screw with a washer. Which one of the two sides should it go through (ie which side the washer should be "in contact with"), the flat or the curved one? The structure is symmetrical so it can ...

I have had a hanging light fixture in the middle of the living room which I now want to replace with a ceiling fan+light. Nothing huge and fancy... but a hunter nonetheless. The old pan box was, old (...

My refrigerator stops cooling and I heard clicking and buzzing from the back of it. I then bought new start relay and capacitor and replaced the old ones. But the problem remains (clicking, buzzing, ...

Hi there I’ve been given an old floor lamp that I’d like to use, but it only works with one light bulb that I’ve tried and I need it to work with another. Investigating the floor lamp, I can see ...

We have a 35X50 shop that was recently built and it is lit with LED lights in the ceiling controlled by a motion sensor switch on the wall by one of the man doors. The switch is not close to the ...

Kwikset lock, when depressing exterior thumb lever, Barrel will not detract all way

I am installing an under the cabinet range hood. I can't vent directly out the back because there is a stud in the way. So I'm going up into the cabinet, making a turn, and then out through the ...

In our laundry room a pet rabbit damaged the paneling in several places: There are no replacement panels available that I could find. I don't want to tear out and replace all the walls. Things I'...

We've got two Nest Learning Thermostats (3rd Gen) running two separate heating and cooling units in an office. They both work fine for heating and cooling, with one exception: one unit will not turn ...

I have a Superior VRL4543 vent-free fireplace. For the most part it seems to be doing its job and not acting up. However, it doesn't seem to be performing as-advertised. From manufacturer's website ...

We are trying to add boxwood on what I believe is concrete siding and I believe the only way to do so is by making a frame on the back wall that will have to be drilled into wall. Can I drill in the ...

Our house came with a generator hookup already installed by a previous owner. How do I use it? Presumably I attach the generator to the 4-prong socket outside, and get it going, but what sequence of ...

I'm in an old house that occasionally gets water in the basement. The basement isn't finished so it isn't a big deal if some water comes in right now. The problem right now is that there's a drain in ...

This Rheem spec sheet shows that their 40 gallon tanks have a higher first-hour rating than the 50 gallon: 86 compared to 78. If this is true, why do the 50-gallon ones exist? By what metric are they ...

The longest drill bit I have is 23.62 inches and apparently the thickness of the concrete I need to penetrate is 27.5 inches. I don't wish to buy another drill bit, is there a smart solution? The ...

The outlet shown in the image below doesn't have a ground wire connecting to its receptacle. A friend of mine is helping me setup a ups that requires ground wire, however what he did was run a ground ...

My shingle roof is 21 years old. However, it still looks good. My roof has aged well. Should I play it safe and just arbitrarily replace the roof based on time? Or, is it safe to hold off a few ...

Noob question alert. Electrics have always been my weakness. If you have a 6 bulb ceiling light, with 6 LED bulbs each with 5w, and you remove 3 of them, does this half the energy usage when the ...

My shower curtains fall a little bit too short (like 4cm / couple of inches) and in consequence there is a lot of splash on the floor on the other side of the curtains. Sometimes, it's really wet. I ...

I have some space left under my kitchen sink, which I would like to use as best as I can. However the space I have left over is only (w,h,l) 20x18x52cm. I saw the following drawer on ikea's website ...

How can I pump this unclean water from our 2nd floor to 1st floor down to our drainage? I keep accumulating a lot of water (enough to fill a water basin) every 2 days from washing stuff. I'm ...

I bought my house almost two years ago and there is a building off to the side that is on the same circuit as an older security light on the side of my house and the breaker is a 20 amp, the breaker ...

I live in a home that was built in the late 1930s with some old electrical wiring and some new wiring. As I was identifying which outlets and lights are controlled by which wires I discovered a ...

Looking for advice on what to do here. Surprisingly the light works fine even though it appears a lot of the individual wires in the stranded wire are cut. 120v 35w is the max rating of the ...

I recently purchased a home that was built in 1963 and have started changing out a few light fixtures. I have come across a wiring method I have never seen before where the ground wires are attached ...

Can someone please tell me if the following is safe? I have a faulty electrical heater which is wired into a switch on the wall. I am trying to replace the heater as simply as possible. Is it possible ...

My detached garage has 100-amp 3-wire service from the main panel in my house, with a 100-amp breaker at each end of the feed. The grounds and neutrals are bonded inside the sub panel due to the lack ...

I want to tile my bathrooms in the house I'm remodeling. They are over a basment with 2x8 joists 16" on center. The span over the basement is around 12ish feet. I put 3/4 OSB and plan to put 1/2 ...

I'm going to be doing some screwing/unscrewing of screws that provide both a utilitarian and aesthetic function, so I'd like to protect the painted coating on the heads as best I can when I remove and ...

Is it ok to use glue patches to fix tiny holes in a drywall? I'm not sure if they will dry out or something. It's look ok to me right now and was very quick and easy to do. They're some kind of ...

My light switch in the family room and garage light switch is on the same circuit, so if I put on the family room light the garage light has to be on and vice versa. How can I split them to work ...

A Florida HOA electric bill doubles from $200 to $400 per month. Powered items for the pool comprise LED lighting and a pool pump. The electric circuit is for the pool. Is it reasonable to start ...

What are questions one must ask and the calculations that must be performed to select an optimal pool pump?

What's the best method for filling in small cracks in interior foundation wall parging? I've heard using premade stucco patching. Thanks!

There are bathroom tiles on the wall (natural stone), the bathroom tends to get pretty humid (pre-code/no ventilation, do our best to keep it low). We are seeing that a few of the bathroom tiles are ...

A tile on the floor of our shower stall has come loose. However, in a few months (not much earlier for logistical reasons) we’re having the whole bathroom redone, including a complete replacement of ...

Can a smoke alarm with cut wires cause a fire? Not, that it might not detect a fire (I don't expect it to any more), but that the smoke detector itself may cause a fire. For my specific case, I cut ...

I did a drywall patch over my shower, using quick dry joint compound, a few coats with sanding in between. Walls were washed with dish soap and dried prior. A few days later I primed with zissner BIN ...

Our 1979 ranch home has some 3/4" pegged hardwood flooring in the den area. We are getting ready to renovate this room and we think our first step will be to take out the dated built-in "hutch" and ...

We have just wired a new 2 way, 2 gang, switch plate, which works, but for one side the 'on' position is up, and for the other it's down, which looks odd and is impractical. Is this a problem with the ...

I've been trying to get this three way setup working for a few days now. The wiring diagrams that came with the kits are not consistent and when I wired according to the diagram I was not able to get ...

I have moved into a house with a well. Occasionally if too many water uses occur the pressure tank is expended and it trips the switch to off and it stops running. If I go down and reprime the ...

I just bought a condo which is a three-level townhouse and was built in 1980. I am adjacent to my neighbor and share a common wall. My neighbor, an older couple, smoke weed frequently and do not air ...

I just wanted to know what year did bathroom fans begin being put in houses. The house I grew up in was built in the 20's and didn't have a fan. There was a window.

I have a 110V air purifier that comes with a 100-240V adapter. Can I still use the air purifier with power input 220-240V? Do I need a transformer or converter? Thank you. Edit: I can’t find the ...

I just noticed that this valve is corroded and slowly leaking (arrows point to the leaks): I started looking online for information and found this page, which discusses different types of valve, but ...

I am planing to install a washing machine in a closet. There is currently a fitted carpet in this ca. 2 m² closet. To avert consequences a plausible leak/overflow, I want to replace the fitted carpet ...

I have mounted a Clearstream Antenna in my attic of a single story home, which is connected to my tv's via cable. Should I ground it and if so how? Can I run a Copper wire from the splitter to the ...