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1500 questions
26
votes
2 answers

What's the 1 inch square knob sticking out of the wall?

I noticed there is a square knob sticking out of my basement wall. Does anyone know what this is?
H Woo
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26
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11 answers

Is it damaging to turn off a small fridge for two days every week?

I am a student who studies in a different city than my home so I go home almost every weekend or second weekend. I recently brought a room sized fridge and to save electricity costs, whenever I go home, I turn off the fridge which is usually for…
khawajayy
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4 answers

While drilling into kitchen wall, hit a wire - any advice?

While fixing the extractor hood yesterday, I accidently hit a wire when drilling and exposed the copper. The wires are too tight to get some kind of a box in there and putting an electrical tape may be too fiddley. Any advice will be greatly…
user1607035
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26
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1 answer

What is this bolt in my basement floor?

In my concrete basement floor, there is a rather large bolt and washer. The washer is about 4 inches in diameter, and the bolt has a 1 inch head. What is it? All I can think of is that it's some device to keep this from happening:
Chris Cudmore
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3 answers

Diagonal brace left in the basement by builder. Can I remove it? Replace it?

I have a diagonal brace running across an interior wall in the basement, and it even goes partially into the floor concrete. Is this meant to be permanent, or was it supposed to be removed during construction? I want to finish the basement and put…
Egor
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26
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1 answer

How do you trigger the HVAC with wiring only?

I have a HVAC that has the usually wiring C R G W Y Pinouts What wires do I need to connect to turn on Heating? What wires do I need to connect to turn on the A/C? Is there a risk of damaging any circuitry in doing this? Is there a way of finding…
Ashitakalax
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26
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10 answers

Can I replace a 30A breaker with a 40A breaker for a new water heater?

I have a 30 amp circuit breaker installed for my tank type hot water heater. I would like to replace the hot water heater with a tankless hot water heater that requires a 40 amp circuit breaker. I don’t know the gauge of wiring used for the…
Robert Cole
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26
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3 answers

Why should we replace smoke alarms every 10 years?

I'm having a hard time understanding a requirement to replace smoke detectors every 10 years (or whatever the manufacturer suggests). With previous generations of ionization based detectors, I understand that the radioactive substance would decay…
dannosaur
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26
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5 answers

What should be done before using a fireplace that has not been used in decades?

We are moving into a house with a fire-place. The current tenants (friends of ours), have been living there just short of 2 decades, and have never used it once. The house is about 90 years old, so it certainly saw a lot of use once upon a time. I…
Frames Catherine White
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26
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12 answers

Is it bad to turn off the water while on vacation?

I'm a little OCD when it comes to traveling. I have learned from experience that when I am away, I constantly have visions that a pipe in the wall had burst and that the water is slowly filling the house. Having been through this enough times, I am…
T James
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26
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8 answers

How do I run cable through my ceiling?

I have a cable that I need to run through the ceiling. I'd like to go under the floor, but I have a split level house, and this is the lower floor, so I don't believe there is room in the bottom half of the wall to run cable. Here's the situation in…
Chris Sobolewski
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25
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4 answers

I added insulation to my attic rafters, but should I have left room for airflow?

I added insulation to my attic rafters and plugged the space between the outdoors and my attic with insulation. It lowered my heating bill by $150/month, but I've seen some information that I may have made a mistake by cutting off the airflow in my…
ristonj
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25
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3 answers

Is running ethernet cable through an air return allowed under US code?

I'm looking to wire up the second floor of my house and the cold air return provides a convenient, straight run from the office to the utility room. Is it safe and within code to run ethernet cable in the air return? The air returns are not metal…
Freiheit
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25
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6 answers

Can a toilet get "too old" to the point where it can never be unclogged and must be replaced?

We had an issue where a toilet that worked fine since we moved in 6 years ago recently would not flush. I took a plunger to it and snaked from the roof and it helped in that the toilet would slowly drain out (15 seconds) but never give that typical…
Niles
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25
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5 answers

What is the proper way to run Category 6 underground?

I'd like to run some Category 6 cabling underground, for a distance of about 120 ft, between a main home and a 2nd unit, for ethernet connectivity between the two homes. I've run Category 5 indoors before, but running Category 6 and underground is a…
DuckMaestro
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