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1500 questions
13
votes
3 answers

How can I reseal a shower drain on a pre-formed shower base?

The shower drain in my first-floor bathroom leaks. Based on looking from the basement below, it seems the leak is at the point where the drain assembly should clamp to the shower base (which is pre-formed fiberglass/plastic). This is confirmed by…
Shimon Rura
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3 answers

What is the purpose of a watt regulator in my ceiling fan?

The lights on my harbor breeze fan stopped working this morning. When I came home from work, I got the ladder and took down the lights. I don't have a multimeter but I saw that there is this Watt Regulator (pic below) in the fan. I traced the wires…
Engineer2021
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8 answers

How to detect whether there is a signal on TV cable

I'm not receiving TV in my room and the cable guy has determined that there is no signal on my coax outlet in the wall. There is a signal in other rooms, so there must be a broken or disconnected cable somewhere in the house. Now the owner and I are…
Bart van Heukelom
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5 answers

How close can CAT6 run to electrical?

I've run CAT6 throughout my house, mostly in the basement where the TV area and office are. I have a cable that goes upstairs to my bedroom along the chimney from the basement to feed a wireless access point. There are 3 spots where the cable comes…
Scott L.
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13
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2 answers

Can I build a concrete block wall over floor tile?

I am enclosing a tiled porch on concrete slab with a 3' short wall of concrete block, with windows above. Should concrete blocks be laid over a tile floor?
Larry
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13
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3 answers

How do I add an exhaust fan to an old attic?

Our house's attic retains a great deal of heat during summer. While we now have a good layer of insulation between the attic and the rest of the house I wonder if it would be worth it to add some kind of exhaust fan. We live in a mid-Atlantic…
acrosman
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13
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9 answers

Why does this toilet clog so often?

My inlaws have one toilet in their house that regularly clogs. They have two more toilets that don't seem to clog at all. They live in a suburb with full plumbing (not a septic tank). The toilet isn't low-flow. They had a plumber come look at it,…
Amanda
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1 answer

What are the uses of the various schedules of PVC pipe?

I had a plumber come out the other day to do some work and I offered up some spare PVC that I had leftover from various projects and he told me that it was schedule so-and-so and wouldn't be appropriate/durable for the task I had in mind. I had…
JohnFx
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3 answers

At a 6' span, how much can an SPF 2x4 turned on 3.5" end support?

The ends are secured, so how much load can a 6' span of SPF 2x4 support when turned on 3.5"?
DANIEL THOMAS
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13
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2 answers

What could cause halogen bulbs to explode?

I changed several halogen spotlight bulbs and after less than one hour, one exploded. See image. It's an Osram Decostar, 35W. Although the bulb doesn't carry a "CE" mark, the box did. We regularly have bulbs dying, so I suspect something might be…
Tim
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1 answer

What is the correct way to wire a 4 prong oven receptacle?

I think I wired this the right way but I can't find an online reference that I trust enough to flip the breaker back on. This is how I wired it. Is this correct?
Biff MaGriff
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13
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4 answers

How do I troubleshoot power receptacles?

I just bought a recently renovated house and the house inspector said that all the plugs in the basement worked. Well... I plugged in several devices into the plugs and they don't power on. If I use my voltage tester I can see that the plugs are…
Biff MaGriff
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13
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9 answers

How tight should threaded brass pipe fittings be?

I'm working with 3/4" brass fittings, which seem pretty robust. Some plumbing fittings should be only finger-tight. My friend said I should use 2 wrenches to make these as tight as I can, and then some. How tight should I make them? EDIT: I am…
Jay Bazuzi
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13
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9 answers

What do I need for a wall shelf that will support an aquarium?

I'm starting a DIY wall shelf project. I'm not very handy, and I've never done anything like this before, so I'd love some advice/guidance! The end goal is for the shelf to hold a 3 gallon aquarium (18 x 5.5 x 7"). The total weight of water is…
Jesse
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13
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3 answers

Why is there no neutral in a switch box?

I'm a bit confused about the wiring in a light switch that I changed. I am accustomed to seeing black (hot), white (neutral) and green/bare (ground). This box has TWO black, a red, and a green. No white! So, I connected the two black together in a…
Ryan
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