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I think a bit off topic but maybe someone can help me out. I live in an urban apartment building that’s over 60 years old. To mitigate a rodent problem, I sprayed Great Stuff Pestblock to seal off the holes around the steam heat risers. Stupidly, I assumed that foam designed to deter pests...

The fill valve is slow in filling the tank so I want to clean out the strainer. But I cannot for the life of me remove the retainer tab. The instructions say to pull it straight up but she ain't moving. Any thoughts?

Hello-- I have a CRL Laguna frameless shower with a 90-degree fin seal on the inner sliding door. The problem is that the seal makes a remarkably loud screeching sound when the door is pulled shut. The gap between the doors is 19mm, the length of the fin is 22mm, and the “suggested gap” for...

Hello all: After owning a house for 12 years with no septic backups, we've had two clogs where the drain pipe meets the septic tank inlet, in 12/2016 and 7/2018. Both were cleared with a flat sewer rod going from house to tank. I'd appreciate some thoughts about why it has started happening more...

I have a 170-foot deep well, copper and PEX throughout the house, and a Rheem Marathon plastic water heater, which we installed in late 2007. I just had the well cap cover replaced and when I turned the pump back on, a ton of what appear to be small metal flakes shot through the system. I've...

Hi ya' We have a new shower using a Laguna single sliding glass door with a fixed-glass sidelite. The unit is leaking way too much, mostly coming from where the two doors meet (the sidelite is siliconed in pretty well). There are two issues: First, the general contractor did not install...

Hello-- I'd like to have low-voltage track lighting installed but am concerned about reports of humming (the lights, that is), especially when the lights are dimmed. I have been told that beside the proper dimmer, the track should be wired with a "third wire dedicated neutral" (I assume...

Hello folks: I've been reading some of the threads about whole house filters and am a little confused, so I'll ask right out: Is it likely that bacteria will grow in a whole house water filter? I'm planning on using a back-washing 80 micron mesh screen, plus a big blue 20-inch cartridge...

Whoops. I have just flushed out the water heater for the radiant system. However, the water flow wasn't what I expected, so now I'm not certain how to make sure the water heater has no air pockets. Also, I'm not sure whether I need to purge air from the system itself. And for that matter, how to...

OK, another water filter question. On a whole house set up with two filters, is there any merit--for efficacy, pressure, and/or flow rate--to going from 3/4" pipes, through a reducing T into 1" pipes/inlets for the filters, and then back to the 3/4 piping? Or is this pointless or even...

Hi ya-- Would appreciate suggestions for all around reliable, reasonably good flow whole house water filter for well water sediment. Also, hardness just a touch on the high side, 152mg/L. Would like to bring that down a bit but obviously not that big a concern. At least not enough to drop big...

Hello-- My utility room, on the lower level, has two water heaters and a water pressure tank. The slab on one side of the room slopes slightly AWAY from the sump drain. I don't want to take out the appliances to correct the slab, but would prefer to simply create a two- or three-inch perimeter...

It seems that the well pump is taking longer to refill the pressure tank. Investigating all this for the first time, I discovered: pressure tank shipped at 28psi, switch is for 30/50, actual cut-in/out is 30/60. Given cut-out is almost exactly 60psi, I assume someone set it that way. Before...