Recent content by Sixlashes

What could have been going through someone's mind to drill through black iron (or galv) in the wall? Did they think it was just a (nuisance) nailplate? It scares me to let anyone work on my house. I watch them like a hawk.

How old is the house? It may have 60 degree C (centigrade) rated wiring. I'll bet those (newer) fixtures require at least 75 degree C rated wires in the installation instructions. If this is the case, it seems the wires simply got too hot for the insulation. It is possible to splice newer...

Words escape me! As a plumber in my previous life, electrical for me is a DIY. I took on building our new house and was a little apprehensive about tackling the electriacal myself. On inspection day, after 25 minutes of poking around EVERYTHING, I passed my electrical rough in (and...

I happened to see this today. The blue box store has a triple Decora-style switch with two single pole and one 3-way switch in one single width switch. I think it was only available in white. The 3 way takes up half of the unit and the two single poles take up 1/4 each.

I am installing an RO filter with three outputs: Refridgerator (ice maker), kitchen sink and bathroom sink. Only the faucet closest to the filter needs an air gap because the drain line from the filter needs an air gap into the drain. This separates the potable water (filtered drinking water)...

I ended my plumbing career before these gravity film (heat) exchangers came on the scene, so I have not ever installed one: http://www.gfxtechnology.com/VGFX.html But it interests me because I have a high gallon-per-minute shower in the master bath and a wife that doesn't draw the parallel...

He says to pull a ground wire from the nearest (line voltage) box. Tomorrow, I will get into the book...

If you are using metal boxes for low voltage (as I am currently doing), do you have to ground them? An electrician friend of mine is certain you must. I am not so sure. I have it on my list to research this in the NEC. Does anyone have a para. reference?

Ron, that page at AO Smith is new. I didn't see it last week when I was looking this stuff up. I rechecked the energystar.gov site again and they still do not list the AO Smith or Bradford models as qualifying for the tax credit. I am not discrediting what you have pointed out, but the lack...

I don't remember exactly where I found it while researching this very issue, but the reason none of the units you mentioned are not "energy star" and eligible for the credit is they must be 70,000 Btus or below. If you want the reference, I can look in my browser history to find it. It was...

I just had an underground electrical service installed in my home I am building. The power company strongly discouraged me from running secondary voltage (singles phase 240V) longer than 100 feet underground from the transformer. They recommended running primary voltage underground to a...

These "stink" pipes as you call them are in fact the vents for your plumbing system. One of two things is happening now. First, the vents are not completely blocked and you are filling your attic with sewer gas. Depending on what type of sewer you have, you can be building up methane gas in...

Either galvanized or black iron work well for gas. Galv is usually more expensive. I have run a lot of galv, but exponentially more in black iron. Nowadays intermediate pressure copper is used more and more with regulators at every fixture. I don't like/trust the regulators in the house...

When I layed out the downstairs bathroom in our house, I located it beside a set of stairs and ended up with a 54" wide alcove for the throne. It bothered me that it was so wide and I considered framing in a dead space beside the toilet on one side. Instead, I opted for a 12" deep built-in...

I wouldn't use hot lead to pour a joint at all. No need really. If you need to redo a hub connection, you would use oakum as before and lead wool. You push the lead wool into the joint and use a compaction tool (looks like a chisel with a blunt curved blade) to hammer the lead wool into a...