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The previous owners of my house turned the three season porch into an all season porch. Unfortunately, there is no insulation under the maple flooring. underneath the floor is a stairway from the walkout basement. Every winter the floor feels ice cold and that area of the house won't stay...

I had to cut a few access holes in the new subfloor in my new attic bath to make a few changes. I will be using 12 x 12" porcelain tiles on the floor. My contractor suggests that I need to add a second layer of 1/2" plywood screwed in over the first, then a layer of cement board or other...

My drywall company installed green board in my new bathroom ceiling. I've got a showerhead in the ceiling and it won't be tiled. My contractor insists that greenboard should not be installed in a ceiling because it will sag. Has anyone heard of that before? Is it really a problem...

I have a second floor attic that we just dormered out with four dormers. It's not a huge space (we have a bungalow) but it's a fair amount of drywalling. We also want to resurface the ceilings of three rooms below that were damaged in the construction above it. I've called several...

Two things happened the other day: 1) huge rainstorm 2) my main vent pipe in the house was stuffed with a rag by a construction crew in the attic. And I guess a third thing, the basement shower started to leak sewer gas. I put a wet rag over the drain and the smell went away. The toilet...

Two questions: 1) I need to tee into my copper supply lines in the basement and then send it up to my new attic bath. I have a good spot picked out to tee in. How do I measure and cut for the tee? Do I just mark the new tee and then subtract 1/2" for the tee to fit over the existing cut...

I have a really small bath in my basement and it has not exhaust fan. It gets pretty steamy in there when you shower. I usually just turn on a fan on the floor when I'm done to get some air circulating. I was considering putting in an exhaust fan when I ran across an add for a "ductless"...

I've tapped into my main vertical stack, but a second zoning issue is delaying much of my rennovations. This gives me time to consider how best to build my new dwv system to make for an easy testing by the inspector. I'm going to post some pictures of my proposed system, but here are my...

Keep an eye on your wife. Mine was cutting her hair recently and made a huge pile of hair in the bathroom sink. I asked if she was planning on putting that hair down the drain. She said, "no, of course not. The drain is closed." So I just said to make sure it goes in the trash. Guess...

I'm putting up some wall mounted shelves in my basement tool room. The walls are painted brick and what looks like cinderblock. What's my best bet for an anchor? Tapcon? Thanks.

As I mentioned, I made a mistake when removing a cut piece of cast iron in my stack. A piece of pipe fell into the drain. It was about six inches from the wye in the concrete slab so I though I could just reach in and pull it out. But it wasn't there when I reached in. Anyway, I sent my...

Well, thanks to everyone who helped me. It's done. I used ratcheting chain cutter. $14 to rent. I used riser clamps (still there) and other supports. The cuts were remarkably easy. Some have referred to cutting vertical cast iron pipes as "masochism." I can't imagine why. Luckily...

I'm getting ready to rent one - probably this week - to cut into my 4" stack. Seems like a chain cutter has a chain with cutting wheels that you tighten and then rotate around the pipe, then retighten in the same groove, etc., until the pipe is cut, much like a regular tube cutter. So how does...

any suggestions? Is the dewalt cordless any good?

Can't find any. I really only went to Lowes. Does anyone know if Home Depot carries them? I did a google search for plumbing supply stores in my area and came up empty. Maybe the yellow pages is better. Where did everyone else get them? thanks.

1) What's the difference between schedule 40 PVC and, well, regular PVC that I might find at Lowes? I was looking online at a plumbing supply store for a 4 x 4 x 3" wye to use on my basement stack with no hub couplings. I noticed that the online store only sold schedule 40, 4" x 4" x 3" Wyes...

Just wondering how it works. A closer look at my stack reveals that the closet bend transitions from 3" cast iron to 4" cast iron with an old fashioned lead and oakum joint. I've heard some horror stories about making the donuts fit with a cast iron hub to pvc, so I'm wondering about the...

A couple of fellow DIY'ers, mostly old timers, have strongly cautioned me about consulting my plumbing inspector prior to beginning my work. I was planning on discussing my design with the inspector and seeing what he wanted to see. The warning was that some inspectors simply don't want to...

Other than properly supporting pipes that are above, any tips for cutting C.I. vertical waste stack with snap cutters? I have already built a soffit around the pipe and will use steel riser clamps above and below the cut. Any tips for measuring or cutting if I'm going to use a 3 x 3 x 3" PVC...

Just planning here. I will eventually run a 3" drain line to a vertical cast iron stack in the basement. The basement stack has cast iron plumbing above it for a bathroom and the goes through the roof. This plumbing is well supported, but I plan on providing more support before cutting the...