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So an answer to my earlier question about Ontario code and windows. A home design should have an overall insulation rating in order to be built. Depending on your level of insulation, windows, and heating source your home will either be allowed to be built or not. The climate zone that you're in is also going to be a factor as well. So the answer is, triple pane is likely going to be mandatory in Canada for new construction outside Southern Ontario and the Vancouver area. To add to this, sliding windows are probably on the way out as well since their insulation factor is much less than casement windows. Renovations that are not structural will still be able to use double pane windows as you're just maintaining the insulation status quo.
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Jan 6, 2021 00:14
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So my bathroom looks like this: and I'm looking into installing a Toto washlet (something like this). But it needs power, and alas the outlet by the door is the only one. 1) How 'bad' is it to just run an extension cord from that outlet to the toilet? I know that technically extension cords are supposed to be for temporary use only. 2) If I were to run an extension cord, what would be the most practical way to do it? The options I see are:  a) run it under the mirror (blue) b) run it under the lip of the counter (green) c) punch a couple of holes in the counter and run it behind the drawer/sink (red). c) definitely seems like the safest, but I don't know if I have the skill to do it properly. 3) If an electrician (or me) were to install an outlet by the toilet, how would it be done? I'm guessing a new power line would have to be run from the attic? The only other way seems to me to remove the mirror and try to run a line from the existing outlet behind it to the toilet. That seems like a somewhat big project... Anyone do something like this? I'm open to any ideas/suggestions!
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Jan 6, 2021 03:08
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floWenoL posted:a) run it under the mirror (blue) Running an extension cord through wall penetrations is not the safest thing to do. It's literally called out in the codes as worse then that thing you already know about, which is that extension cords are supposed to be for temporary use. floWenoL posted:3) If an electrician (or me) were to install an outlet by the toilet, how would it be done? I'm guessing a new power line would have to be run from the attic? The only other way seems to me to remove the mirror and try to run a line from the existing outlet behind it to the toilet. That seems like a somewhat big project... That depends on a lot, but base on the photos it seems relatively easy to get into the cabinet from the switch box and mount an outlet there with a run of MC or similar through it. That's not optimal, but it would be to most codes.
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Jan 6, 2021 03:26
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So I have an old timey house with a bunch of these door knobs: But they don't lock. I'd like to find just a couple replacement keyless locking ones for a bathroom and bedroom. I can't find any that look anywhere close to this. Do they make replacement hardware that I can replace the internals with a locking pin or is there a website that has more selection anyone knows of?
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Jan 6, 2021 03:31
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Motronic posted:Running an extension cord through wall penetrations is not the safest thing to do. It's literally called out in the codes as worse then that thing you already know about, which is that extension cords are supposed to be for temporary use. Ah, right, that's because any damage to the wire wouldn't be readily visible, and it might start a fire that's not immediately visible? quote:That depends on a lot, but base on the photos it seems relatively easy to get into the cabinet from the switch box and mount an outlet there with a run of MC or similar through it. That's not optimal, but it would be to most codes. Are you saying the new outlet would be in the cabinet below the existing one? Or would it be below the mirror?
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Jan 6, 2021 03:31
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floWenoL posted:Ah, right, that's because any damage to the wire wouldn't be readily visible, and it might start a fire that's not immediately visible? Yes, exactly that. This is why you aren't supposed to send extension calbe through wall penetrations. floWenoL posted:Are you saying the new outlet would be in the cabinet below the existing one? Or would it be below the mirror? I mean, I dunno for sure because I can't actually see it. But here's a reasonable first idea:  Opne a hole through the cabinet on the wall with the green line. Fish that stud bay to the existing outlet. Now you have constant power. Put a box in the cabinet over there with a plate that terminates in a connector for shielded cable (that can be run outside of walls). Cut a box-shaped hole where the red arrow ends. Or whever makes it convenient. Install a box. Connect shielded cable to that box. Loom and attach as appropriate through the cabinet. Install an outlet in the box, plug in your asscleaner. There are a ton of other "if this then that" questions that need to figured out along the way so if this is totally foreign to you should hire a professional. Motronic fucked around with this message at 03:41 on Jan 6, 2021 |
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Jan 6, 2021 03:39
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And obviously if you aren't comfortable with that, call an electrician. But generally that (or something like it) is what an electrician would do- tap into the above outlet to put one in the cabinet. Small hole in the bottom corner of the cabinet with some sort of protected cable to plug it in.
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Jan 6, 2021 03:43
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KKKLIP ART posted:Small hole in the bottom corner of the cabinet with some sort of protected cable to plug it in. No. Just no. It's line voltage. It would be a proper outlet in a box appropriately attached to the cabinet. Unless it was a direct wire device in which case it would still be a full box appropriately attached to the cabinet with an appropriate wire attachment for the direct connection.
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Jan 6, 2021 03:46
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What's on the other side of the wall from the toilet/vanity/mirror?
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Jan 6, 2021 04:01
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PainterofCrap posted:What's on the other side of the wall from the toilet/vanity/mirror? I mean...it's a hallway or a bedroom wall, closet at best. But comedy option it's an unfinished basement.
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Jan 6, 2021 04:02
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Motronic posted:I mean...it's a hallway or a bedroom wall, closet at best. Possibly with a receptacle. A hell of a lot quicker, safer & easier to punch it through.
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Jan 6, 2021 04:06
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PainterofCrap posted:Possibly with a receptacle. A hell of a lot quicker, safer & easier to punch it through. Ohhh...good point. I'm being so cynical as usual.
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Jan 6, 2021 04:06
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Motronic posted:Opne a hole through the cabinet on the wall with the green line. Fish that stud bay to the existing outlet. Now you have constant power. Put a box in the cabinet over there with a plate that terminates in a connector for shielded cable (that can be run outside of walls). Cut a box-shaped hole where the red arrow ends. Or whever makes it convenient. Install a box. Connect shielded cable to that box. Loom and attach as appropriate through the cabinet. Install an outlet in the box, plug in your asscleaner. Ah, I see, thanks for the explanation! Yeah, this is pretty out of my depth as expected, so if I were to do this I'd hire someone. PainterofCrap posted:What's on the other side of the wall from the toilet/vanity/mirror? On the other side of the right side of the mirror, it's the house's central heater, and on the other side of the rest it's a bedroom closet with only an overhead light. So there's power going into the heater, but I think tapping into that would probably best be done by an electrician too, instead of me.
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Jan 6, 2021 04:39
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I’ve done exactly what Motronic described (in a rental lol) to get my rear end cleaner working and looking nice since it was a main floor bathroom. I feel for you.
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Jan 6, 2021 05:12
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I bought a house last month and a couple of the outlets only half work. I got a socket tester and they read as being 'open hot'. I had a few other larger electrical issues I had an electrician take care of but I was hoping this was something small enough to do on my own. I'm mostly wondering if I'd be better off just buying new receptacles and replacing them rather than (if it is indeed the issue) just re-attaching a loose wire.
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Jan 6, 2021 10:36
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First thing is to see if/how many of those receptacles are on the same circuit. Then, trace one back, you'll probably find a junction box somewhere with crappy twists under the wire nut. Or a few of them
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Jan 6, 2021 17:08
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Blackchamber posted:I bought a house last month and a couple of the outlets only half work. I got a socket tester and they read as being 'open hot'. I had a few other larger electrical issues I had an electrician take care of but I was hoping this was something small enough to do on my own. I'm mostly wondering if I'd be better off just buying new receptacles and replacing them rather than (if it is indeed the issue) just re-attaching a loose wire. When you say the outlets 1/2 work--is the bottom outlet working and the top outlet not working? If that is the case--your house is wired for window lights. There is a switch somewhere that controls the top outlets. The idea being you put the Christmas candle lights in each window during the holidays and when you go to bed, you have one switch to control all the lights. Here is a video talking about open hots. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZrWZ-d8By5k
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Jan 6, 2021 17:10
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PainterofCrap posted:First thing is to see if/how many of those receptacles are on the same circuit. HycoCam posted:I am hoping you don't have a bunch of open hots--that would be both really dangerous and strange to have more than one. To create an open hot, the black wire/hot wire has to become disconnect from the outlet/break and is now floating around in the box not attached to anything. When I was buying the house the breaker box was inspected and found much of the wiring was doubled up on breakers that aren't designed for that (I didn't know they had ones that are until then) and the sump pump and the garage door were both being powered by electrical cords strung to outlets elsewhere. I made the owner remedy the breaker panel and fix a few other things. The other day I hired an electrician to install outlets for the garage opener and the sump pump that would be to code. He was a great guy who when adding the new breakers offered to change a few things for free (make the whole house circuit breaker more visible by moving it) and he also fixed an outlet in the garage that as Painter suggested was wired poorly at a junction and causing it not to work, again for free. Obviously I am having him back again for some upgrades I have planned. I do have a few outlets that are window lights connected to a switch. There are a couple others I either haven't been able to find a switch for or are indeed open hot. The receptacle tester isn't foolproof I know, so I figured the next step would be to flip the breaker off and open them up for inspection. If they aren't actually open hot then I have one more suspect (checking junctions under some ceiling fans I think the p.o. installed). Failing all that I'll just add figuring what the deal is to the electrician's to-do list. I was thinking of swapping out some of the receptacles for newer ones anyways to give them the USB charging port ones.
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Jan 6, 2021 17:56
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If by "open hot" you mean it's not lit up, that's not necessarily a receptacle or wiring issue. It means there's no power. So the breaker could be off, or somewhere a GFCI is tripped. Or as Hycocam said, if one plug on a receptacle isn't working, it's probably switched. I think it's generally the advice of experts that the built in USB receptacles are a bad buy. They're not necessarily well designed, and when it dies you have to change the whole thing out. They're also bulky compared to a regular receptacle and can be a PITA to install. Better off just using high quality wall warts.
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Jan 6, 2021 19:17
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angryrobots posted:If by "open hot" you mean it's not lit up, that's not necessarily a receptacle or wiring issue. It means there's no power. So the breaker could be off, or somewhere a GFCI is tripped. Or as Hycocam said, if one plug on a receptacle isn't working, it's probably switched. Well that sucks about the usb outlets. Not always having to have a dedicated charger for the bedroom would have been nice. Like I said I had the electrician doing work so after both of us going over the circuit breakers together I don't think any are any breakers off but I'll check again today. The only gfci outlets in the place are in rooms that were remodeled so in the master bedroom there aren't any at all. So unless it's the junction above the ceiling fan I am at a loss what to check first then. There is only one light switch in the room and it's always turned on because it's linked to that ceiling fan.
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Jan 6, 2021 19:43
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I gotcha. I was just mentioning that, because it makes sense to start at the simplest solution. Something else to think about is that generally speaking, the receptacles are daisy chained. I mention that because of what you said about the ceiling fan. I wouldn't assume that the power for the receptacle with an issue comes straight from the ceiling fan junction box. If one receptacle in a room isn't working, my first move would be to pop the cover off and make sure it isn't a bad connection right there (bad backstab or pigtail). Next would be to see how many conductors are entering the box and try to figure out how the circuit is run, and start pulling off more covers to eliminate other bad connection locations, while mapping the circuit(s) as I go. That part is where deduction and experience help. If you have a decent electrician on site already, it may be worthwhile to pay them to troubleshoot it and observe.
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Jan 6, 2021 20:17
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Blackchamber posted:Well that sucks about the usb outlets. Not always having to have a dedicated charger for the bedroom would have been nice.
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Jan 6, 2021 20:33
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Been watching more videos on youtube about trouble shootingangryrobots posted:Something else to think about is that generally speaking, the receptacles are daisy chained. I mention that because of what you said about the ceiling fan. I wouldn't assume that the power for the receptacle with an issue comes straight from the ceiling fan junction box. If one receptacle in a room isn't working, my first move would be to pop the cover off and make sure it isn't a bad connection right there (bad backstab or pigtail). Next would be to see how many conductors are entering the box and try to figure out how the circuit is run, and start pulling off more covers to eliminate other bad connection locations, while mapping the circuit(s) as I go. That part is where deduction and experience help. And this is something that got mentioned. See whats daisy chained and how, and how outlets can fail just do to age/deterioration that can cause arcing until it just plain doesn't work. I was mistaken though about the remodeled places having GFCI outlets. I was over at the house today putzing around and realized that the bathroom which has 4 outlets in one box isn't and its right next to the sink, which doesn't seem an ideal combo. The bathroom renovation isn't even that old something like 2018 or so when a skylight leaked and they went ahead and replaced the entire roof, one of two places they actually spent money on, with class 4 shingles since we do get hail here occasionally (hooray garage to hide my car finally).
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Jan 7, 2021 11:57
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A 2-3" section of grout keeps coming out of my plank tile floor. Obviously one of the tiles didn't get enough thinset. I really, really don't want to take it out and replace it. Is there any other option. http://imgur.com/a/9cDVSIV (HDR makes the tile and grout look strange, but the only problem area is where it's coming out)
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Jan 7, 2021 21:27
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regulargonzalez posted:A 2-3" section of grout keeps coming out of my plank tile floor. Obviously one of the tiles didn't get enough thinset. I really, really don't want to take it out and replace it. Is there any other option. Easiest? Color matched caulk.
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Jan 8, 2021 00:55
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So I built a backyard rink. I don't think there's any sub-forums here that deal with that specifically, so I'm hoping someone here has some experience with it. This is my first time building one. My issue is there appears to be a crack running the entire width of the ice, but it's not breached the surface yet. Any idea if this is normal, or catastrophic, or somewhere in between?   We skated on it for a few hours today, weather was like 38-39F. I just resurfaced it now that the temp dipped to 32.
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Jan 8, 2021 02:01
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AFewBricksShy posted:Easiest? Color matched caulk. That's pretty genius but I'll never be able to match the color
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Jan 8, 2021 03:44
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Anyone know how much class 2 road/paver base compacts? I saw 25% somewhere?
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Jan 8, 2021 04:10
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FogHelmut posted:Anyone know how much class 2 road/paver base compacts? I saw 25% somewhere? Enough that I what I’d picked up a plate compactor instead of doing it by hand all summer long SouthShoreSamurai posted:So I built a backyard rink. No idea how to help you, but this is pretty drat cool! Is there any kind of heat exchanger involved?
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Jan 8, 2021 04:40
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OSU_Matthew posted:Enough that I what I’d picked up a plate compactor instead of doing it by hand all summer long I have a plate compactor, I just need to know how deep it should be before I get to my compacted depth.
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Jan 8, 2021 05:05
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regulargonzalez posted:That's pretty genius but I'll never be able to match the color If you don't know the grout color you should be able to get a grout color chart and match it. I'm pretty sure you can get them at any of the big box stores, if not try a local tile supplier.
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Jan 8, 2021 12:21
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Any quick tips on identifying what piece of my furnace makes a super loud bang noise as it heats up and cools down and ways to reduce the sound? Our new dog is pretty sensitive and it freaks him out every time it happens. 
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Jan 8, 2021 16:41
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Harold Fjord posted:Any quick tips on identifying what piece of my furnace makes a super loud bang noise as it heats up and cools down and ways to reduce the sound? Our new dog is pretty sensitive and it freaks him out every time it happens. Can you record this bang so we can identify it could be lots of things. Maybe your fan isn't secured and when it spins up it's banging Sheetmetal and then centers when it gets up to speed? Motor may be off the mounts so it's clunking around when starting up. Maybe a squirrel is hanging out in there and running away when the heat turns on and hitting his head somewhere in your vents. Id' check fan/ motor / pulleys first as those are the larger moving mechanical parts in a furnace, and I'd not expect relays or the gas actuator to cause enough of a noise to scare the dog.
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Jan 8, 2021 16:50
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Oh I strongly suspect based on the timing that it is an expansion/contraction shape change of something due to temp, like when my lovely cookie sheet pops in the oven. But I'll try and get a recording
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Jan 8, 2021 18:31
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AFewBricksShy posted:If you don't know the grout color you should be able to get a grout color chart and match it. Problem is I mixed three colors together to match the tile. I know the recipe I used so I guess theoretically I can buy the three matching colors of caulk and mix them.
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Jan 8, 2021 18:56
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regulargonzalez posted:Problem is I mixed three colors together to match the tile. I know the recipe I used so I guess theoretically I can buy the three matching colors of caulk and mix them. I'd just get whatever is closest and go with that. Mixing grout colors is a new one to me.
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Jan 8, 2021 19:40
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Harold Fjord posted:Oh I strongly suspect based on the timing that it is an expansion/contraction shape change of something due to temp, like when my lovely cookie sheet pops in the oven. But I'll try and get a recording if it's "tin canning" or "Oil canning" then calling an Hvac guy to properly craft your ducts so they don't do that.. or reinforce where it's coming from. https://www.moneypit.com/fix-banging-furnace-ducts/
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Jan 9, 2021 01:24
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Any goons recs on a nylon(?) brush to chuck into a power drill to clean shower tile/grout lines? And also what cleaning liquid to use, just tilex?
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Jan 9, 2021 01:31
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tangy yet delightful posted:Any goons recs on a nylon(?) brush to chuck into a power drill to clean shower tile/grout lines? And also what cleaning liquid to use, just tilex? I've had good luck with a hydrogen peroxide based cleaner and just letting it sit. That was on the floor though. I think you can also do the same with a bleach gel and just trace out the lines.
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Jan 9, 2021 04:53
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If you go the bleach route, be very careful. I tried to clean our shower grout and wasn't paying attention and the bleach ran. Now we have bleached streaks on the tile and it looks worse.
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Jan 9, 2021 05:51
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