Moving an outlet and converting it into a gfi

I have a working receptacle that gas 3 romex wires connecting to it. Set 1 is a 14/2 and set 2 is 14/3 and set 3 is 14/2. The only hot wires are the red and black from set 2. Here is how the outlet is wired. Set 1 white is connected to bottom left of receptacle and black is connected to red of set 2. Set 2 white is connected to top left rear of the receptacle and black is connected to the top right of the receptacle. Set 3 white is connected to the top left and black is connected to the bottom right. My goal is tone remove this outlet and install a gfi about 3 feet higher.

Uber Canada’s hush-hush policy is standard stuff, say insurers

It turns out Uber Canada’s $5-million insurance policy, which it asked a judge to seal, is a standard, common agreement, according to the Insurance Bureau of Canada.

The Ultimate List of Product Hunt Collections for Marketers

Say you want to get started on a new marketing strategy—collecting customer research, or creating cool images, or measuring ROI.

Where do you go first to find the tools that’ll make your job as smooth as can be?

I often turn to listicles and roundups that bundle together a big handful of helpful tools. And this is maybe why I love Product Hunt’s collections so much. Their collections are user-generated tools lists that are easy to browse and simple to find just the tools that I need.

I’m happy to share with you some of my favorite collections, and I went ahead and turned many of the most popular Buffer tools posts into collections also. Hopefully for any social media marketing strategy you’re keen to try next, there’ll be some useful ideas here in these collections!

What is Product Hunt?

Product Hunt is a website where new digital products and tools are discovered and upvoted by a community of folks like me and you.

What is a Product Hunt collection?

A Product Hunt collection is a bundle of tools that have been mentioned on Product Hunt, bundled by a common theme.

12 Helpful Buffer Tools Collections

1. Create Beautiful Images for Social Media (collection)

Visuals have been a key part to our marketing strategy both on the Buffer blog and on social media. We’ve seen great engagement with our image tweets and updates, and we’re grateful for some really cool tools that make image creation easy and seamless. Our favorites are included here in this collection.

Tools featured here:

• Coolors
• Pablo
• Infogram
• The Pattern Library
• The Noun Project
• Placeit
• UnSplash
• Icon Finder
• Aviary
• Canva
• Subtle Patterns
• Over
• CloudApp
• Recite
• Skitch

For even more image creation tools, see our original post on the Buffer blog: 23 Tools and Resources to Create Images for Social Media

2. The $0 marketing stack (collection)

Free marketing tools get me quite excited. I love the chance to explore and experiment with a free tool to see how it can help me save time or supercharge my marketing efforts. The list of tools in this collection all represent free alternatives to popular paid tools.

Tools featured here:

• Charlie
• Hotjar
• Medium
• Google Analytics
• Buffer
• Sidekick
• Peek
• Segment
• SumoMe
• Canva
• Wistia
• Simply Measured

For even more Twitter tools, see the original post on the Buffer blog: The $0 Marketing Stack: Free Options to Popular Paid Services and Tools

3. Where to Find Great Content to Share (collection)

Finding great content can be key to a social media strategy if you’re into sharing articles and videos relevant to your brand. We’ve found a few great ways to discover these shareable bits of content, many of which we’ve listed here in this collection.

Tools featured here:

• Panda
• Medium
• Sidebar
• Flipboard
• Growth Hackers
• Daily
• NYT Now
• Inbound.org
• Nuzzel
• MediaREDEF
• BuzzSumo
• Quibb
• Prismatic
• Contently
• The Latest
• NextDraft
• LinkedIn Pulse
• News.me

For even more Twitter tools, see the original post on the Buffer blog: Always Have an Amazing Link to Share: 25 Newsletters and Tools to Discover Shareable Content and 17 Unique Places to Find Great Content to Share

4. Twitter tools (collection)

We recently refreshed the Twitter tools post on the Buffer blog to include the new tools that have come up since we first published, nearly two years ago. The article mentions 90 tools now (90!), and I’ve added many of the top ones to the Product Hunt collection here.

Tools featured here:

• Pablo
• Spruce
• Twindr
• Stats for Twitter
• Buffer
• SocialRank
• Mention
• TUNS
• Daily 140
• Rite Tag
• Hash
• Riffle
• Share as Image
• Nuzzel
• SocialCount
• TweetDeck
• BuzzSumo
• Twitshot
• Filta
• Twitteriffic
• Followerwonk
• Beatstrap
• The Latest
• SumAll
• Klout
• Keyhole
• Twilert
• Tagboard
• Seen
• SocialBro
• Tweriod
• Twurly
• Warble

For even more Twitter tools, see the original post on the Buffer blog: The Big List of Twitter Tools: 91 Free Twitter Tools and Apps to Fit Any Need

5. Facebook tools (collection)

We’ve enjoyed coming across useful Facebook tools here and there—tools that show you benchmark stats for your page, tools that reveal info into your follower demographics, and more. It seems that Twitter tools are a bit more ubiquitous than Facebook, yet there’re still a number of great ones here that can help boost your Facebook marketing.

Tools featured here:

• ShortStack
• AdRoll
• Agora Pulse
• Facebook Page Barometer
• EdgeRank Checker

Tools featured here:

For even more Twitter tools, see the original post on the Buffer blog: How to Run a Facebook Contest, Analyze Your Page, and More: 11 Ideal Facebook Tools for Marketers

6. Social media analytics tools (collection)

Measuring the performance of your social media posts is a strategy that can look any number of different ways. Whether strictly ROI focused or more loosely into engagement and sentiment, you can find a tool to track just about any analytics taste. Here are a few that we’ve found to be quite useful.

Tools featured here:

• Riffle
• Google Analytics
• Iconosquare
• Followerwonk
• Cyfe
• SumAll
• Klout
• Keyhole

For even more Twitter tools, see the original post on the Buffer blog: Know What’s Working on Social Media: 19 Free Social Media Analytics Tools

7. Customer research tools (collection)

This collection of tools is one near and dear to my heart, as I really enjoy the chance to reach out directly to your audience and get their feedback. The tools mentioned here include survey tools, heat maps, user testing, and more.

Tools featured here:

• Typeform
• Heat-Map
• Survmetrics
• SurveyPal
• User Testing
• Click Insights
• Qualaroo
• Survata
• Usability Tools
• Temper

For even more Twitter tools, see the original post on the Buffer blog: Get to Know Your Audience: 18 Incredibly Useful Market Research Tools

8. Best Free Tools for Small Businesses (collection)

What makes for a small business tools? It’s likely that a lot of the small business tools mentioned here are also used by big businesses as well. What makes these particular useful for the small biz is that these tools are free and easy-to-use. You can get up and running with these tools in little time and for little money.

Tools featured here:

• Pocket
• Buffer
• SocialRank
• Mention
• Flare
• Twtrland
• IFTTT
• Nutshell
• Rapportive
• Canva
• Tweetdeck
• BuzzSumo
• Followerwonk
• Shared Count
• Keyhole
• News.me
• Rival IQ
• Tweet4me
• Social Bro
• Tweriod

For even more Twitter tools, see the original post on the Buffer blog: The Big List of The 61 Best Social Media Tools for Small Business

9. Browser extensions (collection)

Saving time online is a key focus for us here on the Buffer marketing team. And one way we go about doing that is with some high-powered browser extensions. These are a few that we find particularly useful.

Tools featured here:

• Giphy
• Rite Tag
• Riffle
• Social Analytics
• Pocket
• Feedly Mini
• Bit.ly
• Evernote Web Clipper
• Instagram for Chrome

For even more Twitter tools, see the original post on the Buffer blog: The 15 Best Browser Extensions to Improve Your Social Media Marketing

10. Mobile apps and tools (collection)

It’s amazing the work you can get done from your phone. This collection of mobile apps offers a little bit of everything for the on-the-go digital marketer.

Tools featured here:

• Trello
• Flipboard
• Overcast
• Buffer for iOS and Android
• Evernote
• MailChimp Snap
• Mention
• Asana
• IFTTT
• Daily
• Aviary
• Facebook Paper
• Hipchat
• Over
• Nimble
• Prismatic
• Flow

For even more Twitter tools, see the original post on the Buffer blog: 45 Best Mobile Apps and Tools for Marketers: How to Manage Social Media From Anywhere

11. Blogging tools (collection)

We’re grateful for the chance to experiment with a lot of different types of tools here on the Buffer blog. Several tools are included in our daily workflows of brainstorming, researching, note-taking, writing, editing, publishing, and sharing. Here’s a collection of our favorites.

Tools featured here:

• Trello
• Hemingway
• Wunderlist
• Evernote
• KeywordTool.io
• Quora
• Todoist
• Grammarly
• Canva
• Share As Image
• Death to the Stock Photo
• Blog Topic Generator
• Desk App
• BuzzSumo
• Toggl
• Digg Digg
• Filament
• Egg Timer
• Meme Generator

For even more Twitter tools, see the original post on the Buffer blog: 39 Blogging Tools to Help You Work Faster, Write Better, and Land More Readers

12. SEO tools (collection)

How much time do you spend on SEO for your website or blog? We spend a few minutes per blog post, and this time is well spent thanks to the SEO tools on hand. This collection mentions some real time savers, and they can be used whether you’re an SEO expert or not.

Tools featured here:

• Nibbler
• Keywordtool.io
• SimilarWeb
• MozBar
• Google Trends Visualizer
• ahrefs
• Check My Links

For even more Twitter tools, see the original post on the Buffer blog: 21 Simple and Free SEO Tools to Instantly Improve Your Marketing

---

10 Useful Product Hunt Collections for Marketers

1. Free stuff for startups (collection)

A fun collection by Hiten Shah that covers 55+ free tools. It’s an incredibly exhaustive list, full of some of our favorite tools that we use every day here at Buffer, too.

2. 20 great podcasts for entrepreneurs (collection)

Not only a great list of podcasts for founders, but also a really useful list for anyone into learning about growing a business.

3. Personal assistant apps (collection)

Looking to offload some of your to-do list? These tools can help with a huge variety of items like research, scheduling, errands, and more.

4. Startup tool kit #4 (collection)

Each of Product Hunt’s Startup Tool Kit offerings has been really great (here’s a link to #1, #2, and #3), and for some reason #4 just really caught my eye. I’ve felt a yearning to try most every tool listed here, so maybe it’s a tug of wanderlust. You’ll note that these tool kits originally were intended as discounts or giveaways, and that some of the savings may have since expired.

5. Tools for marketers and growth hackers (collection)

This list of 34 tools covers a great range of marketing tasks, things like image creation, email newsletters, Twitter content, and more.

6. The 1,000 upvote club (collection)

Looking for the most popular Product Hunt products? They’re on this list, which collects only those products with 1,000 votes or more. Startup Stash holds the top spot with 3,000+ votes.

7. Newsletters you’ll love (collection)

Featuring 25 popular newsletters in the business and marketing scene, this collection makes it easy to find and discover a favorite new newsletter (or two).

8. To-do apps (collection)

For those looking to stay organized and on top of things, this collection has 27 ideas for new tools to try.

9. Tools for writers (collection)

This list of tools covers some really useful products that help with the writing process: word processors, ebook creators, dictionaries, and more.

10. Slack tools (collection)

If you use Slack to communicate with your team at work, there are some really neat integrations that can tie into your Slack rooms—things like brand monitoring, scheduling, live chat, and even Product Hunt notifications.

Bonus: Just for fun

Things for your desk (collection)

I don’t own anything from this list, but I’d love to! There’s stuff here like whiteboard laptop covers, mod notebooks, standing desks, and busy indicator lights.

Become a GIF master (collection)

Talk about an irresistible headline! I’d love to become a GIF master! There’re some really cool tools here like the Giphy Chrome extension and YouTube GIF Creator.

Over to you: What are your favorite products?

I’d be so excited to hear which products you most enjoy.

Which ones save you time?

Which ones do you use every day?

Feel free to leave any thoughts or tips here in the comments, and I’ll get right back to you!

Image sources: Pablo, Unsplash, IconFinder

The post The Ultimate List of Product Hunt Collections for Marketers appeared first on Social.

There is not enough thread left to tighten new faucet

Can anyone please give me any suggestions on attaching the water supply line to a new Moen faucet. I replaced my old vanity top with a new one & also am adding a new faucet & I have run into a snag. There is not enough thread left to attach the water supply line after screwing on the wing nut as tight as possible. The new vanity top is quite thick & once the wing nut that holds the faucet is tightened, there is not enough thread left to tighten the water line enough so it won't leak. Any suggestions please? Thanks

Properly cutting siding on gable.

I am on the home stretch of my siding project I have a 1 1/2 story home and all I have left is the one side of the house that is a full story and a half and the gable above my garage. I am ok with cutting my angles for my gable. My problem is I cant figure out how to cut my gable above the garage because I have the roof below and the roof above and I know that my siding has to remain straight and level and I would have to cut my angle at my roofline but I just cant seem to figure out how to do it for some reason. I know if someone can get me started I will be fine I just cant seem to figure it out.

Attached Images

25 Actionable Social Media Strategies You Can Implement Today [Free Ebook!]

We’re incredibly grateful to have the chance to learn from others and experiment for ourselves with what works best on social media.

And we’re so very happy to share our best strategies with you!

To collect all these favorite tips in one place, we’ve compiled our top 25 social media strategies into a free ebook that you can download below. We’ve included strategies for Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, and more—all of which you can implement today, in just a few minutes and just a few clicks.

Get your free copy of the Social Media Strategies ebook!

Read further for a full list of the strategies that are included as well as a sample page from the book.

25 Actionable Social Media Strategies You Can Implement Today

The full ebook includes 25 social media strategies that we’ve pulled from some of the most popular Buffer blog posts. Each of the 25 is something that we’ve personally tried or currently have on our to-do list. In every case, these are strategies that we greatly recommend trying. Here’s the full list:

1. Share the same content multiple times
2. Include an animated GIF in “thank you” tweets
3. Add to your Buffer in bulk
4. Move your social sharing buttons around (or get rid of ’em)
5. Use current events to boost your Facebook post visibility
6. Use BuzzSumo to see who’s sharing your content
7. Use a dummy account to save a reservoir of validated tweets and updates
8. Tweet to landing pages with specific asks
9. Include an image in your tweets
10. Ask questions
11. Organize accounts into Twitter lists
12. Enlist a group of supporters to engage with your content
13. Find and engage with influencers in your area
14. Get your team sharing with you and for you
15. Reserve your name on all social media platforms
16. Schedule routine drive-bys of your social media accounts
17. Respond to everyone
18. Go to your archives to share evergreen content.
19. Choose 1 to 3 areas of expertise
20. Use as many of these 7 Twitter bio tips as possible in your bio
21. Test your posting frequency. Here’re some ideas.
22. Create a 4:1 ratio of types of tweets/updates.
23. Hide your vertical Pinterest images in your articles by changing their height & width.
24. Sort your stats to find your best updates
25. How to show your boss or client the value of social media

A sample chapter from the book

This is the first chapter from the book: Tip #1 – Share the same content multiple times.

Each strategy is short and to-the-point, with an explanation on how to get started and why we’ve found the strategy to work.

What to do with all these strategies

One thing we love to mention with recommendations like these is to treat them more as inspiration rather than prescription. 

Use these strategies as the basis for your own experiments on social media rather than adopting them straight away as your new normal.

We’ve tried to keep this in mind as we test out new strategies here at Buffer, and it’s an area that I feel I can definitely keep improving. An example that comes to mind: We often hear that there are a few ideal times to publish social media updates during the day. And every time I hear these studies I seem to adjust my Buffer schedule straightaway. Turns out, few of these best times have ended up to be true for us. Our best times seem to be at non-peak hours or at different intervals of the day, given our international audience.

The takeaway: Test out these strategies for your social media plan, and continue on with the ones that work.

The strategies mentioned in this ebook are the ones that have worked for us—for whatever reason—and we think it’d be cool if they’d inspire you all to try new things or think outside the box.

And we’d love to hear back on how your experiments go!

Grab your free copy of the ebook. And send in your feedback!

Get your free copy of the Social Media Strategies ebook!

Ebooks are a new experiment for us also. We’d love to learn:

Is this type of content helpful for you?

Would you like us to do more?

I’d be so grateful to hear any thoughts or feedback here in the comments on whether you’d like us to continue to pursue more ebooks down the line. I know I’ve got lots of room to improve on the ebook front also, so any thoughts on your experience with this version would be so greatly appreciated!

The post 25 Actionable Social Media Strategies You Can Implement Today [Free Ebook!] appeared first on Social.

outdoor water tank concrete base

I have a 1025 gallon tank that I need to build a base for outside.

Dimensions of the tank are :

60" dia. x 90"H

Around how deep a square concrete base should I build to support it when full of water?

Thanks in advance.

Paul
Utah

Toro Wheelhorse deck leveling issue

I have a Toro Wheelhorse 14-38 HXL Lawn Tractor Model number is 71193 serial number 7904563 Here's my dilemma:

The front of the mower deck is about 1.5" lower than the rear. I've gone through the the steps in the manual for leveling. The front adjustment bolts are tightened all the way which is the highest possible setting. There isn't a rear adjustment mechanism. I'm hoping that someone out there has encountered this problem and would be willing to share their solution. thanks for looking!

Questions On Recalls

Looking at used cars on line and looking at the CarFax report. Some seem to have open recalls at least several years old. Do the dealers usually fix the problem for free even if the recall was four or five years ago?

Ceiling fan remote half working

I have a ceiling fan (pretty sure it's Hampton Bay, but can't check right now).
It has a remote that is installed between the fan wires and the ceiling wires.
It is also controlled by a wall switch. There are no pull chains at all on this model.
The fan has three speeds available via the remote and the light is dimmable via the remote.

After taking it down and reinstalling it following other electrical work, it works normally except the light will not turn on via the remote. I bypassed the remote (the blue light wire only) and it works fine. I can turn it on and off at the wall.

Is it possible that the remote receiver has failed somehow only for the light circuit? If so, is that repairable?

I can't keep it as is because I can't run the fan without the light being on, which doesn't work as it's a bedroom fan we'd like to have on overnight.

Thanks in advance.

Sprinkler - In-line valves

Hey all, so I am looking to convert from an Indexing Valve to InLine Valves. Im in FL if anyone is curious and no one uses inline valves here, only the indexing. Anyways I want more control so I am switching.

Anyhow.. my main questions are about if there are 'best practices' for building the manifold. My main thing is to make sure I can replace the valve down the road if needed without having to re-glue stuff

Also I see Orbit makes these Jar head valves (and the standard 8 screws ones). Are these any good? I dont mind spending a little more if it means less issues, especially if underground.

Thanks all!!

Spacing between posts for chain link fence gate

So, I bought a 48inch x 48inch gate for my chain link fence. Everything I read about fence gates says they are made to fit in the stated width with hinges and hardware attatched. So the gate, which measures about 44 1/4 inches should fit in a gap that is 48 inches. Well, I've got the gap beteeen posts set to 48 inches but after putting in the gate, hinges, and fork latch, there isn't enough room for the latch to go down! Is there smaller hinges or hardware to fix this, or something I'm not doing correctly?

circuit amps for microwave and ac

Is 20 amps enough for a 1100 watt countertop microwave and a 8000 btu 7amp window ac unit?

We have had a 1000 watt microwave on that circuit with the window ac for a year now and the microwave over heated and shut off yesterday. The fuse box did not flip though and have never had it flip. I think the microwave just failed on it's own since the room it's in is almost 90 degrees.

Anyways, it got me thinking whether I'm over loading this circuit and maybe I should get a smaller microwave. What do you think?

Deck joist and ledger questions

Hello. I'm working on fixing up my deck. Frankly, I would like to tear it down and have it rebuilt, but the cost is prohibitive. So, I'm trying to extend its life for a few years by replacing the decking and repairing railings.

The original decking was plywood, and was crumbling when we bought the house. The joists underneath appear to be sound, with no indication of rot. However, they're aligned parallel to the ledger board and house, which I've never seen before. Coming off the ends of the ledger are 2x10 rim joists, and the deck's joists are run between those. Additionally, the previous decking was screwed into the top of the ledger. There was no flashing on the ledger, which I intend to correct. But then if I screw into the ledger again, it defeats the purpose of the flashing. I'm thinking about hanging another joist a few inches from the ledger to fasten in to instead. Thoughts on this whole situation?

Secondly, the ledger seems to have styrofoam sheathing behind it. It seems to be fastened to the house by means of about 6 lag screws, and nails. There is no basement access to the house's rim joist in that area to use through-bolts. The 6 lag screws doesn't seem like it's enough for a ledger length of about 12 feet. Should I liberally connect some more lag screws, LedgerLoks, etc?

Again, I know I'm doing a half-arsed job on this, and it's torturing me to do it halfway. I'm trying to buy a couple of years before I can afford a proper replacement.

Laminate flooring and bullnose doorway ?

ok so carpets all ripped up and im ready to lay laminate on my slab with a vapor barrior.

but how do i handle this?

iv got no problem cutting around the bullnose with expansion gap but im worried about how to cover that gap.

doesnt look like ill be able to use trim in this area

what are everyones thoughts?

Help with floor joist cutting

Hi, new to forum and need some help with installing kitchen vent ducting. I need to install a kitchen hood for an island cooktop. The bracket to hold the hood will straddle a floor joist. The bracket needs to be recessed up in between the joists and I was thinking about doing a plumbers box but the vent needs to go through the box...so I'm kind of stuck there. I'm wondering if the header that has to have the vent going through it if I could sister it with either one or two additional pieces or use a flitch type construction for it, if that would give sufficient strength? Even putting additional braces between the cut joist and the adjoining trimmer for the vent run. The CFM of the vent requires an 8" round duct. The joists are 2X10 and one of the planned trimmers is already sistered. So the header on the joist closest to the outside wall would have to a have the hole cut into one half of it.

Thanks for any help or ideas.
Yank

Air conditioner

I just got a new wall split air conditioner (KFR-50GW - 18000 btu) installled and i've noticed that it runs much louder than it supposed to. On my iPhone it says 69DB at LOW (was supposed to be max 45 at HIGH). I know it's a cheap brand and didn't expect it to last 15 years, but it's just way too loud. Is that normal behaviour with cheap brands?

Also, they installed a water drainage pipe to bring water to the ground, but i see a lot of water drops on my balcony. I will call them back, but i'm sure they'll try to convince me it's perfectly normal.

Any advice?

Thanks

Olivia Chow launches federal run for NDP in Spadina-Fort York

‘Toronto is Canada’s most important city. Only when Toronto is strong, is Canada strong,’ NDP leader Tom Mulcair said as Chow announced her challenge to Adam Vaughan.

Help with wiring outdoor patio

Is one 14/2 wire enough to run power to 2 ceiling fan/lights, a 3rd light, and 3 outlets... or do I have to make 3 separate runs? Do I need to put additional fuses in the box to run it (or them)? Also, if i run from the 3 switches, to the 3 outlets, then to the lights... will the outlets only work if the lights are on? Thanks, in mid project and don't want to burn the house down.

200AMP 240Volt panel multimeter reading don't seem right.

I just got a new electric dryer and I wired everything up and the dryer throws an error code indicating not enough power for the heater. So I grabbed my multimeter and opened up the panel. When I test one pole with a multimeter I get 120v the other pole I get about 90v when I test between both poles I get no reading at all. These readings are from the main coming into my panel not a breaker. Is there anything you can recommend or does this sound like something my electric company needs to address?

Temporary service being setup for cabin

Howdy, Hopefully I can explain this properly...we are in the pre build stages of having a 40 x 16 cabin built on our lake property. The cabin is one that can be hauled and delivered however due to the location and terrain, it's being built on location.
In speaking with the power company rep, once I told them it was a normally prefabbed unit but was being built and set permanent, they said they won't do a permanent service drop and it will be a temp service, however it can remain forever as far as they are concerned. ....so it will most likely be a 100 amp temp drop to a pole on the lot. I had planned for 100 amp conventional electric inside the cabin but unless I win my plea this friday, it's gonna be temp.
How can I go about plugging in my cabin so to speak? Is there a 100 amp receptacle I can put on the post and then plug into when we are there to supply 100 amps to a normal breaker. .sub panel inside the cabin? I need a few circuits so I want to retain an array of breakers. Anyone dealt with this mess before? I really need to know my options before I meet with them Friday in case this is a deal breaker.
thanks for your time!

Looking for bulbs for recessed step lights.

I just moved into a home with step lights on the interior staircase. I unscrewed the panel to see what kind of bulb I needed (expecting to find burned out bulbs since they wouldn't turn on) but there weren't bulbs. I can't tell what kind of bulb this is looking for - what you see in the picture is unfamiliar to me (and was to the person at the hardware store).

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How to test for presence of the primer or paint

To make it short, not :help:

I hired a guy to fix some window trim around the house, he recommended another guy - painter to repaint the house.
I bought two 5gal buckets of Behr exterior primer and two 5gal buckets of Behr flat paint, both tinted Navajo White. I think this is my possibly second "mistake", should have tinted the primer a slightly different color so I could see the coverage...
Unfortunately I was unable to see when the work was started, only when it's halfdone.
Looking around the edges of the aluminum trim, I see very little "paint" thickness on the surface. According to the painter he has done two coats, i.e. primer and the paint, but he only started on Friday with one helper and it's a barely 1000 sq ft house, one story though.
Is there some distinctive feature of the primer I can test for? Or can I prove there is either primer or paint on the surface?
I know, I should have been there, but the guy started work on Friday without even telling me he has started :(
I hate to be so paranoid, but I also would hate to have to hunt the guy down if the paint starts peeling off shortly...

Thanks in advance!

Drilling tiny hole into a load bearing jack post

I have a load bearing jack post in my kitchens island. I ordered a granite counter and one way to have it installed is to lower the top part of the metal jack post into the other but I need a way to stop it before it fully goes into the bottom part or else I won't be able to bring back up again.

So I was thinking of making 2 tiny holw at the top in order to fasten 2 screws to hold it from going fully into the bottom.

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hardwood floor over laminate

Recently I installed ¾ x 3”oak hardwood floor throughout most of my home. The sub-floor is ¾ T&G plywood to which I added 1/2 plywood to the floor so I could go parallel to the joists. I have two smaller bedrooms that I am about to do the same unless …. Both rooms have a laminate (Pergo?) floor installed 20 years ago that is at the same level as the sub-floor with the added 1/2 plywood. My question is can I install the ¾ x 3”oak hardwood floor over the laminate or do I have to rip it up?

Thanks!

Vista 21ip Can't Get Bell To Activate Relay

I just replaced my 12 yr old Brinks alarm panel with a new Vista 21ip based system. The conversion was relatively painless and I have everything working except the siren. The Brinks system used 2 small speakers and because of the placement of those (vaulted ceiling which is hard to get to and would require painting/touch up if replaced with something of a different shape) I decided to keep them and use a Moose MPI-11 siren driver. I do not know the specifications of those speakers - they were connected in series to the Brinks panel "siren" terminal.

After hooking up the MPI-11 I tested it against the AUX (terminal 5) port and the siren sounded fine. Connected to the bell output, however, produced nothing during an alarm condition. I assumed the bell output did not have enough power to drive the audio board - so I installed an Altronix RB1224 relay set in 12VDC mode. Here are my connections:

Bell (terminal 3) -> Relay board pos+
GND (terminal 4) -> Relay board neg-
AUX (terminal 5) -> Relay board Common 1
GND (terminal 4) -> MPI-11 ground
Relay board NO 1 -> MPI-11 steady+

If I disconnect the wire from the bell and touch it to AUX (terminal 5) the siren goes off great. However, when connected to bell, the siren still does nothing when it should be sounding. Putting a meter across bell (3) and GND (4) shows 13.5VDC steady when the alarm is sounding and .5VDC when the alarm is off.

Am I doing something wrong? Any ideas on what might be the issue or how to troubleshoot further? I don't have any compatible sirens to try but I guess I could buy one to verify the Vista board alarm actually works at all. Also the entire system is brand new, including the 12V 7AH battery (which tests at >13VDC with a meter for what it's worth).

Thanks in advance for any help. I called Honeywell tech support but apparently they don't like DIYers as they refused to talk to me as an end user. Good times ;)

Rheem Washable Air Filter - 12.75x21x1

Hi all,

My mother's AC system has Rheem RBHA-14A00NFAA air handlers. The filter is a 12.75x21x1 washable type. Those don't appear to be very effective and I can't even seem to find replacement ones to buy.

I did find these:
Accumulair™ Gold 12.75x21x1 (Actual Size) MERV 8 Air Filter/Furnace Filters. Will these work OK?

The unit is in a 4' crawl space that is not easy to get to (AC retrofit into old house a long time ago), so it involves a lot of squatting, ducking, crawling, etc to get to the filter. My thought is that it will be much easier to just go down with a new filter, swap, discard the old.. rather than go down, take out the filter, crawl out, wash it, crawl back in to install it.

33 TTC bus and streetcar route services to be improved

TTC chair John Colle and Mayor John Tory announced the improvements that will start September.

Ex-city hall power broker Jeff Lyons dead at 75

Former TTC chair and lobbyist was tarred in MFP scandal.

Vista 20P + AD12612 - One transformer or two?

I am adding keypads to my Vista 20P (Tuxedos). So I got the AD12612 and ordered the 1361X transformer for it. I have read mixed results on whether I should use 2 transformers, the 1321 to power the pannel and 1361 to power the AD12612, or just use the 1361 to power both.

Any advice on this would be appreciated. Thanks!

Ufer and Grounding Rods

Hi Guys -

New member here and I wanted to ask a question. I've had some issues with the electric on my new house, let me break it down for better understanding.

1) We had copper running directly to the Ufer without any issues. Someone came and stole the copper so it failed the first inspection.

2) They ran 2 grounding rods (since a direct connection to the Ufer couldn't be made) and the inspector failed it again. He said it needed to go to the Ufer.

3) They removed the grounding rods and spliced together two pieces of copper to the Ufer. The inspection passed.

4) Our 3rd party inspector said he recommended adding one continues piece of copper to the two grounding rods. He then recommend that we splice the copper from the Ufer to the first grounding rod.

5) Please check out the pictures and let me know if this is sufficient and safe.

If you look at Pictures 1-6 that tells the story from start to finish

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Losing Outlets - Open Neutral

I've been in my house 10 years. During a new flooring project, I moved the refrigerator (and everything else into the garage). The refrigerator worked fine for two weeks, then the outlet stopped working. I have an electrical tester and it said open neutral. The next week, the outside outlet stopped working, and it said open neutral. Then the bathroom outlets stopped working and all three say open neutral now. Most of the outlets that stopped working are GFCI. What could be going on and how to fix it? Yes, I tried resetting all of the outlets.

Olivia Chow closer to launching federal comeback

The former MP and failed Toronto mayoral candidate is expected to announce her candidacy next week, sources say.

Rheem water heater w/ Honeywell

So we had a flood. Sadly the water heater was under 2' of water for a few days.

I took the Honeywell controler apart to find the board pretty green. Ordered a new valve/controller and installed it.

Turned on the water heater, inducer fan started and the auto spark was sparking away, but no flame.

Took burner completely out and blew out the pilot tube and main gas line with the air compressor and reinstalled. Same outcome.

Led flashes 6 times to indicate flame failure.

The LED doesn't indicate any issues with the flammable vapor sensor.

What would cause a brand new valve to not allow pilot gas to flow?

Tory, Wynne dig in on Scarborough subway despite money and ridership concerns

At a Queen's Park press conference on Wednesday, Mayor John Tory said the train has "left the station" on the Scarborough subway.

Microwave Trips GFCI

I have a 700 watt countertop microwave (from 2002) plugged into a three-prong GFCI in my kitchen. For the past few weeks the GFCI will trip when I use the microwave. I have been pressing the reset button and the microwave will work for a while, and then it trips again. I am concerned because it has been tripping daily for the past few days so I thought I'd ask for opinions. (I know nothing about electricity.) Nothing else is plugged into that outlet, only the microwave.

I tested the outlet by pressing the test button, which turns the green indicator light off, and then pressing the reset button which turns the green light on again. Does this mean that the outlet itself is OK? Is it likely that the microwave is going bad? I don't want to call an electrician if the problem is the microwave.

Should I switch the microwave to a different GFCI outlet and see if the same thing happens? I appreciate any feedback on this as it is kind of stressing me out!

new subfloor joist and subfloor support

Hi all,
I was reviewed by a home inspector and told that a new subfloor joist and subfloor support needs to be installed, due to previous moisture damage.
There is no floor sagging.
Two questions:
1. Since there is no sagging, I understand that I can just sister a new joist against the existing one, and it doesnt need to span the entire length. is that true? So this means it doesnt need to rest (either side) on a post, it just needs to be fastened to the old one?

2. I can't find what "subfloor support" means. I can go back to the inspector and ask him what that means, but figured maybe someone here would know and reply sooner.

thanks a lot in advance for any advice
Scott

how vulnerable is my pc with a/v and firewall off?

I'm using a pc for my plex media server and the only time its connecting to the internet is to update plex. The pc is windows 7 but it's bare bones and struggles to run plex so I've shut off windows update and turned off my antivirus and firewall to save resources until I can afford a new pc. I'm not even behind a router firewall at this point. How vulnerable is my pc?

If I do light browsing with it, how vulnerable am I then? I do use web of trust and am super cautious on what I click on.

Thanks

Yamaha Golf Cart

Our 1987 Yamaha G2A Golf cart quit running. We removed the fuel pump and cleaned it out - took it apart . When we put it back on it still won't start and it fills the oil full of gas and pumps gas into the air filter. We drained the oil and put in new oil. Then we purchased a new fuel pump, installed it, attached the hoses, started the cart and it ran for about 10 minutes . Started it again following morning and the crank case was full of gasoline again. Filled the air filter half full of gas. Not sure what to do to correct this problem.

Seal the Exposed Ends & Edges of Faced FG Batts?

Basement has 9 ft walls and soffits all around. I am drywalling up to the soffit on the exterior wall, but the stud bays rise above the soffit frame by about 5 inches. Above that, the double plate and then the joists above.

Should I tape around the exposed ends of the fiberglass batts and/or the patches in the joist bays for air sealing purposes? Or, perhaps remove the facing and put some foam board over the top for a little more insulation in this area and sealing at the same time?

Lots and lots of smoke!

I have a 185 John Deere riding lawn mower, fairly old. It recently started to gush out smoke. Its mostly white, with a tint of blue and it leaves a sort of oily residue behind. Thinking it was to much oil as I had just put some in, I drained it of all the oil and added a quart. Figuring maybe not full, but at least enough to keep it going. It looked good for about 5 minutes, as soon as I turned on the blades though it sputtered and started with the smoke again. I'm at a loss as to what to do.

Light Switch Help

Ok so I am not that great with electricity but I need help with a light switch.
I just bought myself a z-wave light switch and it appears that it's a GFCI.


The first two pictures are on the brand new z-wave light switch.
View image: 20150724 135937
View image: 20150724 135950


The last two are of the current switch.
View image: 20150724 135710
View image: 20150724 135654

My question is do I need to put anything on the load screw? I know what the hot and nuteral are but I have no clue what goes in the load screw. The upstairs on my house is VERY old and most of the wires are not really as new or up to date so I am afraid that I may be missing some wires.

How to remove mastic from hardibacker

I am remodeling my bathroom. Years ago I was told to always use mastic for vertical tile, so I bought a premium mastic and began the shower tile over hardibacker. I am always looking up videos and DIY helps and discovered that mastic is the wrong material to use in a wet area. I had only laid 2 rows of tile on one wall of the shower and am removing them. Since learning that mastic is an organic material and all it needs is to have water introduced to it to promote mold, can anyone tell me how to remove all the mastic before introducing thinset? I have been removing with a chisel, but obviously there is a lot of residue.

Help with 1HP Capacitor Start Motor

This motor came to me broken. It's a Sears table saw motor, 3450 RPM.

When I first got it, it wouldn't spin, just strain. The shaft turned freely by hand, even when straining. I thought it would be the capacitor, and I had a replacement left over, but the new cap didn't help.

I took it apart, found the centrifugal switch to be very sticky, cleaned out the whole thing, then lubed the switch. Voila, it works. Brag to my wife, my kids. A few days later it stops again. It'll run under power with no load, ie belt off, but it just strains with the belt on, even pretty loose.

All these symptoms STILL sound like a bad cap, but it's not that. I've checked all the internal wiring, and it's all solid and in the right places. One of the bearings is pretty rough, but it spins easily. I'd replace it in normal circumstances, but I'm unemployed and I'd rather limp along on this motor a while longer.

Any ideas folks? Many thanks in advance.

AC backing up water requiring shop vac and reset

My AC is constantly backing up with water requiring shop vac and reset at increasing rate. I shut it off 3hrs ago and my house is cooler than it has been in days. What is the problem ?

Any way to save brush hardened with poly?

I have a brush that is hard with poly. Will thinner save it or should I trash it?

Door alarm

I need to know when someone comes in my house after I go to bed(son's "friends").

I was thinking of a door switch that could send a signal to my phone or RF transmitter that I would have in my bedroom.
Any good options? Searching on amazon didn't turn up exactly what I was looking for.

Help Wiring New Thermostat

Having trouble wiring the new thermostat to the new one. Assistance needed.


OLD

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Tory satisfied with federal NDP SmartTrack pledge

Toronto's mayors made the remarks after meeting with members of the federal NDP caucus.

Oven flame going out after replacing ignitor

Hi, our oven quit working completely so I replaced the ignitor, however, now it appears the flame is not staying lit fully. I replaced the ignitor with the exact part number also from Whirlpool.

Our oven is a Whirlpool Gold model, anyone have any suggestions on what to try?

Initially the flame does all light up, pictures are attached.

Thanks!

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