TimWhalen

I understand that cinder blocks would not be put in dirt. Would footers or more support be under the slab or would they just lay the blocks on top of the slab?

I have a coworker who owns a home in the midwest. It is a tudor built in 1974. He is moving some walls on the first and second floor. He is trying to understand his foundation before he starts upstairs. It is obvious that footers are poured on the exterior walls. However, in the basement he has cinder block walls that partition the space. Would footers be poured under these cinder blocks or would it have practical to lay them on top of the slab? I know he would have to ultimately dig to know for sure. Just wondering what some experts would believe is under the slab.

I am renovating a room and turning it into a bathroom. I have two marble slabs with cutouts for undermount bowl sinks. They are probably original to this 1889 house whenever plumbing was installed. I am guessing 1920-1930. They are stained and in need of cleaning. Can anyone direct me to the best source of information to clean marble? I am not aiming for perfection here just a renewed/cleaner look. Thanks.

Thx to all. I will digest everything and report back. The other wrinkle to all this.... The house was carved into three apartments 40 years ago. Each of the 30 gallon tanks serviced one apartment each on the second floor. Both of these are electric. The 'main' apartement is on the first floor and has a 50 gallon gas fired unit. I'd like to leave this one alone. Before we renovated, each apartement on the second level had a full kitchen and bath. I did away with the kitchens and updated both bathrooms. All is well with three teenage boys in one and one teenage girl in the other. As I move forward I am speculating that kids will leave for college, etc as well. My head hurts.

9 years old...it was not used a whole lot until two years ago when we moved in.

Currently I have a 30 gallon electric hot water heater providing hot water to a 3/4 bath (shower and sink) used by two people. I am trying to convince myself that I can pull from this same hot water heater to another new bathroom (shower, tub, dual sinks). When all is done three people will utilize these two bathrooms. Is this feasible or shall I look for another alternantive?

I appreciate everyone's input on my issues with running PEX to my new upstairs bathroom (separate topic). My question now has to do with running drain lines from the fixtures to the main waste line. I have to get through true 2x12's in the floor. Of course, I will try to route my lines to minimize the cuts, but I will have to fit some 2" PVC through the 2x12's. The 2x12's are 16" on center. Do I just cut lengths of PVC and glue them back together once they are run through the joists? Is there a flexible alternative? What's the best advice for cutting the joists and maintaining the required slope? I am concerned about weakening the structural integrity of the joists.

Got it thx.

I have an HP laptop running Windows 7 Premium and all of a sudden the keyboard quit working entirely. I can use the onscreen keyboard but I have never had a problem like this before. Any clues?

Please explain the term 'passive loop'.

I will be starting work on a bathroom on the second story of an old Victorian home (130 years old). The room has no plumbing at all. I have access through the walls to run all the lines (waste/service, etc) from the basement. My service lines will run about 15 feet horizontal) in the basement and then climb approximiately 32 feet vertical to the bathroom. Once in the room I will distribute to two sinks, 1 tub, 1 shower and a toilet. I have done a good deal of work over the years with copper but never PEX. I am thinking since I have no plumbing in this room, PEX might be a better alternative. My thought is to install two manifolds in the basement (hot/cold) and then distribvute from there (i.e. vertical) I have a few questions.... 1. Is PEX better than copper at all? 2. If I go PEX, what vendor is recommended for products? 3. I have looked online and see that the manifolds are either stainless, potable, radiant, etc. I assume potable is the way to go? 4. I have 3/4 " service lines in the basement to pull from. I was thinking of running 3/4" copper to the manifolds and then PEX from there. Should I stay 3/4" PEX or 1/2" or go bigger (i.e. 1 inch)? I apologize is this is redundant for all but I appreciate the feedback.

I am extending a half inch gas line for a gas BBQ outside. The run is approximately 40 feet. How many in line valves do I need? Is there a requirement to insert a valve every several feet?

I have a room with two lights, one recessed and the other a chandelier. They are both on a three way circuit. So I have two wall switches and two lights. I am not sure where the electric comes in. Can I replace the recessed light with a ceiling fan? My goal is to not have both fixtures on at the same time. I want to be able to run the fan without the chandelier and vice versa.

Model # 417.99570110 The washing machine portion began acting up last week. It washes fine but when the dial reaches the asterisk (rinse/spin) it stops. You can here the 'electric' humming sound. I have to manually turn the know one notch and then it rinse and spins to the end of the cycle. Lid switch? control knob? Ughhh

I have a fountain in the yard that has a submerged pump that needs to run continuously. I want to install a GFCI outlet nearby to handle the pump and nothing else. I also want this same outlet to be wired to a single pole switch inside the house. I can bring in the power anywhere. Can someone point me in the direction of a wire diagram to handle this? Thanks.

Not a landscaping question by far but has to do with the patio set. Uunfornately I have gone through too many glass tabletops over the years. I will not buy another piece of glass. However, the old house I own came with a ton of wood that I can fashion into a tabletop. The amount of wood will sustain me for years into the future. I hate to not use it. Question: Once I make the top from untreated wood is there a space age coating that I could apply to ensure all stays in place and is protected for a period of time? If I get a few years out of it that's fine. I will go and make another.

Maybe a simple question...I apologize up front. My inlaws built their house in 1969. The whole house has grounded three prong outlets except in the garage. There are three two prong outlets. They want to install a small second fridge in the garage that has three prongs. Is it safe to just install a GFCI in the garge to handle this?

I appreciate the advice Jim. I guess what I am leaning toward is give my teenage kids a place to do homework, watch TV...not so much 'living' as in sleeping, etc. Is there some middle ground that is acceptable with respect to insulate/ventilate? I do plan on adding additional loose insulation on the floor.

I bought the house two years ago but have only lived in it for one year. I wonder about the same thing. We bought it from an elderly woman who probably stayed away for long periods of time. I have an access panel that is on the house side. This stays closed until I need in. Otherwise there are two grates one on each end that vents the area. I'll need to work an electrician into the schedule.

The wiring under a crawl space is 12-2. This space is under ann enclosed eat in kitchen which was originally an open porch. This is how it was when I bought the house. The circuit that feeds this area (outlets) etc in the eat in kitchen tripped and will not reset. I assume this happened because the area is moist and the 12-2 is only for indoor use. Does this sound right/wrong? What cable should I use instead?

As I get into insulating the roof and other areas I am concerned about the ventilation or lack of ventilation. As I stated earlier I have three pairs of double hung windows (single pane) that I plan on repairing/replacing. Other than that there is no ventilation...no ridge vent/soffit vents, etc. What recommendation are there for ventilating this space. The gable ends are very accessible.

I see on youtube that these white plastic pieces on the Moen set are what you call scald guards. They basically are set where you want the temperature of the faucet. I can not find where it says that you even need these at all. In my case when I put them on, the handle protrudes too far from the wall. This does not seem right. It seems like there is too much space between the back of the handle and the wall plate.

I have tiled a shower stall in my house and currently in the process of installing hardware. I am not on site now but thought I would throw this out there. I do have the instructions from the box. It is a single handle hot/cold valve and it has two white plastic inserts. When I was fitting the hardware the handle seemed to not fit as close to the wall as I believe it should. There is at least 3/4 inch from the wall plate and the back of the handle. Something is not right. Does anyone have a link to a diagram showing this install?

I live in an 1889 Victorian in southern Ohio. I have installed a new HVAC system that services the entire first floor. I also extended some vents in the basement as there were none before. The second floor is taken care of by a new heat pump in the attic. The basement has 11 foot high exterior limestone walls newly tucked/pointed and the interior walls are red brick. Prior to renovation the basement was just a dusty dank storage cellar. After redoing the brick floors, adding the vents, adding new glass block windows with vents the rooms now serve as play areas for the kids. All is well in the basements with the exception of the humidity. I currently have a floor model (Sears) that fills every 6 hours or so. What solution is out for a dehumidifier that can adequately handle approximately 1000-1200 square foot of play area (3-4 rooms) that could send water outside?

Much appreciate. Thx