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| Author |
Message |
| 25 new of 86 responses total. |
ball
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response 8 of 86:
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Oct 2 05:12 UTC 2007 |
"When there are separate wires for neutral and ground it is much
less likely that a problem in electrical wiring causes a dangerous
situation which will cause electrical shock or fire."
http://www.epanorama.net/documents/groundloop/neutral_ground_separate.htm
l
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rcurl
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response 9 of 86:
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Oct 2 05:16 UTC 2007 |
One side of the power to the house, the neutral wire, is grounded at or
near the service panel (or should be). The separate ground wire, when
present, is also grounded that way. Therefore either can be used as a
"neutral". What is different is that the neutral wire is normally the one
that carries the current. If, however, some current in a device leaks to
the ground, because of bad insulation or otherwise, the GFI will detect
that, and open the circuit.
Jim is right - the neutral wire can be used as the ground - but it is not
recommended (and violates code). The purpose of the ground wire is to
ground metal parts of appliances so that one cannot be shocked if a fault
occurs in the device. If just the neutral wire were depended upon as the
ground, one could get a shock as there will be a voltage drop in the
neutral wire when it is carrying current.
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cmcgee
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response 10 of 86:
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Oct 2 05:30 UTC 2007 |
Speaking of code violations.
Before you do any remodeling on the property, be sure you know what BOCA
codes your city/town/township requires you to follow, and what
inspections they will need to make. You may also need a demolition or
building permit for various changes.
Many of the things you're talking about are regulated by the local
government, and following some of the suggestions in this thread can get
you fines and penalties, along with much more intense scrutiny for every
inspection you ever go through.
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keesan
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response 11 of 86:
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Oct 2 13:16 UTC 2007 |
There are a few communities that ban clotheslines.
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mary
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response 12 of 86:
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Oct 2 14:06 UTC 2007 |
The very last time I used a clothesline I was living in rural
Pennsylvania. I had waited for a dry sunny day to wash a slew of
blankets. I draped them along the line to dry and felt so productive in
an old world way when along came the neighbor's dog who proceeded to mark
his territory along every single hem.
Yeah, it's funny now. ;-)
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keesan
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response 13 of 86:
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Oct 2 14:23 UTC 2007 |
Are there still communities that allow dogs to roam around loose?
My warm-weather clothesline is under a roof in back of the apartment, and the
winter clotheline is heated by the furnace (which runs nearly 100% of the time
because the upstairs neighbor took off her storm windows and leaves a window
open and likes to go barefoot all winter). Things dry in as little as 2 hours
in hot weather or mid-winter.
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ball
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response 14 of 86:
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Oct 2 17:03 UTC 2007 |
Re #10: I have thought about that. One concern I have is that the
moment an inspector looks at the wiring here (and possibly also the
plumbing, paving etc.) he or she is likely to demand that it all be
ripped out and re-done. It's a safe bet that the previous owner of
the house never got things inspected, or he would not have been able
to cause these problems in the first place! I suppose I'll wander
over to the village hall to see what my options are.
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ball
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response 15 of 86:
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Oct 7 02:06 UTC 2007 |
This evening: two blocked toilets (plunged), one broken bathtub drain
mechanism (not sure whether to attempt repair or call in a plumber)
and a sudden influx of houseflies (swatted, pesticide "fogger" in
reserve as an all-else-fails last resort).
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keesan
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response 16 of 86:
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Oct 7 02:46 UTC 2007 |
The houseflies may have hatched in the warm weather. Try flypaper.
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rcurl
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response 17 of 86:
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Oct 7 04:08 UTC 2007 |
If the tub drains OK - get a rubber stopper for it to take a tub bath.
Hardware stores carry them.
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ball
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response 18 of 86:
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Oct 7 17:07 UTC 2007 |
Re #16: flypaper was my first thought too, but I couldn't find any in
the shop that I went to. Thankfully the majority of them were dealt
with courtessy of a simple flyswatter. Looking at the box, the
insecticide "fogger" things kill anything within a four mile radius:
flies, bugs, pets, children, adults, oxen, rhinoceri, mammoths and
so on.
Re #17: It doesn't. I could buy a new drain assembly, but I don't
have the tools, skills or inclination to fit it. I'm going to make
a plumber quite rich.
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rcurl
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response 19 of 86:
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Oct 7 18:29 UTC 2007 |
Our tub drain malfunctions in the same way - i.e., the drain stop no longer
is held up properly. We have managed to make it stay up by jamming a piece
of wire into the mechanism (well, actually, a safety pin - it was handy).
We don't want to fiddle with it to take tub baths, so only take showers.
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keesan
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response 20 of 86:
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Oct 8 18:28 UTC 2007 |
Do you have access to under the tub where it drains?
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rcurl
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response 21 of 86:
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Oct 8 18:30 UTC 2007 |
We don't.
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keesan
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response 22 of 86:
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Oct 8 18:44 UTC 2007 |
Sometimes there is a removable panel in the adjoining room. You could try
putting in some washing soda for a while to dissolve any hair buildup, or even
baking soda.
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rcurl
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response 23 of 86:
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Oct 8 19:49 UTC 2007 |
The problem is holding it up. It drops (closes) by itself. Besides, the
mechanism is entirely inside the overflow piping.
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ball
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response 24 of 86:
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Oct 8 21:56 UTC 2007 |
There is an access panel in a closet in an adjoining room. It's not a
question of disolving a blockage, but as rcurl suggests replacing a
mechanism that is sealed inside the kind of pipes that I'm not
equipped or inclined to do battle with.
Today I bought an 8' ladder and an axe, which enabled me to remove
more Mulberry branches that overhung the house roof. I cleared out the
length of guttering under the tree.
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rcurl
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response 25 of 86:
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Oct 9 02:03 UTC 2007 |
More useful than an axe for general pruning, of even some hefty branches, is
a saw. In fact, a foldable saw, such as a Sven saw. See, for example,
http://www.rei.com/search?vcat=REI_SEARCH&query=saws&x=23&y=9
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ball
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response 26 of 86:
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Oct 9 03:58 UTC 2007 |
I have a bow saw, which I used on anything too large for the
hatchet to easily handle.
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ball
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response 27 of 86:
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Oct 10 19:12 UTC 2007 |
To obtain a building permit for concrete work at the rear of the house
I have to submit a drawing, detailing the position of the slab in
relation to the property line. Today I bought a drawing board, set
squares, T-square, a 6H pencil and some paper. U.S. paper sizes baffle
me, but for the purposes of this simple diagram I bought a pad of 12"x
9" (305x229mm) drawing paper, which I subsequently found out coincides
with "Architectural A" size. I plan to tweak the margins so that the
drawing proper lives in a 283x200mm box, which will photocopy 1:1 onto
ISO A4 (297x210) paper and enlarge smoothly to other ISO sizes.
I need to find a builder's long tape measure and a friend to hold the
other end of it.
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keesan
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response 28 of 86:
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Oct 10 19:47 UTC 2007 |
Why not use a CAD program instead? We stopped using paper for this a long
time ago. Microcad for DOS is about $35 shareware and bug-free.
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ball
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response 29 of 86:
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Oct 10 20:14 UTC 2007 |
The only computer that I have set up at present is a 300 MHz Apple
iBook. It's in the kitchen, so I don't have a printer attached.
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rcurl
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response 30 of 86:
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Oct 11 05:55 UTC 2007 |
You don't need precise drawings. Use graph paper and a straight edge: no need
for T-square. (I say this, being experienced in "real" mechanical drawing of
objects for machine shop production - but that's not the kind of drawing you
need.)
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cmcgee
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response 31 of 86:
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Oct 11 14:19 UTC 2007 |
You're at the early stages of this. How about documenting "now" and do
the in-progress shots to share?
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ball
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response 32 of 86:
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Oct 12 02:40 UTC 2007 |
Re #30: The drawing isn't a big problem for me, having survived
"Technical Drawing" class in (the British equivalent of) high
school. I just had to stop and think for a minute about the
peculiar American paper size. A drawing board, T-square etc. have
been on my list of things to buy for a while, the permit drawing
just provided the extra impetus for me to actually go out and get
them. It's not an engineering or architectural drawing and
although I hope to make it approximately to scale, I don't expect
anyone to be taking measurements from it. I would use larger paper
for that kind of work anyway.
Re #31: I'll see what I can do. I don't have a tripod or a wide-angle
lens.
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