Home Improvement Stack Exchange
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1500 questions
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6 answers

How to prepare home to prevent pipe leaks during a severe winter storm?

The news has shown much footage of homes in Texas being destroyed by pipe leaks after a storm hit in February 2021. I live at a similar latitude to the places impacted by the storm, though it did not cause such destruction where I live. What should…
Village
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Can I add a standard receptacle on a GFCI circuit

So, I want to add a receptacle in the bathroom (I tend to run out of batteries on my phone while crapping at the end of the day). There's a GFCI outlet on the other side of the crapper wall that faces the bathroom sinks, so would be a simple matter…
SDGator
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7 answers

How do I keep my Christmas tree from falling over?

It never fails: I bring home a 9-foot pine, cut the trunk flat, remove the lower branches, and place our Christmas tree in the stand only to have it fall over a little later in the evening. How can I prevent this "Christmas tradition" from ever…
Jon Ericson
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Can I run 300 ft of cat6 cable, with male connectors on each end, under house to other side?

I have HughesNet service coming in through the house's garage side. Is there any reason I can't connect a 300 ft patch cable (C2G 300ft Cat6 Ethernet Cable - Solid Shielded (STP) - Blue) to the router in the garage and run it under the house There…
Gary Staley
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4 answers

What would cause the water pressure to be too high for just a second?

Lately when I turn on any faucet in my house the water comes rushing out at about twice the normal pressure for about half a second and then drops to normal pressure. I am worried the pressure is building up to high in the pipes. If I turn off the…
Ken
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5 answers

Does a drainage pipe need to be continuously sloped?

I need to move water from the back yard to the front yard, to combat the monsoon season, in which a 50 gallon container in the backyard can fill up in 1-2 minutes. I bought some 4" piping, and will have it collect water in a drain in the higher back…
Village
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2 answers

Crack in concrete block garage wall

I have a 2 story garage with the rear being cinder/concrete block walls. I just noticed this crack. Havnt lived here that long so not sure how long its been there Is this something to be concerned about?
Sjpson
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What kind of caulk should I use around my bathtub?

I would like to recaulk between the bathtub and the ceramic-tile wall, but there are many kinds of caulking for sale. What kind should I use?
Vebjorn Ljosa
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2 answers

How to polish welding at 90 degree curves?

We have given contract to the local railings constructor and they have put the railing Balusters on the floor along with clips to put glass on. I am satisfied with their work so far, only thing that is bugging me is the weird looking welding work…
Prem Ramman
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5 answers

Accidentally left hose on and now have no pressure

Yesterday I turned the hose on to fill a swimming pool. We have been running it for about an hour every other day. I got distracted and totally forgot about the water and it was left on for about 5 hours. We have an artesian well with a submersible…
Michelle A Captain
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5 answers

Masonry bits dulling after 3-4 holes

I'm using an 18v makita hammer drill with a 3/16" Bosch blue granite turbo concrete bit to drill 2" deep holes into concrete-filled cinder blocks. With a fresh bit, it takes about 15 seconds to drill a hole. By the 4th hole, it slows to a crawl and…
Tyler M
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3 answers

How can an outlet with only 2 wires (hot and neutral) be grounded?

I live in a home that was built in the late 1930s with some old electrical wiring and some new wiring. As I was identifying which outlets and lights are controlled by which wires I discovered a brainteaser: A garage outlet that my outlet tester…
Vlad Gurovich
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3 answers

Should rooms be designed to minimize waste of sheet goods?

We are building a new home and I want some guidance on recommendations for design creating minimal wastage and maximum efficiency for the builders. For example. Are room sizes best divisible by 4 since sheetrock is usually 4 x 8. Same way with…
Yourguide
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Is this box bonded properly to the ground?

The receptacle is from the mid-1950's and my multimeter shows that it is grounded. There are a solid 120 volts when testing between live and ground. I noticed a bare copper wire coming from the cloth wiring in the back tied to a screw connected to…
the_martian
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3 answers

What causes standard door hinges to close up to a certain amount automatically?

Hopefully a relatively easy one to answer. :) My bathroom door has a standard hinge attached, that requires the door to physically be closed - this matches the setup of the other doors in my house. However, when fully opened, my bathroom door closes…
elliott94
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