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1500 questions
20
votes
4 answers
Nicely mounting 2x4s to wall
I would like to make some bookshelves similar to what is seen here:
My question is how to nicely mount these to the wall. Obviously I could simply angle some screws into the wall studs, however I think that'd look a bit messy and would like to…
erik
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4 answers
I have a 3-pronged receptacle but no ground wire connected to it. Is this ok?
I removed the plates from outlets to paint walls and noticed that some of my electric boxes have ground wires connected to outlets while others do not have a green wire at all. Is this ok?
I know that neutral wire is connected to ground in the main…
user443854
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20
votes
3 answers
Is this "asbestos siding"?
My insurance sent me a letter today that they are cancelling my home owner's insurance, because I supposedly have "asbestos siding" on my house.
I don't really know what counts as "asbestos siding", but I'm 99% sure my home is using wood shingles…
mitchkman
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20
votes
12 answers
How do I run power to a treehouse if I can't bury the wire?
I put in a treehouse and would love to get power to it, but my property is very rocky. Burying the wire is just not practical as digging a trench would require equipment that can get through rock on a very uneven surface.
Is there a practical way…
DBWeinstein
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20
votes
2 answers
What are the black pads stuck to the underside of a sink?
I found some hard black pads with a honeycomb pattern stuck to the bottom of my sink. Some of them are starting to disintegrate and fall apart. Wondering what the purpose of these are and if I need to be concerned about their deterioration and if…
Guy
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20
votes
5 answers
Precision in Home Improvement, or: How to Trust a Laser Level?
Even though I enjoy DIY, I also suffer from a certain amount of anxiety about it, especially when tolerances have to be tight. If the Internet's advice is that a certain thing needs to be square, or level, or plumb, I am never confident that I have…
GogTheGuilder
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20
votes
1 answer
Mystery wall plate by front door
Our neighbors have this mystery wall plate by their front door. We have the identical house (both built in 1929) and we don't have one. The fire department was there today to investigate a smoke alarm and they were apparently very puzzled by it.
It…
jeguyer
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20
votes
7 answers
Disassembling IKEA furniture—how can I deal with broken dowels?
IKEA furniture often has wooden dowels that are used to hold pieces together. The problem is that these wooden dowels break easily when you're trying to disassemble IKEA furniture:
In the first picture I could just use pliers to pull the broken…
neubert
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20
votes
4 answers
What does that mean if my LED light bulb starts blinking when I turned it on?
I have an LED light bulb: Philips 60W incandescent equivalent
I've owned it for about a year and have been very happy with it. This morning when I turned it on, it started blinking. Not flickering, but a very deliberate one second on, one second…
Stephen Ostermiller
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20
votes
6 answers
Why is my background energy usage higher in the first half of each hour?
I have a smart electricity meter, which reports half-hourly readings to my supplier.
I’ve noticed that when I’m not in the property, there seems to be an oscillating pattern to my energy usage: the first half of each hour often has a higher power…
DavidH
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20
votes
7 answers
What surface can I work on that super glue will not stick to?
I have a broken LEGO piece that I want to try to superglue together.
It would be A LOT easier if I could do this on a flat surface and even let it rest there for a while afterwards. But if I do that I will most likely glue the piece to the surface.…
Vilx-
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20
votes
3 answers
How do I unscrew this screw to disassemble a dresser?
As you see it looks like it should just unscrew, but it doesn’t turn. I guess the little arrow on one side should point up/down — but even when I do that, the screws don’t slide out. The other side of the wood doesn’t have a s
Tim
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20
votes
2 answers
Asphalt or concrete, which job first?
I have an asphalt driveway with a concrete sidewalk meeting the edge of it. They both need to be replaced. Which job needs to happen first?
Carol
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20
votes
2 answers
Why not put pipe dope on female thread?
What is the risk of having pipe dope in natural gas line? Not blobs of dope, but a thin layer or bead on inner (female) thread.
Most instructions on using pipe dope on gas pipe says to put pope dope on male threads with no reference to female…
codechimp
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20
votes
7 answers
Why is my house energy efficient only in winter?
My electric utility company sent me a graph of my home's electricity usage over time as shown in the picture below. My home beats what the company considers as efficient homes in the neighborhood when the average temperature is below ~50F. As the…
Fijoy Vadakkumpadan
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