Home Improvement Weekly Newsletter - Monday, November 30, 2015

Top new questions this week: Why did they hammer nails in half way and bent them over to secure supports? In my 1950s house they hammered nails in half way and bent them over to secure the supports to the beam. Why was this technique used? basement construction nails fastener beam   asked by j4y 12 votes answered by isherwood 28 votes How to PROPERLY test that your smoke detectors work? I installed two new smoke detectors in my house a few months ago and have been testing them using the 'test' buttons. Today I decided to give them a more realistic test by placing a burning and then ... smoke-detectors   asked by James Napier 8 votes answered by Jimmy Fix-it 6 votes How can I stop our duct work "pinging" at night? I'm in Canada, and our home is a bit older, ~20 years, and the duct work seems to be making a rather loud "pinging" noise at night. I assume this is due to colder weather in general, and the hot air ... central-heating ducts noise-reduction   asked by Ditto 5 votes answered by personal privacy advocate 8 votes Should I repair floor joists that have cracks or holes? The floor joists in my unfinished basement of a 1950s house have nails that the previous owner probably used to hang items on. Many of the nails have caused the floor joists to split. I've been ... repair wood ceiling   asked by j4y 5 votes answered by BMitch 12 votes How do I read the markings printed on the outside of electric wires? In my recessed lighting project, I finished roughing-in the Romex copper wires and I was about to connect the recessed lighting wires when I noticed the wires from the lights are of a silver-colored ... electrical wiring copper connectors   asked by Ethan N 4 votes answered by cde 8 votes What is this metal button on the wall? I have an older house that has these on the wall of the two bedrooms: Does anyone know what they might be? I took one out and it is has a long metal rod, but I cannot see anything that it attaches ... walls   asked by Rob 4 votes answered by Jack 7 votes How do I rewire a switched receptacle and make it permanently hot I have a light switch that controls the top half and bottom half of a nearby receptacle. How do I disconnect this switch and make both halves of the receptacle permanently hot? There are other ... switch rewire   asked by Ethan N 4 votes answered by Jimmy Fix-it 3 votes Greatest hits from previous weeks: What do I do with the unused wire for ceiling fan installation? I recently replaced my bedroom ceiling fan with a newer ceiling fan and with the old fan I could: Use one switch on the wall to turn on/off the light Use the other switch on the wall to turn on/off ... electrical wiring ceiling-fan   asked by inquisitor 7 votes answered by Tester101 9 votes How do I prepare an already painted wall for new paint? We are repainting a number of rooms in our home, do we need to put primer over the existing paint? Are there any other gotchas that we need to prepare for before repainting the walls? repainting primer preparation   asked by Noah Goodrich 18 votes answered by ChrisF 20 votes Can you answer these? New bathtub isn't square Im trying to install a tub in a new 60 x 30 inch alcove. The tub is fitting in and is flush with the existing wall but now I'm not sure how to make the transition between the wall which would be ... bathroom   asked by greg parslow 2 votes Options for fixing leaking polybutylene water service line The water service line going to our house is leaking. The leak is originating from our lawn down to the street. The plumbers who have looked at it are saying that our pipe is made of polybutylene, ... plumbing water leak pipe   asked by user2233706 1 vote Extractor fan wiring questions I've just been replacing the switch on the main bathroom extractor fan. When we had it fitted, the guy said that normally it should be wired to the light and would just come on when we turned the ... electrical   asked by Robbie Dee 1 vote

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