Author Topic: House Projects (Read 88827 times)

HULK · « **Reply #510 on:** Sep 09, 2011, 07:10:44 AM »

The green wire, or bare copper wire is ground. The white is neutral, and black is power. Now if you have a red wire also, then that means there is a switch that controls either half or the entire plug. Do you have 3 wires at the plug or at the switch? Also is there 2 switches at the box or do you have 1 switch place? How many wires do you have at the plug also?

jimbo74 · « **Reply #511 on:** Sep 09, 2011, 11:21:12 AM »

so that switch in the bathroom, there are 3 wires, one is black, one is red, and there is one wrapped with electrical tape that is white, and is just pushed back into the box..... the switch is wierd also, off is the up position, i tried to jsut straight rotate the switch, so that down would be off, but even if i rotated it 180* it was still up was off.... wierd..... almost makes me think it is a self adjusting float on the inside?

HULK · « **Reply #512 on:** Sep 09, 2011, 11:22:21 PM »

How many screws are on the switch? Does it have a black one and 2 gold or silver ones? Then it is called a 3-way switch, which is made to turn the light off and on from 2 different places.

jimbo74 · « **Reply #513 on:** Sep 09, 2011, 11:36:11 PM »

ok, this ? is for the actual outlets

is there a way to convert 2 prong house outlets to 3 prong?

jimbo74 · « **Reply #514 on:** Sep 09, 2011, 11:37:42 PM »

the switch that was mentioned before in the bathroom, only has 2 contacts on it, 2 screws

the wire colors are red and black.... there is a white wire, bundled up in electrical tape that is not connected to anything in the wll box of this switch

jimbo74 · « **Reply #515 on:** Sep 09, 2011, 11:45:31 PM »

as far as google goes, i think i just learned soem stuff, the fat side of the plug is the HOT, and the ground and nuetral are pretty much the same thing...... however, if ther is an internal error with a short of an appliance, the product can ground itself through the nuetral or the ground as a backup failsafe, and you wont get shoced from touching it

now, what if i dont have that ground on our plugs? almost all of of outlets in the house are 2 prongs..... how can i make these all 3 prong, safely? it appears that some plugs are the gfci plugs with the buttons and a couple others throughout the house are also a 3 rong outlet...... how can i verify these are indeed, safe.... and also.... can i make all the otehr 2 prongs into 3 prongs, or would new wiring need to be run or what?

jimbo74 · « **Reply #516 on:** Sep 09, 2011, 11:53:03 PM »

going back to mounting the tv above the fireplace...... if it is faux brick or real brick, how can i tell? also, where to i attach the anchors? through the brick face itself or the grout? i would think to drill through the brick itself, as grount is just sand?

Stocker · « **Reply #517 on:** Sep 10, 2011, 07:50:40 AM »

Quote from: jimbo74 on Sep 09, 2011, 11:45:31 PM

what if i dont have that ground on our plugs? almost all of of outlets in the house are 2 prongs..... how can i make these all 3 prong, safely? it appears that some plugs are the gfci plugs with the buttons and a couple others throughout the house are also a 3 rong outlet...... how can i verify these are indeed, safe.... and also.... can i make all the otehr 2 prongs into 3 prongs, or would new wiring need to be run or what?

A receptacle tester will show you if your wiring is correct, and what's wrong if it's bad.

You *might* be able to strap neutral to ground on a 3-prong outlet, but I wouldn't advise it -- I believe you'll need to run a new ground wire to each outlet (or gfci) if you want it done right.

HULK · « **Reply #518 on:** Sep 10, 2011, 11:40:32 AM »

On the t.v. mount, go definitely on the brick, the grout will crumble and so will your t.v. The plugs, when you go to change them out, the white wire goes on the side with the silver screw on it, and the black goes on the gold screw side of it. You can put a green wire with a self tapping screw to the box, only if you have a metal box, which you should on a house that old. You can also just screw the plug onto the box without the wire, because, if the box is grounded, then your plug will be too. By code, the green wire needs to be put, however if you have no ground on the house, it will not make a difference. By code, if you don't have ground, you need to keep the 2 prongs, but people put 3 prongs all the time and it works fine, it's just not grounded. When you go to plug in the tester, you will only have one orange/yellow light in the middle on because you have no ground. Like Stocker said, you might need to run ground to each plug you change to a 3 prong, or know if something grounds out, it will stop at the metal box the plug is mounted to.

jimbo74 · « **Reply #519 on:** Sep 10, 2011, 08:29:39 PM »

does appear to have metal boxes, however, i dont see any wire attached to the boxes itself.....

what i do see, is either 2 white or 2 grey wires and 2 black wires... the 2 white or grey combine into 1 in a clump of electrical tape, same as the black

junya92toy · « **Reply #520 on:** Sep 10, 2011, 08:45:18 PM »

Got the breaker off?

HULK · « **Reply #521 on:** Sep 11, 2011, 07:49:37 AM »

The grey looking wires are the white ones, which go on the silver screw side. The black is the ones that go on to the gold screw side. They are "clumped" together, because they wire nutted them together and that is fine. You really don't need to mess with putting a green wire to the box if you don't want to, because if you look at the new plug itself, you'll see the green crew on the bottom is touching the rest of the silver where the top and bottom screws are to put them to the metal box. It does the same thing. If you want to, you can put wire from the green screw to the plug, and use a self drilling screw to the box itself also. That's all it takes.

jimbo74 · « **Reply #522 on:** Sep 11, 2011, 09:03:01 AM »

so it is grounded? or how would i know?

i did notice the box had screws in it, on a bracket that didn't go anywhere... this i assume is the ground

i guess once i have the plugs swapped to 3 prong, i can then use that yellow device above to see if the metal box is actually a ground or if it just happens to be a metal box

jimbo74 · « **Reply #523 on:** Sep 11, 2011, 03:01:32 PM »

ok.... for today's project...... mounting hte tv.......

what do i need to go buy from the hardware store?

i have some masonry drill bits and a hammer drill i am borrowing from my dad

someone said 3.5" concrete anchors?

and go right into the brick

doesn't matter if it is faux brick or real brick?

HULK · « **Reply #524 on:** Sep 11, 2011, 05:45:01 PM »

Correct. Sometimes the t.v. mount even comes with the mason anchors. As far a sthe plug goes, when you swap them to three prong, when you plug in the yellow tester, if you have one yellow, or orange, light in the middle, then you have no ground, but the plug will work. If it has two yellow, or orange, lights, then you have ground.

jimbo74 · « **Reply #525 on:** Sep 11, 2011, 09:22:15 PM »

anyone got any pictures of the anchors?

we got the mount a long time ago, and the tv and mount have now been in 3 houses..... so the original hardware is long gone..... i did go to lowes today and get some anchors, i used 4, mounted it, put some test weight on it, and pulled one out! eek!!!!!!

they use regular lag bolts..... 1/2" hole in the brick.... drilled with a hammer drill i am borrowing

should i try another type of hardware? should i just add more? i have done a little bit of modifying on the main bracket, and a little more wont hurt....

jimbo74 · « **Reply #526 on:** Sep 12, 2011, 06:02:13 AM »

did some searching on the web, and it looks like i might want to go with some sleeve or wedge anchors? how does this sound?

the tv itself weighs 75 pounds and the bracket is 25

HULK · « **Reply #527 on:** Sep 12, 2011, 06:56:53 AM »

Those are the anchors.

jimbo74 · « **Reply #528 on:** Sep 13, 2011, 08:13:25 PM »

well, i ended up using hte lag shield anchors.... but i went a size bigger, and added 1 of the ones i was originally going to use.....

what i did was slowly enlarged the hole, till it jsut barely fit in, then tapped it the rest of the way in with a hammer..... so it is tight..... once i had it all set, i tossed my daughter on the extended bracket..... she hung off of it, she weighs 95 pounds, soi figured the saftey margin was good, especially with it extended....

blackdiamond · « **Reply #529 on:** Sep 13, 2011, 08:27:38 PM »

Today's little house project was installing a spring hinge on the bathroom door so I don't have to look at the bathroom from the kitchen when people don't swing the door closed. It's set so that it doesn't actually close the door, just keeps it from being wide open. Much improved!

HULK · « **Reply #530 on:** Sep 13, 2011, 08:45:14 PM »

T.V. looks great man. Good Job.

jimbo74 · « **Reply #531 on:** Sep 13, 2011, 08:53:39 PM »

Quote from: HULK on Sep 13, 2011, 08:45:14 PM

T.V. looks great man. Good Job.

thanks

couldnt have done it without the help from here..... haha, i am an ace with cars.... but all confused on the house stuff

Yota87Truck · « **Reply #532 on:** Sep 13, 2011, 09:33:17 PM »

Quote from: blackdiamond on Sep 13, 2011, 08:27:38 PM

Today's little house project was installing a spring hinge on the bathroom door so I don't have to look at the bathroom from the kitchen when people don't swing the door closed. It's set so that it doesn't actually close the door, just keeps it from being wide open. Much improved!

awesome!

jimbo74 · « **Reply #533 on:** Sep 15, 2011, 11:35:05 AM »

so we are having our floors refinished.... they are old hardwood floors...... some contractors want to do an oil finish, some want to do a waterbased finish... which is better, and why?

HULK · « **Reply #534 on:** Sep 15, 2011, 04:13:54 PM »

Oil base lasts longer and is more durable, but make sure to shut the gas off if your water heater is inside the house. Water base is almost as good and dries way faster. They actually have the stuff that dries in like 4 hours, and it worked awesome in my home. Why don't you do it yourself and save a bunch of money? It is super simple, i did my house. Are you staining it as well, or just sealing it up? If you are just keeping it the color it is, then all you do is lightly sand it, then simply brush it on and when it dries, you will not see any streaks. How much are they going to charge you?

jimbo74 · « **Reply #535 on:** Sep 20, 2011, 10:25:25 AM »

so it looks like i will be redoing the hardwood floors....... anyone want to help?

its going to be a slow process... i am still researching, i have been watching videos on youtube.... doesn't look too bad....

reset the nails, maybe liek 1/8"?

here is what i got so far, use a huge random orbit sander with discs, in a rough grit 80 or so -- then med like dont know #, then finer.... keep it clean and dust free as much as possible..... wipe the floor with alcohol, apply stain/polyurethane... light coats, ample drying time between coats per manufacturer.... usually 3 coats? after the first 2 coats, do a light manual sanding with a fine grit to get out hairs and whatnot (orangepeel) then wipe with a water damp cloth, then do the last coat. then after it dries, put contractors paper to allow it to fully cure

jimbo74 · « **Reply #536 on:** Oct 01, 2011, 01:18:27 AM »

ok, so we are having a contractor do the floors...... it will jsut be easier.... my wife thinks i would do a great job on it, but we don't want it to take a long time, and it's a lot of work for 1 person to do alone......

as it is, the contractor we are using, is still going to take 5 days --- all of them we talked to would take that long (we got several estimates)... he is the cheapest, but my wife also got a good feeling about him... so that is good as well... scheduled in a couple weeks

been doing a bunch of painting.... i didn't do too much, my father in law did most of it, but he is an artist, so he knows paints... it wa the first tiem i have ever painted a house though, i did a great job, so i'm happy (wife was happy too)... i did all of the cutting in and masking the roof and doors and windows though. i also did repair work, patching, sanding, texturing, filling cracks, etc...... so we have been quite busy.....

i did a little weed trimmign with the lawn mower or realtor gave us..... it's a 1/4 acre lot so still tons mroe to do, but i made some of the dirt right off the rear patio, usuable

i installed wire shelving units in the closets, 2 tiers per closet, so there is some storage space on top, and enough room to hang a shirt, then another shelf below with enough room to hang mroe stuff, then room underneath on the floor for shoes and whatever

then there is the tv i mounted above the fireplace..... so it's going slow.... but at least it's moving

jimbo74 · « **Reply #537 on:** Oct 02, 2011, 10:51:03 PM »

Tomorrows project is removing wallpaper and the adhesive so we can paint. What should i use for the removal?

scoutrunner · « **Reply #538 on:** Oct 03, 2011, 07:15:59 AM »

You can check if your box is grounded by using a volt meter . one side to the black wire and the other lead to the box, if you get 120v then the box is grounded.

jimbo74 · « **Reply #539 on:** Oct 03, 2011, 08:55:11 AM »

Quote from: scoutrunner on Oct 03, 2011, 07:15:59 AM

You can check if your box is grounded by using a volt meter . one side to the black wire and the other lead to the box, if you get 120v then the box is grounded.

thanks, but i ended up buying those little plug in things..... a lot safer, and then i don't even have to open it up --- too bad all the plugs are 2 prong......

i got the regular tester and the gfci tester

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