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Q: If an electrician comes and does work, does he have to bring the whole house up to code? Are there certain things he has to do and others that are optional? What is permitted versus what is best practice?
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Q: How about upgrading old two-prong ungrounded outlets from the ’70s and back?
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Q: When remodeling or adding to an older home, what are some things to look for that indicate the entire house’s wiring should be updated or replaced?
Q: Can you keep old armored-cable circuits, or should you replace them? If you disconnect old circuits, what’s the rule around tearing out old wire versus leaving it buried?
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Q: Why not just tie into aluminum wiring?
Q: What are the rules for dealing with old concealed splices?
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Q: How do you wire a four-wire 240-volt appliance (kitchen range or dryer) if there used to be a three-wire appliance there?
Q: When you add a new layer of finish, what is the easiest way to bring the electrical boxes flush to the new wall surface?
Q: What are the choices for putting new switch and outlet boxes in old walls? Any hints for attaching the boxes?
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Q: Any tips for wire-snaking?
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Q: Over the past five years, I’ve built more than 30 laminate countertops, and I’ve never had any problems with them. Recently, however, one of my countertops started to bubble in a few places about five weeks after I built it. I tried taking an iron and heating the laminate, then flattening it...
Q: We have an ongoing debate on our job site concerning the proper way to adjust the blade depth on a circular saw. One group says that the blade should be set just slightly deeper than the thickness of the material being cut. The other group says that the blade should usually be left at the...
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Q: When designing a radiant floor, can there be such a thing as too much thermal mass? Here in Alaska, we sometimes see the temperature jump from -10°F up to 40°F above in just a few hours.
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Q: Is it acceptable to terminate EIFS at grade? I’m worried that this might provide easy access for termites, or might allow moisture to wick into the wall.
Q: For aesthetic reasons, I would like to run 3/4x3-inch oak strip flooring parallel to the floor joists, instead of perpendicular as is typical. Is there any reason I can’t do it? The subfloor is 3/4-inch tongue-and-groove plywood.