Ned Harr

thomas rubino wrote:
Some states will let you assemble a kit on your own, and other states require a licensed masonry stove builder.
Other states will let you build your own stove (no kit), provided you follow the IBC International Building Code for masonry stoves.

I went to elementary school in Parma, jr high and high school in the Heights. I’ve moved away since then but heard from contractor friends that Cleveland Heights and University Heights are a nightmare to do big projects in because of all the ordinances and regulations. Shaker heights and Lakewood might be the same way.

Based on that my advice is to keep the project small enough you don’t need to pull a permit.

I’d also seriously think about the current heating system and whether it can’t be improved or modified for way less cost to produce equally good results.

Look at insulation and windows too; if the home has leaky windows and poor insulation (as many old Cleveland homes do) then beefing up the heating system will be a waste of money.

Anne Miller wrote:I feel that knowing a little more about what you like to do might help folks with recommendations.

Do you like art, Or museums, Or hiking?

Or maybe you like scenic drives, ghost towns, etc.

When it comes to small mountain towns I’m looking for great restaurants/cafes, interesting little places to visit, etc. We do like to hike and visit museums, but I’m focusing more on stuff locals probably also do regularly.

Phil Stevens wrote:Chimayo would be at the top of my list. Also, there's a really pretty loop you can make over the Valle Caldera and pass through Jemez Springs.

What’s there that I should see?

We plan to visit Santa Fe and Taos next July and we want to get out and explore smaller towns in the area too. Looking for suggestions. Thanks!

The snowmen in the photo look like they were inspired by Calvin & Hobbes.

Whenever I hear “snowman” these days I just think of Jeezy.

We have a garden in our back yard, about 400 sqft or so, and in the center of it is a bathtub-sized pond. We love the pond, it is home to frogs and dragonflies and pollinators, which in turn attract birds, and the whole scene there is enchanting and lovely.

But some kind of grassy weed has taken over, first around the edges of the pond and now it’s colonized the whole garden. We can rip out as much of it as we like but it grows back seemingly overnight. Somehow it’s also taken over a raised bed in a totally different part of the property, so the pond might be incidental.

I think it might be nimblewill or crabgrass. Looking for suggestions on how to tame it without the use of either poisons or unreasonable amounts of labor.

I use this voltage tester, made by Amprobe:


If I touch that white tip to a wire and it doesn't light up, I can safely touch the conductor. No false negatives. That's why my boss and I swear by this tester.

Sometimes the tip lights up even though it's just a couple volts and I wouldn't have gotten hurt. I learn that usually because it doesn't make sense it should light up so I pull out a voltmeter instead. Better a false positive than a false negative.

Now, what's funny is different electricians have different (strong) opinions on voltage testers. First time I took out the above tester around this other electrician who isn't my boss, but who I work with occasionally, he sneered and called it "the widowmaker". Yet that's what my boss calls the type of tester that guy uses! My boss has a better argument though, which is that the Amprobe tester has no moving parts and thus nothing to fail. (The AA battery in it lasts usually longer than the life of the tester, maybe longer than the life of the electrician!)

Jackson Bradley wrote:I imagine most folks are comfortable changing things "like for like". You can find the breaker, turn it off, take a picture of the outlet or switch wiring, and install the new one. Doing that may spur you on the figure out why the outlet is a GFCI or not

Be aware that not all devices are configured the same. Sometimes on a GFCI the line-side lugs are closest to the ground lug, sometimes the load lugs are closest to ground and the line lugs are on the far end. This trips up electricians, so I'm sure it can trip up DIY homeowners. Same goes for many other components.

Most newer house breaker boxes have a main breaker that cuts power to all of the breakers but your incoming service will still be hot unless you can kill it at the meter base. Doing things in the meter base  (if it is a combo base with a meter and some breakers) is in a similar category.

The latest code says that the main shutoff actually must be outside next to the service entrance, though there is still often a main breaker in the main panel. If you open the outdoor shutoff (only brand new houses, or newly renovated houses will have this) then the feeder wires going into your main panel will be dead and safe to work on. You could do this to change your whole panel. If you just shut off the main breaker in the panel, then your bus bars will be dead but your main lugs will still be hot. You could safely work on your branch circuits this way, but you could not safely do a panel change.

Rocking a meter out is NOT in the same category as shutting off your main breaker. For one thing, it is a delicate task because you need to keep the line-side lugs connected so as to not alert the power company that you are fiddling with their equipment or your service, while safely keeping the load-side lugs disconnected so you can do your work without the meter slipping back in and energizing the main feeders without your intending it.

For another thing, if you do accidentally alert the power company and they send someone out to see what's going on, if there is a union journeyman electrician there to tell them "Sorry, just doing a panel change, didn't want to bother you, stern warning please" they will be more likely to oblige than if they show up and find Joe Schmoe Amateur; in the latter case they're going to be very unhappy and might take further action against you.

For a third thing, you are dealing with a full 100, 200, or 400 amps on the line side lugs of a meter, and if those slip out of position you could have an arc flash. When my boss and I do panel changes on older homes, even if I am doing the bulk of the work myself, he will at least rock the meter out for me and put it back again at the end, because it takes extra skill and practice. I'm at well over 2000 hours of experience in electrical work but I am not yet ready to do that particular task. PLEASE DO NOT ATTEMPT TO ROCK OUT A METER ON YOUR OWN UNLESS YOU ARE A HIGHLY EXPERIENCED ELECTRICIAN.

Anne Miller wrote:I would add my suggestion of getting a job that works with electricity.  Not necessarily as an electrician.

I 50% agree with this. My #1 recommendation after electrician would actually be not HVAC or other specialist, but to work for a remodeler or house flipper. You can generalize some electrical knowledge as a specialist but it will take a while and much of it might not be applicable to your own projects. A remodeler or house flipper on the other hand...

But there's a catch: there are many remodelers and house flippers who are hacks and will teach you to do things wrong. So you've gotta find one who knows his/her stuff and who takes pride in the quality of the work. You might discern some of that by asking questions like "What is your level of experience with electrical work in particular?" As William Bagwell said, and I would vouch for this too, people who know "just enough to be dangerous" often are.

Again, if you have questions about electrical work, feel free to ask me here on Permies (remember, photos help) and I'll answer as best I can. I visit the forums at least once every few days and typically browse according to topic, with an eye out for "Electrical".

In my opinion, the best possible way to learn DIY electrical is to follow a journeyman* service** electrician around for a couple weeks and learn on the job. After that amount of time as an electrical apprentice, I felt ready to take on a simple side job that would have been equivalent 1.5 points toward Paul's Straw Badge for electrical.

If you don't have that kind of time to spare (and who does?) my next choice would be Youtube. Find videos that are as close as possible to what you are trying to do. Skim comments first to make sure you're not seeing a bunch of people saying stuff like "I'm an electrician and this is a terrible/dangerous way to do this".

I have found ElectricianU (Youtube channel) is a pretty good resource for general knowledge. Never tried it for particulars ("how to do X"), but I'm sure if they offer that kind of content it's solid.

The problem with books is that they may be out of date; the National Electrical Code is updated every three years to keep up with changes in technology and safety standards, for good reason. If you're going to go from a book that's fine, but make sure it's been published recently (like, it should at least not be talking about cloth-sheathed wire and stuff) and if possible try to verify that its author is a qualified authority.

And of course if anyone here has questions about electrical work, feel free to reach out to me! As long as I'm around I will be happy to answer as best I can.

*"journeyman" means "has at least 4-5 years of experience and probably knows what he/she is doing". Yes, the word "man" can refer to either sex; the language of the trades is still in the process of modernizing beyond the gender norms of the past.

**"service" means an electrician who goes around and installs or fixes stuff in different kinds of places, whether houses, office buildings, warehouses, or what have you. This is a distinct kind of electrician from one who works exclusively in factories, or in new construction, etc.

C. Letellier wrote:I have wanted to play with it for building retaining walls.  But actually having done it not yet.  My test brick has done 4 years out in the weather and still looks good but that is all the farther I have gone.

As for panels no but large bricks there is a you tube video on a machine that makes large cob bricks that interlock sort of like Legos  From the video they are roughly 1 foot x 1 foot x 2 feet.  The argument for them was how hard they were pressed together supposedly making then very durable

Pressing cob/adobe into lego-like bricks is another idea I've heard a little about and want to learn more. Do they need mortar between them? Do you dry them first, or stack them wet? Presumably they are stacked offset; what about half-bricks at the ends of courses? What about over windows and doorways? Do you use metal lintels?