Don’t put up drywall under the backerboard. I am a believer in the felt behind the cement backerboard practice, but there are a lot of professionals that question the need for it & install without it. Your tub should fit snugly to the studs & have a support ledger under the long side. You should fur out the studs so that the backer board comes down over the lip of the tub leaving a space between the bottom of the backerboard & the top of the tub to prevent moisture wicking of the backerboard. Also make sure you tape the backerboard corners & joints with fiberglass sheetrock tape & mud them with thinset & you should be ready to start tiling.

Polarity refers to the two conductors of an electrical circuit. These conductors are called poles, as in the poles of a magnet. One pole is a supply & the other is a return. The supply is the black or “hot” wire & the return is the white or “neutral”.

In modern receptacle outlets one slot is taller than the other. The tall slot should be connected to the neutral conductor & the short slot to the hot. That’s normal polarity.

Modern plugs match these receptacles & correspond to wiring in lamps, appliances & tools. A lamp is wired such that the neutral wire goes to the casing of the lamp socket & the hot wire goes to the tab or button at the bottom of the socket. The routing path is an important safety feature. If your installing a bulb without unplugging the lamp, you’re more likely to accidentally touch the socket casing than the socket tab. For a tool or appliance, the hot wire is fed through the switch. That means there’s only an inch or two of energized wire in the case of the tool or appliance. If the polarity is reversed, virtually all the wiring in the case (including all the motor windings if there’s a motor) is energized when it’s plugged in. Damaged insulation on a wire or a motor winding could energize a metal tool case, creating an electrocution hazard. Correct polarity is another way of putting the odds in your favor.

When replacing the cord or plug on an appliance, be sure to get the connections right: The neutral wire is the “identified” conductor. It may have ridges running along it’s length or a colored thread between the wire & insulation.

More than likely Ted it is from hairspray on the walls, I have run into this problem myself & this what I did. Scrape any areas that have peeled or look like they are going to peel. Paint over then with an oil based primer like Kilz & when it is dry repair with drywall mud. After these areas have been sanded, prime all of the walls with the same oil based primer & then repaint with 100% acrylic enamel eggshell, satin, or semi-gloss, which will hold up well to moisture. You shouldn’t have any further problems after following these steps. I know from now on I will always prime a bathroom wall with the oil based primer in hopes of eliminating all the additional work that I & now you have experienced. Thank you for sharing your question.

The white stains described are probably either efflorescence or calcium carbonate. Efflorescence occurs when water dissolves salts in brick & mortar, bringing them to the surface & leaving them on the face of the wall, these stains can usually be removed with water & a brush.

Calcium-carbonate stains are also caused by water in the brick which dissolves calcium hydroxide in the mortar & when exposed to carbon dioxide in the air forms calcium carbonate. These stains are thick, hard, crusty, & are not water soluble. Muriatic acid must be used to remove these stains.

Water in the wall is the cause of each case & an initial outbreak is fairly common & not a serious problem. If either persists over time, however, it is an indication that water is entering the brickwork on a regular basis & corrective measures would need to be taken in order to identify & repair the point of entry.

Funny you should mention that Evan as I found my mind wandering down the spring time “honey-do” list myself that day. many of the driveway sealers sold in retail stores are nothing more than thick paint & can be a waste of money. What you want to do is buy a more professional product that contains more sand, known as “solids content”, which helps to seal the whole thing so that water doesn’t get into & under the asphalt. If there are large cracks in the driveway then these will need to be filled with the appropriate caulk or filler prior to sealing. Most of the retail brands have a solids content of around 24% whereas professionals generally use a sealer with around a 52% solids content

Owen, one of the big questions used to be if they are a member of one of fraternal organizations such as, ASHI, NAHI, or NACHI because these organizations each have their own code of ethics & standards of practice that their members are supposed to follow. But in a state, such as Tennessee or Kentucky, where home inspectors are now required to be licensed that question wouldn’t make it to the top of my list because the State has their own standards of practice, insurance & education requirements. Now I would say the most important question you should ask would be what was their background before becoming a home inspector. I have been involved in home building my entire life with hands on experience & a working knowledge of the trades involved in building a home & a week or two of home inspector classes is just no substitute for that when it comes to helping you make your decision on probably the biggest investment of your life.

On whether or not to use your agents usual inspector, that depends a lot on the agent. There are a lot of good agents out there that genuinely do have their clients best interest in mind & if you have one of those agents then I would say sure go ahead & use their inspector. But, there are also agents out there that only want to get the house closed & get a commission check & if you have one of those agents you are in trouble because they usually have an inspector that will gloss over anything that may “kill the deal”, & unfortunately you may not even know or notice what was not reported until a few years down the road or perhaps when you decide to sell & the buyers inspector reports it & now you get to foot the bill for the repair just like the seller should have when you were buying the home.

Be an educated consumer, do your research, get a qualified home inspector!

A slight flicker is fairly normal when a big motor load such as an air conditioner or washing machine starts. If all the lights dim, then return to normal when a small appliance is turned on, then it is a system problem & the cause will be somewhere between the breakers in the service panel & the utility pole. If your neighbors are experiencing the same problem when everyone is running their air conditioners the problem could be that the the distribution grid, the transformer or the drop isn’t able to supply enough energy. Another possibility would be a loose connection at the main breaker. A qualified electrician will be able to find & fix your problem, or rule your side out & get your service provider to inspect it’s side. If the problem is in the main panel, someday it will fail catastrophically, so that situation would be urgent.

It’s a different problem if some lights dim & some get brighter, this would indicate a compromised neutral connection between the service panel & the transformer. This is an immediate danger because if the neutral connection is lost higher than normal voltages will destroy or damage appliances & could start a fire. The utility service provider would normally respond immediately if this condition is found.

Keith, there are 2 ways you can go about this, one is to use a hole saw that is the same size as the current hole in the doors & drill a hole through a scrap piece of 2x material. You can now place this plug on the hole saw for the new locks (usually 2-1/8) & it will act as a guide to keep the hole saw steady. The second option would be to drill the 2-1/8 hole in a scrap of plywood or 1x, center it over the hole in the door & clamp it in place as a guide. On both of these methods do not drill all the way through the door, to avoid splintering remove the bit & move to the other side & repeat. There is also a good chance that the hole for the latch in the side of the door will be too small as well. If it is too small it won’t be by much & I have had good luck with using a 1 inch hole saw instead of a paddle bit, start slow & it will work it’s own way in. Good Luck!

There are several things that can cause cracking, adding water to the mix partway through the pour will result in unequal curing & possible cracking. Over using a concrete vibrator at any one spot can separate aggregate from the mix, causing weak spots that are susceptible to cracking, & unless you altered the mix to allow for the temperature, using type II cement or adding a retarder, the concrete would have cured at an accelerated rate, which can cause cracking.

 Also, if the wall was not covered & kept moist for the first week, then the water would have evaporated prematurely, causing the concrete to dry & crack rather than cure. If the pattern of the cracks matches that of the rebar, then hot rebar could be the cause. That rebar at a temperature of 100 degrees is hot enough to drive the water from the concrete that is surrounding it, causing a differential cure rate & cracks.

Fortunately, hairline cracks are more cosmetic than structural. Seal the cracks with a masonry caulk that will prevent water intrusion & damage than can be caused by freeze/thaw cycles & monitor to make sure the cracks do not get bigger.

Teak doesn’t paint well because it’s too oily. Western red cedar, redwood, & mahogany are all good choices in ascending order of price. If the entry is sheltered, ponderosa or eastern white pine would also work well. For extra protection I would also recommend back-priming.