Found 47 results for the keyword(s) ‘Mystery’

• Article

  Why do plumbing washers have letters and numbers on them?

  I don't really have an answer to the question, but I can help you to understand what they mean. We could find no plumber, nor plumbing manufacturer who could actually tell us the origin of the plumbing code for rubber washers. My guess is that it probably had something to do with the inside diam...
• Article

  Smoke alarms: aging, testing and the law

    HOW DO THEY WORK? Most smoke alarms operate by allowing the smoke to get between a light source and a light sensitive target. When the light gets dim, the alarm goes off. If a spider passes in front of the light, or spins his web in front of the light, he may just set off the alarm. Vacuum ou...
• Article

  Degenerating water heater dip tube

  Steven from Pierrefonds, Quebec isn't getting much hot water out of his tank these days, and has little white plastic beads collecting in the strainer of his faucets. He has heard about a problem with water heater dip tubes, so he did his homework and writes: "I understand this is a common proble...
• Article

  Investigation Techniques

  THE ALMOND MYSTERY Updated-- 20 almonds soaked in water overnight are good for my wife’s and my health.  But when there are only 14 almonds in the bowl in the morning I was getting accused of old age distraction.  Next day 20 in the bowl, next day 20 in the bowl – I guess it was my distractive ...
• Article

  Which Paint Is It - Latex or Oil?

  Determining, definitively, whether a given paint was oil or latex has always been a bit of a problem, but an important one as you can paint oil over latex, but not latex over oil unless you use a special 'super adherent primer' first. I used to recommend taking a bit of paint thinner on a clean ...
• Article

  Healing techniques for eyes and hands

  Meir Schneider runs a School for Self Healing in San Francisco and several years ago I had the occasion to take a seminar from Meir on therapy massage. I asked him to come onto my HGTV show to give us a few tips on how to improve things that prevent us from working around our own houses as we get...
• Article

  Plumbing noises and Water Hammer

  Scott in Grand Falls, NF has a loud banging noise in his pipes every time he shuts off a faucet. In some plumbing systems when a faucet or an automatic valve like in a washing machine stops the water too fast, it tries to keep going and you get a banging sound throughout the house. The pipes are...
• Article

  Why do I see the wall studs right through the drywall?

    Tim lives in a 13 year old house and is rather disturbed by the fact that he can see the studs and ceiling joists as if they were coming right through the wall. Don't panic Tim, this is unfortunately very common. It relates to a poor job of insulation in a cold climate.     You see, the ...
• Article

  What causes metal studs to show through the drywall?

  Colour from the studs themselves is not really "bleeding" through the drywall, but it is the studs that are causing the problem. When metal studs are used in outside walls of a house, they conduct so much energy through the metal that the overall R-value of an R-19 wall drops to only R-10. When ...
• Article

  The toilet just won't fill up.

  Bill from Qu'appelle Valley in Saskatchewan is trying to figure out why his toilet tank just won't fill up. The flapper is in place but the water seems to be just flowing through.  Rubber flappers do get old and need replacing. If you use a chlorine puck in the tank to help keep the bowl clean, ...